What is this guide about?

This guide is intended to be a starting point for anyone thinking of keeping fish, or who has perhaps just started and realised they don't know what they are doing.

Hopefully, it will point you in the right direction, inform you of some of the highs (and lows) of the hobby, and save you a lot of time, money and dissappointment!

This guide can't tell you everything you will need to know, but there are plenty of sources of useful information easily available: here on Ebay there are some very good guides, there are tons of good sites on the web, and loads of excellent books on the subject for everyone from a complete beginner through to a veteran 'expert' with 20+ years experience.

In the long run I would recommend getting a few good books, perhaps one or two general ones, and then later on some more specialist ones when you decide where your interest lies. Websites rarely contain as much information as a good book (although there are some very noteworthy exceptions to this rule!). Websites can be very useful for getting a 'feel' for an area of fishkeeping though and can be used for guidance on what to look for in a book, before you part with any of your money. 

One of the best sources of practical information and advice is a good local shop run by enthusiasts (not a big chain store run for profit by accountants and staffed by 'trained' monkeys - no offence to anyone working in such a shop, the best staff in these places usually end up getting out and opening the better kind of 'enthusiast' aquatic shop anyway). Quality local shops of this kind are something of an endangered species these days, so if you find one it is well worth supporting it with your custom!  

It is important to know something about what you are doing before you begin to keep fish, and certainly BEFORE YOU BUY FISH, as there are many pitfalls for the beginner. A bit of background knowledge is not that hard to acquire and will be repaid many times over.

Why bother?

Mistakes made by people new to fishkeeping can (and usually do) have the following consequences:

• Wasted Effort (lots of money and time wasted on buying the wrong things and using them in the wrong way)
• Disillusionment (a very high percentage of beginners lose interest because of a few simple mistakes and miss out on a great hobby)
• Unneccessary Cruelty (YOU will be directly responsible for the (often slow and lingering) deaths of living creatures) 

Ignorance is no excuse for mistreating fish - there is still a prevalent feeling amongst some people in this country that fish are in some way 'lower creatures' that 'don't feel pain', but this is thankfully changing, even if our Government still defend the giving away of live Goldfish as prizes at fairs!!!

Research has proven that fish are as sensitive to pain and psychological stress as any human being, and we now have a very good idea about what kind of conditions different species of fish need to live long, healthy, and stressfree lives in captivity. This information is available for anyone who is prepared to take the time to look, which should make NOT providing these conditions a crime.

Laws are changing and pressure groups are having an influence on National Governments about how fish are: imported, transported, sold and kept, with time the regulations are only likely to get stricter, hopefully the decisions made will be the right ones, based on informed judgement, and won't just be 'knee jerk' reactions. 

Fishkeeping is currently under pressure as a hobby from some vocal (if not very well informed) sources, a number of 'animal rights' groups have decided that no fish should ever be kept in captivity, unfortunately their judgements are based on the worst abuses which are currently permitted (e.g. fairgrounds, goldfish bowls, bad shops etc...). It would be better for us all if we didn't give them any more fuel to burn us with, and instead they could be encouraged to see the positive aspects of the hobby (there are many of these!). It might just be a 'pie in the sky' to hope so, but it would be a real step forward for the fishkeeping hobby if some of these lobbyists could be persuaded to campaign for better fishkeeping and the benefits it has to offer in terms of fish conservation, and ethical pet keeping, rather than trying to ban it altogether.

Why keep fish?

There are many positive aspects to keeping pet fish, just a few are listed here, from the mundane and practical to the spiritual and possibly optimistic:

