General Chat

The OH and I, have decided to set up an aquarium of fish, as our present to each other, sort of thing, for Christmas this year. Yesterday, we went to several outlets selling all the gubbins to set this up.
However, the decision is, do we have tropicals or cold water fish. We have never been into fish before, being more of dogs,cats and birds, people.
Some advice would be very welcome.
Many Thanks
Julia in Derbyshire

cold water are easier and les fussy,
but tropical are much more beautiful x

Probably fancy goldfish are the easiest to look after, they tend to live longer and have less diseases.
Our local garden centre has an aquarium section and staff there are very knowledgable.

i have my fish tank under my telephone
then when the butlers boring family ring lol

i get lost in my thoughts watching them
at the moment we are doing cold water fish
as they are much easier to look after
but have doe both in the past

CAN I ADD
when my mates ring i take the calls in the lounge

Thanks girls for your replies. I thought the cold water fish, were nicer coloured than the tropicals for some reason. Brighter, and easier to see. It was the garden centres that we were sourcing yesterday. Have another couple to visit yet, before making a decision.
Thanks
Julia in Derbyshire

my daughter rescued the sole survivor goldfish from her garden pond, and it now resides indoors in a tank,( filtered but no heat,)along with a fancy goldfish and some mussels

Bob

So Julia,you took up my advice to Farm Trout then.**M**.:o))>

Wow Merlin, PSML
Julia in Derbyshire

When choosing aquarium fish there is an ever growing range to select from. Fish breeders are constantly creating new variations of old favorites. New species discoveries are being made and some of these also become new choices for home aquariums.

Most fish for the aquarium are purchased at local retail stores. In such pet shops the choices may be limited to common varieties and stock standard species.

Dedicated aquarium fish shops usually carry some more exotic choices. They will keep a list of fish breeders who specialise in the unusual. These breeders may have just what you want at home in their fish tank

Some fish breeders will also advertise in local and internet classifieds. Such advertisements are an excellent source for inexpensive specimens.

Fish clubs and societies are perhaps the best source for scarce fish varieties. Many clubs will hold regular fish auctions open to the public. Some of the larger auctions will run well into the night leaving you spoilt for choice. Here you can also obtain quality fish inexpensively. Sometimes there will be an aquatic plant or two on offer also. If you have such a fish club near you these and many other reasons make them one of the best resources for stocking your fish tanks.



Aquarium Fish

This page is a resource for anyone who owns or is planning to buy aquarium fish.

We have written profiles of many popular varieties commonly found in aquarium stores. Taking advantage of this information can help you choose and care for your aquatic friends.

Below the list of profiles is a short article about the different places to buy your fish from. At the end of the page there are further resources related to owning, buying and caring for aquarium fish.
Livebearers

Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
Platy (Xiphophorus variatus)
Sailfin Molly (Poecilia velifera)
Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri)
Endler's Guppy (Poecilia sp.)
Black Molly (Poecilia sphenops)
Catfish

Bristlenose Catfish (Ancistrus)
Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus)
Bronze Cory (Corydoras aeneus)
Sterbai's Cory (Corydoras sterbai)
Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus bicirrhiss)
Sailfin Plecostamus (Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps)
Eel Tail Catfish (Tandanus tandanus)
Cuckoo Catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus)
Whiptail (Sturisoma Barbatum)
Cichlids

Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)
Convict Cichlid (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum)
Discus Cichlid (Symphysodon species)
Frontosa (Cyphotilapia frontosa)
Jaguar Cichlid (Parachromis managuensis)
Kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher)
Oscar Fish (Astronatus ocellatus)
White Spotted Cichlid (Tropheus duboisi)
Labyrinth Fish

Siamese Fighter Fish (Betta splendens)
Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis)
Tetras

Black Neon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
Black Widow Tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
Cardinal Tetra (Cheiroden or Paracheiroden axelrodi)
Congo Tetra (Phenacogrammus interuptus)
Cyprinidae

Koi Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
White Cloud Mountain Minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)
Zebra Danio (Brachydanio rerio)
Rosy Barb (Puntius conchonius)
Tinfoil Barb (Barbonymus Schwanenfeldii)
Characidae

