Why is My Cryptocoryne Plant Melting? You just planted your new cryptocoryne (or crypt) plant in the aquarium, and it looks perfect for the first few days. Then you notice that one or two leaves aren’t doing so well. Maybe they are turning yellow-brown, have large gaping holes, or are simply withering away. Soon the whole plant looks as bare as a maple tree in winter. This phenomenon is very common with cryptocorynes and is often called “crypt melt.” Crypts (and many other live aquatic plants) are very sensitive to major changes...

7 Best Fish Tank Ideas for a 10-Gallon Aquarium A 10-gallon fish tank is one of the most common “starter” aquarium sizes because it’s small enough for an apartment, a kid’s bedroom, or even your kitchen counter. If you’re not sure what kind of fish to get or how to design the tank, get inspired by 7 of our favorite aquarium setup ideas. 1. The “Centerpiece Fish” Aquarium A centerpiece fish refers to that one aquarium fish that really draws everyone’s attention because it’s usually the biggest animal compared to the other community tank mat...

How to Make Gel Fish Food in 7 Minutes Most fish foods fit into one of four categories: dry (e.g., flakes and wafers), freeze-dried, frozen, and live foods. However, gel food for aquarium fish is a unique addition to the hobby that is sold by companies like Repashy Ventures. It comes in a jar of powder that you mix with hot water and let solidify into a jello-like consistency. When dropped into a fish tank, the gel food quickly sinks to the bottom and is easy for both small and large fish to nibble on. Unlike many other fish foods...

How to Set Up a Beginner Planted Aquarium If you’re looking to level up in your aquarium keeping skills, consider adding live aquatic plants. Not only do they add a natural beauty to your tank, but they also help consume toxic waste chemicals and purify the water for your fish. Follow along as we step you through the process of setting up your first low tech planted aquarium. Before You Start: Gather the Planted Tank Supplies Let’s first form a shopping list of necessary materials. If you are new to planted aquariums or are working o...

Care Guide for Plecos – The Mighty Armored Catfish Are you looking for a suckerfish to keep your aquarium clean? Many people automatically turn to plecostomus catfish (or plecos), thinking that they’ll magically vacuum up all the fish poop and debris in the tank. Before you make the purchase, let’s talk about this amazing animal, their care requirements, and whether or not plecos are the right pet fish for you. What are Plecos? Plecostomus is the common name given to the Loricariidae family of armored suckermouth catfish that come from Centra...

Top 10 Fish for a 10-Gallon Aquarium One of our most frequently asked questions is “What can I put in a 10-gallon aquarium?” When you’re surrounded by hundreds of freshwater fish at a fish store, the possibilities just seem endless! Whether you like livebearers, cichlids, or killifish, check out our top 10 list of both popular and uncommon fish to help you discover a new species that you just have to try. 1. Brown Pencilfish Let’s start off with a top-dwelling fish, which can be hard to find for a 10-gallon tank. Nannostomus equ...

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...

5 Best Schooling Fish for Beginners There’s something so peaceful and awe-inspiring about seeing a large school of fish swimming back and forth in perfect harmony. If you’re looking for a beautiful schooling fish to get started with, check out our top five species that are easy to care for and will look amazing in your aquarium. 1. Cardinal Tetras Paracheirodon axelrodi has to be on our list because of the striking red and blue stripes that run down the sides of their bodies. This 2-inch (5 cm) tetra is a fairly tight schooling...

New Fish Checklist: How to Set Up a Fish Tank If you’re starting a new aquarium, the amount of information on the internet can be overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be nice if an experienced aquarist could lead you step-by-step through the entire process? Follow along as we share our best practices for setting up the perfect home for your new pet fish. While some of these instructions may seem overly detailed, please take them seriously to avoid the most common pitfalls for beginners. After years of running a fish store, we find that it’s very im...

10 Best Algae Eaters for Freshwater Aquariums If your aquarium is covered with unsightly algae, you need some hungry helpers to get the outbreak under control. In this top 10 list of amazing algae eaters, we’ve gathered animals that are not only safe for aquatic plants but can often work together for increased effectiveness. At Aquarium Co-Op, we’ve sold thousands of live plants, and one of our main concerns is keeping the plants as free of algae as possible. That’s why we utilize the most effective algae eaters in the aquarium hobby for...

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...

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...

How to Pick the Best Substrate for a Planted Aquarium Welcome back to Part 3 of our Getting Started with Aquarium Plants series. In today’s article, we dive deeper into the topic of planted tank substrates. Substrate is the ground covering or “soil” at the bottom of the aquarium that many live plants need in order to grow roots and absorb nutrients. Interestingly, some aquarium plants (e.g., rhizome plants, floating plants, and most stem plants) prefer to absorb nutrients directly from the water, whereas others (e.g., sword plants, vallisneria, ...