Aquarium Care Guides & Articles
Care guides, species profiles, setup tutorials and disease treatment from the Aquairi knowledge base.
Aquarium Care Guides
2881 articles- Acoel Flatworms (Red Planaria): Reef ID & ControlIdentify rust-brown acoel flatworms, understand why a population crash can poison the tank, and use the safe siphon-first removal sequence b
- The Algae Stages of a New Planted Tank (and How to Ride Them Out)New tanks almost always go through a predictable wave of algae as they mature. Here's the rough timeline — diatoms, then filamentous, then m
- GH and KH for Planted Tanks: What They Mean and How to Set ThemWhat general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) actually measure, why soft-water plants care about KH, sensible target ranges, and ho
- Preparing New Aquarium Plants: Rock Wool, Pest Dips and QuarantineHow to unpack, clean, dip and acclimate new plants so you don't import snails and algae — and why some 'melt' after planting is completely n
- How to Prevent Algae in a Planted AquariumAlgae is a balance problem, not bad luck. Controlling light, feeding, stocking, water changes and a clean-up crew keeps a planted tank algae
- Spot-Treating Algae: Liquid Carbon, Hydrogen Peroxide and Manual RemovalHow to target stubborn algae directly with spot-dosed liquid carbon or 3% hydrogen peroxide, why whole-tank dosing is a bad idea, and why ma
- Brown Algae (Diatoms) in a New Tank: Why It Appears and How to Clear ItThe brown dusty film that coats a new tank in its first weeks, why it means the tank is still immature, and how to clear it without chemical
- Preparing Driftwood for the Aquarium: Sinking, Tannins and BiofilmWhy new wood floats and stains the water, how to sink it and reduce tannins, and what to do about the white biofilm on fresh wood.
- Aquascaping Hardscape: Working with Rock and WoodHow to build the hardscape skeleton of an aquascape: arranging rock and wood, joining pieces with glue and putty, and creating slopes.
- Aquascaping Composition: Rule of Thirds, Golden Ratio and Focal PointsThe composition principles behind a balanced aquascape: rule of thirds, the golden ratio, choosing a single focal point, building depth, and
- Dutch-Style Aquascaping: A Guide to the Plant-Only LayoutThe rules behind the Dutch style: dense terraced planting, no hardscape, 'streets' for depth, and the one-species-per-10cm guideline.
- Trimming and Propagating Aquarium PlantsHow to trim stems, carpets, rosettes and rhizome plants for bushier growth, and how the same cuts propagate new plants for free.
- Choosing Substrate for a Planted Aquarium: Aqua Soil vs InertActive aqua soil versus inert sand and gravel, the ammonia phase of fresh soil, how deep to layer it, and when to cap.
- Root Tabs vs Water-Column Dosing: Which Does Your Planted Tank Need?Which plants really benefit from substrate root tabs versus liquid water-column dosing, and why the 'root feeder' label is often misundersto
- Aquarium Plant Fertiliser Dosing: A Beginner's GuideHow aquarium plant fertilisers work: macronutrients vs micronutrients, water-column liquids vs root capsules, when to start dosing, and how
- Feeding Aquarium Fish FryHow to feed fish fry: tiny first foods like infusoria, rotifers and newly hatched brine shrimp matched to the fry's mouth size, frequent sma
- Gut-Loading and Enriching Live Fish FoodsWhy newly hatched brine shrimp lose nutrition over time and how to gut-load and enrich live foods - brine shrimp, Daphnia and rotifers - wit
- Feeding Herbivores, Carnivores and OmnivoresHow to match diet to feeding type: carnivores need high-protein meaty foods in larger, less frequent meals; herbivores need algae, plant mat
- Types of Fish Food: Flakes, Pellets, Frozen, Live and MoreA guide to the main forms of aquarium fish food - flakes, floating and sinking pellets, wafers, freeze-dried, frozen, live and gel - and how
- How Much and How Often to Feed Aquarium FishLearn how much and how often to feed aquarium fish: the 'only what they eat in a couple of minutes' rule, evidence-based rations as a percen
- Target-Feeding Corals: When and HowPhotosynthetic corals get most of their energy from light and zooxanthellae, but many grow and color up better when fed. Learn target-feedin
- Aquarium Test Kits and Water ParametersWhich water parameters to monitor and why — ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, KH, GH and temperature for freshwater, plus salinity, calcium, ma
- Choosing Aquarium Lighting: Fish-Only, Planted, and ReefDifferent tanks have very different light needs. Understand the PAR/PUR concept, why plants and corals demand more intensity and specific sp
- Sizing an Aquarium Heater and Using It SafelyHow to choose the right heater wattage for your tank volume, position it for even heating, verify the temperature with a thermometer, and av
Species Profiles
2742 articles- Mystic Sunset Chalice (Echinophyllia sp.) Care GuideThe Mystic Sunset Chalice is an aquacultured Echinophyllia sp. colour morph; a slow-growing plating chalice whose care follows the Echinophy
- Watermelon Chalice (Echinophyllia sp.) Care GuideThe Watermelon Chalice is an aquacultured Echinophyllia sp. colour morph named for its green-and-red coloration; care follows the Echinophyl
- Echinophyllia aspera (Chalice Coral) Care GuideEchinophyllia aspera is a widespread Indo-Pacific chalice coral with plating, encrusting growth and bright corallite eyes; IUCN status Least
- Mycedium elephantotus (Elephant Skin Coral) Care GuideMycedium elephantotus is a laminar Indo-Pacific chalice coral with outward-pointing, nose-shaped corallites; common on sheltered reefs.
