What should you raise?

The workhorse of home aquaculture - tilapia grow fast on cheap feed, tolerate crowding and poor water better than almost anything, and are the classic fish for a first backyard or aquaponics system.

The most farmed food fish in North America for good reason - catfish are hardy, forgiving of low oxygen, and put on weight fast in a pond or a large tank through a warm summer.

The cold-water counterpart to tilapia - trout need clean, cool, oxygen-rich water, but reward you with the finest eating fish you can raise and a natural fit for a cool climate or a spring-fed pond.

Farmed for thousands of years across Europe and Asia and still one of the toughest fish you can put in a pond - carp thrive in murky, warm, low-oxygen water that would kill most food fish.

The classic stocking fish for a backyard pond - bass give you both a sportfish to catch and a predator that keeps a bluegill population in check, though they need live forage and take longer to reach eating size.

The perfect starter pond fish - bluegill breed readily, eat almost anything, feed your bass, and give you a steady supply of sweet panfish fillets and kid-friendly fishing all summer.

One of the best-eating freshwater fish you can raise and a strong fit for a cool climate - perch tolerate crowding in a tank and grow into firm, sweet fillets that sell as fast as you can produce them.

A cross bred specifically for farming - hybrid striped bass grow fast, handle tank life and a range of temperatures, and command a strong market price, making them the go-to for a serious home recirculating system.

A tropical crayfish built for aquaculture - redclaw are peaceful for a cray, grow large, breed without the complicated larval stage of prawns, and thrive in a warm tank or pond with plenty of hiding spots.

The Australian yabby is the toughest crayfish you can farm - it survives drought by burrowing, handles a wide temperature range, and breeds freely in a simple earthen pond with almost no intervention.

The marron is the prize of freshwater crayfish - large, clean-tasting and high-value - but it is fussier than a yabby, needing cool, clean, well-oxygenated water and careful stocking to grow to size.

The giant freshwater prawn grows big and sells at a premium, but it carries a catch - its young must pass through a brackish larval stage, so most home growers buy in juveniles and grow them out rather than breeding their own.

The easiest live thing to breed in water - a handful of cherry shrimp in a planted nano tank multiply into a colourful colony you can sell, trade, or use to clean algae, all in the space of a bookshelf.

Cheap, transparent and endlessly useful - ghost shrimp are the classic home-raised live bait and feeder, breeding readily in a bare tank so anglers can grow their own instead of buying by the dozen.

The hardest-working algae eater in the hobby - a few amano shrimp keep a planted tank spotless. They are easy to keep but genuinely hard to breed at home, since the larvae need saltwater to survive.

A big, gentle, colourful snail that grazes algae and scraps without touching healthy plants - mystery snails are the easy first invertebrate, laying above-water egg clutches you can raise or remove at will.

The living centrepiece of a garden pond - koi are hardy, long-lived and tame enough to hand-feed, and a good line breeds into fish worth real money, turning a backyard pond into a genuine hobby.

The most forgiving ornamental fish there is - goldfish handle cold, heat and beginner mistakes, breed readily in a pond each spring, and give you an easy, cheerful introduction to raising fish for the hobby.

The fish that breeds whether you want it to or not - guppies give live young every few weeks, come in endless colours, and are the classic beginner project for learning selective breeding on a windowsill tank.

The showpiece of small-scale breeding - a single betta lives happily in a modest heated tank, and a paired spawn produces dozens of jewel-coloured fish, though raising the fry apart takes real patience and space.

A hardy, beautiful char for the coldest clean water - brook trout tolerate a touch more warmth and acidity than rainbow trout and reward a cold spring-fed system with fine eating.

The toughest of the common trout - brown trout handle slightly warmer, less pristine water than rainbow or brook, making them a forgiving cold-water grow-out fish.

A tough, bottom-dwelling European pond fish that thrives in warm, low-oxygen, muddy water where trout would die - slow-growing but almost indestructible.

A popular sweet-eating panfish for a pond - crappie school, breed readily and give fine fillets, but overpopulate and stunt fast without predators to thin them.

The electric-blue Florida crayfish is kept as much for looks as the pot - a hardy, striking tank species that breeds readily and cleans up scraps, best kept one to a small tank.

A small flat-coiled snail that breeds prolifically and grazes algae and leftovers - free cleanup crew and live food for pufferfish and loaches, with almost no effort.

The premier algae-eating snail - nerites clear glass and hardscape of tough algae and, unlike ramshorns, will not overrun a tank because their eggs cannot hatch in freshwater.

Living water filters that clean a pond by straining plankton and particles - fascinating and beneficial, but genuinely hard to keep because their larvae must parasitize a host fish to develop.

One of the easiest fish to breed - platies are peaceful, colourful livebearers that drop young every month in a planted tank, perfect for a first breeding or selling project.

