5 Easy Ways to Get Rid of Aquarium Pest Snails Bladder, ramshorn, and Malaysian trumpet snails are often called pest snails in the aquarium hobby because they reproduce very quickly and are difficult to remove once introduced to a fish tank. They can enter your fish tank by hitchhiking on live aquatic plants or even at the bottom of a fish bag from the pet store. Are pest snails bad for my fish tank? Despite having the nickname of “pest snails,” they are actually quite useful in aquariums and are a natural part of the aquatic ecosystem. T...

How to Make Your Betta Fish Happy with 5 Enrichment Ideas Betta fish are amazing creatures with beautiful finnage and spirited personalities, but they often lead very sedentary lives in way-too-tiny bowls. If you’ve already seen our betta fish tank setup guide and upsized your betta’s aquarium with the necessary equipment, you may be wondering what else you can do to keep your pet fish entertained. In the wild, Betta splendens spends its time hunting for food, defending its territory, breeding the next generation of offspring, and of course resting....

How to Slow the Flow in Your Aquarium Previously, we discussed the importance of filtration for fish tanks because it cleans up debris particles, grows beneficial bacteria, and helps create water movement and surface agitation for improved oxygenation. However, is it possible your aquarium filter is overly powerful and produces current that is too strong for your fish? Some fish have long and flowy fins, are small in size, or originated from slow-moving waterways and aren’t built to handle torrents of water. Perpetually fighting ...

10 Best Goldfish Foods You Need to Try Goldfish have been bred for hundreds of years to have special features like elegant double tails and egg-shaped bodies. That compact physique can sometimes cause constipation and digestion issues, so goldfish owners devote a lot of time and energy into finding the best foods for their water piggies. After decades of personally keeping and raising goldfish, here are our top 10 foods we love to feed to ensure that our goldfish get a wide variety of essential nutrients, color-enhancing ingredien...

Top 7 Colorful Fish for a 10-Gallon Aquarium 10-gallon aquariums are so popular because of their small footprint and low cost, so what kind of fish can you put in them? As a follow-up to our article on the 7 best fish tank ideas for a 10-gallon stocking ideas, we’ve come up with more suggestions to help you pick the 7 most colorful fish to brighten up your 10-gallon setup. 1. The Killifish Aquarium Killifish are a very colorful, underrated fish that enjoy temperatures below 78°F (26°C) and can live in an unheated aquarium. There are hun...

10 Best Top-Dwelling Fish for Your Aquarium Bottom dwellers are quite popular because they cruise around the bottom of the fish tank and clean up any food scraps from the ground. To balance out your aquarium, try adding some top-dwelling fish that will feed from the surface and fill the upper third of your fish tank. 1. Brown Pencilfish A cheap and easy surface dweller to start off our list is Nannostomus eques, also known as the hockeystick or diptail pencilfish. Their common names came from their slanted swimming style in which the h...

Top 5 Peaceful Gouramis for a Community Tank Gouramis are a unique freshwater fish, often known for their flat, oval-shaped bodies and whisker-like feeler fins. As a type of anabantoid or labyrinth fish, they have a special labyrinth organ that acts like rudimentary lungs, allowing them to gulp oxygen from the surface and create bubble nests for breeding. Gouramis sometimes get a bad reputation for being ornery, so we found our top 5 peaceful gouramis that play nice with other community fish. 1. Female Powder Blue Gourami Dwarf gouramis...

How to Use Airline Accessories in Your Aquarium Aquarium air pumps are quite easy to use – just connect the pump to the air-driven device (like a sponge filter) using some airline tubing and plug it in. Then, why are there so many airline accessories and which ones do you actually need? Keep reading as we briefly explain five of the most common airline parts that can transform the way you use your air pump. 1. Check Valve If you only get one item from this list, a check valve is an essential must-have. It contains a flapper or stopper that...

What is Neon Tetra Disease? Neon tetras are a popular nano fish known for their beautiful, red and blue stripes, but sometimes they get a bad reputation for being a “sensitive” fish that is prone to dying. In our experience, these tetras are just as hardy as other danios and rasboras, but there are several factors that may weaken their immunity and make them more inclined to catch illnesses. Let’s discuss why neon tetras get sick, what is neon tetra disease, and how to prevent it. Why Do Neon Tetras Get Sick? The first ...

5 Best Foods for Freshwater Aquarium Shrimp If you’re not trying to breed champion-quality shrimp, then finding the “best” food to feed freshwater shrimp is not as hard as you may think. Aquarium companies know that ornamental shrimp are very popular right now, so they spend a lot of marketing dollars trying to convince you that shrimp have very specialized needs that only their brand of shrimp food can meet. In reality, dwarf shrimp are last on the food chain, serving as scavengers that eat decaying plants, deceased animals, algae, an...

How to Get Rid of Hydra in Your Aquarium Have you spotted a miniature tentacle monster in your freshwater aquarium? Not to worry – it’s a fascinating freshwater creature called hydra that is relatively easy to deal with. Keep reading as we talk about what is hydra and a few natural methods of removing them without harming your animals, plants, or beneficial bacteria. What is Hydra? These tiny, freshwater organisms of the genus Hydra are the distant relatives of jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones. Growing up to 0.4 inches (1 cm), th...

Top 5 Nano Fish for a 5-Gallon Aquarium A 5-gallon fish tank is the ideal size for your office desk or dorm room, but it can be hard to find creatures that are small enough to live in it. Check out our 5 favorite fish that are perfect for inhabiting a nano aquarium. 1. Dwarf Pea Puffer Carinotetraodon travancoricus is an adorable, 1-inch (2.5 cm) long pufferfish with a small yellow body, dark spots, and independently rotating eyes. This carnivorous creature loves to eat frozen foods and will go after your live snails and dwarf shri...

Top 10 Betta Fish Plants for Your Aquarium Looking for a way to take your betta fish tank to the next level? Give live aquarium plants a try. Not only do aquatic plants help purify the water from your fish’s waste, but they also provide a beautiful, natural environment for your betta. In the wild, Betta splendens are commonly found in tropical marshes and rice paddy fields chock-full of thick vegetation. Therefore, aquarium plants serve as excellent enrichment for your betta to explore, obstacles to block line of sight in case he gets...

How to Treat Parasites in Aquarium Fish When you buy an aquarium fish, did you know that it has traveled from a fish farm to a wholesaler to a pet store before it got to you? That means that there’s a high likelihood that it may have picked up some kind of internal or external parasite along the way. Wild-caught fish are especially prone to carrying parasites, if not multiple types at the same time. Unfortunately, most of the time aquarium fish don’t stay at the store long enough to make sure they are free of parasitic diseases. If...

10 Best Cory Catfish You Have to Try Corydoras catfish are one of our favorite bottom dwellers because of their peaceful personality, useful cleaning abilities, and adorable appearance. There are hundreds of species of cory catfish that all have different sizes, prices, looks, preferred water parameters, and more. To help narrow down your options, here are our top 10 favorite corys (in no particular order) that we can’t live without. 1. Sterbai cory (Corydoras sterbai) In terms of popularity, this is the cory that everyone gr...

What is Mulm or Detritus in Aquariums? Is there a brown or black substance that seems to collect like dust bunnies all over the floor of your fish tank? This dirt-like material goes by many names – such as mulm, detritus, and debris – and it’s a naturally occurring part of healthy aquariums. Keep reading as we dissect what mulm is made of, whether you should remove it, and how to minimize its appearance. What Is Mulm? Mulm starts off as fish poop, plant leaves, leftover fish food, and other organic materials that are decomposing i...