The True Story of Fishkeeping

Intro

It’s an unfortunate truth that a lot of people have no idea how to properly care for fish, by no fault of their own. However, the misinformation spread online has resulted in the premature deaths of pet fish, so much so that it is a common myth that aquarium fish naturally only live for a few months at most. This is so well known, that people don’t tend to do much research unless they are passionate about the hobby, only focused on giving their kids the first responsibility in their lives. I was in the same boat, my first pets were some tetras and a snail that died after just a few months. After several years, my interest was piqued after seeing a YouTube video of some gorgeous aquariums with plants and beautiful fish, so I started researching and discovered a whole world I was previously unaware of.

I became aware of just how much that I previously thought was correct and normal for people who had pet fish is in actuality harmful to the point of animal abuse. I learned that tiny one-gallon aquariums are not enough for beta fish or goldfish by a long shot and the reason why they aren’t enough. I learned how much I underestimated the intelligence and personalities of these beautiful creatures. I learned how to properly set up aquariums, not only for the safety and happiness of the fish but to make it easier for me to take care of them. I learned just how much I love and appreciate fishkeeping, and that I want to help other people learn about it in a way that I wish it had been explained to me.

So, let’s start at the beginning. How did all of this misinformation start? If fishbowls are so bad for fish, why are they so popular that they even show up in movies? Why is there so much misinformation?

Keeping fish as a hobby rather than for food started in China over 2,000 years ago, though Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans also kept fish for food. The first Chinese fish keepers began breeding Carp in the 10th Century to bring out their beautiful colors and patterns, eventually creating koi and goldfish. Keeping these fish became very popular among the rich, who could use their wealth to create ponds on their property to house their ornamental fish. When guests came to visit, these wealthy individuals would show off the beauty of their fish by filling a large ceramic bowl with water and temporarily placing the fish inside so that it could easily be seen. Afterward, the fish would return to its home in the pond.

In 1850 Pier Carbonnier founded the first public aquaria in Paris and became the first person to breed a tropical fish in Europe, and from there the fascination grew. More and more people wanted to keep beautiful fish in their homes, but many people did not want to invest time and effort into taking care of an entire pond, so over time the pond became less popular. However, keeping the fish permanently in the bowl, now made of glass rather than ceramic became the new norm. The balance the Chinese had of taking care of their Fish’s health while also being able to appreciate their beauty had collapsed, and the aesthetic value of a little fish in a glass bowl won out over caring for the animal itself.

Today we have greater knowledge of the life and science behind how fish live and why fishbowls are unhealthy for them. So why does the myth persist? As with many other aspects of life in the United States, this is likely due to the large corporations that don’t feel the need to clarify these misconceptions and may even profit from them. You will notice that large chain pet stores carry small aquariums with box art that advertises keeping beta fish or goldfish inside. This perpetuates the myth to this day and prevents people from questioning it or investigating further. They thrive on this misconception because while it is possible to keep fish healthy to some degree in these tiny aquariums (not accounting for quality of life and the extreme amount of effort it takes to do so) If the fish dies quickly, they will be more likely to return to buy a new fish, and then invest in other items that are deemed necessary to keep this fish alive for a longer period of time. This repeating cycle earns them more money.

Similarly, if people were fully aware of how much care it actually takes to keep fish healthy and happy, parents would be less likely to buy fish as their kids’ first pet. These corporations would lose their main moneymakers, so it is in their best interest to downplay the needs of the fish they sell and keep these myths alive. Unfortunately, they are successful to the degree that people will defend these beliefs, citing their own experience that their fish were fine in a bowl and people shouldn’t worry. In the realm of scientific studies, however, there is overwhelming evidence that fishbowls are very bad for fish, and thankfully, more and more people are learning the truth about these misconceptions.

With all that being said, you might be wondering how someone should actually set up an aquarium if they want to keep fish. I’ve been keeping freshwater fish for going on three years now, and I put in a lot of time researching how to do exactly that. In all that time doing said research, I often found myself wishing that all of the information I gathered over time were in one place, easily explained to a beginner such as myself. That’s what I’m here for. This article will describe a step-by-step process explaining how to set up a proper aquarium in detail, and why it works. I will also debunk some of those myths along the way and explain why they are wrong. Hopefully, we’ll have some fun exploring the wide world of fishkeeping as well, who knows?

Setting up Your Aquarium Properly

There are several things to consider when you are properly setting up a new tank, and several steps you should follow so that you are fully prepared to take care of your wonderful aquatic friends. First, a disclaimer: Buying your fish should be one of the very last steps, only landing before long-term maintenance in the sequence. With that out of the way, I’ll break up the decision-making process and the setup process into 5 steps. Step 1: pick your tank, step 2: gather the necessary equipment, step 3: add the decor and put your equipment to work, step 4: (probably the most important step) Cycle your aquarium, and step 5: Add your fish and maintain your tank.

Step 1: Pick out Your Tank

The best place to start when putting together an aquarium is with the tank, it will be the foundation for pretty much all of your decision-making going forward. Tank size—that is how many gallons a tank can hold, i.e., its volume—is the most important place to start. It will determine the number and type of fish you can safely keep or the other way around; The number and type of fish you want will determine the tank size you need to get.