A larger, hardy livebearer that breeds as freely as a guppy and even tolerates a little salt - mollies give endless young and come in black, silver and sailfin forms.

A fast-growing tropical sport and food fish that thrives in warm recirculating systems and is one of the best backyard aquaculture choices where it stays warm.

Australia's iconic native freshwater fish and a premium aquaculture species, slower-growing than tilapia but prized for its excellent flavor and hardiness in temperate systems.

A hardy, fast-growing Australian native that is one of the easiest and most productive aquaculture food fish, tolerant of crowding and famously high in omega-3 oils.

A hardy Australian native that tolerates cooler water and crowding, making it one of the most robust and low-maintenance aquaculture and aquaponics food fish.

A remarkably hardy, air-breathing catfish that grows explosively fast and tolerates crowding, low oxygen and poor water better than almost any other food fish.

A fast-growing Asian river catfish, the source of basa and swai fillets, that tolerates crowding and low oxygen and grows large in warm systems.

A big, hardy South American relative of the piranha that eats a largely plant-based diet, grows to substantial size, and is farmed as a meaty warm-water food fish.

A graceful, tall-finned cichlid that is one of the most popular ornamental fish, easy to breed and a centerpiece of the planted community aquarium.

The regal, disc-shaped king of the aquarium, a stunning but demanding cichlid that requires very warm, pristine water and rewards dedicated keepers with breathtaking color.

A small, brilliantly colored labyrinth fish that breathes air, tolerates calm community tanks, and is one of the easiest and most rewarding ornamental fish for beginners.

Charming, peaceful little armored catfish that patrol the bottom in social groups, tidying leftover food and adding gentle activity to any community tank.

A small, hardy suckermouth catfish that stays a manageable size and grazes algae tirelessly, making it the ideal cleanup crew for a planted community tank.

A tiny, tireless striped schooling fish that is famously hardy, tolerates a wide temperature range, and is one of the very best beginner and cycling fish.

A small, peaceful copper-and-black schooling fish that shoals beautifully in planted tanks and is one of the hardiest and most elegant community fish for beginners.

A small, jewel-colored dwarf cichlid with electric blue speckling, a peaceful centerpiece for a warm planted tank that rewards good water with stunning color and easy breeding.

A large, peaceful filter-feeding shrimp that fans the current with feathery appendages to catch food particles, a fascinating and beautiful addition to a mature planted tank.

The hardy, colorful dwarf shrimp (cherry, blue and more) that breed readily, graze algae and biofilm, and are the perfect beginner invertebrate for a planted nano tank.

The striking red-and-white (and black) caridina shrimp of the high-end hobby, demanding soft, cool, pristine water but rewarding dedicated keepers with show-grade beauty.

A handsome, striped predatory snail that hunts and eats nuisance pest snails, offering a natural, hands-off way to control a snail outbreak in a planted tank.

A small, cone-shelled burrowing snail that tunnels through the substrate day and night, aerating it and consuming waste, making it a hardworking if prolific cleanup crew.

A premium cold-water salmonid, related to trout and salmon, that tolerates crowding better than trout and gives rich, pink, flavorful fillets in a cold recirculating system.

The world's most farmed premium fish, a cold-water salmonid increasingly raised in land-based recirculating systems, demanding cold clean water, high oxygen and serious filtration.

A prized Mediterranean food fish farmed widely in warm brackish and marine systems, giving firm, sweet, white fillets and tolerating a range of salinities in warm water.

A prized silver marine food fish, farmed alongside gilthead bream in warm brackish and saltwater systems, hardy and adaptable to salinity, giving delicate white fillets.

A hugely important tropical aquaculture fish across Southeast Asia, hardy and fast-growing on natural pond algae, tolerant of fresh, brackish and salt water, and a staple food.

A fast-growing premium marine fish, one of the quickest-growing saltwater aquaculture species, giving firm, rich, sashimi-grade fillets but demanding a warm marine system and space.

The classic Louisiana crawfish, a hardy, prolific, fast-breeding species farmed in warm ponds and rice fields, tolerant of poor water and the backbone of the crawfish boil.

The world's most farmed shrimp, a fast-growing warm-water species raised at scale in brackish ponds and indoor biofloc systems, demanding careful water and biosecurity management.

A large, striped, premium marine prawn farmed across Asia in brackish ponds, growing bigger than whiteleg shrimp and commanding a high price, but demanding warm brackish water and biosecurity.

Tiny, vividly colored freshwater shrimp from Indonesia's Sulawesi lakes, prized by hobbyists for their jewel-like colors but demanding warm, hard, alkaline, very stable water.

A large, charming freshwater snail from Sulawesi with a long shell and rabbit-like face, a peaceful algae and detritus cleaner that breeds slowly and won't overrun a tank.

