Aqua Articles

By Lee Dobbins

Freshwater sharks can give your aquarium a bit of interest as these unusual looking fish
normally create a lot of motion by gliding back and forth in colorful schools. Prior to introducing any fish into the aquarium, it is smart to do a little research to make sure that your environment is ideal for the fish and to be sure your new fish is compatible with the old.

Below is some advice on freshwater aquarium sharks you might consider for your aquarium.

White Tip Shark Catfish

These fresh water aquarium sharks are sleek in body with a head like a catfish - kind of ugly if you ask me! The white tip shark catfish is a very mellow fish that consistently vacuum the bottom of the tank for food. White tip shark catfish can dwell in brackish, salt or fresh water. These sharks are best in groups and grow big so they should be kept in large sized tanks. The best climate for the white tip shark is between 78 and 82 degrees.

Rainbow Shark

If you want to keep these sharks you ought to settle for only 1 fish per aquarium, or put in more than 6 as they can get a bit cranky with each other in small numbers. Rainbow sharks need to have tubes to move in and out of. These light colored freshwater aquarium sharks have a raspberry - orange color on the fins and tail. Rainbow sharks are sturdy but rather aggressive to other sharks but will do well with other fish. These sharks can develop to 9″ and need to be housed in larger aquarium tanks with a water temp between 76 and 80.

Red Tail Shark

These sharks must have a pipe, tube or cave to be their happiest and can get as big as 5″. Like the rainbow shark, red tails should be kept alone or in schools of more than 6. The red tail shark has a gray body with a red tail and does not get along with sharks. The best water temp for the red tail shark is between 76 and 80 degrees.

Bala Shark

Bala sharks are even tempered and hyper. Balas require a water temperature between 78 and 82 degrees. These sharks will do best in a sizeable fish tank with an external power filter. These sharks are silver in color with black tipped fins and tail. Including numerous Bala sharks to your tank will give you a vivid group of fish gracefully swimming in your tank.

About The Author

Lee Dobbins writes for Topic Genie where you can learn more about your favorite topics.

By John Morris

It’’s very important as part of your plan for having successful aquarium to take note of the type of inhabitants. One of the most important elements of you aquarium will naturaly be fish.

Never buy fish before finding out about its requirement first.
You really need to take your time to ask questions and be very observant when you are in the aquarium store. There are lots of aquarium stores with unknowledgeable owners, so you don”t base your decision on their advice alone… make sure you take a look at the fish yourself.

If you can make friends with some of the staff in the store they will possibly tell you more about the lifestyle of the fish you are intending to pick.

Below are some basic guidelines to consider when buying new fish.

- The following points all need to be considered:

- Is your fish tank at the right temperature?

- Are your water conditions correct?

- How big does it get? - It may be small now, but will your other fish be at risk when it grows?

- Is it a territorial - or will it be happier in a group?

Can you supply the right food for it?

Remember that the key to successful fishkeeping is happy, stress-free fish, so don”t be tempted into buying an incompatible species jut because you think it’’s attractive - you”ll regret it.

Sometimes it can be difficult to be patient, particularly if the dealer has a species of fish that you really want. But it’’s important not to rush things. Don”t try to add too many fish to your tank at once - and always check that the fish are healthy.

About The Author

For more great aquarium related articles and resources check out http://goldfish.aquariumspot.com

7 Tips For Choosing Aquarium Fish
By Lee Dobbins

Buying the right aquarium fish for your tank is key to the success of your aquarium. When selecting fish, you may not simply be able to pick out the fish that catch your eye in the pet store as not all fish can live in the same environment. Additionally not all fish get along with each other so you will have to be careful to choose the types of fish that are compatible.

If all this seems like hard work, don’t worry, you will soon become familiar with the types of tropical fish that work well in your tank and even have some favorites that you like to keep. When choosing fish for your aquarium, here’s some tips to keep in mind:

1. Fish appearance. Observe the particular fish you are interested in carefully to make sure he is active and swimming around properly. Make sure his fins are not chewed and he doesn’t have any growths or white fuzzy patches.

2. Tank condition. Dealers tanks can have parasites and disease that might not be apparent in your fish right away so you need to observe the other fish in the tank and take a good look at the tank conditions. Is the tank clean? If not that is an indication that the dealer probably doesn’t care for the tanks well. Make sure the other fish in the tank are alert and swimming around actively. Avoid buying a fish from a tank that has dead fish floating in it. Even if your fish appears to be healthy, he could already be infected with something that might not show up until days after you get him home. By then it might be too late and you could risk infecting your other fish.

3. Water Conditions. The condition of your water is important as well as the number of fish you already have in the tank. If your water condition is poor then adding more fish will just make things worse and endanger the health of all the fish in the tank. Also, you should be careful not to overload your tank with too many fish as this will cause stress on all the fish as well as cause your water quality to degrade. The general rule of thumb for freshwater tropical fish tanks is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. If you add too many, you will have to spend more time changing the water and will need really good filtration in order to keep your tank healthy.

4. Water Temperature. Not all tropical fish like the same temperature water. While most will do well with temps in the mid 70’s some do better in cooler waters while others like it on the warm side.

5. Fish size. Before you buy a new fish you might want to find out how big he can be expected to eventually grow. Since your tank can support about 1 inch of fish per gallon, you wouldn’t want to put a fish that might grow to 5 inches in your 5 gallon tank or he might be the only one you can have!

6. The type of fish. Is your new fish aggressive or does he play well with others? Is he OK being the only one of his kind in the tank or will he do better in a school. Make sure you only put fish that will get along in the tank or the more aggressive fish will pick on the others. Also, some fish are territorial and you should only keep one per tank.

7. The food. Find out what type of food your new fish likes to eat. Most eat flakes, but some like freeze dried worms or other types of food. When you bring home your new fish be sure to also take home some of his favorite dinner.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.fish-tank-guide.com where you can learn more about aquarium setup and maintenance as well as choosing fish that are compatible.

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