Stocking

All animals have particulαrities; fish are no exception. To make fish keeping an enjoyable experience aquarists need to understand the needs of their fish and know what to expect from them. Careful planning is always better than subsequent corrective measures so a  good point to start is to identify fish properly and find out about their behaviour in different tank environments before stocking a tank.  Proper stocking also requires  a good understanding of the genetic background of our fish; it is  crucial to know the strain of fish we keep if we are to avoid hybridization. 

When considering stocking we mostly look at the characteristics of a species. More often than not we forget that fish are individuals and as such their behaviour tends to vary. This is more evident with some fish, e.g. the guapotes, but it is true of all. Here we discuss issues related to stocking; the more we know about the background of our fish and the experiences other hobbyists had the better equipped we are to stock our tanks properly and take good care of the inhabitants. 

Photo by George J. Reclos.