Fishkeeping is a popular
hobby concerned with keeping
fish in the home
aquarium or garden
pond.
Types of fishkeeping
The hobby can be broadly divided into three specific
disciplines,
freshwater, brackish, and marine (also called saltwater) fishkeeping.
Freshwater fishkeeping is by far the most popular branch
of the hobby, with even small pet stores often selling a
variety of freshwater fish, such as
goldfish, guppies, and angelfish. While most freshwater aquaria are set up as
community tanks containing a variety of peaceful
species, many aquarists keep single-species aquaria with a
view to breeding.
Livebearing fish such as mollies and guppies are among
the species that are most easily raised in captivity, but
aquarists also regularly breed numerous other species,
including many types of
cichlid,
catfish,
characin, and killifish.
A freshwater aquarium.
Marine aquaria are generally more difficult to
maintain and the livestock is significantly more expensive,
and as a result this branch of the hobby tends to attract
more experienced fishkeepers. However, marine aquaria can be
exceedingly beautiful, due to the attractive colours and
shapes of the corals and coral reef fish kept in them.
Temperate zone marine fish are not as commonly kept in home
aquaria, primarily because they do not do well at room
temperature. An aquarium containing these coldwater species
usually needs to be either located in a cool room (such as
an unheated basement) or else chilled using a refrigeration
device known as a 'chiller'.
Brackish water aquaria combine elements of both
marine and freshwater fishkeeping, reflecting the fact that
these aquaria contain water with a salinity in between that
of freshwater and seawater. Fish kept in brackish water
aquaria come from habitats with varying salinity, such as
mangroves and estuaries and do not do well if permanently
kept in freshwater aquaria. Although brackish water aquaria
are not overly familiar to newcomers to the hobby, a
surprising number of species prefer brackish water
conditions, including the mollies, many gobies, some
pufferfish, monos, scats, and virtually all the freshwater
soles.
Fishkeepers are often known as aquarists, since
many of them are not solely interested in keeping fish. Many
fishkeepers create freshwater aquaria where the focus is on
the aquatic plants rather than on the fish. Though known as
the 'Dutch Aquarium' in some circles, in reference to the
pioneering work carried out by European aquarists in
designing these sorts of aquaria. In recent years, one of
the most active advocates of the heavily planted aquarium is
the Japanese aquarist Takashi Amano. Marine aquarists very
often attempt to recreate the coral reef in their aquaria
using large quantities of living rock, porous calcareous
rocks encrusted with algae, sponges, worms, and other small
marine organisms. Larger corals as well as shrimps, crabs,
echinoderms, and molluscs are added later on, once the
aquarium has matured, as well as a variety of small fish.
Such aquaria are sometimes called 'reef tanks'.
Garden ponds are in some ways similar to freshwater
aquaria, but are usually much larger and exposed to the
ambient climatic conditions. In the tropics, tropical fish
can be kept in garden ponds, but in the cooler regions
temperate zone species such as goldfish, koi, and orfe are kept instead.
The origins of fishkeeping
Fish have been raised as food in pools and ponds for
thousands of years. In Medieval Europe,
carp pools were a standard feature of estates and
monasteries, providing an alternative to meat on feast days
when meat could not be eaten for religious reasons.
Similarly, throughout Asia there is a long history of
stocking rice paddies with freshwater fish suitable for eating,
including various types of catfish and cyprinid.
Particularly brightly coloured or tame specimens of fish in
these pools have sometimes been valued as pets rather than
food, and some of these have given rise to completely
domesticated varieties, most notably the goldfish and the
koi carp, which have their origins in China and Japan
respectively.
Marine fish have been similarly valued for centuries, and
many wealthy Romans kept lampreys and other fish in salt
water pools. Cicero reports that the advocate Quintus
Hortensius wept when a favoured specimen died, while
Tertullian reports that Asinius Celer paid 8000 sesterces
for a particularly fine mullet.[1]
Modern fishkeeping
Although some tropical fish were kept in gas-heated tanks
in
Victorian times, tropical fishkeeping only really became
popular from the 1930s onwards when devices like electric
heaters and inexpensive glass aquaria became available. Air
transportation has also made it possible for fish to be
imported from many parts of the world rapidly and
inexpensively. As a result, aquarists are routinely offered
large numbers of freshwater fish collected from South
America, South East Asia, and East Africa. However, the
majority of freshwater fish sold to aquarists are
commercially bred, primarily in South East Asia and Florida.
Marine fish are not easily bred in captivity, and only a
few species, most notably
seahorses and clownfish are farm-raised. Most are collected from coral
reefs, in particular from South East Asia, the Red Sea, and
the Caribbean.
