Freshwater Tropical Fish Species for Planted Aquarium

Generally, tropical freshwater fish are found all over the world. The ones kept for home aquariums include wild-caught specimens, single-species individuals born in captivity, some are selectively bred for special physical features such as long fins, or particular colorations such as albino, and others are hybrids of more than one species. In today's aquarium hobby, almost every common tropical freshwater fish has been bred in captivity. Many countries have even set up fish farms, also known as 'aquaculture facilities', in order to avoid depleting fish from their native habitat.

Because of the complementary relationship between fish and plants, an established natural aquarium is usually easier to maintain than other aquarium setups. Fish provide carbon dioxide and nutrients for healthy plant growth. In turn, aquatic plants provide supplementary biological filtration and oxygen to create a clean, healthy environment for fish.

Whatever the choice of freshwater aquarium you plan to set up usually begins with the choice of tropical fish species you would like to keep in it. Besides personal preferences, there are many factors to be taken into consideration - especially if you plan to set up freshwater planted aquarium - fish's adult size, water preferences, feeding habits, compatibility with other species, and more.

There are literally thousands of fish species available in the aquarium hobby and more and more are being discovered. Our goal here is not to show you all of them but provide you with some information of the types of fish and invertebrates we carry. Most of the fish species on our list are suitable for the freshwater aquarium plants and likely to live peacefully with each another.