Keeping Marine Fish
Keeping fish has recently been proven to result in improved health benefits, but its important to do your research and get good advice before setting up an aquarium. Keeping marine fish is a lot easier than it was 5-10 years ago, however a marine fish tank typically requires greater experience and is more costly to set up and maintain than a freshwater equivalent. As such, if you are new to the hobby we encourage you start with a freshwater tank. If you have kept fish before and are setting up a marine tank for the first time, we suggest starting with an easy to keep marine fish such as clownfish which are quite hardy.
Getting Started With Marine Fish Keeping
The release of Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo in 2010 sparked a significant influx of people wanting to keep marine fish, and in particular clownfish as this was the main character of the movie. Will Finding Dory have the same effect on people wanting to keep blue tangs?
Blue tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus) which are the main character to Disney Pixar’s sequel movie have also become popular since the release of Finding Nemo, but tangs are not a fish for those new to the hobby. Tangs require a large tank as they need lots of space to move around and are best suited to an intermediate fish keeper. There is currently no commercial breeding of blue tangs. However, a recent break-through in the production of the Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens), suggests that there will be captive bred blue tangs swimming in our aquariums very soon.
A large proportion of clownfish in the industry are already captive bred, which makes them a good candidate for your first marine tank, but again, we suggest that you keep freshwater fish before embarking on a marine fish tank. Captive bred fish make a great addition to the home aquarium for a variety of reasons and currently there are over 150 marine species that have been successfully bred around the world, which means that the reliance on reefs is decreasing and we look forward to a time when all marine fish will be captive bred.
Follow these links for more information:
Setting up a Marine tank at home
Marine Compatibility Chart
Blue Tang Caresheet