So how can I choose my first tropical fish or should I need to change my fish tank population? There are many families of tropical fish, cichlids, Chaetodontidae, bottom feeders, Characins, Acanthuridae, labyrinth fish, livebearers and much more. Make sure that your desired animal fits to your aquarium size and choose one. Betta splendens is a good choice; it is very hardy and tolerates species.

In nature, Betta splendens males have shorter fins that those we usually see in pet shops, these are called by the Thai "Plakad" (meaning- "Fighter"), and are used in Thailand for show-fights (just like roosters). The Betta splendens is hardy species and can thrive in low water conditions, though; long-finned strains are more susceptible to high amounts of nitrogen compounds in water and will quickly suffer from fin-rot, dropsy and other diseases. In large tanks these fish need excellent filtration system with low to moderate water flow. If water flow is too strong or direct, the fish will settle in a spot where flow is lowest and will hardly move from it so it should be take care of. When kept in a jar, water should be changed every week- the amount of water changed, depends on the jar's volume the recommendation are 10 %. Some people buy dry leafs of a tree called Ketapang/Indian Almond-tree (Terminalia katappa) and insert them to the fish's jar. It is said to help preventing infectious diseases and getting the fish into breeding-mood. When feeding the betta fish, avoid over-feeding, as these fish tend to gorge itself, which might end up in a bloated fish suffering from deadly incurable Enlarged-leaver.

Another common tropical fish is the Labidochromis caeruleus also known as the yellow lab. The lemon cichlid (Labidochromis caeruleus) is one of the most astonishing Mbuna that exist in the trade, its yellow and black colors along with the fact that it is one of the least aggressive cichlids makes it very popular all over the world. The Labidochromis caeruleus needs at least 20 gallon aquarium.

The Labidochromis caeruleus should kept in large community aquarium with other small Mbuna type fish like the species from the Labeotropheus Melanochromis. Decorate the tank with rocks, woods and other hiding places. These fish prefer hard alkaline water with a fairly high PH. The yellow lab will appreciate water changes on a weekly basis and well filtered water. The yellow lab is an omnivore, in captivity they will accept any food given, flakes, pellet, frozen or live food, they also need green food such as lettuce, cucumber.

The last one but one of my favorites, belongs to the livebearers family, the well known Guppy fish. The guppy is an elongated tropical fish that available in many different colors. The guppy is one of the most popular aquarium fishes all over the world with many standardized varieties. This species offers a large selection of colors with no two fish look alike. It is a small member of the Poeciliidae family (and like all other members of the family, he is livebearer). The most notable characteristic of this group is the presence of a copula-tory organ in males the andropodium or gonopodium, this organ is formed by the anterior rays of the anal fin. It is very easy to distinguish between male and females, Females are dull grey while the males are very colorful and have large fins.

There is nothing special to setup if you want to breed this amazing fish, the only thing you should do is to keep a ratio of one male and three females, the reason you need to bring more than one female for the male not harass the females to the point of exhaustion. Like all livebearers when the female is in pregnant it will develop a dark triangular shaped gravid spot near her anal vent. As the pregnancy advances the gravid spot will get bigger and darker. At the time the fry comes out it is recommended to move them or the parents to another fish tank or else the parents will eat their own fry. These fry can be fed with crushed commercial foods.

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Written by Gavish Rotem using tags: animals, aquarium, family, Fish, fish tank, Pets