Aquarium Care Guides
996 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
- Protein Skimmer Basics for Marine AquariumsHow a protein skimmer uses foam fractionation to strip dissolved organic waste before it breaks down, why it only works in salt water, what
- UV Sterilizers in Aquariums: What They Do and Don'tWhat a UV sterilizer really does — clearing green water and killing waterborne microbes — what it cannot do, and how flow rate, contact time
- Aeration and Dissolved Oxygen in AquariumsWhy dissolved oxygen is critical, how surface agitation and air pumps drive gas exchange, why warm water holds less oxygen, how to spot fish
- The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Biological FiltrationUnderstand how nitrifying bacteria turn toxic ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate, where this happens in your filter, why you must never l
- How to Choose an Aquarium FilterCompare hang-on-back, canister, sponge and internal filters, understand the three jobs of filtration — mechanical, biological and chemical —
- Skin Scrapes and Gill Wet Mounts: How Fish-Health Pros Diagnose ParasitesAn inside look at the skin scrape and gill wet-mount exam used to identify Ich, Trichodina, flukes, and other external fish parasites under
- Wasting Fish: Causes of Chronic Weight Loss and When to Seek DiagnosisA symptom-based guide to chronic weight loss and emaciation in fish, covering mycobacteriosis ('fish TB'), internal parasites, and nutrition
- How Medications Interact With Activated Carbon and Your BiofilterActivated carbon can strip medication from the water before it works, and several common treatments can suppress the nitrifying bacteria in
- Responsible Antibiotic Use in Aquariums: What They Can (and Can't) TreatAntibiotics only work against bacterial disease — never parasites, fungus, or poor water quality. Learn why correct diagnosis, full courses,
- Potassium Permanganate for Fish Disease: How It Works and How to Dose It SafelyPotassium permanganate is a powerful oxidizer used against external bacterial, fungal, and parasitic problems — but its correct dose depends
- Heat Treatment for Ich: Speeding Up the Parasite's Life CycleWhy raising tank temperature can speed the life cycle of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Ich), and the oxygen, species-tolerance, and combinat
- Acclimating New Fish: The Drip MethodA step-by-step guide to safely introducing new fish to your aquarium using temperature floating and drip acclimation, so you avoid ammonia a
- Bloated Belly vs. Dropsy: How to Tell the DifferenceNot every swollen fish has dropsy. Learn to tell ordinary bloat or constipation apart from true dropsy's raised 'pinecone' scales, and from
- The Shimmies in Mollies, Platies, and Guppies: Causes and FixesWhen a livebearer rocks or wobbles in place without swimming forward, it's usually telling you its water chemistry doesn't match its needs.
- Fast Breathing But Water Tests Are Fine? What You're MissingWhen a fish breathes hard or fast even though ammonia, nitrite, and pH all test normal, the problem is usually the gills themselves — from p
- Why Is My Fish Losing Its Color? Fading, Paling, and What It MeansFading color can be completely normal — a stress response, aging, or a change in surroundings — or an early sign of poor nutrition, disease,
- Why Is My Fish Floating Upside Down or Sinking? Buoyancy Problems ExplainedA fish that floats belly-up, tips onto its side, or sinks to the bottom and can't stay upright is usually struggling with its swim bladder —
- Pond Oxygen Crash (Summerkill): Prevention and Emergency ResponseA summer oxygen crash can kill an entire pond of fish overnight when algae die off or the weather turns cloudy. Learn the dissolved-oxygen t
- White Tail in Dwarf Shrimp: Bacterial Infection vs Osmotic ShockA shrimp's tail turning white and opaque — muscular necrosis — can come from a bacterial infection or from environmental shock such as a sud
- Aiptasia (Glass Anemone) Control in Reef TanksAiptasia glass anemones multiply explosively, sting corals and are notoriously hard to remove because fragments regrow. Learn why they are a
- Coral Bleaching in the Aquarium: Causes and RecoveryCoral bleaching is the loss of the symbiotic algae that feed a coral, leaving it pale or white but still alive. Learn the aquarium triggers
- Rapid and Slow Tissue Necrosis (RTN/STN) in SPS CoralsRapid and slow tissue necrosis strip living tissue off SPS corals such as Acropora, leaving bare white skeleton. Learn how to tell RTN from
- Reef-Safe vs Copper Treatments: Why Copper Kills InvertebratesCopper is the workhorse treatment for marine fish parasites, but it is lethal to invertebrates and corals and is destabilised by live rock.
- Formalin Baths and Freshwater Dips for Marine Parasites: Doses and SafetyFormalin baths and freshwater dips are proven tools against external protozoa and flukes on marine fish. Learn the sourced concentrations, d
- Hyposalinity Treatment for Marine Ich: A Step-by-Step ProtocolHyposalinity (reduced salinity) is a copper-free way to treat marine white spot (Cryptocaryon irritans) in a hospital tank. Learn the target
- Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) in Marine FishHead and lateral line erosion is a disfiguring but rarely fatal skin condition of marine fish such as tangs and angelfish. Learn its clinica