Something that wasn’t immediately clear to me when I first started out was what was considered a small tank vs a large tank, so that’s something I’d like to establish outright. A large tank is 50 gallons or above, a medium tank is between 20-45 gallons, a small tank is 5-15, and anything below 5 gallons is considered a micro tank. For beginner fishkeepers, a medium or large-sized tank is the best size to start with, since larger tanks are actually easier to maintain than small tanks and allow you to have more fun with fish choices. This may seem wrong, but fluctuations in your water parameters have less of an impact in a larger body of water, while it's more extreme in smaller tanks with a small body of water.

There are also a few different shapes that aquariums come in, like long, tall, bowfront, hexagonal, etc. The shape only really matters if you have an aesthetic preference or you want to keep fish that have specific needs, such as betta fish which need easy access to the surface, or schooling fish that need a lot of horizontal space to swim, in which getting a long tank would be better than a tall tank in both cases. Tanks are also generally either made of glass or acrylic, and both have their individual pros and cons. Glass is sturdy, easy to clean, and generally much easier to see through, but is heavier than acrylic and isn’t as flexible. On the other hand, acrylic is lightweight, flexible, and generally less expensive and can make for some very interestingly shaped aquariums, however, it gets scratched easily, and as a porous material, can be difficult to see through over time due to staining and how acrylic warps light. However, the most important part of choosing a tank is the volume of water it can hold.

So, how do you actually pick a size?

One place to start is to consider the space you have for an aquarium. You need to make sure that your aquarium has a sturdy, level piece of furniture to sit on, something strong enough to hold the weight of the water plus the decorations and substrate. You can buy aquarium stands from pet stores or online shops if you’d like a dedicated space for your aquarium, but countertops also work great. Personally, I’ve kept a medium-sized aquarium on a desk, and that worked perfectly for me, though it meant I couldn't use most of it. Again, the bigger the tank, the easier it is to maintain, so keep that in mind.

On the other hand, if you have some idea of what kind of fish you want to keep, that can also help you choose a size. All you need to do is do some research on the fish. There are a lot of resources online that tell you what each fish needs to thrive, and every single one will give you a range for the size of the aquarium they will need. Just keep in mind that at this point, you shouldn’t buy your new fish yet. However, If you already have a fish that is in a tank too small, definitely upgrade them right away, their life may depend on it.

One last thing to consider is your long-term goals. If you can see yourself experimenting and trying your hand at keeping many different kinds of fish and setups, then getting a large tank will give you more range in your choices in the long term. This is especially true since most fish have a lower size limit for their tanks, but not an upper one. Personally, I like having a large tank and stocking it with a lot of small fish, especially ones with schooling behaviors since they’re beautiful to watch. A general rule of thumb for the number of fish you can keep at once is that you should have at least one gallon for every inch of an adult fish. However, this can also depend on the type of fish you’re keeping. For example, Goldfish tend to need much more space since they are big eaters and therefore produce more waste compared to their body length. Again, you need to do your research before you buy your fish or your tank, it just makes everything easier.

Make sure you keep your aquarium away from your windows as well, the sunlight will cause unwanted algae to grow and can affect the temperature of your water depending on the weather outside.

Step 2: Gather the Equipment

Next is the equipment. There are a few essentials that will help you maintain your tank and keep it clean and safe for your fish. First and foremost, an aquarium test kit to check the parameters of your water. Liquid test kits tend to be more accurate than test strips, but both usually include PH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. It is also very useful to have ways of testing for water hardness as well. It’s important to know these things since ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish, and certain species have PH and water hardness requirements. Additionally, ammonia poisoning is probably the most common cause of death for fish and is the reason goldfish and betta fish tend to die after a few months in fishbowls.

Next are a few tools, namely a gravel vacuum, a bucket or container for water, a glass scraper, a net for your fish, and a heater, depending on the temperature requirements for your fish. Finally, your filter. This is very important especially for beginners since it will absolutely help you maintain your tank parameters. There are a few types of filters you can get, such as hang-on-back filters, canister filters, and sponge filters. What you pick will, again, depend on your desired fish and the size of your tank. Your filter needs to match the volume of your tank, which is usually displayed on the filter packaging, and certain fish like more or less water flow depending on the species. Canister filters usually give the heaviest flow while sponge filters give the lightest, however many filters include an option to adjust the flow as you need. A filter, whatever the type you choose, is an absolute necessity for a beginner, and while there are setups that can potentially work without a filter, they are usually higher-risk and best handled by more experienced fish keepers.

An aquarium light is also some good equipment to have since it makes it much easier to enjoy your fish. Mostly you have a choice between a regular light and a planted light, the second of which has the full spectrum of light that help aquatic plants grow. Keeping live aquatic plants in your aquarium can help immensely to keep your water parameters safe for your fish, and also makes it much easier for you to maintain your aquarium by extension. A lot of beginner plants don’t require much to maintain besides trimming them when they get too big, since the fish will mostly produce what they need to grow. They will grow faster with a more high-tech setup, but it isn’t a necessity. I will go into more detail about plants and fish I’d recommend for beginners a little later.

