Meet Flipper --:

My pet is a tropical fish. He is two years old. His name is Flipper. He is silver in colour with an orange tail. Flipper lives in a big tank with nine other fish. Flipper was only 4cm long when I bought him in Pet’s n Vet’s, which is a pet shop in Waterford. And now his tank is heated at a temperature of 81 degrees. You would think this is hot but when you put your hand in the water it actually feels cold. It is a tropical fish tank so the water has to be heated as the swim in warm water in the wild. I feed him every day of the week (well most of time). I never brought him to the vet because fish do not need to be brought to the vet. 

Sometimes tropical fish can pick up diseases so you always have to keep an eye on them to see if they look any different. White spot is a common disease. You can buy special stuff, which you pour in the top the tank if you notice it on the fish. When he sees and hears me opening the lid of tank, he swims up to the surface for the food. I feed him tropical fish flakes that float around the top of the water. In most tanks you have to have top feeders, middle feeders and bottom feeders. You also have fish that eat the algae, which is the green stuff you see around the sides and on the stones. You must have a water filter, a heater and a water pump for the tank. You also have to be careful which types of fish you put in your tank. If you are not careful you could put in a fish, which might eat some of the smaller fish.

It is lovely to switch on the lights of the tank at night and sit in the dark and watch them swim around the tank.Some fish like to swim round in groups like tetras.Other fish like angel fish swim around on their own.I like keeping tropical fish. I would love to visit the barrier reef where most of these fish live naturally and dive down into the water and swim amongst them. That would be brilliant.

Here is a picture of a tropical fish tank

Owen Whitehouse
Third Class