Păstrăm hrana pentru pești lângă acvariu.

In Romanian, the verb ending often shows who is doing the action, so the subject pronoun is usually omitted.

• păstrez = I keep
• păstrezi = you keep
• păstrează = he/she keeps
• păstrăm = we keep

So Păstrăm already includes the idea of we. You could say Noi păstrăm... for emphasis, but it is not necessary in normal speech.

Yes, here păstrăm matches English we keep in the sense of store, keep, or leave in a certain place.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• we keep/store the fish food near the aquarium

Romanian a păstra can also mean to preserve, to save, or to keep something in a certain condition, depending on context.

The basic noun is hrană, meaning food.

• hrană = food
• hrana = the food

Romanian often adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

So:

• hrană = food
• hrana = the food

In your sentence, hrana means the food.

Romanian often expresses this idea with noun + pentru + noun, literally food for fish.

So:

• hrana pentru pești = food for fish = fish food

This is a very natural Romanian structure. English often uses one noun to modify another (fish food), but Romanian usually makes the relationship more explicit.

A more compact Romanian alternative can exist in some contexts, but hrana pentru pești is very clear and natural.

Because pești is the plural form.

• pește = fish, a fish
• pești = fish, fishes

Since the sentence means food for fish in general, Romanian uses the plural: pentru pești.

Lângă means near, next to, or beside.

In this sentence:

• lângă acvariu = near the aquarium / next to the aquarium

It is a preposition, so it introduces a place or location.

Examples:

• lângă masă = near the table
• lângă casă = near the house

Acvariu is the basic form meaning aquarium.
Acvariul means the aquarium.

In Romanian, after a preposition like lângă, you can sometimes use the noun without the definite article, especially in a more general or neutral way.

So:

• lângă acvariu = near an aquarium / near the aquarium
• lângă acvariul = near the aquarium

In many real contexts, a Romanian speaker might also say lângă acvariu even when English would naturally say near the aquarium. The choice can depend on how specific the speaker wants to be.

Yes, Romanian word order is somewhat flexible, but the original order is very natural.

Original:

• Păstrăm hrana pentru pești lângă acvariu.

This is straightforward and neutral:

• verb + object + place

You might also hear:

• Hrana pentru pești o păstrăm lângă acvariu.

That version gives more emphasis to hrana pentru pești.

Still, for a learner, the original sentence is the best basic model.

The main special letters here are:

• ă in Păstrăm and lângă
• â in Păstrăm
• ș in pești

A rough guide:

• ă = a short neutral vowel, like the a in sofa
• â = a deeper central vowel that English does not really have; it takes practice
• ș = sh

Very rough pronunciation of key words:

• Păstrăm ≈ puh-STRUHM
• pești ≈ PESHTY
• lângă ≈ LUHN-guh
• acvariu ≈ ah-KVA-reeu

These are only approximations. The real Romanian sounds are a bit different, especially ă and â.

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

For example:

• hrană = food

• hrana = the food

• acvariu = aquarium
• acvariul = the aquarium

So Romanian does have the idea of the, but it is often built into the noun itself.

Yes, hrana pentru pești is a normal and very clear way to say fish food.

You may also hear:

• mâncare pentru pești = food for fish

Both are understandable, but hrană can sound a bit more like feed or animal food, which fits this context very well.

So in an aquarium or pet-care context, hrana pentru pești is an excellent choice.