The Fishkeeping Industry
Worldwide, the fishkeeping hobby is a multi-million
dollar industry, and the United States is considered the
largest market in the world, followed by Europe and Japan.
In 1994, 56% of U.S. households had pets, and 10.6% owned
ornamental freshwater or saltwater fish, with an average of
8.8 fish per household. In 1993, the retail value of the
fish hobby in the United States was $910
million.
From
1989 to 1992, almost 79% of all U.S. ornamental fish imports
arrived from Southeast Asia and Japan. Singapore, Thailand,
the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia were the top five
exporting nations. South America was the second largest
exporting region, accounting for 14% of the total annual
value. Colombia, Brazil, and Peru were the major suppliers. The remaining 7% of
ornamental fish imports came from other regions of the
world.
Approximately 201 million fish worth $44.7 million were
imported into the United States in 1992. These fish
comprised 1,539 different
species; 730 freshwater species, and 809 saltwater species.
The freshwater fish accounted for approximately 96% of the
total volume and 80% of the total import value. Of the total
of all trade, only 32 species had import values over
$10,000. These top species were all of freshwater origin and
accounted for 58% of the total imported value of the fish.
The top imported species are the guppy, neon tetra, platy,
betta, Chinese algae eater, and goldfish.
Several large companies are focused primarily or
extensively on supplying the fishkeeping hobby, producing
products such as fish food, medicine, and aquarium hardware.
Among the largest of these are Eheim, Tetra, Sera, all based
in Germany; Hikari, a Japanese company; Fluval, part of the
Canadian Rolf C. Hagen group; Interpet, a British company
that also owns the Red Sea brand; and the American company
Aquarian, owned by Mars, Incorporated but usually trading under the Waltham
petfoods brand.
Fish breeding
Fish breeding is a challenge that many aquarists find
attractive. While some species reproduce freely in community
tanks, most require special conditions, known as
spawning triggers before they will breed. The majority of
fish lay eggs, known as spawning and the juvenile fish that
emerge are very small and need tiny live foods or their
substitutes to survive. A fair number of popular aquarium
fish are livebearers, and these fish produce small number of
relatively large offspring, and these will usually take
ground flake food straight away (see article on livebearing
aquarium fish).
Conservation and science
According to the
FAO,
at least 90% of freshwater aquarium fish are captive bred
[2]. Nearly all marine ornamental fish are wild-caught
[3]. Fish are collected from the wild could provide a
valuable source of income for people in regions where other
high-value
exports may be lacking
[4]. Catching fish in the wild could also reduce their
population sizes, placing them in danger.
In theory, wild fish should be a good example of a
renewable resource that places value on maintaining the
integrity and diversity of the natural habitat: more and
better fish can be exported from clean, pristine aquatic
habitat than one that has been polluted or otherwise
degraded. However, this has not been the case with
industries such as fur trapping, logging, or fishing where a
similar situation existed. Historically, wild resources have
tended to be overexploited rather than managed (see Tragedy
of the Commons). Moreover, in places where collecting for
aquaria is very intensive, there is good evidence that
collecting can result in a decline in fish populations. A
particular notorious example is to be found on the
Philippines, where overfishing and the widespread use of
cyanide to stun the fish has caused a drastic decline in
the diversity of the coral reef fish considered most
desirable by aquarists
[5].
On the other hand, breeding programs by aquarists have
helped to preserve species that have become rare or extinct
in the wild, most notably among the
Lake Victoria cichlids. Some species of aquarium fish have
also become important as laboratory animals, with cichlids
and poecilids being especially important for studies on
learning, mating, and social behaviour. Aquarists also
observe a large number of fishes not otherwise studied, and
thereby provide valuable data on the ecology and behaviour
of many species.
Animal Welfare
At its best, a properly maintained aquarium allows the
fish to socialise with their own kind and in many cases
breed successfully. This is in marked contrast to the
conditions enjoyed by larger animals like
cats and
dogs,
which are often kept alone and
neutered, and thus unable to experience anything like a
natural lifestyle. However, in many cases fish are
maintained in the wrong conditions and therefore live short
lives and never breed. Inexperienced aquarists often attempt
to keep too many fish in their tanks, or introduce too many
fish into an immature aquarium, with the result that large
numbers of fish sicken and die. This has given the hobby a
bad reputation among some animal welfare groups, such as
PETA, for treating aquarium fish as nothing more than
cheap toys that are simply replaced when they die
[6].
