Clean water and a good diet are key to keeping healthy fish

Did you know the world's oldest known captive goldfish, Tish, died peacefully at home in 1999 at the age of at least 43?

According to Tish's owner, Peter, he lived to a ripe old age because of a light diet, clean water and never being touched with hands (i.e. using a net).

Although your fish are unlikely to live as long as Tish, there are a few lessons we can learn from Peter's good fish keeping habits.

Light diet: The biggest contributor to the quality of the water your fish live in, is their waste. And the biggest contributor to too much waste is too much food, and too much of the wrong food.

Although some fish, particularly goldfish, will eat just about anything and at any time, just like humans a balance diet is crucial to their health. Feed your fish sparingly, no more than twice per day, and always feed them the best food available. This will reduce the amount of waste they produce and the amounts of left over food. Find out more about how to feed fish properly.

Clean water: The water your fish live in is like the air we breath. The cleaner the air the better we feel, so the cleaner the water the better your fish feel.

Some fish like goldfish are pretty tough and CAN live in water that is of lessor quality. Whereas other fish such as Discus are quite fussy. They prefer water with a PH level of 6-6.5, and a temperature of 28 degrees centigrade!

The most important thing you can do for your fish is regularly replace a portion of water from the tank. For example, by replacing just 10% of water once a week or up to 20% every fortnight you are keeping a good balance of quality water in the tank for your fish to live in. Find out more about keeping a clean tank for your fish.