If you've never kept fish before, you could start with freshwater fish like our native rainbow fish. These are easy and cheap to care for because they're easy to feed and don't often pick fights.

Once you've got experience looking after them, you might want to progress to fish that live in salt water like damsel fish or butterfly fish. Other saltwater fish like seahorses and Moorish idols need a lot of time or expensive equipment.

You can catch your own fish but contact your nearest Fisheries office to find out the fishing rules.

Easy fish to catch and look after include gudgeons, which are common in small streams, and sergeant majors, which occur in shallow ocean waters.

You can catch these sorts of fish with small scoop nets, either by wading or snorkelling. But be careful not to damage aquatic plants or leave rocks overturned.

Some types of fish just don't get on so choose tank-mates carefully. You wouldn't put a lionfish with a damsel because the lionfish would soon eat the smaller fish in one gulp.

Aquarium shops, books and even friends who keep fish can all help you work out which fish to get and how to care for them.