The last things you need are fish food and water conditioner. Unless you have access to a well, your most readily-available tap water will have some chlorine in it, which isn’t great for fish. Water conditioner will get rid of that chlorine and make it safe to put into your aquarium. Alternatively, if you don’t want to buy conditioner, you can also let some water sit for 1-5 days to allow the chlorine to evaporate, and to speed it up you can aerate the water with an air stone for about 12 hours to a day or boil it for 15-20 minutes and let it cool, but you should also have a method to check for chlorine in the water to be sure you actually got rid of all of it. Either way, don’t use untreated tap water. For fish food, keep in mind the type of fish you want to get. Some fish are carnivores and some are purely herbivores, so your food needs to give them the proper diet. Also, keep in mind the size of their mouths, they should be able to easily eat the size of food you are providing them. To make sure you are getting food that’s good for them, take a look at the ingredients list and avoid any food that has “fish meal” as the first ingredient. Fish also benefit from eating live food a few times a week, so buying frozen blood worms and brine shrimp is an excellent idea. Just thaw it in some aquarium water and put the thawed food in the tank, your fish will go bonkers for it.

Step 3: The decor and Setup

Finally is the fun part, picking out your decorations and substrate. What you choose for your substrate can also depend on what type of fish you want. Certain brightly-colored fish stand out more against a dark substrate, which makes their color really pop. For fish that have a darker color, a lighter substrate might be better. There are some more specific factors, such as if you have fish that are scaleless bottom-feeders, a softer substrate may be necessary to protect their delicate skin, and certain fish are easier to handle without substrate. Additionally, you might want to use live plants as part of your decorating, and if that’s the case you’ll want at least some part of your substrate to be nutrient-rich. As for how much substrate to get, a good place to start is at one pound of substrate per gallon, which will usually give you a 1” deep bed but having at least 2-3 inches of substrate is ideal, especially if you want to grow plants.

If you’re unsure of the exact amount, I recommend getting more substrate than you think you need, you could always use it later! Most aquarium hobbyists generally have the opinion that neutral colors that mimic the natural habitat of your fish are a better choice compared to the bright neon from chain pet stores that they consider tacky. Ultimately, it’s an aesthetic choice since brightly colored gravel doesn’t cause any harm, but it does run the risk of overshadowing your fish and making them blend in too much. The same goes for the fake plants you find at chain stores, but get ones made of silk rather than plastic, since the plastic ones can rip the fins of your fish.

A vast majority of hobbyists will use driftwood and rock as their decoration--known as the hardscape--arranging them to recreate nature’s beauty and provide a base for their plants to grow around. You can also find both rock and driftwood for free if you spend some time looking for it by the ocean or by rivers, you just need to ensure they are fully prepared and safe for your fish. If you would rather not spend your time foraging, most live fish stores for hobbyists will carry beautiful driftwood and rock, which they will almost always have prepped to be aquarium-safe. Chain pet stores will likely not have high-quality driftwood or rock, but if you would rather have a tiny castle in your aquarium, that is fully up to you.

Once you have everything, it's time to put it together. Pour your substrate into your tank and arrange it however you like. A common tactic to make your aquarium look bigger is to make your substrate into a sort of slope, with the substrate at the front of your aquarium being shallower than at the back. Next, arrange your decor how you like it and fill your aquarium with your treated water. A trick to add the water without disturbing the substrate is to pour the water onto your hand or a paper plate to distribute the impact of the water. Heads up! If you have wood in your aquarium that isn’t properly anchored or soaked to the point of being waterlogged, it will float and ruin your decorating, so be careful. Some hobbyists only fill their aquarium halfway so they can more easily arrange their plants, and then fill up the rest of the way.

Step 3 is done!

Step 4: Cycling your Aquarium

Now it’s time to wait a while and add a little bit of your fish food to your tank every day. The fish food will decompose into ammonia which will kickstart the cycling process. The term ‘cycling’ comes from the fact that in this step, you will be establishing the nitrogen cycle in your tank. I won’t go into extreme detail, but the long story short is that in this step you will be cultivating beneficial bacteria that will take in the ammonia that your fish produce and turn it into nitrite, and then more beneficial bacteria will turn that nitrite into nitrate, which is safe for your fish when it is below 40 parts per million (ppm). Aquarium plants will also take in ammonia and nitrate to help them grow, aiding the beneficial bacteria in keeping your water safe for your fish. This beneficial bacteria will grow on the surface areas in your tank, and this is why filters are so important in this process. Your filter media and gravel will provide most of the surface area in your tank, so that is where this beneficial bacteria will thrive. Having a filter is a necessity mainly because of this step, but it will also help get rid of large particles and gunk floating in your water.

The cycling process usually takes about a month to six weeks to complete, during which you should be using your test kit to check the water parameters every day. The results you see will show you where you are in the process. First, you should see a spike in ammonia levels, followed by a dip in ammonia and a spike in nitrite, and then a dip in nitrite and a spike in nitrate. Once these levels even out to consistently show 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, and you only see nitrate levels in your water, your aquarium should be done cycling and your aquarium is ready for the next step.

As a full disclaimer, it is possible to cycle your aquarium by using fish as your source of ammonia, but this takes much more work and is generally frowned upon because it puts your fish at risk of ammonia poisoning, and then death. Cycling this way will still take the same amount of time and will require that you change the water daily to keep your fish safe.

