Keeping fish in home aquariums has been around since the ancient times, long before the electricity that runs our filters and lights was invented. Aquariums range from the simplest of settings to very elaborate and expensive systems. Tropical fish are the most widely kept fish in our aquariums and originate from the tropical waters of South and Central America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. They are enjoyed for their color, size, ease of keep, and in a lot of cases their exotic patterns.

There are several different categories of tropical fish. These categories include:

Fish keeping is one of the highest ranking hobbies of the world today, coming in only second to that of photography. It is one of the few hobbies that relaxes the hobbyist after a hectic day at work, all the while adding to the décor of any room. It is a great learning tool for the next generation of fish keepers. Fish keeping, whether it's freshwater or saltwater, teaches our children about the different species of fish and how they live and interact with each other, the diseases they contract, and also about different water chemistries. Most importantly though it teaches them just how fragile underwater life is and what measures need to be taken to guarantee that it survives.

Keeping fish is not as difficult as some would believe. For a lot of us we've tried to keep fish as kids or when we were a little older, and failed because we didn't know enough about it. I've even made my share of mistakes when it came to fish, and have seen an uncounted number of them die while in my care during the first few years due to ignorance. I made several excuses for my failure and convinced myself that in order to keep fish happy, healthy, and alive that I needed a degree from some fancy college. Well this couldn't be further from the truth. I went to my local library and did a lot of reading on keeping fish and found out that I was doing everything that I shouldn't be doing. After a short period of time it hit me that fish keeping wasn't as difficult as I was making it out to be, and that it could be a very rewarding experience. I found that with a little care and maintenance fish could live for a long time, and not just a few weeks.

Several years after learning the proper way to keep fish, I was appalled to find out that there were people out there putting our finned friends in 4" x 4" death traps and calling them perfect ecosystems, when in truth nothing can replace Mother Nature. We can come close to what Mother Nature provides for them, but only if we give them the proper foods, room enough to grow, and clean water with which to do it in. If we were to take a look at what happens in a fish's natural habitat, we would find that not only is it extremely large but that it is constantly being cleaned. Although we are unable to do this in our home aquariums we should at least clean them once a week or every two weeks to prevent toxic waste from building up, and not 3-4 times a year as those people with the "Perfect Ecosystems" claim.

A lot of people have gone out and bought the "Perfect Ecosystem" only to find that the fish die within a few days or weeks. One of the biggest excuses that they will make when their fish die is that they just weren't meant to keep fish, and they will give up before they have barely begun. If you were someone that got suckered into buying the "Perfect Ecosystem" or you are contemplating buying your first tank please take the time to look over this site. The information you find here will help you get started on the right foot so that you can enjoy many happy years of fish keeping.

If you have need of further assistance or have questions on more advanced issues, check out Aquarium Hobbyist. They have a wonderful community to answer any questions you may have.

If you wish to contact me, I now have a form that you can fill out separate from my guestbook. Just click on the email link at the bottom of the page. Please be sure to fill out the form in its entirety, if you don't then I will not send you an email.

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