• Generally easy pets to keep and care for, well suited to modern living conditions and small spaces.
• Generally inexpensive, the vast bulk of the outlay is at the start with fishtank, stand etc.., but cheap in the long term.
• Something for everyone, what ever your tastes and situation there is some kind of fish for you.
• No problem leaving alone for short breaks and holidays.
• Well suited as pets for (intelligent and caring) children and those with limited mobility.
• Relaxing to watch, fishkeeping has been scientifically proven to reduce stress and blood pressure, there is also evidence that a fishtank placed in a stressful environment (such as a Dentist's waiting room) can help to calm people down.
• A form of artistic expression. You can express yourself and your good taste (or lack of) through the environments you set up and the way you display your fish. Obviously, the well being of the fishes must come before all other considerations, although with some thought both can be achieved. For example, fish generally hate bright lights and over bright decor, if you wanted to have a brightly lit tank, a happy counter balance could be established by having lots of lavish planting and lots of decorative bogwood to provide hiding places for nervous fish, thus giving them a good, stressfree home and you a bright, dramatic aquarium. 
• Good Feng Shui, whether you believe in it, or not, there is no denying a beautiful tank adds to the ambience of a room and is a point of interest for everyone who stops to view it in a way a piece of static art never could be.
• Educational, for adults as well as children, entire lifetimes can (and do) get spent by people studying their fish without ever running out of new things to learn. If as natural an environment as possible can be created for your fish it is common to observe the complete gammit of behaviour including complex socialisation, feeding, courtship, breeding and parental rearing of these fascinating and varied creatures.
• Helps to preserve natural environment, some species are still 'wild caught', where this is properly policed (as it increasingly is) it provides a sustainable natural harvest for some of the poorest people in some of the most endangered environments in the world. When the alternative is often clearing land for cattle ranching or Soya production, with loss of many different species (including the fish themselves), the benefits are obvious.
• Provides a sustainable and ethical income for many people in poorer countries, whether the fish are wild caught, or captive bred (vast majority), this is true. Many of the fish farms which bred and rear fish for the trade are family run affairs in poor regions of the world, where other career options may be limited to virtual slave labour in 'sweatshops', drug dealing and/or prostitution.  
• Helps to generate interest in the environment and in endangered species.
• Many species of fish are endangered in the wild due to: introduction of larger 'edible' competitors, or overfishing for food, habitat loss (dams, hydroelectric schemes, flood 'control' schemes, canals and irrigation, and mostly clearing and draining for farmland) and pollution. A huge range of species are captive bred for the fishkeeping hobby, and even some of the most popular are endangered or extinct in the wild because their habitat has been irrepairably changed. Usually these fish are too small to eat and have no commercial value other than being decorative and therefore desirable in aquariums, so if it wasn't for aquarists keeping these fish in some cases they wouldn't exist at all! Tragic that it is that the natural environment of these fish is gone for good, at least the species continues in our care for future generations to enjoy.
• ANYONE can have a positive impact on the hobby, on their own well being, and on the world, by keeping fish well, by breeding and rearing good quality fish to trade with other hobbyists, by educating others, and by creating a source of beauty and relaxation for those around them to enjoy. In a time when we seem to have less and less control over our own lives and the direction the world is going I can't be alone in thinking this is a good thing?

What to avoid, the ugly side of fishkeeping...      

Of course there are many negative aspects to the hobby worldwide too and it is a good idea for the newcomer to be aware of some of these so they can avoid them:

