I have never had much luck with fish. I have had 2 aquariums. One aquarium I had some guppies, shrimp and some other kind of fish. The other aquarium, I had gold fish in it. Gold fish are a pain to take care of. They give off ammonia which clouds the water and stinks. So you have to change the water frequently and wash the side of the aquarium. The other aquarium wasn't too bad. You still had to change the water but not as frequent. The guppies ate their babies so I had put some ferns or green leaf object in the water so the babies could hide there. When the guppies had their babies, only one survived.
I had a friend who had an aquarium that kept it over a vent to her furnace. One day, the aquarium cracked and all the water went into her furnace. She had to replace the furnace. It was a very expensive lesson.
Beta fish are those pretty fish you see in the pet store in a bowl all by themselves. This is cause these fish fight one another. We have one in a small aquarium. We use distilled water when we change the water or add to it. If you use tap water, you have to let it sit a day or so to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Its easier just to get a gallon on distilled water. You have to be careful not to over feed fish, a pinch of food is plenty. The fighting fish doesn't move around too much. There have been plenty of times I thought the fish dead.
'I imagine salt water fish tanks would be a real pain to take care of. The fish are expensive. I've seen some really pretty fish at the pet store that have a pretty price tag too. A fish tank with pretty fish is nice to look at. However, I'd rather see one at the pet store or a doctor's office. I'd hate to pay a lot for a fish and it die soon after you bring it home. After you pick out your fish at the pet store, the store clerk will put the fish in a plastic bag. When you go home, you should float the bag in your aquarium so you get the fish accustomed to the temperature of the water in your aquarium. That way you dont shock the fish.
