Fishkeeping starts with homework

By Marty Metzger
Correspondent

There's something fishy about always-clean pets that offer owners individual personalities, subspecies mega variety and a mesmerizing sense of tranquility. In fact, fishkeepers list benefits of the hobby nearly as prolific as sea life itself.

Fish tanks can occupy small or large spaces in homes, businesses, college dorms, schools and medical offices. Professionals in the latter category claim health benefits, such as lower blood pressures, for waiting patients transfixed by the colorful, graceful finned creatures.

Prior to adding even a small school to an indoor setting, a novice must do homework. Chance Snider owns Happy Tanks, a local service that installs and maintains fresh and saltwater setups. Snider advises potential clients to consider the ultimate size of each fish before beginning. To him, a 10- to 20-gallon tank is small. Average size is about 55 gallons, and large ones contain 125 gallons and up.

A fish common in pet stores, the pacu, is sold while merely 2 to 3 inches long. College students like them for their piranha-like appearance. But, Snider warned, "Pacu grow insanely quickly and large." The tiny creatures, he said, can easily double in size within six months, maturing at 3 or more feet long.

Snider named oscars, which can grow to 12 inches long, and cichlids as two of many types of fish with good personalities.

Bettas, which originated in Japan, once thrived in mud puddles. Hardy bettas tolerate temperature changes and less-than-pristine water quality well, said Snider. He cautioned that individuals must be kept solitary as they'll fight even with their own kind, including the opposite sex. A simple bowl with a plant is an inexpensive (under $30) domain for a betta.

Larger and more complex tank setups vary widely based on number and type of occupants. Besides basic freshwater or saltwater, other tank setup considerations are community or aggressive and living reef.

Lloyd Masters, owner of Jaws & Claws in Fort Collins, said tanks are available in unique shapes, including bow front and hexagonal, and in all sizes, for both fresh and saltwater setups.

"Have patience and do water tests on your tank before you buy fish to put in there," he advised novices. The four basic tests are for ammonia, pH, nitrite and nitrate levels.

Masters said that well water with a high alkaline or pH content might need additives to properly adjust the percentages.

Mark Aine, owner of Town & Country Pet Center in Loveland, cites 34 years in the business. This expertise has resulted in a free help sheet Aine makes available for potential fishkeepers.

"It's insurance that they'll do well," said Aine.

Important information in the handout beneficial in keeping fish alive and well includes a list of subspecies that won't fight if placed in a community environment.

Town & Country also will test, at no charge, water samples brought in to determine quality. Aine said that the two most lethal factors for fish are poor water quality and overfeeding.

Masters suggested a good rule for owners who feed daily is just enough food to be totally consumed in five minutes. He varies his own fishes' diets by alternating Tetramin Tropical Flakes, frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms.

Diversity of fish types is nearly boundless. Town & Country customers, for example, can select specimens from more than 200 freshwater and 50 saltwater varieties, which mature at one-half inch to 2 feet long. These include freshwater guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails and angelfish.

Snider listed triggerfish and tang as rather common saltwater tank inhabitants. He's also worked with octopus and sea horses, both of which have short life spans and are definitely not for beginners.

Additional practical choices for budding fish enthusiasts are gourami, tetra, catfish and algae eaters like the bristle nose. These and numerous other common freshwater fish are each readily available in as many as 10 or more varieties.

When combining types, carefully monitor temperament, size, feeding requirements, lighting, tank size and habitat to keep everyone happily and healthily splashing along.

Snider's Happy Tanks provides the initial setup to customers with monthly contracts. His current clients are 50/50 residential/business. Utility costs average about $5 a month for electricity and water. Most offices find it impractical to train employees to service tanks and, therefore, hire out the maintenance, Snider said.

Successful fish keeping begins with top quality, healthy fish. Although specimens can be bought online, Snider cautioned against the practice for amateurs. For one thing, fish obtained in this sight-unseen manner are flown in and must be quickly picked up at Denver International Airport.

This area's population of fish hobbyists is growing as fast as pacu. One reason, said Snider, is the abundance of California transplants in northern Colorado. These folks want tank setups to remind them of their former ocean-side state.

Fish offer low maintenance (no walking or daily poop to scoop), serenity (no barking, howling, furniture/carpet destruction, digging, runaways, neighbor complaints, indoor potty accidents) and the calming benefits of watching one's finned friends placidly swimming about.