By Larry Getz

Marine aquarium fish are beautiful and a constant source of conversation and delight. There are many species to choose from, and with some care and knowledge, you can conscientiously populate your saltwater aquarium with some visually stunning specimens.

It’s always fun picking fish with the whole family, but make sure to introduce a limited selection for your family members to choose from. The unfortunate reality is that not all fishes will be suitable for your fish tank, especially if you are purchasing a new aquarium and starting from scratch. This fact, along with fish compatibility, makes for a limited, yet still diverse selection list.

Mollies survive well in any kind of salinity and are one of the most popular choices of fish for first time aquarium owners. Salinity levels of your new aquarium’s water will be fairly inconsistent to start with, so you need a fish that is both hardy and well adapted to changes in their environment.

Mollies come in all sorts of lovely colors including black, gold, silver, and Dalmatian. They have big back fins and broad tails, making them very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Believe it or not, there is an optimum ratio between males and females when purchasing these fish. Two females for every male is the norm.

Here’s another interesting fact about mollies. They love to eat. This means that they excrete a lot, so be prepared to have a good filtration system and scheduled water changes and cleanings. This type of regiment is a healthy habit to get into, especially if you want your mollies to be healthy enough to breed.

Damselfish are also a very popular choice. Like mollies, they are inexpensive and also come in a lot of different colors. The problem is that these types of fish can be rather aggressive and territorial, so you have to be rather selective in terms of the type of damselfish that you introduce into your new environment. Blue Devil or Yellowtail damselfish are your choices as they are less aggressive than some of the other damselfish on the market.

As mentioned before, damselfish species are very territorial. If you’re planning on keeping these fish in a tank with other species, you need a very big tank, as you definitely want to give damselfish their space!

There are, of course, other types of fish that you can select including lionfish, tangs and clownfish. These are all beautiful species, but some stores can charge quite a bit for these fish. It’s a question of buying compatible species within your budget. If you are in the least bit unsure about compatibility of specific fishes, always seek help from a trusted pet store’s technical staff.