Blind Cave Fish (Astyanax fasciatus mexicanus)
Piranha (Serrasalmus species)
Other Aquarium Fish

Bumble Bee Goby (Brachygobius xanthozonus)
Ghost Knife Fish (Sternarchus albifrons)
Cobitatae

Clown Loach (Botia macracantha)
Khuli Loach (Acanthopthalmus khulii)
Choosing Fish For Your Tank

When choosing aquarium fish there is an ever growing range to select from. Fish breeders are constantly creating new variations of old favorites. New species discoveries are being made and some of these also become new choices for home aquariums.

Most fish for the aquarium are purchased at local retail stores. In such pet shops the choices may be limited to common varieties and stock standard species.

Dedicated aquarium fish shops usually carry some more exotic choices. They will keep a list of fish breeders who specialise in the unusual. These breeders may have just what you want at home in their fish tank

Some fish breeders will also advertise in local and internet classifieds. Such advertisements are an excellent source for inexpensive specimens.

Fish clubs and societies are perhaps the best source for scarce fish varieties. Many clubs will hold regular fish auctions open to the public. Some of the larger auctions will run well into the night leaving you spoilt for choice. Here you can also obtain quality fish inexpensively. Sometimes there will be an aquatic plant or two on offer also. If you have such a fish club near you these and many other reasons make them one of the best resources for stocking your fish tanks.

Many fish species will live together in the same community aquarium.
Planting aquatic plants will allow some timid species to live in such
aquariums also. You may find that different fish will also do different jobs in your fishtank, some will clean the bottom of the tank for you, some will clean the glass for you and some will help keep the plants in your tank alive.

F course, you could always get some " Piranha" useful for disposing of things you dislike.**M**.:o)>

Again, many thanks all for your replies. 5exy, you piece is very informative. Please leave it on so that I can print it out, and also, it may be of help to others.
Many Thanks
Julia in Derbyshire

Julia, you could get a book by Leslie B. Katterns."Keeping Tropical Fish". You may be able to get it from the Library.**M**.

we had pirrahnas, "sp" they were vicous little things, used to scrape the breadcrumbs of fish fingers and as we lifted the lid thy would jump for the fish, little blighters!


this is the website 5exy, got the info from, http://www.e-aquarium.com.au/aquarium_fish.htm

if you want further info hun, xxx

If you ask my daughter about fish her reply wouldn't be printable on here, lol.
When she was married her OH decided against her wishes that he wanted to keep fish, well £900 later they are now divorced ( thank goodness) and she is stuck with this set up that she didn't want. !! she has drained the tank and given the fish away .
I keep telling her she should refill it and put some more fish in as its lovely to watch them, her reply &&@@@ &&$$@ ha ha.

Hi Julia
Yes i will leave this up for you. Hope it helps.

StrayKitten
I don't think it matters if the infomation came from a web site or myself or partly of both, the fact is I took the time and trouble to find it compile it with what I already knew and posted it on here in the hope it may help.

Have a nice day

i dont think it matters as long as it helps somone,
altho somtimes its nice to give the site the recognision they deserve, after all the people who create these sites have gone to a lot or time n effort to put the information out there to help and advise others,

5EXY, I did say thank you, wherever you got it from
Julia in Derbyshire

No problem Julia.

Disc Fish are very impressive & can grow to the size of a dinner plate.If you put them with Blue Neons it gives a great contrast.It's always worth adding Cat Fish to help keep the tank bottom clean they also eat the algae off the glass & ornaments.
If you pm me I can give you a "fish to tank size ratio".

Hi Julie
After having tropical fish for many years we decided to go to fancy goldfish .
There are so many about now and such beautiful colours,we did buy the larger one's.
Oh yes and they are easy to keep.

Val xx

if you go tropical you just have to get a Plecostomus fish there so ugly there cute lol, we have had many over the years there great for eating the algae, and can grow quiet big but there just so much fun to watch, when they actually move, there so lazy lol

i loveeeee siamese fighting fish, there sooooooooo pretty BUT not very good with other fish,

xxx