Page 13 - TBAS-January-2020-1

TBAS January 2020 .................... -13-
Do you need hard or soft water, warm or cold? Maybe this fish needs
a higher pH or lower pH. You can’t mix fish that have very different

water requirements because it is inevitable that someone will be
unhappy.
Does the fish need to be in schools, pairs, harems or alone?
What if you purchase barbs? They like schools and are very unhappy

in pairs and will nip and pick at each other and other fish unless kept
in groups of six of more. Perhaps your male won’t get along with a
single female but needs a harem. These are things you must consider.
Food is not something that many people think of when

considering compatibility, but take, for example, the seahorse.
Seahorse and related pipefish eat only live food and eat it very slowly.
Most fish you keep with them will eat all the food before they get a
chance, even though they won’t harm the seahorses. Don’t mix

vegetable-eaters with live plant tanks. Many fish have special food
requirements so keep this in mind when mixing different kinds of fish.
Activity level and habitat go together. Active fish need swimming
room and many sedate fish need hiding places. Often the very active

fish will make slower fish nervous, but sometimes they are used with
more aggressive fish to distract them from fighting with each other.
And what do YOU want? Do you like fish darting and flashing about
are more sedate, slow movers? Some predators are sedate until food

goes by. Don’t let that fool you. Be sure they fit the other rules too.
This article is meant to provide some guidelines and just because
the fish you pick match all rules doesn’t mean they will all get along.
Sometimes you have to change the tank around or add more fish for

distraction or add more habitats. There will always be exceptions to
the rule and remember each fish has its own personality. Until next
month, keep those fish happy.

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