Tropical Fish Keeping UK

The much loved Siamese fighting fish, or the betta is a great fish to consider, today we dive into the species to give you some more information. 

So what is in water that will impact our fish? Let's have a look at what's in our water and how it gets there. Why is this important? How can we protect our fish? 

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Want to save some money, and make things healthier for your fish, then have a look around your house for things you can feed to your fish. 

One of my favourite little fish, the guppy is a great addition to the right set up, but all too often they're not kept right, the adults are cheaply bought from the pet store, and no selection on the fry that are born. 

Plants can be an amazing part of any tank, and the hobby of fish keeping, but it can be expensive and intimidating to get into. Here's a way of dipping a toe in the water, and hopefully something that's nice and easy. 

Swimbladder is commonly diagnosed disease, but it doesn't exist. There's a lot more to that word than a simple disorder. 

Community fish? What does that mean, can all community fish live together, or is there more to it/

The first thing you put in, but quite possibly the last thing you think about. Substrate might be the biggest problem you have or the start of a stunning aquascape. 

Fish welfare lags far behind every other types of welfare, and today when I'm feeling rotten after taking a wolfhound to the chest, it's something I can chat about. 

Ammonia is deadly. Nitrites are Deadly. But Nitrate is safe right, no afraid not, but what can you do? 

Which is the most important, quick results or fish welfare. 

With Florida looking to introduce white lists I have a ramble on about what this could mean, and what this means for our hobby. 

A gill-bearing aquatic animal right? Not really there's a load of fish that don't obey the rules. 

In 1976 the Royal Aquarium opened, the fact they didn't have any fish seems to be the least of their issues, dead whales, serial killers, and so much more. 

What is a fish? An aquatic animal with gills, but what if they decide to climb out of water, which species do this, and why?

Sorry I dove into the science, and I may have gone too far, but there's a fair bit here that you need to know about your tank, and what's going on. 

Some fish live in the extremes, so why can't modern day fish start the adaptation to living in warmer waters that dry up seasonally. 

We tend to rant about how bad genetic modification is, and these fish are illegal in many countries, but are they the worst thing in the hobby?

You bring a new fish home, is it safe and healthy to go into your tank? How do you prevent an expensive mistake?

BBC Earths' new video on the Impact of Keeping Exotic Fish, under the Dan O'Neill Investigates banner sets out to make fish keeping sound like a dark web trade that is driving species to extinction. Can you imagine my response, well imagine no longer as here are my thoughts, I got a little angry at the end. 

Should we all be buying captive-bred fish, or should we be putting wild caught into our tanks? Are we driving fish to extinction, or is captive farms industrial nightmares for fish? The topic isn't straightforward and it is contentious, and as ever I have my opinions. 

Are fish considered lucky? What stories do we tell. I couldn't resist heading towards Loch Ness to discuss the fish of legend. 

Sorry for the depressing topic, but a bad news day got me thinking. How many people have a plan in case the worst should happen. What happens to your fish if suddenly you can't be there for them. 

It's getting expensive in all walks of life, and fish keeping is no exception, here are 5 areas to look at to save money, avoiding buying things you don't need, and wasting money on false economy. 

It's not as easy as buying a pot of flake and sprinkling in as much as they will eat in 3 minutes any more. 

But how far will we go in terms of welfare and care, what will we think of our care in another 50 years. A quick look at where fish keeping started, and where we are today. 

In 2003 the Tequila Splitfin was extinct in the wild, but since then a team at Michoacán University of Mexico, with brood stock from Chester Zoo, and help from their team, have reintroduced 1500 to springs in the Teuchitlán River in the state of Jalisco in south west Mexico. Against all the odds they seem to be thriving. 

Want to support us and keep this podcast going? 

https://www.patreon.com/tropicalfishkeepinguk

Every little helps, and I'm starting to up load the real rants over there ;) 

Want to support freshwater conservation?

https://www.chesterzoo.org/news/preventing-extinction-in-mexico/

https://shoalconservation.org/

https://freshwaterlifeproject.org/

 Neon tetras, evolved to confuse predators with their mirror silver sides, and to show off to others of their own kind with the stunning blue and red stripes. One of the prettiest fish you can imagine, but so often kept in conditions they haven't evolved in. 

 Normally susceptible to disease if you choose your stock carefully and keep them in the right conditions, you have a great fish. 

What's wrong with picking any fish we like, there's quite a bit, and trust me I'll go into the whys and whats, plus the time I almost got eaten by a shark. 

So we often say that the hobby can help in conservation world wide, but does it? How can we help? 

Buying baby fish is a part of fish keeping, but do we think about the adult size? It's a crucial part of fish keeping that seems to be over looked. 

I've decided that fish store staff must be saints. Here are a round up of stories that staff have shared with me today. I'm not sure I wanted to hear all the issues they face. I think I need to go and try and forget that humans exist. 

The first of the daily podcasts, with news, info, and the usual rants when I get on to a favourite topic or two. It's not all about keeping fish, but stuff that might interest fish keepers. 

A daily round up of the stories I've come across, science info, and things about fish keeping that I think you might be interested in. 

 Today we look at who I am, some fishy news, and why today is an important anniversary for Tropical Fish Keeping UK.