Step 5: Adding Fish and Maintaining your Tank

Once your tank is cycled, it's time to add your fish, but not all at once! If you add too many fish to your aquarium at one time, it can overwhelm your beneficial bacteria and cause an ammonia spike, which can harm or even kill your fish. This is where having a larger tank comes in handy, with more water volume, any changes in the water parameters are less concentrated, and are spread out in the water. In a small tank, those parameter changes aren’t as diluted and will have a more extreme effect on your fish. That said, add your fish bit by bit. Schooling fish such as tetras should be added together to make sure they are all comfortable, but you should hold off for a little while before adding any tankmates such as bottom feeders. You shouldn’t need to wait as long as you did when cycling your aquarium, but better safe than sorry.

For every fish that you buy, you should spend at least 30 minutes acclimating them to the water of their new home. First, place the bag your fish were transported in into your aquarium and let it float to allow the temperature of the water to equalize. Every 10 minutes or so, remove a little water from their bag into a separate bowl or into a sink and add a little bit of your tank water in its place. This will acclimate your new fish to the new water parameters. After enough time has passed, remove the bag from your aquarium and grab your fish net. You shouldn’t put the aquarium water from the fish’s original home into your tank, just to be sure that the water isn’t carrying anything you aren’t expecting. So, rather than dump the bag straight into your aquarium, grab a bowl or your bucket for water changes and dump the bag through your fish net, and then quickly and gently place your fish into your aquarium. Get rid of the old water and you’re done. Repeat this process for every bag of fish you bring home.

Make sure you keep checking your water parameters at least once a week for a while after adding fish to keep an eye out for ammonia or nitrite spikes. If they do occur, immediately do a 50% water change—that’s when you siphon or scoop out 50% of your water and replace it with fresh, treated water. Then keep checking your water parameters every day until they even out again, doing a water change whenever you see another spike of ammonia or nitrite.

Once you have all of your fish in your aquarium, you just need to do a few things to maintain it to keep them healthy. Make sure you consistently check your water parameters and do at most a 25% water change. The frequency will depend on how quickly your nitrate levels rise, but doing a water change once a week is a great place to start if you’re unsure. While you shouldn’t have any ammonia or nitrite in your water at this point since they will be converted to nitrate, a nitrate level above 40 ppm can be deadly to your fish. Regular water changes will keep those nitrate levels low enough to be safe for your aquatic friends. Make sure to use your gravel vacuum to do these water changes and use it to suck debris out of the gravel or off of the surface of the sand. If algae is growing on the sides of your aquarium, use your glass scraper to clean it off before you siphon your water so you can remove the algae from the aquarium. If you’re confused as to how you should use your gravel vacuum, there are a lot of video tutorials on youtube that will show you how.

Finally, your filter. Each type of filter has a different way of maintaining it, but generally, it should only involve rinsing out your filter media and squeezing or gently scrubbing it in non-chlorinated water to get rid of the old food and detritus that it collected. Doing that will keep your beneficial bacteria alive while also making sure your filter is in top shape. You should only replace your filter media maybe every six months, all of the packaging for hang-on-back filter media only wants to sell you more media by telling you to replace it monthly. If you do so, it can actually harm your fish, since you would be getting rid of a major source of beneficial bacteria. The only reason you should replace your filter media is when the detritus gunks it up so much that the water isn’t flowing through it as easily as before and cleaning it as usual doesn’t do anything to improve the flow.

Recommendations for Beginners

There are a lot of aquatic flora and fauna that are great options for beginners, but I wanted to talk about some of my favorites. Of course, there are more seasoned hobbyists that have had the opportunity and the finances to have broader experiences than me, with a wider range of fish and plants, so keep in mind this isn't the full extent of your options. I will include some of those hobbyists as recommended resources since I personally learned a lot from their various videos.

Plants:

Let’s start with a few plants that are great for beginners. They don’t have very high light requirements nor do they require any expensive equipment to maintain. Just a warning, many plants you buy will have been grown above water to help them grow faster, so when you add them to your tank you will see a lot of dieback also known as leaves ‘melting.’ This is normal, it’s just the process of the plant getting rid of unneeded leaves to replace them with ones specialized for living underwater.

Anubias: anubias are an extremely hardy plant species with beautiful green leaves. There are several different types of anubias, such as the anubias nana and anubias barteri, with the difference mostly being the size of their leaves. If you want an example of just how hardy these plants are, I put one in a closed bucket with some used substrate and some water, and then put a lid on it and forgot about it for a little over half a year. When I rediscovered it, I fully expected the plant to have completely died and decomposed, but not only was it still green, but after adding it back into a tank it started producing new leaves a few weeks later. Anubias are extremely versatile according to their setup as well, since they don’t require substrate to grow. The plant grows from a central rhizome with roots and leaves extending off of it. The rhizome must not be buried underneath the substrate, or it will rot away and kill the plant, but the roots can be planted without issue. The best practice is to attach the plant to a stone or other decoration with some string. Over time the plant will latch on with its roots and will stay on its own. Highly recommended as a plant for beginners, but keep in mind it grows slowly.

