Fish are kept at home in aquariums and ponds. The hobby of fish keeping is divided into brackish, saltwater and freshwater fish keeping, with the most popular hobby being freshwater fish keeping. The fish which are most popular are angelfish, goldfish and guppies. Different species of fish can be kept together, however, be careful on which species you place in the same aquarium or pond. Prior to buying fish, check with the staff of the store where you are buying them to ensure that they are compatible with fish you already have in your pond or aquarium. If you decide that you would like to breed fish, get one or two males and five or six females of the same species and place them together for breeding purposes. However, again be careful as some species will kill each other if they are not in a breeding mood. There are two types of breeding fish. Some fish lay eggs which after a time hatch into baby fish and others bear live baby fish. With breeders, the popular fish species are guppies, mollies, catfish, killifish, cichlids and characin.
Fish keeping was started centuries ago. At that time fish were bred for food. Chinese and Japanese traditions included fish keeping for food purposes. Also, due to religious customs, fish was eaten on days when meat wasn’t allowed. But later kings began keeping goldfish and koi, because of their attractive colors. They were kept in ponds and when guests arrived, the fish were moved indoors into fish bowls. Romans were also known to keep lampreys in pools with salt water. Ancient Egyptians kept fish from Oxyrhynchus in temple pools.
Saltwater or marine fish keeping is more difficult and expensive. It is very beautiful with colourful and attractive fish along with different types of corals. However, due to the difficulty of maintaining the water at optimum conditions, it is certainly not for beginners. Brackish fish keeping involves both freshwater and saltwater fish keeping, because the salinity of the water is in between that of seawater and freshwater.
Many aquarists also focus on aquatic plants. Some hardcore aquarists even attempt to grow coral reefs with the help of living rocks and calcareous rocks with algae growth, sponges and worms. When the coral begins to grow, echinoderms, crabs, molluscs and shrimp are also added to the aquariums, which are also called reef tanks.
The aquarium should have ecology which is similar to the natural habitat of the fish that occupy the tank, which can be quite difficult to accomplish because water from different parts of the world contains different dissolved minerals and contains different minute organisms.
The surface area of your aquarium is probably more important than the volume of the water. This is because, the more surface area a tank has, the more oxygen levels increase in the water. Air pumps also are used to increase the dissolved oxygen in the water. This is part of the nutrient cycle, which should be maintained and controlled for the welfare of the fish. Larger aquariums are more preferable as they make things easier. The larger volume of water means that changes take place much more slowly. Unless the aquarium is greatly overstocked with fish, changes in pH and chemical imbalances take longer to occur and can usually be adjusted before the fish are affected.
Other factors to be controlled in your aquarium are the nitrogen cycle, dissolved gases and a balanced food supply. The salinity of the water should be checked regularly depending on the type of aquaria being maintained. The pH level should be checked to test the acidic nature of the water. For a freshwater aquarium, most aquarists use tap water, which is a mistake as it contains chlorine and possibly even fluoride. Chloramines should be used in tap water to make it chlorine free or it should be aged in an unused tank until the chlorine gases off.
For a tropical aquarium, the water should be warm and the temperature should be nearly seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit. For a cold water aquarium, the water temperature should be less than room temperature. To accomplish this, a refrigeration device called a chiller can be used.
Plants and certain organisms can be kept in the aquarium because they metabolize the waste, especially nitrogen. But the more organisms added to the fish tank, the more difficult it is to maintain. The needs of all the aquatic organisms must be considered. Introducing many types of species into an aquarium is known as biological loading. Two other important factors which should be considered include the filtration process you use and the oxygen levels of the water in your tank(s).
Aquarists interested in fish breeding should be careful. Firstly, they shouldn’t mix a lot of different types of fish together. They should also develop special conditions called spawning triggers for proper breeding.
Artificial ponds can also be made in the garden. It is very similar to indoor aquarium keeping, except that ponds are much bigger and they are out in the natural elements. Tropical fish are a good choice for such garden ponds, however, where the temperatures are colder, goldfish, orfe and koi are good options. And if you live in areas like I do where winter is the longest season of the year and temperatures can go below minus 40 degrees, it is advisable to move your pond fish into indoor aquariums during the winter. When we lived in Regina, Saskatchewan, mom and dad moved their pond fish into a 240 gallon fish tank in the basement during the winter. The tropical fish occupied 10 aquariums of various sizes on the main floor of the house. Keeping these tanks cleaned and the fish in them in tip top condition occupied a lot of mom and dad’s time, so I was glad when we moved north that the number of tanks was slowly reduced to zero so mom and dad could spend more time with ME.
Until next time,
Teia
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