Dubai Ten-year-old Hayat Heikal certainly loves her fish, especially her favourite — the angel fish.

"I have loads of fish," she said. While the little girl has more than 100 fish at home as her father runs an aquarium business, she said she shares taking care of them with the rest of her family.

Hayat is one of many children in the UAE who are fascinated by the underwater creatures.

"The clown fish or the Nemo is very popular," said Andy Sayo, projects manager at Pets Plus, a pet store in Dubai.

Ever since the animated film Finding Nemo hit the big screen, children have been visiting aquarium shops to buy their own Nemo, short for anemonefish.

"Actually it's one of the best-selling fish because the children see it in the movie," Sayo said. "There's big demand for Dory as well."

But it's not just the children who love their Nemos and Dorys. Adults have their share as well.

Andrew Lim's love for fish started off as a hobby, but he soon turned it into a business.

"I usually spend about one third of my salary on my fish and accessories, electrical bills, water bills," he said laughing.

Today, Lim owns a pet store and a breeding room for guppies in Malaysia.

He is also a judge for guppies and goes around the world to judge competitions and give e on how to take care of fish.

"I think it's a good hobby, especially for children, because you teach them to have a commitment towards their pets," he said. "And the fun part is that you can breed them."

Good for health

V.K. Dey, a senior consultant to the organisers of the Aquariya Expo 2010, an exhibition for the ornamental fish business which took place last weekend in Dubai, said that having fish as pets is also healthy.

"[It] reduces stress for people. If you look at the fish for a while, you will be de-stressed," he said.

Samer Heikal, who's had his own ornamental fish business for years now, said that contrary to the popular belief, fish have a long lifespan.

"You just have to know how to take care of them, he said.

"They also have an excellent memory," he said.

"Whoever said that the fish have a two-second memory knows nothing about fish."