Fish & Aquatics

20 species listed on Pet Listings.

20 pages written

A

AngelfishA tall bodied cichlid from the Amazon that swims among stems rather than in open water. Pairs form on their own and defend the spot they choose to spawn on.

B

Betta FishIt breathes air at the surface through a labyrinth organ, which is why it survives water that would not hold a tetra. Males flare rather than share a tank.

C

CichlidsA family that runs from an inch to well over a foot, many of them from the African rift lakes. Plenty are mouthbrooders: the eggs are carried in the mouth.

ClownfishIt lives in an anemone that would sting anything else, protected by its own mucus. Every clownfish starts male, and the dominant one of a pair turns female.

Corydoras CatfishA bottom dweller that shoals, so six is the starting number rather than one. It gulps air at the surface and takes oxygen from it through its gut.

D

DiscusAmazon cichlids that feed their fry on a secretion from their own skin for the first weeks. They want warm soft water and quiet company.

F

Freshwater ShrimpCherry and crystal shrimp graze algae all day and breed in the tank without help. They moult as they grow, and the shed shell is left behind whole.

G

GobiesThe largest family of marine fish, and most of them sit on the bottom. The pelvic fins are fused into a disc, which lets a goby hold station on rock.

GoldfishA carp bred in China for over a thousand years. It has no stomach, it grows to the water it is given, and a well kept one lives past twenty.

GuppiesLivebearers: the fry arrive swimming rather than as eggs, about a month apart. The colour is on the males, and a mixed tank fills itself quickly.

K

KoiPond carp bred for colour, and long lived with it: decades is normal. Koi learn who feeds them and will take food from a hand.

M

MolliesA livebearer that will take brackish water, which few community fish will. It grazes algae off glass and stone most of the day.

N

Neon TetrasThe blue stripe is reflective rather than pigmented, which is why it flares under a light. A shoal of a dozen behaves nothing like three.

O

OscarsA cichlid that grows to a foot and rearranges the tank to suit itself. Oscars recognise the person who feeds them and beg like a dog.

P

PlatiesA livebearer that breeds without any encouragement and takes a wide range of water. Peaceful enough for a first community tank.

PlecosA suckermouth catfish in armour plates. The common pleco reaches a foot and a half, so the small one on a shop shelf is not the fish you end up with.

S

SnailsNerites clean algae and cannot breed in fresh water, so the population stays where you put it. Mystery snails will breed, and they lay above the waterline.

SwordtailsThe sword is an extension of the male's tail fin and grows with him. Livebearers, active, and they will jump a tank that has no lid.

T

Tang FishA surgeonfish: the name comes from a blade at the base of the tail that it can raise. Marine grazers that want length of tank more than volume.

TetrasCharacins from South America, and almost all of them shoal. Kept in numbers they colour up and hold together; kept in twos they hide.