Marine fish in particular tend to be less resilient
during transportation than freshwater fish, and relatively
large numbers of them die before they are finally sold to
the aquarist. Although the trade in marine fish and corals
for aquaria probably represents a minor threat to coral
reefs when compared with habitat destruction, fishing for
food, and climate change, it is a booming trade and may be a
serious problem in specific locations such as the
Philippines and Indonesia where most of the collecting is
done
[7],
[8].
Goldfish and
bettas in particular have often been kept in cramped
bowls or aquaria that are really far too small for their
needs
[9]. In some cases fish have been installed in all sorts
of inappropriate objects such as the AquaBabies Micro
Aquaria, Bubble Gear Bubble Bag and Betta in a
Vase, all of which contain live fish housed in
unfiltered and entirely too small quantities of water
[10],
[11]. The Betta in a Vase is sometimes marketed
as a complete ecosystem if a plant is included in the neck
of the vase, some sellers claiming the fish will eat the
roots of the plant. However,
bettas are carnivorous and need to be fed live food or
pellet foods as they cannot survive on plant roots. Another
problem is if the plant blocks the bettas passage to the
water surface, as they are labyrinth fishes, and need to be
able to take breaths at the surface of the water or else
they will die from suffocation. These types of products are
not really aimed at aquarists but rather at people looking
for a novelty gift, and in fact most aquarists abhor them.
Similarly, the awarding of goldfish as prizes at funfairs is traditional in many parts of the world, but
has been criticised by aquarists and animal welfare
charities alike as cruel and irresponsible, and giving away
live-animal prizes such as goldfish was made illegal in the
UK in 2004
[12].
Controversy
Modifying fish to make them more attractive as pets is an
increasingly divisive issue. Historically, artificially
dyeing fish was fairly common, with
glassfish for example being injected with fluorescent dyes.
The major British fishkeeping magazine, Practical
Fishkeeping, has been effective in its
campaign to remove these fish from the market by educating
retailers and aquarists to the cruelty and health risks
involved
[13].
In 2006,
Practical Fishkeeping published an article exposing the
techniques for performing cosmetic surgery on aquarium fish,
without anaesthetia, as described by Singaporean fishkeeping magazine Fish Love Magazine.
The tail is cut off and dye is injected into the body to
make the fish more valuable
[14]. The piece also included the first documented
evidence to demonstrate that
parrot cichlids are dyed through injections of coloured dye.
Practical Fishkeeping also reported in 2006 that suppliers
in Hong Kong were offering a service in which fish could be
tattooed with company logos or messages using a dye laser
[15]. Such fishes have been sold in the UK under the
name of Kaleidoscope gourami and Striped parrot cichlid.
Hybrid fish such as
flowerhorn cichlids and parrot cichlids are highly controversial. Parrot
cichlids in particular have a very unnatural shape that
prevents them from swimming properly and makes it difficult
for them to engage in their normal feeding and social
behaviours. The biggest concern with hybrids is that they
may be bred back with true species, making it difficult for
hobbyists to identify and breed particular species. This is
especially important where hobbyists are conserving species
that are rare or extinct in the wild
[16]. Even within a single species, extreme mutations
have been selected for by some breeders; some of the fancy
goldfish varieties in particular have been criticised for
having features that prevent the fish from swimming, seeing,
or feeding properly. Genetically modified fish like the
glofish are likely to become increasingly available as
well, particularly in the United States
[17],
[18].
Invasive Species
Serious problems can occur when fish originally kept in
ponds or
aquaria are released into the wild. While tropical
species of fish will not live for long in temperate zone
climates, fish released into places with similar climatic
conditions to those that they originally came from can
survive and potentially form viable populations. Species
that have established themselves in place that they are not
native to are called exotic species. Examples of exotic fish
that have become established outside their normal range are
the Asian snakeheads in Hawaii, African walking catfish in
Florida, and goldfish in Australia. Some of these exotic
species can become extremely disruptive preying on, or
competing with, the native fish.
Further reading
- Aquarium Atlas, vol. 1, by
Hans A. Baensch and Rudiger Riehl
ISBN 1890087122
- Brackish Water Fishes, by
Frank Schäfer ISBN 393602782X
- The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by
Robert Fenner (2001) ISBN 1-890087-02-5
- Chapman, F., Sharon
A. Fitz-Coy, Eric M. Thunberg, and Charles M. Adams
(March 1997). "United States of America Trade in
Ornamental Fish". Journal of the World Aquaculture
Society 28 (1): 1-10.
See also
External links
General Information
Specific Fishkeeping Disciplines
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