How to Add New Fish to Your Aquarium

For the fishes to live comfortably in your aquarium, in addition to the safety tests on water, there are certain other things to consider. By just adding some colorful fishes to your aquarium and providing food it would not assure a healthy environment for the fishes.

When new fishes are added to the aquarium or combinations of fishes are bought, it is important to check their compatibility. When incompatible fishes are mixed together, the weaker ones may end up getting eaten by predatory fishes. It is important to ensure that the fishes are almost the same size, to avoid the bigger fishes eating up the smaller ones. Also check the sizes the fishes may grow to when they mature to avoid stress among the fishes that dwell in the same aquarium.

To understand the compatibility among fishes, it is important to research the attitudes and nature of each fish so that smooth transition is sustained amongst them. Some fishes are community fishes that can get along with other breeds of fishes, and some can eat the same foods and plants, making them easier to be maintained together. Each fish breed has their own level of preferences and sensitivity over the quality of water in terms of hardness or temperature of water. Such facts have to be understood well in advance before choosing the fishes.

The behaviors of the fishes are so distinguished and interesting. For instance, some would prefer to be alone and would scare off fishes of same size, shape, color or even species. There are known as territorial fishes and examples are damselfish and toadfish. Some fishes such as goatfish and blue damsel go after slower fishes and they are called spirited fishes. Some others such as swordtail or guppy do not disturb others and called peaceful fishes.

The aggressive fish must be with other large and active fishes only. Even a mildly aggressive fish would tend to bully the slow and shy fish and wouldn’t live well with them. Some aggressive fishes even target those that are vulnerable such as the green chromis damsel or an angler. Aggressive fishes may be peaceful when young and later grow quite aggressive, so it is important not to add them with vulnerable or smaller fish.

Some fishes such as blennyfish or harlequin basslet are known as hardy fish since these are resistant to several diseases and so the water quality or condition doesn’t matter much for them. Fishes such as regal angel or flagfin angel are quite sensitive to the water quality and easily susceptible to diseases and hence known as touchy fish. A moderately hardy fishes can be ideal for your aquarium.

The eating habits of the fishes should also be considered for a healthy aquarium. Fishes that eat other smaller fishes are carnivorous fishes such as anthias or anglers are not suitable for a community aquarium. Whereas the herbivorous fishes such as angelfish or a tangfish eats vegetables and need to be fed only vegetables and may not be easy to maintain in a tank with mixed types of fishes.

To maintain peace and harmony among the fishes, it is important to understand the nature of fish breeds failing which you will constantly have to rescue the fishes that are constantly being bullied. You may discuss with the local pet store staff about the fishes that are suitable for a community environment before starting to add fishes to your aquarium.

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