• Not all commercial collectors, breeders, exporters, importers, dealers, and shops are as ethical as they ought to be... YOU can make a difference on this one by voting with your feet (and your wallet).
• Many people are STILL trying to keep fish in containers that are way too small for them. You can STILL buy Goldfish bowls, and there seem to be even more miniature tanks available than ever!!! Unless you want to keep tiny fish that stay small AND don't mind living in a tiny space (e.g. Endler's Livebearers) steer clear of anything less than a 40-60 litre fishtank like the plague. As a rule the larger the tank the easier it is to set up and maintain - trust me on this one.
• The poor old Goldfish seems to be the most abused fish in the world. Kept in the right environment a Goldfish can live for 30+ years and grow to a foot (30cm) in length. Healthy specimens are beautiful, colourful, hardy, easy to breed fish with lots of charisma that can usually be trained to take food from their owner's hand. Unfortunately they are STILL: kept in containers that are way too small for them, kept without filtration, fed on terrible diets, given away as prizes at fairs, flushed down the toilet alive, fed to other animals alive, considered stupid (with a five second memory - a complete urban myth), and inbred, mutated and mutilated into bizzarre and hideous forms, all for our 'entertainment'. If you want to keep Goldfish properly you will need: a BIG Pond, or a HUGE tank, you will need to have a correspondingly huge filter for any tank, and you would be very, very well advised to steer clear of any 'fancy' Goldfish with mutated fins, body, and/or head and eyes! Black Moors are Goldfish, so are Shubunkins, Comets, Fantails, Lionheads, Orandas etc... all are Goldfish. Standard 'Goldfish', Comets and Shubunkins are fine and are likely to have long healthy lives in even average conditions, the rest are severe mutants with little chance of survival for more than a couple of months. Before anyone says it: YES your Grandmother's Fantailed Boggle eyed Goldfish MAY have survived in a goldfish bowl for 20 years fed on a diet of biscuit crumbs, but people have survived being buried alive in coffins for months on end, eating only cockroaches... doesn't make it right does it?
• As if torturing Goldfish wasn't bad enough a FEW fish 'breeders' and 'scientists' in the Far East have stooped to new lows over the last decade by: tattooing, dying, mutliating, artifically hybridising, and genetically modifying a range of fish species. Needless to say these 'Frankenstein' fish should be avoided like the plague and any shop that sells them shouldn't have the benefit of your custom (they deserve far worse, but I don't think Ebay will let me say what I think). The problem is that to a newcomer what might look like an attractive and colourful fish has in fact been injected (for example) with a dye to make it look more 'appealing' and will shortly die as a result of the shock and/or related diseases. When the new owner finds out what they've got they are usually horrified, but are stuck with it and the knowledge that they have been the final link in a hideous, sadistic, and quite possibly illegal business. Ignorance is no excuse, research before you buy is painless and within anyone's capabilities.
• One of the results of these 'experiments' in the Far East which seems to be here to stay is the so called 'Parrot Fish' or 'Parrot Cichlid'. This 'species' is actually a hybrid between two very distantly related species of Central American Cichlid, in this case both 'parent' species grow to a large size and are well known for aggression (not ALL Cichlids - pronounced 'Sick-Lid', are large and/or aggressive - another urban myth!). Young Parrot fish can look quite 'cute' in a sad and pathetic way (if that appeals), but again, it may not be immediately apparent to the new owner what exactly they have, and what problems they have in store. With age 'Parrots' are prone to a range of ailments and deformities, usually fade to a dull orangey yellow (good food can help slow down both these problems), develop the black markings of one of their 'parent' species, and become more 'lop-sided' and asymetrical. They can grow to a foot (30cm) in length, and healthy specimens can be very territorial and aggressive. Because of their deformed mouths they are slow and messy eaters, and they may also struggle to eat some foods or may simply 'waste away' from starvation when kept with other fish that can eat faster. All in all, they are best avoided. Especially be aware of dyed, tattooed, and/or mutilated Parrots - some 'strains' have their tail fins amputated which means the poor sods can't even swim properly - imagine having your legs amputated to make you more appealing to would be buyers!
• It is very important that the newcomer is aware that aquatic shops are businesses, whilst an ethical one run by enthusiasts is likely to give honest advice in the hope of retaining your custom long term, a bigger store run purely for profit is unlikely to care what happens to you, or your purchases, once you leave. Basically, this means BE CAREFUL WHOSE ADVICE YOU TRUST - a little bit of knowledge can help hugely here and there is no harm in testing out a new store with some well chosen questions to which you already know the answer... How big do Goldfish grow? What is the minimum size of tank they need? Are Parrot Fish aggressive? etc...
• Another word of warning on bigger stores (I'm not picking on them particularly - some smaller pet shops with no specialist aquatic staff are absolutely appalling and a veritable minefield for the beginner!). Centralised filtration systems (CFS) are increasingly popular because they are cheap and easy to maintain and very few bigger stores don't have them. Basically, a CFS is a big filter which cleans the water from a whole lot of tanks in one go... if you can't see individual filters in individual tanks then the odds are the shop runs CFS - ask if you are not sure, the reaction can be interesting in itself! In principle CFS is fine if the fish are well quarantined and there is no disease in the system. Unfortunately very few shops do any form of quarantining (holding new fish in isolation for a period of time to check for and treat disease), some may claim they do, but very few actually do (again the most likely to do so are those run by enthusiasts themselves), even fewer do it for a long enough time (ideally four weeks+ ). Obviously, quarantining is expensive for a business and in a trade where customers are mostly price driven most shops can't really afford to quarantine. If a fish with a virulent disease is introduced to a CFS then the entire stock of fish in connected tanks are also likely to be infected, or at least incubating the same disease, some measures may be taken to supress the disease in the tanks connected to the CFS (such as the use of UV filters), but the odds are when you get your fish home and put them in your tank they (and all your other fish) will quickly succumb to whatever disease(s) they are incubating... If the shop are turning over enough stock they won't care about the odd casualty (or 500) and if they remove visibly sick fish you probably won't even be aware the disease is present. By the time the fish is ailing, it's in your tank and no longer the shop's problem... in fact they might well be looking forward to you returning to buy some more in a few days time?! Maybe, I'm just cynical, but I prefer to buy my fish from smaller 'traditional' local shops where every tank is separately filtered and the nets are rinsed in disinfectant...                                  

