The Big World of Tropical Fish

Guppies, swordtails, mollies, carp, koi, catfish, gouramis, oscars, angelfish, goldfish, bettas, zebra fish, neon tetras, and even piranhas. Did you know that all of these are tropical fish? Not only that, they are just a small sample of the great variety of tropical fish available today. Indeed, you probably have heard about, seen, or even own some tropical fish. Colorful, often exotically patterned, and available in a tremendous range of varieties, they have been collected and raised since ancient times. Today, the keeping of tropical fish ranks as one of the most popular hobbies in the world.

As their name implies, these beautiful and exotic fish hail from tropical areas such as the waters of and around Africa, South and Central America, India, and Southeast Asia. They are now bred chiefly in Florida especially for the hobby market. In their natural habitats around the world, besides their striking beauty and variety, tropical fish have gained importance because of their economic, ecological, medical and scientific significance. They are a plentiful source of protein-rich food, a means of controlling mosquito-borne diseases, and a potential tool in medical research!

Tropical fish are classified into tropical freshwater fish and tropical saltwater fish. The vast majority of fish owners keep tropical freshwater fish, and so they will be our focus for this article. Tropical saltwater fish, also called marine fish, are harder to find, generally more expensive, harder to maintain and raise, and are recommended for very experienced fish hobbyists. Marine fish include saltwater angelfish, eels, and clownfish such as Nemo from the popular movie "Finding Nemo".

Luckily, for the rest of us there are plenty of tropical freshwater fish to choose from. For example, if you like beautiful and vibrant colors such as green, white, cream, blue, red, and violet, then you would just love the betta fish. If you are attracted to metallic colors such as gold, silver, and black, and mysterious patterns such as zebra stripes and lace patterns, then you will definitely be interested in the angelfish. Other popular picks include the neon tetra, distinguished by its iridescent bands of blue and green. You also have a great variety of sizes to choose from among the tropical freshwater fish, from the one inch long guppy, to the koi fish which can grow to three feet long, and every size in between.

For your information, tropical freshwater fish can be further classified into five categories: Characins, Anabantoids, Cichlids, Cyprinids, and Cyprinodonts. Characins include tetras, piranhas, and hatchet fish. Cichlids include angelfish, cichlids, and oscars. Anabantoids include bettas and gouramis. All fish in this group have the ability to breathe atmospheric air due to a lung. Cyprinids include barbs, rasboras, danios, zebra fish, loaches, minnows, goldfish, and most types of carp including koi. Cyprinodonts include most live bearing (as opposed to egg laying) fish such as guppies, platys, mollies, swordtails, and toothed carps such as the killifish.

Because of their great variety, you can keep tropical fish in many different kinds of containers. These may range from a simple fish bowl for hardy tropical fish like the goldfish and betta fish, to elaborate systems that simulate a natural habitat with equipment for heating, filtering and aeration, and with appropriate aquatic plants and other supplementary living organisms like snails and frogs.

Tropical fish will do fine with dried flake fish food. You can also pamper them with brine shrimp, various worms, or Daphnia (a species of small crustacean). All these fish foods are available at your local pet shop. Feed your fish very sparingly, as fish can be easily overfed and that is bad for the fish and for the tank environment. Generally you can feed your fish 1 to 2 times per day, and give just two or three bite-size flakes per fish per feeding. The fish should be fed only such an amount at a time so that everything will be consumed within about 5 minutes. If your fish do not eat all of the food in 10 minutes or at the end of the feeding session, it is best to get a net and scoop out the uneaten food.

The best temperature for most tropical fish is around 78 degrees, although 76 to 80 degrees is still an ideal range. A few of the hardier tropical fish species, such as betta fish and goldfish, will be comfortable with a bigger temperature range of between 70 and 80 degrees. There are also a few exceptions at the other extreme, such as discus fish, which fare best at a temperature of around 86. The pH range of interest to the tropical fish keeper is between 5 and 9, with the vast majority of fish doing best with a pH between 6 and 8.

As with the temperature, the ideal pH range may vary a bit for different species. Again, the hardier fish will usually tolerate a greater pH range than the less hardy ones. All in all, providing a stable pH kept between about 6 and 8 and a stable temperature between 76 and 80 degrees is usually more important than having an exact value, as long as extremes and sudden changes are avoided. Aquarium thermometers and pH testing kits are carried at your local pet store.

If you have any questions regarding tropical fish and their care, just ask us and we will help you any way we can.

Back to the Fact of the Week Archives.