Welcome To My Newsletter Series. In this newsletter letter series I will provide you with information about keeping tropical fish. The information contained in the newsletter comes from my passed experiences while working with fish, conversations I've had with friends and other tropical fish lovers, as well as knowledge I gain while researching material to write the book. So as you can see that the content comes from a number of sources, which I think make for a well rounded newsletter series.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends who maybe interested in tropical fish keeping as well.
UNDERSTANDING FISH BEHAVIOR
Without doubt, freshwater fish have distinct personalities and behaviors. Some fish are very comical, some territorial, and some suspicious, Combing fish is an excellent way to enjoy a variety of behaviors, although you always want to ensure the species get along. Take the Beta fish for example, two will fight to the death. However, most fish do quite well together.
As you maintain your freshwater aquarium, you will soon discover just how wonderful different fish are. Although most people start keeping fish as a hobby, we soon find out that some fish love attention, others hide, some are grumpy, some happy, some active, and some quiet. These behavioral traits are just a part of the reason we find fish so fascinating. Just as with human beings, fish have very special characteristics, each unique. Learning these different behaviors of fish is not only beneficial in keeping them but also fascinating to watch and enjoy.
Most often, people buy fish to enhance the home, kind of an animated decoration that is colorful and alive. Unfortunately, we see many people adding fish without taking time to understand the behaviors, which often have to do directly with compatibility or lack thereof. For this reason, you need to determine which fish work best together so you do not end up with injured, sick, or even dead fish. As an example, Angelfish are aggressive and territorial. This behavior is their natural way. Therefore, if you were to add several Angelfish to the same tank, you would find not just the Angelfish but also other less aggressive species being beaten up or killed.
Learning the behaviors so you understand the compatibility is what will create a happy, healthy aquarium that the fish and you will appreciate. Another example is placing Goldfish with a small Black Moor. While you would generally expect the Goldfish to become bullies toward the smaller Moor, the truth is that the Moor’s natural behavior is to pick on the Goldfish. Although not much damage would be done, you might find the Goldfish and other fish in the tank becoming stressed by the Moor’s behavior, which can then lead to illness and ultimately, death.
As you become more and more involved and experienced in fish keeping, you will begin to discover that the environment has a strong effect on the fishes’ behavior as well. For instance, if your fish aquarium is overcrowded, but you keep docile fish, even those fish will turn aggressive because there are too many sharing the same space. The same is true if you do not feed the fish enough. When they are constantly hungry, they will change a normal quiet, peaceful behavior into one that is aggressive and mean. Therefore, in addition to understanding the normal behavior of the fish, you also need to understand how behavior can change based on the tank’s environment.
The best rule of thumb regarding fish behavior is that the bigger, longer lived fish, the more behavior is involved. For instance, Oscars can easily be taught to come to the water’s surface to have their back or belly rubbed. Even Goldfish can be trained to eat food directly out of your hand. In other words, as you spend time with your fish, even your actions can have an affect on the fishes’ behavior. Take time to get to know your fish, learning their natural behavior, as well as the ways in which behaviors can be affected.
I hope you enjoyed this article and look forward to the next article which looks at choosing Cichlids.
Until next time...
Katy
www.kingdomofpets.com/tropicalfish
If you are really serious about learning more about keeping tropical fish, Click Here to order my Book and DVD set. Let me guide you through it all!
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