
Skunk Loach (Yasuhikotakia morleti)
Yasuhikotakia morleti wears a dorsal skunk stripe and a subocular spine: a Mekong loach to keep as five-plus (or one), under a latched lid, and nev…
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This Freshwater hub on Fishy Friends gathers practical freshwater fish guidance for keepers who want clear answers before they change water, livestock, or gear.
Use these articles to match species to tank size, plan filtration and feeding, and troubleshoot water chemistry without guessing. Each guide is written for home aquariums and links to related reading when you need more depth on freshwater fish.
Start with the basics — stable parameters, quarantine habits, and a feeding schedule that matches the livestock — then browse the profiles and how-tos below. When you are ready to branch out, jump into neighbouring topics so your freshwater fish plan stays consistent across the whole tank.
Whether you are stocking a first community tank or refining an established scape, bookmark this page and return as questions come up. Healthy aquariums are built from small, repeatable routines more than one-time upgrades, and freshwater fish success follows the same pattern.
Explore next: all guides, aquarium plants, water chemistry, feeding guides.
Fishy Friends publishes species care sheets, plant and invertebrate notes, aquascaping ideas, and water-care explainers so freshwater fish advice stays easy to find. Read one guide thoroughly, apply it slowly, and use the linked hubs above when you want a second angle on the same problem.
Before you buy livestock or rethink filtration, skim two or three freshwater fish articles here and write down target numbers for temperature, hardness, and feeding. That short checklist prevents the most common resets and keeps your aquarium closer to the calm, healthy display you are aiming for.
Come back after water changes or new additions: compare what you see in the tank with the freshwater fish checklists below, then follow one recommended next step instead of changing everything at once. Steady improvements compound, and Fishy Friends is built to support that pace.

Yasuhikotakia morleti wears a dorsal skunk stripe and a subocular spine: a Mekong loach to keep as five-plus (or one), under a latched lid, and nev…
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Gnathonemus petersii hunts with a weakly electric chin in the dark: sand, dim cover, meat at dusk, and a tank without stray voltage or a bully on t…
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Rineloricaria lanceolata lies on sand like a walking leaf — a quiet South American whiptail that wants litter, a spawning tube, night-time wafers…
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Ancistrus cirrhosus is the pleco that still fits: wood to rasp, vegetables every week, a cave for the bristled male, and fry in the doorway whether…
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Otocinclus vittatus rasps biofilm, not leftover flake: a 4 cm school of grazing catfish for a tank that is already established, already planted, an…
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Hypseleotris compressa males look painted when they colour up: an Australian gudgeon of 10–12 cm that sits, lunges, and does not belong in a nano…
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Stigmatogobius sadanundio, the knight goby, is an estuarine sentry — spotted, territorial, meat-eating — that wants hard freshwater or honest b…
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Badis badis is a Ganges micropredator that starves beside fast tetras: a chameleon that turns blue in a weedy cave if you feed it what still wriggl…
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Etroplus maculatus, the orange chromide of India and Sri Lanka, colours like a sunset when the pair and the hardness are right, with optional brack…
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Hemichromis lifalili is a Congo jewel the size of a hand and the confidence of a much larger cichlid — red, turquoise-spangled, and territorial t…
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Steatocranus casuarius hops through Congo rapids more than it swims: a reduced swim bladder, a nuchal hump on the male, and an aquarium built of cu…
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Moliwe, Nigerian red, Wouri — Pelvicachromis taeniatus is a West African cave cichlid whose locality name is the point, not a generic krib in a d…
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Kribensis is West Africa’s household cave cichlid: a pair that chose each other, a pot they both approve of, and a pink belly that means the rest…
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Apistogramma macmasteri arrives looking like cardboard and turns red-orange only in tea-stained creek water, with a clay pot and a tank that belong…
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Three dark lines down the flank are both the field mark and a mood meter for Apistogramma trifasciata, a shy Paraguay-basin dwarf cichlid that want…
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Apistogramma borellii is the yellow dwarf of the Paraná floodplain, more forgiving of hardness than most apistos, and at its best when one male ha…
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Males of Ophthalmotilapia ventralis trail yellow egg-spots on elongated ventrals and hold leks over Tanganyika sand — a featherfin that needs vol…
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Cyprichromis leptosoma is Tanganyika’s open-water sardine cichlid: a school in empty hard water, hanging at an angle, mouthbrooding in the blue.
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Calvus is a compressed, pearly Tanganyikan that slides into fissures and hunts whatever fits. The female spawns where the male cannot follow.
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Lemon cichlids stay lemon when a Tanganyikan cave pair gets crustacean-rich food and a hole they actually own. Beige is usually the tank talking, n…
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Fairy cichlids are lyretail Tanganyikans whose “pair” becomes a palace of helpers. Build for the dynasty, or the clan annexes every cave you me…
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The maze-patterned julie stitches itself into a crack, spawns on a cave ceiling, and may raise stacked generations—or end the marriage if the tan…
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Tropheus moorii is a Tanganyikan grazing colony, not a pair of treats. Rock, alkaline water, fibre, and a dozen fish are the contract; daily bloodw…
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Golden mbuna females stay yellow-striped; males invert into a dark, electric-striped night form. One male, many females, rocks, and vegetables.
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