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What order should I put the aquarium filter media?
There are many ways to layer the filter media in your filter, so these are our general suggestions. The first step is to look in the manual and find out which direction the water flows through the filter. As the water enters the filter media basket, we like to use a coarse sponge pad as mechanical filtration to block the largest chunks of debris and prevent them from entering the rest of the filter media. If you need to use the ammonia or phosphate media pads, you can place them...
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How do I get rid of algae in my fish tank?
Algae is a natural part of the aquarium ecosystem because it helps to purify the water from toxic waste chemicals and serves as a food source for algae-eating fish and invertebrates. However, most people see it as an unwelcome guest since too much algae can obstruct your view of the fish tank and slow down healthy plant growth. Let’s talk about 5 easy methods for cleaning algae off your aquarium walls and decorations. Use tools to manually remove algae Get help from algae eaters Remove excess organics in the tank...
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Are hydra bad for aquariums?
Hydra are ambush hunters that like to eat microworms, insect larvae, and tiny crustaceans (e.g., cyclops, daphnia, scuds, and baby brine shrimp). In our experience, they are a natural part of the aquarium ecosystem and do not seem to greatly impact baby fish and shrimp populations. Adults are too big to be eaten, and fry have a strong flight response that causes them to jerk away from any stimulus, like a stinging tentacle. For more information, read our full article on How to Get Rid of Hydra in Your Aquarium.
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Are hydra dangerous to humans?
No, their stinging cells are too weak to affect humans. If you try to touch them, they quickly retract their tentacles and ball up to avoid predation from larger animals. For more information, read our full article on How to Get Rid of Hydra in Your Aquarium.
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How did hydra get in my fish tank?
In our experience, we’ve noticed that hydra often lays dormant in fish tanks for many months, but then the population blooms when you start heavily feeding baby brine shrimp. It’s possible that the hydra hitchhiked from aquarium decorations, aquatic plants, rocks, or driftwood that came from an infected tank. Hydra can also be introduced if you collect live foods, plants, or hardscape from the wild. For more information, read our full article on How to Get Rid of Hydra in Your Aquarium.
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What is hydra and how do I get rid of it?
These tiny, freshwater organisms of the genus Hydra are the distant relatives of jellyfish, corals, and sea anemones. Growing up to 0.4 inches (1 cm), they range in color from translucent white to green to light brown. Much like a sea anemone, hydra has a stalk or foot that attaches to surfaces (like plants, hardscape, or glass) and a mouth at the other end that is surrounded by long, wispy tentacles. These tentacles have stinging cells that are used to paralyze and catch their prey. Scientists have long been interested in hydra...
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How do I reduce the fast current from my aquarium filter?
Some fish have long and flowy fins, are small in size, or originated from slow-moving waterways and aren’t built to handle torrents of water. Perpetually fighting against fast flow can cause your fish to get whipped around the tank, start hiding in shelters, and potentially develop illnesses from the constant stress. So, if you own a betta fish, goldfish, cherry shrimp, or other slow-swimming animal, consider implementing one of these techniques to reduce the current in your aquarium by reading our article on How to Slow the Flow in Your Aquarium.
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How do you humanely kill a pest snail?
Feed your extra snails to snail-eating fish (like puffers and loaches), give them to other hobbyists who own snail eaters, or crush them for a quick death. For more information, read our full article on how to get rid of aquarium pest snails.
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What eats pest snails in aquarium?
Pest snails are actually in high demand if you own a snail-eating fish because they provide a lot of essential nutrients and enrichment for the animal to display its natural hunting behavior. Almost all freshwater pufferfish – from the tiny pea puffer to the massive Mbu puffer – love to eat snails, and the crunchiness of the snail shells can help grind down puffer teeth and prevent them from getting too long. Many loaches – such as clown, zebra, yoyo, and dwarf chain loaches – can use their pointy snouts to poke into snail...
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How do I control my aquarium snail population?
Despite these many benefits of snails, some people do not like being overrun by so many snails that they start covering the glass and every surface in the fish tank. To keep your aquarium snail population under control, try one of these 5 proven methods covered in our article on how to get rid of aquarium pest snails.
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Are pest snails bad for aquariums?
Despite having the nickname of “pest snails,” they are actually quite useful in aquariums and are a natural part of the aquatic ecosystem. They eat algae, clean up uneaten fish food, break down fish waste, and help feed the snail eaters in your fish tank. These snails will not harm your live fish or plants, but they do keep your aquarium clean by consuming any dead animals or sickly leaves. For more information, read our full article on how to get rid of aquarium pest snails.
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Why doesn't my T airline splitter work?
If you are using a T-splitter to share one air pump with two devices, sometimes air does not travel down one of the outlets. One of two things could be happening. In the first case, your pump is not strong enough to push air into more than one outlet. In the second case, the air always chooses the path of least resistance, so you need to install air valves (plastic or metal) on each path to ensure that air reaches all the devices. Connect the air pump, T splitter, and two air-driven devices...
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