How to Make a Mini Outdoor Pond for Aquarium Fish When the weather warms up and summer is upon us, everyone is itching to go outside. What better way to enjoy nature than to set up your first mini pond for breeding aquarium fish? If you live in a temperate climate that experiences distinct seasonal changes, then your mini pond fun usually lasts for 3 to 4 months in the summer (e.g., sometime between May and September in the United States). However, if you live in the subtropical zone that stays above 50°F or 10°C for most of the year (like F...

How to Treat Livebearer Disease Livebearer disease is a catch-all term used to describe many disorders that commonly affect livebearers (or fish that bear live young). These different ailments can include the shimmies, wasting disease, body fungus, and more. The first step is to properly diagnose your fish and then treat for their specific type of livebearer disease. Why Are So Many Diseases Called “Livebearer Disease”? Livebearers are frequently raised in hard water or brackish environments (see this article for more detai...

Anubias Rot: Symptoms, Causes, and Solutions Anubias rot is an uncommon disease that can affect anubias plants in the aquarium hobby. Unfortunately, there is very little information about how it starts and how to stop its spread. In this article, we explain the symptoms for anubias rot, possible causes, and the best course of action to take if you spot it. Why Is My Anubias Dying? Before we dive into the details of anubias rot, let’s make sure your anubias isn’t suffering from other, more common issues. Firstly, is your anubias plant pr...

10 Best Tank Mates for Your Goldfish Goldfish are beautiful, much-beloved creatures in the fish keeping hobby, but sometimes it can be nice to add a little variety to their aquariums. After many years of owning goldfish, we’ve compiled a list of our top tips and recommendations for keeping goldfish tank mates (including a few that you may have never considered before). What Kind of Fish Can You Keep With Goldfish? If you’ve ever seen a cool fish and wondered if it would go well with your goldfish, here are some general guideline...

How to Treat Sick Aquarium Fish (Even If You’re Not Sure What’s Wrong) Treating a sick aquarium fish can be difficult, especially if you’re new to the hobby or have never seen this disease before. Based on years of experience helping customers at our fish store and online, here are the step-by-step guidelines and medications we personally use to get our fish back to health as quickly as possible. Step 1: Do You Have a Quarantine Tank? A quarantine tank is a smaller, bare tank for the purposes of holding all new fish before adding them into your main display aqua...

How to Hatch Baby Brine Shrimp for Fish Fry When it comes to raising baby fish, baby brine shrimp are one of the best live foods that money can buy. This nutrient-dense food maximizes the survival rate of fry and significantly speeds up their growth. Plus, you can even feed them to adults to condition them for breeding. Keep reading to learn how to easily hatch your own batch of baby brine shrimp at home. What Are Brine Shrimp? Have you ever heard of pet “sea monkeys”? They are actually tiny, saltwater crustaceans that belong to the Ar...

10 Best Coldwater Fish That Don’t Need a Heater Most freshwater pet fish require an aquarium heater because they’re used to tropical temperatures, but did you know there’s a whole class of coldwater fish that are perfectly fine at room temperature? Goldfish are the most well-known coldwater fish in the aquarium hobby, so in this article, we’re going to cover 10 more cool species that can live without a heater. 1. Sunset Variatus Platy We have a special place in our hearts for livebearers (or fish that bear live young) because of how readil...

Care Guide for Guppies – The Most Popular and Colorful Livebearer Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are one of the most popular fish in the aquarium hobby because of their brilliant colors, lively personalities, and ease of breeding. In this care guide, we answer your most frequently asked questions about this simple yet beautiful species. Why Are Guppies So Popular? Discovered in South America around the 1860s, this hardy livebearer (or fish that gives birth to live young) was once used as pest control for mosquitos. They were eventually introduced to the pet ...

How to Use a Gravel Vacuum to Clean Aquariums Ever wonder if there’s an easy way to clean all the fish waste and uneaten food that’s fallen in between the aquarium’s gravel or substrate? The good news is that there’s no need to dump out and wash everything in the sink. Instead, you can vacuum up the detritus with a simple aquarium siphon – no batteries required! Step 1: Get the Materials You just need two items: an aquarium siphon (also known as a gravel vacuum, gravel cleaner, or siphon kit) and a bucket to hold the dirty water. If you ...

7 Popular Fish You Should Try in a 20-Gallon Aquarium 20-gallon aquariums are one of the most popular tank sizes among fish keepers because they’re small enough to keep in a bedroom but big enough that you can choose from a wide variety of fish to keep. With all these possibilities, check out our favorite freshwater fish to spice up your aquarium with their beautiful colors and interesting behaviors. 7. Julidochromis This stunning, three-inch fish is the perfect choice if you’ve ever wanted to try keeping Tanganyikan cichlids. They have the amaz...

The Easy Guide to the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums Are you getting started with your first fish tank? Then you may have heard of something called the “aquarium nitrogen cycle,” followed by a bunch of complicated scientific terms and graphs that seem a little overwhelming. No need to panic! Keep reading as we explain the nitrogen cycle in this very short and simple guide. What is the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums? The nitrogen cycle basically describes how nature creates food (in the form of microorganisms and plants), fish eat the food and pro...

How to Use Pothos as a Natural Aquarium Filter One of the reasons we love aquarium plants so much is because of their ability to absorb toxic nitrogen compounds (produced by fish waste) from the water, but what if you own fish or aquatic pets that are natural-born plant killers? It’s time to get a pothos plant for your aquarium! While pothos won’t mechanically filter out particles from your tank water, they’re great at reducing nitrate levels (and algae growth) so that you don’t have to do as many water changes to keep your fish happy and...

How to Fight 6 Types of Algae in Your Fish Tank Do you dream of having a beautiful aquarium but end up constantly fighting to keep algae at bay? It’s a familiar struggle that many of us have been through, so in this article, let’s get a better understanding of the root causes of algae, the most common types found in freshwater aquariums, and how to gain the upper hand. Is Algae Bad for a Fish Tank? Contrary to popular belief, algae are not evil. Like plants, they use photosynthesis to convert light and organic nutrients in the water (such ...

Top 10 Easy Aquarium Plants for Beginners Planted aquariums are very popular nowadays because of their natural beauty and amazing ability to consume the toxic nitrogen compounds produced by fish waste. However, many beginners excitedly try and then fail to keep their green foliage from turning brown. After more than a decade of keeping, propagating, and now selling aquarium plants, we’ve thoroughly vetted out our list of top 10 easy aquarium plants that can stand up to a beating and won’t break the bank. 1. Marimo Moss Ball Known ...

Nutrient Deficiencies: Why Your Aquarium Plants Are Dying Do you have the perfect planted aquarium setup, but your plants are still dying one by one? It could be from a lack of nutrients. Even if you are regularly dosing fertilizers, your plants might still be missing key building blocks that prevent them from growing and thriving. In this article, we want to teach how to recognize the first signs of nutrient deficiencies so that you can take appropriate measures before your plants reach death’s door. Example of a normal, healthy plant leaf Types o...

Overview of Freshwater Dwarf Shrimp – Popular Species, Tank Requirements, Feeding, and More By Chris Lukhaup (The Shrimp King) Dwarf shrimps have experienced a real boom in aquaristics in recent years. While around 5 to 6 years ago only 2 to 3 species were on offer in the ornamental fish trade in the USA, the range of species in the tanks of breeders, importers and wholesalers has now become almost overwhelming. Vibrantly coloured bred forms in starkly contrasting colours from Europe and Asia as well as invariably new wild catches from all parts of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are re...