A hardy, cold-tolerant snail that cleans algae and detritus in ponds and tanks, survives winter under ice, bears live young slowly, and is a favorite natural cleaner for water gardens.

A small, fast-breeding freshwater snail often raised deliberately as free, self-sustaining live and supplemental food for pufferfish, loaches, turtles and poultry, or as a tank cleaner.

The iconic small schooling aquarium fish, a peaceful, brilliantly blue-and-red tetra that shines in a planted community tank and is one of the most popular fish in the hobby.

A larger, even more vivid cousin of the neon tetra whose red stripe runs the full length of the body, a stunning schooling fish for a warm, soft, well-established planted tank.

A hardy, active, colorful livebearer whose males sport a distinctive sword-like tail extension, easy to keep and breed, and a classic beginner community fish.

A small, hardy, brilliantly colored West African dwarf cichlid that is easy to keep and breed, forming devoted parent pairs that guard their fry, ideal for a first cichlid.

An elegant, peaceful labyrinth fish with pearl-spangled sides and long feeler-like fins, hardy and calm, making a graceful centerpiece for a warm, quiet planted community tank.

A large, intelligent, personable South American cichlid famous as a 'wet pet' that recognizes its owner, but one that grows big, eats heavily and needs a large, well-filtered tank.

A small, peaceful, eel-like bottom-dwelling loach with striped bands that scavenges leftover food from the substrate, hides by day and comes alive in groups, a charming community cleaner.

A huge, ancient fish farmed patiently for premium caviar and firm meat, demanding cool clean water, space and years of patience, but the source of some of the world's most valuable aquaculture products.

A prized Pacific salmon increasingly raised in cold land-based recirculating systems, giving rich, red, premium fillets but demanding cold, pristine, oxygen-rich water like all salmonids.

A major Indian carp and a cornerstone of South Asian pond aquaculture, a hardy, fast-growing plankton and detritus feeder ideal for polyculture in warm fertilized ponds.

The fastest-growing of the Indian major carps, a big-headed surface and mid-water plankton feeder that tops out large and anchors pond polyculture across South Asia.

A large, hardy, air-breathing gourami farmed as a food fish across Southeast Asia, tolerant of low-oxygen water thanks to its labyrinth organ, and even fed on leaves and kitchen scraps.

An extraordinarily hardy air-breathing food fish that can survive out of water for hours and travel over land, farmed across Asia in warm ponds where its toughness makes it nearly foolproof.

A large, fast-growing North American crayfish farmed for its size and meat, hardy and adaptable, but a notorious invasive that must be kept strictly contained and is banned in many regions.

A commercially important marine prawn farmed in warm brackish ponds across Asia and Australia, valued for its sweet flavor, and raised much like tiger and whiteleg shrimp.

A small striped freshwater Caridina shrimp prized by hobbyists, cousin to crystal and bee shrimp, needing cool, soft, acidic, stable water and rewarding careful keepers with easy breeding.

A long, glossy black brackish-to-freshwater snail that grazes algae and detritus, cannot breed in freshwater so never overpopulates, and adds a sleek, dramatic look to a planted tank.

A lively, striped, energetic schooling barb full of activity and color, hardy and easy, but a notorious fin-nipper that must be kept in a good-sized group to spread out its boisterous energy.

A hardy, peaceful, rose-flushed schooling barb that tolerates cooler water than most tropicals, making it an easy, colorful choice for unheated or lightly heated community tanks.

A striking tetra with a bright red nose and striped tail that schools more tightly than almost any fish, its red nose fading when water quality slips, so it doubles as a living water-quality gauge.

A tiny, gentle, honey-golden labyrinth fish perfect as a peaceful centerpiece for a nano or community tank, far shyer and calmer than most gouramis and easy to keep.

A tiny, dazzlingly colorful cousin of the guppy, hardy and endlessly prolific, whose small size and constant breeding make it a perfect, lively fish for a nano tank.

A tough, coldwater-tolerant little schooling fish often called the 'poor man's neon tetra', thriving in unheated tanks and even outdoor tubs, hardy enough for absolute beginners.

A stunning rainbowfish whose body shades from blue-purple in front to fiery orange behind, an active, hardy schooler that makes a spectacular centerpiece in a roomy, well-lit planted tank.

A large, shimmering African tetra with iridescent rainbow scales and flowing fins, a peaceful, elegant schooler that makes a luminous centerpiece in a roomy, softly lit planted tank.

A small, peaceful barb whose males glow deep cherry-red, gentle enough for a nano or community tank, hardy and easy, and free of the fin-nipping reputation of its cousins.

A hardy, golden-bodied schooling barb that tolerates cooler water, stays peaceful in a proper group, and brings bright, active color to a beginner community or unheated tank.