Going to a pet store to buy a fish tank and fish is not enough when you have decided to get a pet fish. Being informed is a basic thing you need to arm yourself with so that you don’t just buy any fish for sale. This is important so the fish don’t end up dead in just a couple of weeks. When we are not educated properly about fish tanks and fish, I don’t want to be harsh but this normally happens. We actually don’t need to sit down and read a book or enrol in a course about pet fish care because the pet store owners or salespeople can provide this information and knowing the basic things will help us and our pet fish get through over a long period of time and enjoy each other’s company.
Things first, choosing a fish to be your pet is the initial step, if you are a beginner in the pet fish keeping world. Here are some suggestions:
Betta’s or the Siamese Fighting Fish
These are beautiful fish with long fins flowing brilliantly with varying colors such as red, violet and blue. They are easy to care for, the male kinds of these fish need to be isolated because they fight each other until the other dies. They can thrive in a community tank (a fish tank with a variety of fish living together) but not with the same male betta’s thus the name they bear.
Zebra Danios
Because they adapt well to any water condition, these fish have gold and blue stripes and are again easy to take care of. When needed, they are so active that they need a wide spaced fish tank to live in with a lot of plants to serve as hiding places. A school of zebra danios is fun to watch so buying several of them is a good idea.
Goldfish
The goldfish is the most popular pet fish. Despite its name, this fish comes in a variety of colors too. Raising them is easy and they can actually survive outside of water much longer than other kinds of fish but they are best kept in an aquarium capable of holding a lot of water because they produce a lot of waste.
Guppies
These are colourful fish with long fins too. When mixed with many other fish in the tank, the males are actually more colourful than the females and they live longer. They quickly reproduce so you will have more fish eventually, without even buying more. Just be on the lookout for the little ones if there are other kinds of fish in the same fishtank, because they get eaten easily.
Many of these pet fish come from coastal cities like the Gold Coast in Australia. Wherever the fish may have come from make sure you choose wisely as you journey through pet fish keeping.