Java Moss: java moss is another low-light plant that needs no input from you. You can just throw a small handful, or even a tiny piece of it into your tank and it will absolutely start growing. Of course, if you use that method it’s not guaranteed that it will look great. There are a wide variety of different mosses to choose from that grow in different shapes and patterns, such as christmas moss and flame moss, however, java moss is the most accessible. These mosses, like most mosses in the world, attach themselves to a surface and grow along it. You can aid this process by tying the moss onto a rock, a piece of wood, or even a cork with some string, or using some superglue to adhere it. Some certain superglues are not safe for aquarium use, depending on their ingredients, but I and many other hobbyists have used brands like gorilla gel superglue with no problems. Just keep in mind that the glue dries white and doesn’t look great if it’s uncovered. Java moss grows very quickly and spreads easily. On one hand, this makes it a plant that’s great for covering a lot of surface area and provides a lot of hiding places for fry and other little creatures. On the other hand, this means you need to be very thorough if you don’t want it in your tank anymore.

Java Fern: Much like java moss, java ferns grow quickly and don’t need a lot of light. These plants also propagate easily, producing smaller versions of themselves via spores on the underside of the leaf, which you can gently pick off and get a whole new copy of the original plant. Much like anubias, this plant has a rhizome, and so will attach itself to your decor rather than need to be planted in substrate. There are also a few different species of Java fern that have unique appearances.

Duckweed/Salvinia: duckweed is an extremely prolific plant that floats on the surface of the water. It is actually somewhat difficult to get rid of since if you leave even one leaf that has roots, it will start reproducing right away. It is extremely hardy, and you would most likely need to actually try in order to kill it, and even then you might not be successful. Salvinia minima is another type of floating plant but isn’t as prolific or as small as duckweed and has an interesting texture on the surface of its leaves. It isn’t as hardy as duckweed but is hardy enough that with the right lighting will do just fine.

Marimo Moss balls: These round fuzzy guys are actually a kind of algae that naturally forms itself into a ball. The only maintenance they need is a rotation every once in a while in order to keep their round shape. They are not available everywhere since they can sometimes harbor invasive species, but if they are available where you live they are an excellent plant to keep.

Amazon swords: Now we have entered the territory of plants that need to be embedded in the substrate. Amazon swords are very easy to take care of, and with the right care, can get to be huge. Since they get their nutrients from the ground they’re rooted in, an inert substrate (a substrate that is purely gravel or sand without anything mixed in to feed plants) will not allow them to grow. Many people insert root tabs in the substrate right next to the plant to provide those nutrients. You can buy nutrient-rich substrate from almost any fish store that sells fish products.

Cryptocoryne wendtii: Also known as crypts, these plants grow slowly and come in a lot of color varieties. Like amazon swords, these plants are rooted in the substrate, and so need to have nutrients there for them to absorb. Since it grows slowly it rarely needs to be trimmed back. They will spread through the substrate by sending out runners and sprouting through the substrate. Overall an excellent choice.

Vallisneria: Also known as jungle val. This plant is pretty much a very long aquatic grass that roots in the substrate. With proper nutrients, this plant will grow from the substrate to the top of the water and will keep growing to sweep over just under the surface. Once their roots are established, they will start to spread by spreading off-shoots under the substrate. This plant grows relatively quickly, and so may need to be trimmed back from time to time.

There are many other plants that are great options for beginners, but these are a great place to start.

Fish:

There are a lot of great fish for beginners to keep that don’t have additional requirements to take care of, and are very hardy in general. They don’t need highly specific water parameters and are capable of adapting to your water as long as the parameters don’t have any major fluctuations. Keep in mind that fish may appear different when you finally put them into your aquarium. Fish tend to lose their color due to stress when they are moved, but once they settle in and get the right care, they should be just as vibrant as you would expect. It’s definitely possible, and even recommended, to keep multiple species of fish together that inhabit the different layers of the water column. For example, some fish like to stay in the middle or top of the water column, while others are bottom feeders, and so stay at the bottom of the column. Having a mix of both types of fish that can live together in the same water parameters is not only fun but also help keep your tank clean, since any food that the middle/top fish miss will get picked up by the bottom fish. Just be sure not to add too many fish for the size of your tank! These are by no means all of the fish that are great for beginners, but they are some of the most peaceful, interesting, and easy to keep in my opinion. Just keep in mind that your fish should be about the same size to avoid one fish eating another, since carnivorous and omnivorous fish will absolutely prey on any fish that will fit in their mouths.

Guppies/platys/mollys/endlers: These fish are known as livebearers, meaning that they give birth to live fry rather than lay eggs. These are four different types of livebearers, and each is notorious for reproducing quickly, so don’t keep males and females together unless you want a lot of baby fish on your hands. If you do, make sure to have at least two females for every male to take the stress off of the females, since constantly being chased by the males and giving live birth is extremely exhausting on their bodies. The males are always more colorful and vibrant, so if you just want some beautiful fish, make sure to exclusively get males. They are best kept in groups, but having just one won’t hurt. They do well being kept with other fish due to their peaceful temperament.

White Cloud Mountain Minnows: These fish are peaceful schooling fish that are extremely fun to watch because the males will ‘flare up’ or spread their fins out at each other to compete for female attention. They have beautiful iridescent stripes and red fins with white stripes along the tips. They come in two different varieties: regular, which has a brown-colored body, and golden, with a bright yellow body. They prefer cold water as well, so as long as your ambient room temperature is warm enough, you may not even need a heater in their tank. These fish don’t do well on their own, so make sure that you keep them in a group of at least 5, but the more the merrier. Their schooling and social behavior is fascinating to watch, at least from my personal experience from keeping them.

