The vast array of tropical freshwater fish we hold on our section could make choosing the correct species a confusing task, however at Shirley Aquatics we have tried to make this job as easy as possible by incorporating a simple traffic light system. This system is broken down into three categories:
Green – Community species. E.g. guppies
Yellow – Medium to large species that are or can become aggressive towards smaller species. E.g. cichlids
Red – Solitary species that have to be kept with their own kind or by themselves due to their aggressive nature. E.g. Piranhas
Every species of tropical fish we carry in stock is classified with our own traffic light system that can be easily located on each aquarium. For example if it’s a small community aquarium we would recommend customers to choose green labelled species only. Although most species of green labelled fish can mix quite happily there are a couple of exceptions e.g. Serpae Tetras are classed as community fish but can be fairly nippy therefore we would not recommend these to be put with slow moving long finned species. The best way to avoid these types of problems is by learning about each species in more detail this can be done by purchasing one of our many helpful books. The one we recommend is “The bumper book of tropical aquarium fishes” compiled by Dick Mills.
