If you've already decided on the fish you want to keep, then click here for advice on what kind of home your fish will need.

This page will help you choose a home first then advise you on the appropriate fish for that home.

2. A Cool Water Aquarium
should have a good external filter to increase the life support system. This makes a Cool Water Aquarium more expensive and more complicated than a Fish Bowl, but a larger variety and larger number of fish can live in a Cool Water Aquarium, and yet it requires no more maintenance than a Fish Bowl.

3. A Warm Water Aquarium
has an aquarium heater and a thermometer, making it more expensive and more complicated than a Cool Water Aquarium. But there is a very large variety of beautiful and interesting Tropical Fish, that can only live in a Warm Water Aquarium.

1. Fish Bowls
Fish Bowls are generally the smallest and least expensive home for fish. Most fish bowls do not have heaters so the water in the fish bowl is at room temperature, and most fish bowls do not have a filter or even bubbling air to increase the water's circulation.

So the life support system in a fish bowl is minimal and there are only a few kinds of fish and other animals that do well in fish bowls.

Goldfish do not do well in fish bowls. Even one small goldfish, if provided with adequate food and care, will soon grow too big for any fish bowl. Click here for more information about Fish Bowls.

One Male Betta or one Female Betta, plus three Ghost Shrimp, one Black Mystery Snail, and a few Live Plants will do well in a one-gallon fish bowl without any extra equipment. Click here for more information about Fish Bowl Kit, and click here for more about Good Fish for Fish Bowls.

2. Cool Water Aquariums
A Cool Water Aquarium is easier to keep than a Fish Bowl. Your Cool Water Aquarium should have an external power filter with a BIO-Wheel. Fish can live in an aquarium without gravel, without a cover, without a light, and without ornaments, but every aquarium should have a good external filter not just an air-stone or bubble-wand. Click here for more information about Cool Water Aquariums.

So the life support system in a Cool Water Aquarium is better and more expensive than in a Fish Bowl. Click here for more information about Cool Water Aquariums.

Fancy Fantail Goldfish, White Clouds, Crabs, Ghost Shrimp, Tadpoles, Mystery Snails, and Live Plants all do well in a cool water aquarium, and all can eat the same food such as TetraFin Flakes. Click here for more about good fish for Cool Water Aquariums.

3. Warm Water Aquariums
A Warm Water Aquarium is more expensive and requires more skill to maintain than a Cool Water Aquarium. The water is usually kept in the temperature range of 78 to 80 degrees F. by an aquarium heater which is adjusted by looking at a small thermometer kept in the aquarium. Click here for more information about Warm Water Aquariums.

The heater and thermometer add to the expense and complexity of the aquarium. The higher temperature makes things happen faster in a Warm Water Aquarium where the fish are usually more active, often more aggressive, and problems occur more frequently and progress faster. Click here for more information about Warm Water Aquariums.

It's easier to start with a fish bowl or a Cool Water Aquarium, then after you've gained some experience, graduate to the increased complexity of a Warm Water Aquarium.

The advantage of a Warm Water Aquarium is the greater variety of fish with increased color, odd shapes, and interesting behaviors. Click here for more information about good fish for Warm Water Aquariums.

4. Fish Ponds
Fish Ponds can vary from half an old whiskey barrel with a plastic liner to huge concrete structures. Click here to see pictures of my Pond in a barrel.

Very rarely do Ponds have a heater but some Ponds do have a filter or a pump with recirculating water that increases the number of fish the Pond can accommodate.

There are two good groups of fish for fish Ponds. The first group includes Pond Comets and Koi, the second group includes Fantails and other Fancy Goldfish.

These two groups are not compatible with each other because the fish in the first group swim faster and are more aggressive than fish in the second group.

Often the fish in the first group eat most of the food and nip the fins of the fish in the second group. Click here for more information about these two groups of Goldfish and some additional information about a third group.

Click here for more information about Ponds and keeping fish in Ponds.