Read This, Before You Buy Your First Fish:

When considering fish for an aquarium it is fundamental that you consider the future plans for the aquarium, more than the present. Many people, when first selecting fish for their aquarium, choose fish that they will later regret having in the aquarium. Remember, fish that look nice in the stocking tanks at the aquatics are most often predatory and not at their fully-grown size.

This is a very short article, but I consider it a must read for all people who are new to the aquarium hobby. It is most certainly a mine-field of different information hence why I recommend you doing your own research before purchasing fish. It is best to make a complete plan of what you want to house in the aquarium before you have bought your first fish, and add the fish slowly over the course of several weeks to allow the beneficial filter bacteria adequate time to reproduce to deal with the new arrivals.

Before you think about choosing any fish, you must cycle your aquarium. If your tank is not yet cycled, please see our article on cycling an aquarium HERE.

The main point I feel compelled to mention is the vast range of advice you can receive at an aquatic retailer.

Having worked in the industry for several years I was, at one point, the first point of call for customers looking to stock their new aquariums. As much as my knowledge was fairly substantial, customers would come in looking for fish, having done no previous research themselves, often choosing fish that are completely unsuitable for their aquariums, and being shocked when I would advise them against getting that specific species of fish; some would listen religiously, others would completely ignore my advice and buy whatever they so desired.

What is the point of me mentioning this, you ask? You MUST always do your own research before heading to the fish store. I always recommend selecting 3/4 potential species you like and then calling around to different aquatics to see which ones you can pick up, while obviously looking for healthy specimens ( no signs of disease, clean aquariums that are housing them, and nice, fat rounded bellies ).

The reason this protocol must be fulfilled is because, as much as you can get lucky and find somebody who is essentially an encyclopaedia of fish, you can just as likely be unlucky and find someone equally charismatic, without nearly as much knowledge. I have, in the past, been advised that predatory fish that grow to over 30cm would be fine in my 60 litre aquarium etc etc.

If you look around the website you will find helpful articles on selecting fish when you are starting an aquarium, and other articles about hardware, cleaning etc.re