Tetras: Tetras are another peaceful schooling fish that are very easy to find in fish stores. There are several different species that each have different appearances, such as neon tetras, cardinal tetras, ember tetras, black skirt tetras, and many, many more. These fish need to be kept in groups to maximize their colors and how much you will see them since lone schooling fish tend to hide more often than not. Neon tetras get their bright colors from the fact that they come from dark water, or water that has been stained a brown color by tannins from leaf litter and driftwood. You can create your own dark water aquarium by adding catappa leaves or driftwood that haven’t had its tannins boiled out in your water. Or you can use dark substrate and floating plants to give them a lot of cover. This is just general advice, but keep in mind that some tetras may have different requirements!

Betta fish: Betta fish, also known as Siamese fighting fish, are extremely underrated in my opinion, despite, or maybe because of, their popularity as pet fish. They live for several months in the terrible conditions of a fishbowl because of how incredibly hardy they are. Under the right care, betta fish will live for several years. Betta splendens, the species of betta most commonly kept due to their beautiful coloring, are very aggressive fish and should never be kept with other bettas. Some people will have multiple female bettas together in a ‘sorority,’ since females tend to be slightly less aggressive than males, but the success of this setup heavily depends on the temperament of the individual betta, which can be difficult to discern until the fish has already caused harm to another fish. In my opinion, I would rather be safe than sorry. Betta fish can potentially be kept with other fish species, but again, this depends on the temperament of the betta in question. Betta fish are one of my favorite fish to keep, not only because of their beauty but because of their intelligence. Betta fish can be trained to do tricks, can get depressed from boredom, and have some very entertaining personality quirks. There is even evidence to suggest that they can learn to recognize the sound of their owner’s voice. My best recommendation, if you want a betta fish, is to avoid large chain stores at all costs. The bettas there are prone to get sick and have shorter lifespans because of the poor breeding behind them. Individual fish stores for hobbyists are more likely to get their fish from responsible breeders and those bettas will have incredible coloring and patterns that you may have never seen before. Keep in mind that many bettas have a little trouble swimming in high flow because of their long fins, and some tankmates are known to fin nip and will damage a betta’s fins. There are betta fish that have more reasonable fin sizes, a fin type called plakat, that are still gorgeous but can swim better than their extremely long-finned relatives. I am absolutely crazy about bettas if you couldn’t tell by the long description.

Goldfish: Goldfish are also extremely hardy fish, much like betta fish, but they might not be for everybody. They produce a lot of waste and can grow to be very large fish even in captivity. The common goldfish can reach 10 inches or more easily and fancy varieties can reach 8 inches or more. Goldfish are closely related to carp, so in the right conditions, they can get up to 2 feet long and weigh up to 6 pounds. Also, it is important to keep in mind that the growth of goldfish varies depending on the type you get, some will naturally stay small while others will continue to grow until their death, so make sure you do your research on the goldfish you want to keep. Both of those aspects mean that they need to be kept in large tanks and need heavier filtration to keep them healthy. They are also a long-term investment since most species live for 10-15 years, with some types living up to 30 years with the proper care. They are very beautiful fish and tend to have very goofy temperaments that make them fun to watch. They can be kept on their own or in groups, but the more goldfish you have the bigger the tank they need, especially since they create a heavy bioload for your beneficial bacteria to handle.

Danios: These schooling fish come in all kinds of patterns and colors. Zebra danios have black and white stripes, celestial pearl danios are blue with white spots and red fins and bellies, blue danios are, of course, blue, with gold stripes, Glowlight danios have vibrant gold and red colors on their body with blue or turquoise stripes, etc. Etc. Like the other schooling fish they need to be kept in groups.

Rasboras: Rasboras are very similar to danios in that there is a huge variety of them. Harlequin rasboras are one of the more common types in the hobby due to the fact it is one of the easiest rasboras to take care of. They have a pinkish body with bright orange fins and a black triangular spot on their tails. Another species of rasbora, the chili rasbora, is one of the tiniest fish you can possibly keep in the hobby, their average size only reaching .7 inches. They are bright red with a black, teardrop-shaped spot on their sides. Strawberry rasboras are often mistaken for chili rasboras, but they have a round black spot on their sides and a few other spots on their fins. I actually have strawberry rasboras right now, and they are extremely cute. Rasboras are also schooling fish, so they should be kept in groups to help them feel safe.

Corydoras Catfish: Also known as corys or cory cats, these peaceful fish are bottom dwellers that come in a lot of different colors and sizes. These fish also like to school, so are best kept in groups. They are known for their fun temperaments and are also very entertaining to watch as they shuffle through the substrate for food. As catfish they have tiny, delicate whiskers they use to detect their food, and so need softer substrate to avoid getting hurt. Cory cats do need their own food source since they don’t eat algae and won’t eat enough by just scavenging what you other fish didn’t eat. I would definitely recommend these fish as bottom-dwellers rather than plecos (plecostomus) because plecos produce a lot of waste, enough to rival goldfish, which makes them terrible tank cleaners and great tank dirtiers.

