How to Treat Hole-in-the-Head Disease in Aquarium Fish Hole-in-the-head (HITH) disease is known by many names — such as hole-in-head, lateral line disease, and head and lateral line erosion (HLLE). None of these are official disease names, but rather, they are descriptors of a visual symptom. In general, they describe any ailment that causes holes, pits, or lesions around a fish’s head, face, and/or lateral line (i.e., the horizontal line of pores running down the side of a fish’s body that is used to sense pressure and movement in the water). In...

Care Guide for Red and Black Phantom Tetras — Housing, Food, & More When it comes to choosing the perfect schooling fish, there are so many options available at the local fish store. At Aquarium Co-Op, both black and red phantom tetras are very popular because of their striking appearance, energetic yet peaceful personalities, and hardiness. Learn about their easy care requirements when it comes to the aquarium setup, tank mates, preferred foods, and breeding. School of red phantom tetras in a planted tank What are Black and Red Phantom Tetras? While these t...

Everything You Need to Know About Tissue Culture Aquarium Plants Are you curious about tissue culture plants and what their benefits and drawbacks might be? Let’s talk about the process of how tissue culture plants are produced and whether or not they are the right choice for your next planted aquarium. What are Tissue Culture Plants? The term “tissue culture” (sometimes called “in vitro” or “lab-grown”) sounds a little intimidating and scientific, but it is not too complicated once you break it down. In order to create a tissue culture plant, the facility...

Care Guide for Assassin Snails — Natural Way to Get Rid of Pest Snails If you have a freshwater aquarium that is infested with bladder snails, ramshorn snails, or Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS), it may seem impossible to get rid of them. It’s hard to root out every single egg or baby snail hiding amongst the plants and substrate, and chemical pesticides can often have a negative impact on the other living creatures in your fish tank. Luckily, there is a little helper you can employ that will happily sniff out any pest snails — the amazing assassin snail. Learn h...

How to Build a DIY Central Air System for Your Aquarium Fish Room Owning a fish room full of aquariums is the dream of many fish keepers. However, it can be hard to find exact instructions on how to build one since everything is so customizable and cannot be purchased ready-made from the store. One of the main milestones of setting up the fish room is installing a central air system. Rather than plugging in an individual hang-on-back or other filter for each fish tank, many veteran aquarists use a linear piston air pump that can supply air to multiple spong...

The Best Small Fish for Your Aquarium: A list of Stunning Nano Fish Are you looking for the perfect small fish to add to your nano aquarium? Whether you have a 10-gallon tank or something even smaller, there are plenty of vibrant, fascinating fish species that will thrive in your setup. After years of experience in fishkeeping and working in the aquarium industry, I’ve compiled a list of my all-time favorite small fish. These species are hardy, beautiful, and well-suited for small tanks. 1. Pygmy Corydoras – The Tiny Bottom Dwellers Pygmy Corydoras are an ...

What are the Different Types of Betta Fish? When shopping for your first betta fish at the pet store, it can be a little confusing trying to make heads or tails of all the different types. While they are all technically considered to be Betta splendens, these beautiful creatures have been selectively bred and hybridized with other Betta species over many, many generations to create the vast number of varieties we see today. The International Betta Congress (IBC) is a worldwide organization that holds betta fish shows on six continents,...

Why Do Aquarium Plants Melt? 7 Reasons for Dying, Melting Leaves If you add a new aquarium plant to your tank, it may look great for a couple weeks, but then it starts losing some leaves or just looks like it’s dying back in general. Don’t give up! It is common for aquarium plants to change and adapt when they experience a disruption in growing conditions. Learn about 7 reasons why this may happen and what you can do to give your plants the best chance to grow to their fullest potential. 1. You just got a brand-new plant from the store or online and added ...

5 Best Fish Tank Ideas for Small Aquariums Small fish tanks between 5–20 gallons are some of the most popular sizes in the freshwater aquarium hobby because of their reduced footprint and cheaper cost. Even with the size limitation, there are countless possibilities when it comes to choosing the species, layout, and purpose of the fish tank. To help get your creative juices flowing, here are 5 stocking ideas that might be perfect for your next nano fish tank. 1. Nano Aquascape Simple aquascape with center island of plants surrounded ...

Top 5 Red Plants to Try in Your Next Planted Aquarium One of the basic design principles of aquascaping is to create interesting spaces that catch the viewer’s attention, such as by utilizing plants with different textures, heights, and colors. However, most plants are green in color, so how do you prevent your planted tank from looking all the same, like a solid green background? Thankfully, there are several red plants that have pink, scarlet, bronze-red, and even reddish-purple leaves, so let’s talk about our top 5 favorites that you should t...

How to Care for Your Aquarium Fish During a Power Outage Bad weather or maintenance by the power company can cause a loss of electricity and send fishkeepers into a panic. A lot of aquarium equipment — like the heater, filter, light, and CO2 system — all runs on electricity, and some of them are vital for keeping your aquatic animals alive. Plus, most of the time we have no idea how long the power outage will last, which unfortunately makes it harder to know what appropriate actions we should take. At Aquarium Co-Op, we’ve had a lot of experience w...

7 Reasons Why Your Aquarium Water Has Bubbles or Foaming Have you ever seen bubbles or foam in your aquarium water and wondered if it’s safe for your fish? Bubbles can happen for many reasons — some of them good and some of them bad — so let’s talk about what to watch out for and how to fix the problem if needed. 1. Normal Bubbles from an Air Pump Of course, the most obvious reason for bubbles is that you are using an air pump that sucks in air from outside of the aquarium, pushes it through airline tubing, and pumps it into the water. Typically, t...

Care Guide for Silver Tip Tetras — Fun and Interactive Schooling Fish Silver tip tetras are one of our favorite schooling fish. Beginners love them because they are hardy and energetic, and if you have a big enough group, they will follow your finger as you trace it along the outside of the aquarium glass. Plus, their sunshine colors look dazzling in a lushly planted tank. Find out how to keep this fun, little fish both happy and healthy in your home aquarium. What are Silver Tip Tetras? Hasemania nana is a 2-inch (5 cm) schooling fish that hails from the river...

How to Clean Aquarium Filters — Sponge, Hang-on-Back, Canister Filters and More Do you wish you had crystal clear water in your aquarium? One of the keys to having an amazing-looking fish tank is to make sure you regularly maintenance the filter. Aquarium filters collect debris much like a vacuum, and eventually they must be emptied out or else they no longer work as efficiently. The frequency of filter cleanings depends on how quickly it gets clogged up, the size of the filter, the bioload or stocking level of the aquarium, how much food goes into the tank, and so forth...

5 Easy Tips to Save Money in the Fishkeeping Hobby The fishkeeping hobby can be a little expensive, especially in the beginning when you’re starting with nothing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy having aquarium fish if you have a smaller budget. Learn about 5 of our favorite money-saving hacks to get the best bang for your buck. 1. Get More Out of Your Test Strips This trick works with our Aquarium Co-Op ammonia test strips and multi-test strips, but our founder Cory also did this for years using other brands of test strips while workin...

Top 10 Colorful Fish to Brighten Up Your Next Freshwater Aquarium It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or veteran in the freshwater aquarium hobby — everyone is attracted to colorful fish. Bright reds, yellows, blues, and iridescent hues always get the most attention at pet stores because there's nothing like coming home to a beautiful tank full of color and activity. Because there are so many good-looking species to choose from, let’s highlight some of our favorites that possess the most amazing kaleidoscope of colors. 1. Guppy Poecilia reticul...