How to Choose the Best Type of Pet Fish

Fish can make wonderful pets that are beautiful and relaxing to watch.  If you love fish and want to have a tank in your home, it’s important to choose the right fish at the pet store.  Tropical fish are popular, but freshwater fish are common and much cheaper to buy and keep.  You need to make sure that what you choose is based off of how well you can care for them.

If you are going to choose a large tank, you have to be aware of the space needed.  Make sure that the tank will be able to fit into your space, and that you know how to clean it properly to keep your fish healthy.  For larger tanks like this, Neon Tetras thrive well in community tanks and are easy to care for.  Their scales even glow when the lights of the aquarium are dimmed just right.

Swordtails grow larger than most (to four inches), and must live in fresh water.  They’re peaceful, so they’re able to live with other fish, although male swordtails tend to be more aggressive.  Platies are schooling fish, and come in different colors.  They’re fairly easy to breed, and get along best in groups of five.

Choosing to have fish as a pet can be as cheap or expensive as you want.  You can have a simple tank setup in a corner of the room, such as a small a bowl to hold a Betta fish.  If you are living in an apartment, you might want to contact your landlord before you invest in a large tank.  Some landlords might not want you to have a tank in case it breaks or spills, because it can cause damage to your apartment and the neighboring units.  In this situation, a smaller tank is a better option.

Keep in mind that some type of fish will prey on others, and you don’t want to keep them in the same tank.  Betta fish, for example, need to have their own bowl and live alone to thrive – they’re not known as Siamese Fighting Fish for nothing!