Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Aquariums can be beautiful, but expensive and complicated to maintain. For the beginner, it is highly recommended that you go with freshwater aquariums and fish. While both saltwater and freshwater aquariums require some setup and maintenance, freshwater aquariums are by far the cheaper and easier of the two. All you really need to start with freshwater is a tank, some gravel and/or rocks, light, filter, heater, and thermometer. Fill it with water, let it sit for a few weeks to get a biological filter cycle going, and you are good to go for freshwater fish. And if you choose well, freshwater fish can be just as bright and colorful as their saltwater counterparts.

1. Which Fish Should I Get?

Probably the most common question a freshwater aquarium keep asks is “Which kind of freshwater aquarium fish should I get?”. Freshwater fish come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some can be kept with others, some can’t. Probably the best way to decide is to look around at your local aquarium shop and see what catches your eye. If you don’t see anything you like, the shopkeeper will likely be able to help you in ordering the ones you want. And be sure and find out whether the different species of fish you are considering keeping together are compatible.

Some common choices for beginning freshwater aquariums keepers are cichlids of various types and rainbow fish. Cichlids come in all sorts of colors, and can grow to be quite large (3 feet or so) in the wild. Rainbow fish are from Australia and are usually multicolored and quite pretty. If you want a small fish to round out your tank, a school of 4-5 Neons can fill the role nicely. They never get bigger than large minnow sized, and have almost fluorescent stripes on otherwise clear bodies.

2. Care and Maintenance

With all of these fish, you will need to pay attention to your water PH, which is a measure of how acidic or alkaline it is. Various fish have different comfort levels, and some fish, like the Discus, can actually die if the PH is not precisely maintained.

Watch your temperature, and make sure it is warm or cool enough. A lot of the more colorful freshwater fish come from tropical freshwater, and require warm water to be healthy and happy.



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