Invertebrates:

Don’t forget the invertebrates! They make great bottom dwellers/cleanup crew to help keep your tank clean. In my opinion, they are also extremely underrated in comparison to fish, especially since there is a huge diversity of invertebrates that can add beautiful colors and patterns to your aquarium. Again, keep in mind that your tank mates should be about the same size, or have enough hiding places to avoid predation in your tank, you don’t want your aquatic friends to die off to each other!

Shrimp: I absolutely love keeping shrimp, they are such interesting invertebrates, and I didn’t know that freshwater shrimp existed until maybe a year into my fishkeeping journey. You may also be surprised to hear that, and even more surprised to hear that many freshwater species stay very small, just barely getting over an inch. There are several different species that work better for beginners, such as Amano shrimp which are known for being excellent algae-eaters. Unfortunately, they won’t reproduce in freshwater. Neocaridina davidi is another species that is hardy enough for beginners, and they come in some beautiful colors which exist on a spectrum of vibrancy and opaqueness called a grading system. Their color determines their nickname, cherry shrimp are red, blue dreams are blue, carbon shrimp are black, rili shrimp have a clear stripe in the middle of their bodies, snowball shrimp are clear with a white spot, and yellow, orange, and chocolate are self-explanatory. These shrimp will reproduce in freshwater, and getting a group of five or more will be most likely to help you start a colony of your own. You don’t need to worry too much about having too many shrimp since they have such a small bioload. Dwarf crayfish and bamboo shrimp are larger, but similarly easy to care for, just make sure your fish are big enough to avoid getting eaten by the crayfish! Bamboo shrimp won’t have the same problem, though, since they eat microorganisms through the hair-like fans on their forearms. There are plenty of other crayfish and even crabs that are also easy enough to take care of for beginners, but I won’t talk too much about them since I don’t really have much experience with them.

Snails: Snails are another wonderful invertebrate to keep in your tank, and they come in a lot of different colors and patterns as well. They are excellent at cleaning up algae and leftover food and will even clean up leaves from plants that are melting back. Just be careful since some snails are known to be prolific and can create infestations that are hard to get rid of (unless you have access to assassin snails, which eat other snails over time) and some species will eat your plants if they have them, so do your research. Nerite snails are popular for this very reason since their eggs won’t hatch in freshwater, and they have reddish-brown shells with very interesting patterns, some even have horned shells. They grow to be about .5-1.5 in or 1.3-3.8 cm, and are prone to escaping, so it’s helpful to have a lid. Sometimes tiny snails or snail eggs will hitchhike on aquatic plants, so you might find some bladder and pond snails spontaneously showing up in your tank. Some people consider these snails pests, but regardless it’s undeniable that all snails are excellent algae-eaters, and these ones stay small(.5-1.5 in/1.3-3.8 cm). Ramshorn snails are similar to bladder snails, but get bigger (1-2 in/2.5-5 cm)and come in pastel colors, they will reproduce in freshwater. Mystery snails get even bigger (2-2.5 in/5-6 cm) and come in a variety of colors. Unlike a lot of other large snails, these guys don’t eat your plants, and require both a male and female snail to reproduce in freshwater, and since their eggs are relatively large, it's not difficult to manage their population. There are many other snails that are great for beginners, but I’ll leave the list here for now. Make sure that your tank has enough algae for these herbivores, or they might starve. You can also supplement their diet with algae wafers if necessary.

Resources:

There are a few YouTube channels that taught me a lot of interesting fishkeeping techniques and showed me some of the passion that hobbyists have for fishkeeping. I highly recommend you take a look at these channels since they will help those visual learners and will show everyone just how beautiful it can be to have these miniature ecosystems in your home. All of these channels are exclusively for freshwater aquariums as well and have been in the hobby for several years, so have a lot of experience with taking care of fish.

MD Fish Tanks: This guy is one of the most passionate hobbyists I have ever seen and is the king of low-tech aquarium setups. He is overall extremely artistic with his arrangement of plants and hardscapes, and it is wonderful to see him get so excited about every setup he does. It helps that I really love his accent as well. Watching his creative process has helped me put together some amazing-looking tanks, and he has made a plethora of videos about how to make self-sustaining ecosystems and how to improve your aquascaping abilities.

Aquarium Co-op: Aquarium Co-op is probably the most well-known YouTube channel in the hobby. Not only is it a channel, but it is a physical store in Edmonds, Washington that sells tropical fish and plants, and it has an online storefront where you can buy plants and equipment for aquarium care. Cory McElroy is the owner and the face of the whole thing, and his videos are thorough and informative. He offers a ton of tutorials and guides for beginners and even has a video explaining the nitrogen cycle in fish tanks in greater detail than I did. He collaborates often with other creators and overall makes very wholesome content.

Prime Time Aquatics: This channel is run by Jason and his wife Joanna, who are both amazing people. They have some excellent advice that comes from their decades of experience in the hobby. Their videos share advice about breeding and caring for fish, and they have an excellent series of videos on money-saving tips for fishkeepers. They also share a lot of varied setups for a huge variety of fish and invertebrates, and Joanna has multiple videos about viable micro aquarium setups, which I haven’t really seen in many other places.

Foo The Flowerhorn: This channel doesn’t include any dialogue, or really any tutorials, but they make videos about their process of setting up their aquariums and maintenance videos, all set to peaceful music. It is a great way to see a lot of fish behaviors since the videos often feature feeding the fish and observing how they interact with the other organisms they live with. Overall, just a chill time.

