7 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying A Fish

1) Salt Water or Deep Water fish? - fish generally fall into these two categories. For the sake of simplification, beginners should raise fresh water fish, as these are much less demanding in terms of equipment required and effort involved in raising them. Salt water fish are recommended for experienced aquarium owners, but have the added advantage of allowing their owners to place other decorative salt water life forms, like living coral and starfish, in their aquariums.

2) What size of fish should I choose? - this goes hand in hand with the question of aquarium size. The bigger the fish, the more food it will eat and the more water it needs. Beginning fish raisers should choose small yet highly decorative fish like guppies or goldfish, or maybe a pair of mid sized tropical fish as their pets. Large, grumpy, and demanding fish, like arwanas, are best left to experienced fish raisers.

3) How many fish am I raising? - this goes hand in hand with the question above of fish size. If you're raising multiple fish and are a beginner, try raising only one breed of fish, and pick one that tends to travel in schools. Raising a lot of fish which are solitary or, worse, combative or predatory in nature is a good way to quickly depopulate your aquarium. If you want to stay on the safe side, raise two fish, a mated pair, in a relatively small sized aquarium and you should do fine.

4) What are the eating habits of that fish? - there are two kinds of processed fish food available: plant and animal based. Naturally, you want to buy one that's appropriate for your fish's diet, wether it's an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore. If you're not sure about the different brands of fish food, pick an omnivore for easy maintenance. It doesn't stop there however; fish are also divided into shallow surface feeders, bottom feeders, or ones which eat while swimming around the middle of a tank. Fish foods, to address these differences, are also divided into the types that float on the surface of the water, settle quickly to the bottom, or float down slowly yet are light enough to be kicked up again with a bit of turbulence (for middle-feeders).

5) What is the natural environment of that fish? - aquariums come with a variety of extra gadgets to ensure the comfort of your pets. Water filtration systems, heaters, and lighting are important to keep your fish healthy. Knowing the natural environment that your fish are suited for can help you choose which equipment to get. Tropical fish, for example, thrive in warm waters and aren't adverse to sun exposure, so using a good heater and a lighting system which simulates sunlight keeps them healthy and happy. Deep water fish and underwater cave/reef dwellers, on the other hand, will prefer cool temperatures and minimal lighting conditions.

6) Is the fish territorial? - if you're getting more than one fish, this is a very important question to ask yourself. Some fish are very aggressive and highly territorial, like lionfish, so they will need larger aquariums to keep them out of trouble. Furthermore, avoid mixing breeds of fish which tend to look at each other as natural enemies or a food source. For example, raising a school of guppies in the same tank as an arwana is tantamount to telling the arwana to eat hearty and have a nice time...

7) What other things can I include in the aquarium? - after selecting what breed of fish you want to get, you can throw in little things to make it more comfortable. Salt water aquariums are great places to put living corals, and this provides salt water fish with places to sneak into to doze off. Fresh water fish aquariums can be decorated with fronds that will help the oxygen supply in the water, and even help to filter nitrogen build up from decomposing fish excrement, which can be poisonous to fish. Without a good filter system and/or plants to naturally clean the water, your fish will be living in the human equivalent of toilet, kitchen, and bedroom in one. Definitely not a cozy thought...