More Great Community Fish for Your Tropical Aquarium

Tropical fish keeping is a great hobby for kids and adults alike. With a little bit of effort, you can have a beautiful aquarium for many years to come.

With a little bit of planning and maintenance, your tropical fish will thrive. If you are an experienced fish keeper, you might want to try adding live plants to your aquarium. They will be a beautiful addition.

What are Community Fish Anyway?

Community fish are a great way to go for any tropical fish tank. They are called this because they can live peacefully together in a community. Remember that in oceans, lakes and streams, fish eat fish. It's survival of the fittest. So, in order to keep Darwin out of your aquarium, you will have to choose fish which will get along together. For some additional tips on choosing community fish, check out www.associatedcontent.com/article/103887/tips_on_caring_for_tropical_fish_for.html.

Choosing Your Tropical Fish

There are so many breeds to choose from. In general, you will want to keep tropical fish together if they are of similar size and temperament. If you put a very aggressive type fish into your community tank, you make find skeletal remains when you wake up in the morning. That would be a shame.

Take a little bit of time when you are looking for fish in your local pet shop. Often, tropical fish will be grouped together in the store appropriately. If they are not labeled, ask the store employee for more information. Usually, pet shop employees are happy to educate you.

Guppies

Guppies are beautiful fish. They are very peaceful and will do well with other community fish in your fish tank. They are also easy to care for.

Guppies are called live bearers. This means that if left to breed in pairs, they will produce live young (as opposed to eggs). If you decide to keep Guppies, you may want to only keep males. Otherwise, you may be overrun with baby Guppies in not too long a time.

Guppies are fairly small fish and only grow to about one to one and a half inches long. They have wide fancy tails and are quite showy. The male's tail is larger than the female's.

You can find Guppies for your aquarium at almost any pet store which carries tropical fish. They come in a huge variety of colors and patterns, so be sure to take your time to decide which you like best.

Swordtails

Swordtails are another fantastic breed for a community fish tank. They are also easy to care for and peaceful fish. Swordtails, like Guppies, are live bearers. So, if you don't want to have babies in your tropical fish tank, be sure to get a male.

Male Swordtails are easy to identify. They are the ones which grow the sword on the end of their tails. This makes them quite showy.

Sword tails come in many bright colors. They can range from reds to orange to black, white and more. They will make a lovely addition to any tropical aquarium.

Algae Eaters

Many fish tanks will build up some algae over time. A great addition to your ecosystem will then be an algae eater. If you find that your plants and decorations are getting greenish black and grungy, an algae eater may be just what you need.

Just as the name implies, an algae eater will eat algae. Depending on the amount of algae you have built up in your aquarium, you may or may not need to supplement the diet of your algae eater. Chances are that when you first put your algae eater into your fish tank, you will not need to supplement him with additional food. However, once much of the visible algae has been eaten, you may want to feed him sinking algae wafers in small amounts. These are readily available in most pet stores and are geared towards algae eating tropical fish.

Gold algae eaters are a great choice for your tropical fish tank. They have long slim bodies and sucker-like lips. They swill usually remain on the bottom of the fish tank, or hide under logs or decorations. When they come out to feed, they will gracefully glide around the tank from place to place and suck off the algae with those funny lips.

Farlowellas are another great algae eater. They are very long and skinny and can look like a stick from a tree. They don't swim around much, so if you are looking for action, these may not be for you. However, if you have a mature fish tank with peaceful fish and love unusual fish, look for one. They do a great job with algae too.

Maintain Your Fish Tank

Maintaining your fish tank is very important. You must keep the filter media clean and vacuum the bottom every so often in order to keep your fish healthy. For more tips on keeping your tropical aquarium clean and healthy, check out: www.associatedcontent.com/article/109846/maintaining_your_tropical_fish_aquarium.html.

If you are new to tropical fish keeping, you might want to read this article for some advice on how to get started: www.associatedcontent.com/article/109846/maintaining_your_tropical_fish_aquarium.html.

Be sure not to over feed your fish and keep a watchful eye on the water quality. If you follow these few simple rules, you should have a great hobby and beautiful tropical fish.