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...

5 Easy Methods for Cooling Aquarium Water During a Heat Wave During the hot weather seasons when heat waves hit, you may struggle to keep your aquarium water cold enough for goldfish, goodeid livebearers, axolotls, and other cool water species. While it is relatively affordable to warm up the water with a heater, it can be much more expensive to buy equipment that reliably cools down the temperature. One simple tool to start with would be some kind of digital thermometer with an alarm that beeps if the water gets too hot (or cold). Then you know when i...

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...

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...

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...

Care Guide for Mystery Snails — Entertaining and Useful Scavenger Many aquarium hobbyists don’t like pest snails like bladder, ramshorn, and Malaysian trumpet snails because they can rapidly increase in population even if you only start with one. In contrast, mystery snails (Pomacea diffusa and P. bridgesii) are really cool, little pets that you can buy at your local pet or fish store for only $3–4. They cannot self-fertilize or change their sex, which makes it much easier to control their breeding, and unlike their larger apple snail relatives, they won’t ...

Care Guide for Otocinclus Catfish — Peaceful, Schooling Algae Eater If you start getting algae in your new fish tank, most major pet stores will recommend that you buy a pleco or suckermouth catfish. The problem is that most plecos grow rather large, especially the common pleco that can reach up to 2 feet (60 cm). Instead, why not get their much smaller cousin, the otocinclus catfish? They are the perfect fish that have a peaceful personality and amazing cleaning skills. Learn how to keep these adorable algae-eaters and make sure they’re getting enough to eat...

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...

Care Guide for Pygmy Corydoras – The World’s Tiniest Cory Catfish Cory catfish are beloved in the freshwater aquarium hobby because of their happy-go-lucky nature and interesting behaviors, such as constantly shuffling through the substrate for snacks. While some hobbyists enjoy keeping the larger species, like the hognosed brochis (Corydoras multiradiatus) or emerald cory catfish (C. splendens), nano aquarium enthusiasts take special pleasure in finding the most petite corys. The pygmy cory (C. pygmaeus) has become quite popular because of its adorable app...

Where is the Best Place to Buy Live Aquarium Fish? Even though Aquarium Co-Op has a brick-and-mortar retail store that sells pet fish to the general public, we personally choose not to sell them online through our website and instead focus on shipping dry goods and live plants. Therefore, many people want to know where we recommend buying pet fish, especially if they don’t live near our fish store. Each source has its advantages and disadvantages, so in this article, let’s discuss the different options and which may be the right ones for you....

Care Guide for Green Neon Tetras — Perfect Nano Fish for Planted Tanks Green neon tetras are a favorite fish for aquascapers because their glowing blue stripe is so eye-catching yet doesn’t take away from the beauty of the aquarium plants. As the little cousin of the more common neon tetra, you can easily fit a small school of green neon tetras in a planted nano aquarium or get a huge swarm to fill a larger tank for an amazing visual impact. Find out what makes this species so special and how to keep them happy and healthy in your home. What are Green Neon Tetra...

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...

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...

How to Pick the Best Fish Foods That Aquarium Fish Can’t Resist With so many brands and types of fish foods at the pet store, how do you know which one to get? Many beginners just reach for a jar that has a picture of their fish on the front without considering whether or not their fish will actually eat it. Living animals actually have preferences when it comes to the taste, ingredients, and form factor, and picky eaters may even refuse the most expensive, high-quality brands if they don’t suit their needs. Let’s talk about the different types of fish fo...

Top 10 Fish That Are Perfect for Planted Aquariums One of the reasons why we love live aquarium plants is because their natural beauty just seems to magically enhance the appearance of your fish and invertebrates. Plus, some of the animals start to exhibit unique behaviors that you wouldn’t normally see unless they’re surrounded by a jungle of leaves, stems, and roots. If you enjoy aquatic plants as much as we do, try pairing them with our top 10 favorite plant-friendly fish and see which ones you love the best. 1. Elephant Nose Fish Gnathon...

Care Guide for Rummy-Nose Tetras — Aquatic Canary in the Coal Mine The rummy-nose tetra is a long-time favorite in the hobby because of its unique colors and tight schooling behavior, which is why it ranks in the top 20 fish sold at our retail fish store. This outgoing fish gets its common name comes from the reddish flush on its face, and there’s nothing like seeing a large group of gorgeous redheads darting back and forth amidst an emerald forest of live aquarium plants. Learn more about this dazzling tetra and how to best bring out its crimson colors. Wha...