Care Guide for Fancy Goldfish – Housing, Feeding, and More Fancy goldfish (Carassius auratus) are beautiful, selectively bred freshwater fish from the carp family that come in many colors, shapes, and other traits. Unlike common goldfish with their single tails and streamlined physiques, fancy goldfish have flowy double tails and slow-moving, egg-shaped bodies that require special considerations. This care sheet answers some of the most frequently asked questions we get about these beloved water piggies. What Size Tank Do Fancy Goldfish Need? Appropr...

How to Upgrade an Aquarium Filter (and Save Money!) Have you ever bought a new hang-on-back filter from the pet store and noticed that the instructions say you have to change out the filter cartridge at least once a month? Most beginner fish keepers don’t realize that you can replace those disposable cartridges with reusable filter media that can last for the lifetime of the filter. In this article, we teach you how to optimize your aquarium filter in four simple steps, using only a pair of scissors. Step 1: Get a Prefilter Sponge Beneficial b...

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...

Care Guide for Betta Fish – The Best Beginner Pet Fish Betta fish (also known as Betta splendens or the Siamese fighting fish) are a long-time favorite pet for both beginner and veteran fish keepers because of their colorful finnage and spirited personalities. If you’re brand new to the aquarium hobby, this care guide is for you! Find out the key essentials you need to know to successfully keep your first betta fish. Is It OK to Keep Betta Fish in a Bowl? If you haven’t bought a small bowl yet, we highly recommend that you get a larger aquarium t...

5 Best Tank Mates for Betta Fish Betta fish are known to be fierce fighters, especially towards their own species, but did you know you can add tank mates to their aquarium? Yes, depending on your betta’s personality, he or she can peacefully cohabitate with other fish and invertebrates. However, make sure their aquarium is at least 10 to 20 gallons with lots of cover and live plants or else the betta fish may become overly territorial. Here’s our top 5 list of favorite tank mates for you and your betta fish to enjoy. 1. Kuh...

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 ...

Freshwater Fish Tank Cycling - How to Prepare for New Fish Have you ever seen a fish in the wild living in pure, crystal clear water with no other contaminants? Probably not. That’s because life isn’t sterile; it doesn’t flourish in “pristine” conditions, but rather when there’s a whole ecosystem of microorganisms, plants, and animals that are in balance with one another. So, if you’re looking to set up a brand-new fish tank, let’s talk about aquarium cycling and how to prepare a healthy, thriving environment for your fish to live in. What is the Aqu...

5 High-Quality Fish Foods That You Have to Try When it comes to prepared fish foods, what do you feed? Are you a die-hard fan of Team Hikari or a DIYer on Team Repashy? Or are you like me, who has a serious case of fish food collectoritis and a fridge door filled with half-empty bottles? In today’s world of fish keeping, we have the luxury of choosing from hundreds of fish foods produced by companies all over the world, so when I test out a new product, I generally look for: Ingredients – What is the food made out of and what nutrients d...

DIY Planted Background Wall Have you been wanting to change up your aquarium background to something unique? Perhaps it’s time to try a planted wall! A wall of plants is a great way to add extra foliage and shelter for your tank while giving your tank an incredible and unique look. When most people think of planted walls in aquariums, they think of moss walls. For those of you who have made successful moss walls for your aquariums, can you share your secrets? We haven’t had huge success with moss-only walls. In the past...

5 Steps to a Better 10 Gallon Fish Tank A 10-gallon fish tank is the most sold fish tank size in the USA each year. With so many sold, they are also the cheapest fish tank sold and, when sold as a kit, quality equipment is often swapped out for cheaper equipment to be more price competitive. In this guide you’ll learn how to get your 10-gallon fish tank up to speed in 5 easy steps. 1. Upgrade your Lighting Many of the fish tanks produced today come with built-in tops with LED lights. Unfortunately to keep the cost down, these light...

Fish Tank Filters: Which One Should You Get? What do most people think when they hear you keep pet fish? They probably conjure up memories of their great aunt’s dirty goldfish tank, covered in mystery slime and reeking of stagnant swamp water. But you and I know the secret to having a beautiful aquarium with crystal clear water… clearly, we just need to find the perfect fish tank filter! Why do Aquariums Need Filtration? As one of the key components of an aquarium, filtration is responsible for moving and cleaning the tank water, making...

How to Care for a Tiger Lotus When looking to add plants to a freshwater aquarium, there are endless choices. Color and shape are some important things to consider when trying to achieve the most pleasing look overall. One plant that is both beautiful and relatively simple to maintain is the tiger lotus or Nymphaea zenkeri. With its broad, wavy-edged leaves and variegated color pattern, it can bring a new and stunning aesthetic to your aquarium. The tiger lotus is a bulb plant that has two kinds of leaf structures. The fi...

Rasbora Hets and Espei Rasboras – Great For Planted Aquariums The Rasbora fish species deserve their great popularity for so many reasons, including their docile temperaments, their easy care, their bright colors, and their relatively small size. They are a social fish, so it’s recommended that you get at least six of the kind that you choose! Why are Rasboras so great for planted aquariums? It’s because their colors really pop out against the waving greenery of the background. The Harlequin Rasboras (Trigonostigma heteromorpha) have more of a pinkis...

Marimo Moss Balls – The World’s Easiest Aquarium “Plant” Do you lack a green thumb when it comes to keeping live aquarium plants? Or maybe you want to add a touch of nature to your betta fish tank without a lot of effort? Let me introduce you to the marimo moss ball. This velvety green orb is neither a moss nor plant, but a species of green algae known as Aegagropila linnaei that gets its unique shape from tumbling about the bottom of freshwater lakes. The nickname “marimo” roughly translates from Japanese as “water plant that’s kind of like a boun...

Care Guide for Java Moss - Easy Low-Light Plant for Beginners If you don’t have a green thumb and are looking for a nearly indestructible plant, the Java Moss is for you! Java Moss is one of the easiest plants you will ever grow. This moss is hardy, versatile, and beautiful. You can be sure it will add a flash of green to your tank. You would have to work harder to kill this moss than you do to keep it alive! Great Durability Java Moss is an extremely durable plant. There are instances where a plant has been forgotten in a bucket for up to two months...

Daphnia Culturing – How to Raise Daphnia How would you like to cultivate and raise your own separate tank of Daphnia (also known as water fleas)? These tiny plankton-like freshwater crustaceans grow to about 3 millimeters in length or less. They’re actually kind of cute looking as you watch them swim almost vertically in their tank. They live quite happily in large groups within a tank, so that you can harvest them when you need them to feed your fish, tadpoles, salamanders, newts, or aquatic insects. In this article, we’ll discu...