What is a Species Tank

What's a Species Tank?

Most of the fish we keep are kept in "species only" tanks. That is, there is only one fish species in the tank. About one half of all of our tanks are strict SO tanks and about 3/4 of the rest are two species tanks with Corydoras being one of the two species.

Keeping SO tanks is different than most people in the hobby who might keep a number of species in a "Community Tank." A community situation is wonderful to watch. One can choose from a variety of fish to create interesting combinations of activity. However, the wider the variety of the fish, the greater the potential for a variety of needs to be met for the fish. Whether those needs are dietary or whether the needs are related to water conditions, the mix of the needs sometimes leads to seemingly complicated issues. We frequently hear about a catfish that is not eating enough (the food is gulped down before it reaches the bottom)...or a fish that is nipping at others (some fish are less aggressive in larger spaces).

It is easier in some ways to keep SO tanks. The fish can be given the exact water conditions that they require, breeding conditions can be controlled more precisely, food can be delivered as the fish like and in the case of more aggressive fish, they can be "jailed" without the bars.

In a natural setting (called a biotope), fish are generally found in the company of several other kinds of fish. Whereas numerous fish are found within a region, because of the niches in the food chain, seldom are large numbers of species found in the same location. The normal setting for a fish would be more like a SO situation than in a community tank. That is not to say that a community tank is wrong (this is a hobby and none of these fish are now in a natural setting anyway). Community tanks are and will probably alwasy be the backbone of the hobby.

You would most often find SO tanks in the fishrooms of advanced hobbyists or breeders because of the breeding endeavors or the fine tuned interests of the hobbyist.