Community aquarium

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Community aquaria are tanks that are designed to contain more than one species of fish. Most commonly they include a variety of species that do not normally occur together in nature, for example angelfish from Brazil, swordtails from Mexico, and gouramis from South East Asia. The aim of such communities is to bring together fish that are compatible in temperament and water requirements, while using their different colours and behaviors to add interest and entertainment value.

Though not usually called community tanks, most marine aquaria fit into this category too, using fish from places as diverse as the Caribbean, Red Sea, and western Pacific Ocean.

Other aquarists prefer communities, called biotopes, that represent particular geographic locations, and combine fish with appropriate decorative materials including endogenous rocks and plants.^[1] The most popular of these geographically correct community tanks are those replicating the cichlid habitat of the East African Rift lakes of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi.