Community tanks are aquaria that are designed to contain more than one species of fish. Most commonly they include a variety species that do not normally occur together in nature, for example angelfish from Brazil, swordtails from Mexico, and gouramis from South East Asia. The aim of such communities is to bring together fish that are compatible in temperament and water requirements, while using their different colours and behaviours to add interest and entertainment value. Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded)* water-dwelling... Binomial name Pterophyllum altum (Pellegrin, 1903) Pterophyllum leopoldi (Gosse, 1963) Pterophyllum scalare (Lichtenstein, 1823) Freshwater angelfish are cichlids that originate around the Amazon River basin with a striking, compressed body shape and long extended dorsal and anal fins. ... Binomial name Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848 The green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii) is a species of freshwater fish in family Poecilidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. ... Genera Belontiinae Belontia Luciocephalus/Trichogastrinae Colisa Ctenops Luciocephalus Parasphaerichthys Polyacanthus Sphaerichthys Trichogaster Macropodinae Betta Macropodus Malpulutta Parosphromenus Pseudosphromenus Trichopsis Osphroneminae Belontia Osphronemus The gouramies are a family Osphronemidae of freshwater perciform fish. ...

Though not usually called community tanks, most marine aquaria fit into this category too, using fish from places as diverse as the Carribean, Red Sea, and western Pacific Ocean. A reef tank or reef aquarium is considered to be one of the most difficult aquarium setups to create and maintain. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ...

Other aquarists prefer communities that represent particular locations, and combine fishes from a certain place with appropriate decorative materials including the right kinds of rocks and plants. The most popular of these geographically correct community tanks are those based around cichlids from the East African Rift Valley lakes of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. An Angelfish is a type of cichlid, and a popular choice for a home aquarium Genera Apistogramma - Dwarf Cichlids Astronotus (Oscars) Boulengerochromis Cichlasoma - American Cichlids Crenicichla Geophagus Hemichromis Parachromis Pseudotropheus Pterophyllum - Freshwater Angelfish Symphysodon - Discus Teleogramma Thorichthys Tilapia Cichlids are a family of perciform fishes. ... Northern section of the Great Rift Valley. ... Fishermen on Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika is a large lake in central Africa (3° 20 to 8° 48 South and from 29° 5 to 31° 15 East). ... Lake Malawi seen from the Space Shuttle. ...

Good community fish

For freshwater community tanks, there are large numbers of species that work well. Most of the livebearers, barbs, tetras, rasboras, danios, and rainbowfish are peaceful, though a few species are fin nippers, most notably tiger barbs and serpae tetras. Angelfish, gouramis, and dwarf catfish (Corydoras) can also work well, though angelfish at least are predatory and will eat very small fish such as neon tetras. Live-bearing aquarium fish, often simply called livebearers are fish that retain the eggs inside the body and give birth to live, free-swimming young. ... Serpae tetras are any of several species of the genus Hyphessobrycon, such as and . ... Common Species Corydoras aeneus Corydoras metae Corydoras paleatus Corydoras panda Corydoras Sterbai Corydoras trilineatus Members of the South American Corydoras genus are popular freshwater aquarium catfish, and are commonly referred to as cory catfish or simply corys. ... Binomial name Paracheirodon innesi (Myers, 1936) The neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) is a freshwater fish of the characin family (family Characidae) of order Characiformes. ...

Notoriously bad community fish include the red tail shark, the sucking loach Gyrinocheilus aymonieri, and many types of cichlid and catfish. These fish are often aggressive and/or predatory, so are best kept in species tanks or in carefully constructed communities with other robust species. An Angelfish is a type of cichlid, and a popular choice for a home aquarium Genera Apistogramma - Dwarf Cichlids Astronotus (Oscars) Boulengerochromis Cichlasoma - American Cichlids Crenicichla Geophagus Hemichromis Parachromis Pseudotropheus Pterophyllum - Freshwater Angelfish Symphysodon - Discus Teleogramma Thorichthys Tilapia Cichlids are a family of perciform fishes. ... Families Akysidae Amblycipitidae Amphiliidae Ariidae Aspredinidae Astroblepidae Auchenipteridae Bagridae Callichthyidae Cetopsidae Chacidae Clariidae Claroteidae Cranoglanididae Diplomystidae Doradidae Hypophthalmidae Ictaluridae Lacantuniidae Loricariidae Malapteruridae Mochokidae Nematogenyidae Pangasiidae Parakysidae Pimelodidae Plotosidae Schilbeidae Scoloplacidae Siluridae Sisoridae Trichomycteridae Catfish (order Siluriformes) are a diverse group of fish. ...

Water chemistry

Most freshwater aquarium fish do well in water that is soft to moderately hard, and has a pH between 6 and 8; the notable exceptions are the Poecilidae such as guppies and mollies, which should generally only be kept in hard, alkaline water. Genera Alfaro Belonesox Brachyrhapis Cnesterodon Gambusia (mosquitofishes) Girardichthys Girardinus Heterandria Heterophallus Jenynsia Limia Micropoecilia Phallichthys Phalloceros Phalloptychus Platypoecilus Poecilia (mollies) Poeciliopsis Priapella Pseudoxiphophorus Quitana Xiphophorus (swordtails, platys) Poeciliidae is a family of fresh-water fishes, which are ovo-viviparous (they give birth to live young; see also live-bearing aquarium... For other uses of this word, see Guppy (disambiguation) Binomial name Poecilia reticulata The guppy, alternatively guppie(Poecilia reticulata) is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. ... Binomial name Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur, 1821) Compatibility: Mollies are nice peaceful fish. ...

Brackish water aquaria are another special case and need their own community tanks. While a few freshwater and marine fish can adapt to brackish water, most cannot [1]. Brackish water is water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as sea water. ...

External Links

• Wet Web Media - A good site for general aquarium information
• Can I Keep It? and More Can I Keep It? Two freeware programs for comparing the compatability of different freshwater fish (Mac/Windows)