Fish For Thought: This channel is run by Chris Wang, a conservation biologist who has a few general guides and species profiles that are very helpful, and who offers a lot of good advice. Some of his most popular videos are his fish tank reviews, where he looks online at a lot of various tank setups and critiques them. He has a great community, and you can even send a picture of your own setup for him to potentially review in one of his videos. He’s a pretty funny guy that makes a lot of entertaining fish-related content.

Debunking Myths

This section will be dedicated to debunking a few myths and misconceptions that still stick around and explaining why these myths are wrong.

Myth: Goldfish don’t need a large tank since they will only grow to the size of the tank they’re in!

Truth: Some goldfish do in fact release a hormone that can limit their growth, but this hormone is one that reduces their appetite so that their growth is stunted. This hormone is a survival tactic for wild fish that find themselves in emergency situations, where outgrowing their environment could kill them. Additionally, not every goldfish produces this hormone, so will keep growing regardless. Your goldfish are not in an emergency situation, so shouldn’t be subjected to a stubborn belief in this myth and to stunted growth and the health problems that can follow.

Another reason that this myth probably still exists is the myth about fish having a very short lifespan, so the goldfish dies before it reaches its full adult size and people think it was fully grown and just died of old age after growing to the size of the tank the fish was in. If you want goldfish, buy a tank that’s appropriate for their size. If you only want to get a small tank, that’s fine, but get fish that will fit comfortably in that size, it isn’t essential that you get a goldfish. Treat your pets right. Some people even think this applies to all fish, which is absolutely untrue for the same reasons, and other fish may be even more prone to stunting, and then physical deformity. Clown loaches, for example, get severely warped spines due to stunting and it makes it extremely difficult for them to swim.

Myth: Goldfish have a 10-second memory

Truth: Goldfish, and pretty much every other fish, actually have a pretty decent memory. Most fish will learn to recognize that you approaching the aquarium means that you’re probably going to feed them, and so will start swimming faster with excitement when they see you. You will gain the trust of your fish over time as they come to recognize that your face outside of the aquarium and your hands in the water aren’t dangerous to them, and more often than not gets them food. This shows that these fish, even goldfish, definitely have much more than a 10-second memory.

Myth: Pet fish are a great way to teach your kids about death and make great first pets to teach them responsibility.

Truth: The only reason this myth came about is because of misinformation and the mistreatment of fish. The fish that die after just a few weeks or months of being taken care of are likely hardy fish that are slowly suffering and dying due to ammonia poisoning or other health problems. It’s not my place to tell people how to raise their kids, but abusing a living thing to teach your kids a lesson that you could just talk them through isn’t great in my opinion. Kids are also absolutely capable of having responsibilities, but taking care of fish is a more complicated process than just throwing some food in a fish bowl every once in a while, and isn’t really a great place to start in my opinion. These are not “just fish,” they are living beings that deserve respect.

Myth: Betta fish live in puddles, so they love fishbowls and small aquariums!

Truth: Betta fish absolutely do not live in puddles, but they do live in shallow water. This myth likely comes from the fact that bettas have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breathe by sipping air from the surface of the water, and so need easy access to their source of oxygen. However, puddles are temporary, tiny bodies of water that are a death sentence to any fish that gets trapped there, since the water will evaporate. Betta fish naturally live in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in shallow freshwater areas such as ponds, rice paddies, marshes, and slow-moving streams. While shallow, these places have a lot of horizontal space, especially in the case of rice paddies, which can extend for miles. Clearly, these bodies of water are not puddles, nor are these complex ecosystems comparable to the tiny .5 to 1-gallon aquariums and fish bowls that betta fish are kept in way too often. Not only that, but betta fish need mental stimulation to avoid getting depressed from boredom, and living in such a small space is about as entertaining as spending your whole life in a single room without any furniture besides a carpet and maybe a bed.

Myth: Fish are boring pets.

Truth: Well, this is mostly a matter of opinion, but I think a lot of people underestimate how interesting fish can be. Some fish can even be extremely intelligent, such as betta fish and parrot cichlids. Some fish can be trained to do tricks like jumping out of the water, and even the fish that can’t learn tricks have interesting behaviors and mannerisms that are fascinating to observe. It was surprising to me how much personality I could see in every fish that I have kept, even being able to differentiate between the fish in a school because of their mannerisms and slight visual differences.

Myth: Tank water should be changed daily

Truth: this can actually be dangerous for your fish since it can cause sudden fluctuations in your water parameters, which fish don’t really handle well. If your tank is properly cycled, you should only need to change your water to maintain the level of nitrates in the water and keep them below 40 ppm. Daily water changes are only necessary in extreme circumstances.

Myth: If I don’t want my fish anymore, I can just release them into the wild.

Truth: Absolutely not. This is the worst possible way to get rid of your fish since you will either be signing their death warrant or releasing an invasive species into your local water system. The best way to get rid of your fish if you don’t want them is to contact the people around you or set up an online ad to rehome them. If all else fails, take them to a live fish store and donate them, but never, ever release your fish into the wild. The very specific exception would be if you were releasing your fish into their natural habitat and they aren’t tank-bred fish, but even then your fish will be exposed to predators and diseases that naturally affect them in the wild that they likely won’t encounter in a well-maintained aquarium.