Tropical fish

To keep tropical fish it is important to be able to control & monitor the temperature of the water in the aquarium. The Reef One heater stand enables an aquarium heater to be fixed securely to the inside of the aquarium. An accurate aquarium thermometer should also be used.

For more information see Heater Stand.

There is a wealth of tropical fish to choose from, too many to list. We will point you in direction of some hardy varieties which will help to establish your aquarium and some to avoid. You should however research the fish you plan to buy to ensure the you can provide for their needs.

As a rough guide, the biOrb can hold 12-18 inches of fish. So, for example, if all the fish you plan to buy grow to one inch you can have 12-18 fish. However, if the fish grow to four inches you can only have 3-4. Remember that heavily stocking or feeding the aquarium will put extra demands on the aquarium. Also some fish can be messier than others regardless of their size.

Always allow for the final size of the fish, not the size they are when you buy them. Buy fish when they are small, this will enable the filter to adjust as the fish grows. Adding a large fish is likely to have the same effect as adding several fish at once, which will cause water quality problems.

Remember to leave at least four weeks between each addition of fish.

There are no definitive rules providing the fish you mix are compatible and the aquarium provides the right environment for them.

Find out about the fish you want to buy first. Books and the Internet are invaluable sources of information. Find out as much as you can about the fish you want.

• How big do they grow?
• What size aquarium do they need?
• Do they need any special conditions such as special substrate or water conditions?
• Will they mix with the fish you have or want to have?
• What are their behavioural needs?
• Do they need to live in pairs or groups?
• Should you buy males or females?
• Will they have babies and if so what do you do with them?

Different fish have different requirements, if your aquarium does not provide the right environment, leave the fish in the shop.

Always ask for advice when buying fish, don’t be offended if you are told not to have certain fish. Be patient and have fun!

Hardy varieties: these should be your first additions to the aquarium. Danios (zebra, leopard, pearl and gold zebra) and silvertip tetras are good starter fish and very attractive. They should be kept in shoals of four-six, buy no more than 3 at a time.

Most tetras that you would find in a pet shop are suitable but check adult size and compatibility with the fish you have or plan to have. Some can be a little aggressive or grow quite large. Most tetras are shoaling or semi-shoaling so you will need to plan for groups. Neon tetras are very popular; however these fish do not like new aquariums so introduce them last.

Avoid bottom feeding fish such as catfish, loach, plecs etc. Most grow very large and they will root about in the base of the aquarium damaging their delicate barbels (whiskers) on the sharp ceramic media.

There are a lot of other species which should be avoided, usually because they grow too big. A good aquatic shop should not sell you unsuitable fish provided you tell them all them information they need; type of aquarium, how long it has been running, what fish you have already etc.

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questions about tropical fish