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So you’ve set up your tropical fish tank, allowed it to cycle, and are in the process of choosing your fish.  First, let me start by saying NEVER trust a fish store or pet store when they tell you with perfect assurance that this fish would fit perfectly in your tank.  I will gripe about that in another post.  Just for now, trust me.  You always want to do your research before buying a fish.  No impulse buying.

I’m a big proponent of “as much space as you can afford” when it comes to the space you keep your animals in.  This not only includes fish, it is crucial to fish.  Dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles, can be taken out for exercise from the confines of their homes, cages, and terrariums, but fish live in an aquatic world limited by the size of your tropical fish tank.  You can’t exactly take them for walks in your bath tub.  Nor would that be healthy for either of you.  So you want to consider several factors when choosing a fish for your tank.

There are many things to consider when stocking your fish, from if you want a species tank, a community tank, how many fish minimum of a schooling species would be comfortable, how much space you have for it in your tropical fish tank, the temperament of a species (aggressive, semi-aggressive) and even the area from which a species comes from.  All these effect things like water maintenance, decorations, and plant selection.

Another thing you want to consider when buying a fish is what it eats.  Obviously, anything that will eat something smaller than him is a no-no for a community tank with small fish.  But also, you may have to adjust how you feed your fish to accommodate your fish.  Simply feeding goldfish flakes won’t cut it for most fish.  And if you have a fish, like a puffer, that requires live or frozen food, you may have to adjust how you feed your fish.  Puffers, for example, need snails to grind their teeth down on, and many people have a small tank just to breed snails for their puffer.

We’re going to discuss each factor in future posts.