What to keep, or all fish are the same aren't they?

Not at all, fish are a very, very diverse group of animals. There are literally thousands of different types, species, and strains of fish available, each with different requirements. 

The concept of a 'community tank' in which you can keep a random selection of fish chosen at whim is fortunately coming to it's natural conclusion - Random 'community tanks' don't work, fullstop. The problem is all those different species of fish, from totally different environments, with different feeding and living space requirements, and totally different body language can't survive together in peace for long. Sooner, or later, the fights will start, one of the species will succumb to the wrong conditions necessary for keeping another one, or one fish will simply end up as dinner for another one!

Having said that mixed communities of fish can work if they are all fish with similar requirements and of a similar size and level of aggression. Obviously, chosing fish for such a set up requires a certain level of knowedge, which the beginner is unlikely to have, but selecting from peaceful 'community fish' of a similar size and requiring the same kind of water is always a good starting place.  

Often the best form of mixed community is a 'Biotype' or 'Biotope' tank, which tries to represent  as accurately as possble the local natural environment to which the selected fish are native. 

An example of a Biotype is the 'Malawi Tank' in which fish are selected from those native to Lake Malawi in Africa, many of these fish naturally dwell in the rubble slopes of the Lake edge and like to carve out feeding and breeding territories for themselves centred on the crevices and holes between boulders. A large tank is necessary, and must be partially filled with a great stack of stones (slate is ideal for this) in which the individual fish can: hide, breed and fight (largely ritualised) battles over small feeding territories and mates. The choice of water chemistry, temperature, and even food is simple, as far as possible the aquarist tries to recreate the conditions of Lake Malawi, which is easily achievable given the range of equipment and foods available. It is not quite as simple as this in reality, as there are still many fish native to Lake Malawi which this set up wouldn't suit, but it gives an idea of what can be easily achieved, and thousands of Malawi enthusiasts around the country keep tanks like this with thriving shoals of beautiful, colourful, fascinating fish in them.

Another option is a so called 'Species Tank', e.g. just keeping a single species, or maybe one, or two, large specimen fish with maybe a couple of compatible 'friends' of different species. If your taste runs to large predators (or just HUGE fish) then you aren't really going to have any other options. But, this kind of set up actually works extremely well for breeding tanks, very small tanks, and where you want to create a dramatic display with a shoal of a single species (such as piranhas). Usually beginners overlook the possibility of keeping a species tank as they think it will be less interesting and spectacular than a 'community tank', in actual fact the opposite is usually true.   

As a starting point here are some things you need to think about (and research) when deciding what fish to keep:

• Freshwater or Marine? (freshwater is cheaper and usually easier to get hold of and keep, marines are perhaps more colourful)
• Coldwater or Tropical? (there are many more tropical fish available in the UK (freshwater and marine), coldwater fish (other than Koi and Goldfish) are now hard to get hold of, coldwater marines are very difficult and rare)
• Planted or Unplanted? (aquatic plants are a whole new ball game with requirements of their own - see our aquatic plant guides for more info.)
• Biotype, Species Tank, or Community? 
• Species: Cost?, Availability?, Hardiness?, Compatibility?, Shoaling?, Food? Eventual Size? Water Chemistry?       

Getting started and where to go from here.

Hopefully this guide has given you some food for thought and stopped you rushing out to buy a tank and/or fish. It is well worth taking a bit of time to do some research and plan what you want, in the long run it will pay off tenfold!

Probably the next step is to buy the equipment you will need and set up a tank. At this stage you must also resist the temptation to buy any fish, as the filter will need a period of at least 3-4 weeks to mature, during which further changes to your plan are still possible, and once again good preparation will pay off in the long run.

When you are eventually in a position to buy your fish, resist the temptation to rush out and buy on impulse and stick to your plan. Also try to avoid buying sickly fish just because they are the only ones available of a species you want (I've had many hard lessons here). It is very sound advice to only purchase good quality healthy stock even if they cost considerably more, once again the return on your investment in time and money will be well worth it as a healthy fish will almost definitely outlive literally hundreds of sickly ones AND won't introduce any contagious disease to your tank.

Good luck, and I hope your first tank inspires you to go on to many more years of successful fish keeping.

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