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Not to long ago the only places you could see marine fishes were public aquariums, but not any more, now you can have these beautiful fish in your own home. With todays technology, you can keep salt-water fish alive and healthy in a tank of water in your house! In recent times, we have seen these beautiful fish on television from around the world, and this has caused an upsurge in interest in keeping marine fishes in the home aquarium. Initially the fishes were prohibitively expensive due to high freight charges and the low number of fish that got to their location alive and in good health. However, that all changed with the introduction of mass air transportation and new technology in the container fields. Both helped enormously in ensuring that a much higher proportion of fishes arrived at their destination healthy.
To answer the question why keep marine fishes? is not hard to find. Its because the fish are so beautiful and graceful that you want to be able to see them whenever you wish. However, there are other reasons also, especially if you are already a fish-keeper. You may have started keeping fresh water fish and then onto tropical as your interests grew. You may also see keeping marine fishes as a continuing challenge to your fish- keeping skills.
There is also pride in being able to keep marine fishes in the home aquarium. On the other hand you may you may want to keep fish simply because you enjoy them and their beauty. Marine fish keeping is a much more complex and technical subject than freshwater fish keeping. Because all marine fishes are imported and not bread in captivity, they are much more expensive. One of the fascinations of keeping marine fishes is that, because it is a relatively new hobby, there is still much to be discovered about this hobby. This hobby takes dedication and persistence to become good at it.
The following is a brief description on how to get started with a fish tank of your own; there is a wide range of marine animals that can be kept in an aquarium. There is not only the fish but there are invertebrates that are sometimes necessary to keep with certain fish. The choice of fish for the fish tank is very wide; some are very expensive others are not. But you have to be careful when stocking the aquarium because they dont always get along with each other, the fish's normal habitat is well-lit and well-oxygenated, so you have to be careful of over crowding. Most fish are territorial and will defend their territory viscously if they feel threatened. This means that the environment needed for the animals to live has to be more closely monitored and the equipment and supplies used can be more expensive.
If the time and finances aren't spent on your aquarium, the result will be dead fish and corals and a frustrated hobbyist. The time investment in a reef aquarium can be substantial, especially during the first few months. Be prepared to devote as much as thirty minutes per day to your new reef. After the first six months or so, this time commitment will drop off, but will probably still be as much as an hour or two per week. Many aquarist's can get by with less of a time commitment, and you might be one of them, but be prepared. Another time commitment you should be willing to make is in research.
Don't expect to set your tank up, start plopping in some fish and corals, and be successful. You will need to constantly be adding to your knowledge, through books and the internet. Using the term research might sound a little intimidating, but most reef keepers enjoy this part of the hobby almost as much as the aquarium itself. Financial investment in a reef aquarium can vary from as little as a couple of hundred dollars for a small mini-reef, to several thousand for a large tank. Be sure to find out how much everything will cost before running down to the store and buying a large tank that you might not be able to support. In addition to the cost of initially setting up a tank, be prepared for the "hidden" costs.
The supplies you will be buying on a regular basis, the additional electricity costs associated with high-powered lights and of course the cost of stocking your tank with animals should all be considered. Any reef aquarium hobbyist should have more than a passing interest in the conservation of the world's reefs. There are numerous man-made causes of the loss of coral reefs, and unfortunately, one of them is the aquarium trade. This may be minimal compared to pollution and other problems, but it is not insignificant.
Buy captive raised livestock whenever possible. It amazes me that someone would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a lighting system, yet choose a wild caught coral over a captive raised one to save five dollars. Keep in mind that captive raised livestock are often hardier and do better in the aquarium. Ask your dealer where he gets his livestock and if he has any idea if the wholesaler purchases fish collected with cyanide. Make a diligent effort to avoid purchasing anything collected with cyanide. Don't buy anything unless you are reasonably sure you can keep it alive and well.
Do not buy anything until you have researched its needs thoroughly and are sure you can meet them. Many fish and corals offered for sale have horrible success rates in home aquariums and are better left in the wild. Keeping a reef aquarium should be a benefit to natural reefs instead of the other way around. If you develop your tank ethically, you and those who see your tank will be educated in the beauty and delicacy of these animals and, hopefully, the need to save our reefs.
Follow the above steps and you are on your way to diminishing the problem. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Captive Raised Livestock Keeping Marine Fishes Fish