- Merulina ampliata (Ridge Coral) Care GuideMerulina ampliata is a widespread Indo-Pacific stony coral forming laminar plates with fan-like ridges; IUCN status Least Concern.
- Psammocora stellata (Cactus Coral) Care GuidePsammocora stellata is an Indo-Pacific small-polyp stony coral with a granular surface that grows encrusting before forming thick branches;
- Leptastrea purpurea (War Coral) Care GuideLeptastrea purpurea is a hardy, encrusting Indo-Pacific stony coral known for high thermal tolerance and a brooding reproductive strategy.
- Sphaerocaryum malaccense Care GuideSphaerocaryum malaccense is a rare Asian grass with narrow blades; an experimental aquarium plant used as a midground texture.
- Trichocoronis rivularis Care GuideTrichocoronis rivularis (accepted name Shinnersia rivularis), the Mexican oak leaf, is a fast-growing stem plant from Mexico and Texas.
- Proserpinaca palustris 'Cuba' Care GuideProserpinaca palustris 'Cuba' is a mermaid-weed form with comb-like leaves that turn red-orange under strong light and CO2.
- Limnophila 'Mini Vietnam' Care GuideLimnophila sp. 'Mini Vietnam' is a compact Asian stem plant with fine whorled leaves, suited as a delicate midground accent with CO2.
- Marsilea drummondii Care GuideMarsilea drummondii, the Australian nardoo, is an aquatic clover fern that forms a low foreground carpet under modest light.
- Ammannia 'Bonsai' Care GuideAmmannia sp. 'Bonsai' is a compact aquarium stem plant; its flowers identify it as true Rotala indica (family Lythraceae).
- Fissidens nobilis Care GuideFissidens nobilis is a feathery freshwater moss from tropical Asia, grown attached to hardscape under low light in planted aquariums.
- Nitella flexilis Care GuideNitella flexilis, the smooth stonewort, is a soft, fine-branched charophyte green alga of the family Characeae that lacks the calcification
- Chara vulgaris Care GuideChara vulgaris, the common stonewort, is a calcified charophyte green alga of the family Characeae that thrives in hard, alkaline fresh wate
- Ottelia mesenterium Care GuideOttelia mesenterium is a Sulawesi endemic of the family Hydrocharitaceae with strongly undulate leaves; a collector species that is very dif
- Ottelia alismoides Care GuideOttelia alismoides (duck lettuce) is an aquatic plant of the family Hydrocharitaceae with rosettes of broad leaves and white floating flower
- Aponogeton natans Care GuideAponogeton natans is a South Asian species of the family Aponogetonaceae from wetlands and rice fields, suited to shallow tanks and paludari
- Aponogeton undulatus Care GuideAponogeton undulatus is a South Asian species of the family Aponogetonaceae with pale-green wavy-edged leaves that reproduces readily via pl
- Aponogeton rigidifolius Care GuideAponogeton rigidifolius is a Sri Lankan species of the family Aponogetonaceae with stiff, strap-like dark-green leaves, used as a slow-growi
- Limnocharis flava Care GuideLimnocharis flava is a marsh emergent of the family Alismataceae with triangular leaves and yellow flowers, suited to paludariums and margin
- Pennant Coralfish (Heniochus acuminatus) Care GuideHeniochus acuminatus is an Indo-Pacific bannerfish with a long white dorsal filament and black diagonal bands, often confused with the schoo
- Schooling Bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes) Care GuideHeniochus diphreutes is an Indo-Pacific bannerfish with a tall dorsal filament and bold black bars, a planktivorous schooling species often
Setup Tutorials
2 articles- How to Plant Aquarium Plants: Stems, Rosettes, Carpets and EpiphytesA step-by-step guide to planting each plant type correctly, including the one rule that saves epiphytes from rotting.
