Aquarium Care Guides
2881 articles- Copper Treatment for Marine Ich and Velvet: Dosing, Testing and DangersCopper is the standard treatment for marine ich (Cryptocaryon) and marine velvet (Amyloodinium), but it has a narrow safe window and is leth
- Quarantine and Hospital Tank Setup: Protecting Your AquariumA simple quarantine tank is the single best way to keep new fish from introducing disease to your aquarium. Learn why quarantine matters, ho
- Formalin Treatment for External Parasites: Uses and Serious CautionsFormalin (formaldehyde solution) is an FDA-approved, highly effective treatment for external protozoan and monogenean parasites and egg fung
- Metronidazole for Internal Parasites: Hexamita, Spironucleus and BeyondMetronidazole is the mainstay treatment for internal flagellate protozoa such as Spironucleus and Hexamita in ornamental fish. Learn what it
- Praziquantel for Flukes and Tapeworms: A Practical GuidePraziquantel is the treatment of choice for monogenean flukes (gill and skin flukes) and many tapeworms in aquarium fish, in both freshwater
- Aquarium Salt Treatment: Uses, Dosing Approach and CautionsSodium chloride ('aquarium salt') is a versatile tool against external parasites, nitrite toxicity and osmotic stress - but it is not a cure
- Red Streaks on Fish: Septicemia vs. Ammonia BurnRed streaks, reddened skin or hemorrhages on a fish's body and fins can signal bacterial septicemia or a chemical 'burn' from ammonia or nit
- White Stringy Feces in Fish: What It Signals and How to RespondPale, stringy or mucoid feces is a classic - but non-specific - sign in aquarium fish, often linked to internal flagellates (Hexamita and Sp
- Fish Not Eating: Causes of Appetite Loss and What to CheckA fish that suddenly stops eating is often reacting to water quality, stress or infection. Learn the common causes of appetite loss - ammoni
- Clamped Fins in Aquarium Fish: What It Means and What to DoClamped fins - held tight against the body - are a general sign of stress or disease rather than a specific illness. Learn which conditions
- Fish Gasping at the Surface: Causes, Checks and Emergency ResponseRapid breathing or 'piping' at the water surface usually signals an oxygen or gill problem. Learn the common causes - low dissolved oxygen,
- Profile, Settings and Subscription in the Aquairi AppThe Profile tab is where you edit your profile, manage notifications and subscription, send feedback, and see achievements. Learn what each
- Using the Knowledge Base in the Aquairi AppThe Aquairi app has a built-in knowledge base of fish, plants, inverts, corals, equipment and more. Learn to browse and search it and add a
- Using the AI Assistant in the Aquairi AppThe Aquairi AI assistant answers questions about your own tanks, searches the knowledge base, and can take actions like logging a parameter.
- Tracking Equipment and Maintenance in AquairiAdd your filter, heater, light and other gear to each aquarium so the app tracks install dates and replacement cycles, and tells you when a
- Logging Actions and Viewing History in AquairiEvery aquarium keeps a history timeline of what you have done. Learn to log an event, read and filter the timeline, and why a good record he
- Setting Up Maintenance Schedules and Reminders in AquairiCreate recurring maintenance tasks for your aquarium so the app reminds you when a water change, test or feeding is due, and mark each one c
- Logging and Viewing Water Parameters in the Aquairi AppRecord pH, ammonia, temperature and more in Aquairi, watch the trends build on a history chart, and feed the data that powers your health sc
- Adding an Aquarium in the Aquairi AppAdd your tank to Aquairi with a simple 3-step wizard: enter the basics, optionally log starting parameters, and optionally add your fish and
- Getting Started with the Aquairi AppNew to Aquairi? This walkthrough takes you from signing in with an email code through onboarding to your Dashboard, where all your aquariums
- Common Water-Change Mistakes Beginners MakeMost water-change disasters come from a handful of avoidable mistakes: skipping dechlorinator, temperature shock, changing too much, and scr
- How Much and How Often to Change Aquarium WaterA good starting point is around 30% a week, but the real answer is set by your nitrate test. Learn how to size and time water changes for yo
- Aquarium Water Change Step by Step: A Beginner's GuideA complete, plain walkthrough of a routine partial water change: the gear, the steps, and the two rules that keep fish safe, temperature-mat
- UVB Lamps for Aquatic TurtlesA completely different UV lamp from the UV-C sterilizer: basking turtles need UVB to make vitamin D3 and absorb calcium, or they develop met
- UV Clarifier vs UV Sterilizer: Sizing and DoseThe same UV-C lamp acts as a clarifier or a sterilizer depending on the dose it delivers. Learn how wattage and flow rate set that dose, how
- Using a UV Sterilizer for Disease and Parasite ControlA UV sterilizer kills free-floating pathogens and free-swimming parasite stages in the water column, but it does not cure an infected fish.
