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The right fish

Nurture your aquarium with restraint and avoid giving in to overkill

JUST RIGHT Avoid overfeeding the fish

"My fish keep dying every few days." "My fish keep fighting." "My fish eat up all the expensive plants." These are some of the groans of amateur aquarists. No one reason for the litany of problems but ignorance is not bliss when it comes to keeping fish.

Most beginning aquarists overfeed their fish killing them with their love. In the wild, fish have to be greedy to survive, but when kept in an aquarium they should be fed only once or twice a day with enough feed that they can finish in five minutes. Anything less, they will be fine, anything more, they will float belly up. Just like humans, all fish are not born equal. Some are born to fight. The Siamese fighter painfully kept in 500-ml bottles is what its name suggests. Some fishes are friendly, some aren't. Some need to be kept in pairs, some in groups and some singly. Ask your pet shop vendor to tell you how to keep them and you will avoid the nip, nibble and chase your neighbour game in your glassbox.

Plants cost as much as fish. Fish tug at roots of plants only when they are bored or when they are goldfish or carps.

Some fish are omnivorous meaning they will eat everything in the aquarium, but set up a habit of feeding them and hopefully you would have weaned them for life from eating plants. Hopefully.

SERISH NANISETTI

Next week: Water

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