- How to Do an Aquarium Water ChangeA step-by-step routine for partial water changes: why they matter, how much and how often, siphoning the substrate, temperature-matching and
Disease & Treatment
83 articles- Columnaris (Flavobacterium columnare) Treatment GuideColumnaris is caused by the Gram-negative filamentous bacterium Flavobacterium columnare, often misidentified as fungus. Mortality can be hi
- Saprolegnia (Water Mold) Treatment GuideSaprolegnia is an oomycete (water mold, not a true fungus) causing cottony tufts on injured fish and eggs; almost always secondary to stress
- Nocardiosis in Fish: Granulomatous Disease That Mimics Fish TBNocardia bacteria cause chronic nodular disease in the gills, skin, and internal organs of fish that can be mistaken for mycobacteriosis. Le
- Whirling Disease in Trout and Salmon: Myxobolus cerebralis ExplainedHow the myxozoan parasite Myxobolus cerebralis causes whirling disease in salmonids via a two-host life cycle with Tubifex worms, why there
- Koi Ulcer Disease (Aeromonas): Bacterial Ulcers in Pond FishUlcer disease in koi and goldfish is a bacterial infection — usually Aeromonas — that turns bloody skin spots into deep open ulcers, often a
- Vorticella on Shrimp: The 'Mold' That Isn't FungusVorticella is a stalked, bell-shaped protozoan that colonises shrimp as a white, fuzzy, mold-like growth — but it is not a fungus. Learn how
- Scutariella japonica: The 'Nose Worm' on Dwarf ShrimpScutariella japonica is a tiny white flatworm that lives on the head and gills of Neocaridina and Caridina shrimp. Learn how to recognise it
- Black Band Disease in CoralsBlack band disease is a dark, sulfide-rich microbial mat that creeps across a coral, killing tissue and leaving bare skeleton behind it. Lea
- Brown Jelly Disease in LPS CoralsBrown jelly disease is a fast-moving brown slime of ciliated protozoans and bacteria that can consume an LPS coral such as Euphyllia within
- Fish Mycobacteriosis (Fish Tuberculosis): A Zoonotic Aquarium DiseaseFish mycobacteriosis is a chronic, hard-to-cure bacterial disease of aquarium fish caused by Mycobacterium marinum and relatives — and it ca
- Neobenedenia and Benedenia: Marine Skin FlukesNeobenedenia and Benedenia are marine monogenean skin flukes that infect a wide range of marine fish, causing flashing, skin irritation and
- Uronema marinum (Marine Scuticociliatosis): A Fast-Killing ParasiteUronema marinum is an aggressive, tissue-invasive marine ciliate that causes skin ulcers, hemorrhage and rapid death in reef fish such as ch
- Epistylis (Heteropolaria): causes, symptoms and treatmentEpistylis (Heteropolaria) — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: moder
- Fin Damage / Fin Nipping: causes, symptoms and treatmentFin Damage / Fin Nipping — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Cloudy Eye: causes, symptoms and treatmentCloudy Eye — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Wounds / Lacerations: causes, symptoms and treatmentWounds / Lacerations — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Egg Binding: causes, symptoms and treatmentEgg Binding — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: moderate.
- Tumors / Lipomas: causes, symptoms and treatmentTumors / Lipomas — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Scoliosis / Spinal Deformity: causes, symptoms and treatmentScoliosis / Spinal Deformity — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: lo
- Thiamine (Vitamin B1) Deficiency: causes, symptoms and treatmentThiamine (Vitamin B1) Deficiency — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention
- Goiter (Iodine Deficiency): causes, symptoms and treatmentGoiter (Iodine Deficiency) — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Fatty Liver Disease: causes, symptoms and treatmentFatty Liver Disease — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Swim Bladder Disease: causes, symptoms and treatmentSwim Bladder Disease — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.
- Constipation / Bloat: causes, symptoms and treatmentConstipation / Bloat — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, intervention and prevention in aquarium fish; mortality without intervention: low.