- Ammonia Spike: Causes and Emergency FixA high ammonia reading is an emergency. Learn to find the source, whether a dead fish, a crashed filter, or chloramine, and the immediate st
- Gut-Loading and Enriching Live FoodsBrine shrimp and rotifers are nutritionally thin until you feed them first. Learn how gut-loading passes essential omega-3 HUFAs to your fis
- Reading Coral Polyps: Health and BehaviourOpen or closed polyps are your coral talking to you. Learn what healthy extension looks like, when retraction is normal, and when persistent
- Unsafe Materials and Decor That Leach into Aquarium WaterUncured silicone, fungicide sealants, painted ornaments, treated wood and reactive rock can poison a tank. Learn how to vet new decor and wh
- Hand Creams, Lotions, Soap and Cosmetics When Working in the TankWhatever is on your hands enters the water: soap, lotion, sanitiser, sunscreen, perfume and DEET all harm fish and inverts. The rule: rinse
- Insecticides and Pesticides: The Deadliest Aquarium ContaminantsInsecticides are designed to kill arthropods, so they are lethal to shrimp and fish at trace levels. Learn the routes (flea meds, sprays), t
- Airborne Toxins Near the Aquarium: Aerosols, Fumes and SmokeSprays, fumes and smoke do not need to touch the water to poison it: they dissolve in at the surface. Open tanks and running air pumps are m
- Soap, Detergents and Cleaners in the AquariumSoap and detergent residue, even from a 'rinsed' bucket, damages fish gills and slime coat. Never use them on aquarium gear; here is why and
- Accidental Contamination of the Aquarium: What to DoSoap, sprays, fumes and other foreign substances can poison a tank fast. Whatever the source, the emergency response is the same. Here is th
- Feeding Types and Digestive AdaptationsDiet shapes anatomy: carnivores, herbivores, omnivores and detritivores each have a gut and mouth built for their food. Learn the difference
- Digestion in Aquarium InvertebratesHow shrimp, snails and corals feed and digest: the crustacean gastric mill and hepatopancreas, the snail's rasping radula, and the coral's g
- Fish Digestion and the Digestive SystemHow a fish digests food, why many herbivores are stomachless with a long gut while carnivores have a stomach and a short gut, and why that m
- Coral and Cnidarian AnatomyCorals are colonies of simple polyps with stinging cells and symbiotic algae. Learn the polyp body, the calcium-carbonate skeleton, nematocy
- Mollusc Anatomy: Aquarium Snails and BivalvesAquarium snails have a calcium-carbonate shell, a muscular foot and a rasping radula, and breathe by gill or lung. Learn the anatomy and why
- Crustacean Anatomy: Shrimp, Crayfish and CrabsAquarium crustaceans are armoured arthropods that moult to grow and carry copper-based blood. Learn the body plan, appendages, gills and why
- Aquatic Plant Anatomy: How Water Plants Are BuiltAquatic plants are built differently from land plants: thin submersed leaves, little woody tissue, and air channels called aerenchyma. Here
- Fish Gills and Respiration: How Fish BreatheGills do far more than breathe: counter-current exchange pulls oxygen from water while the same organ excretes ammonia and balances salts. H
- Fish Anatomy: External and Internal StructureA reference to the body plan of a typical bony fish, from fins, scales and the lateral line to the swim bladder, heart and kidney, and how e
- Zinc, Lead and Other Trace-Metal Toxicity in AquariumsBeyond copper, metals like zinc, lead, cadmium and aluminium can poison a tank, usually from metal objects or source water. Invertebrates ar
- Iron in the Aquarium: Plant Nutrient and Water ProblemIron has two faces: an essential micronutrient that keeps plants green, dosed in chelated form, and a source-water nuisance from iron-rich w
- Copper in the Aquarium: Medicine and PoisonCopper is the textbook double-edged metal: a proven antiparasitic for fish, yet lethal to invertebrates and corals at trace levels. Learn th
- Removing Heavy Metals from Aquarium WaterGet heavy metals out or render them harmless: RO/DI filtration, chelating water conditioners, carbon and adsorbing media, water changes, and
- Sources of Heavy Metals in Aquariums and How to Prevent ThemAquarium metal contamination comes from plumbing, well water, metal hardware and copper medications. Learn the sources and how to prevent ea
- Heavy Metals in the Aquarium: An OverviewHeavy metals like copper harm fish and are acutely toxic to invertebrates. Learn why they matter, how water chemistry changes their toxicity