Info AquaScape

Cherry shrimp are supposedly really easy to breed, but you’re not seeing any babies. Keep reading as I run down my complete checklist for figuring out why! If you've been following me on social media, you can tell that I've been bitten by the shrimp breeding bug. Several months ago, I got some high-quality red cherry shrimp from a local breeder, set them up in a 10-gallon tank with everything they could possibly want , and then waited… Hmm, why am I not seeing any babies? Everyone says they’re supposed to breed like freshwater cockroaches. Are my dreams of selling hundreds of shrimp for profit completely doomed?? Luckily, there are lots of helpful veterans in the freshwater shrimp community, and after researching their advice, here’s the troubleshooting checklist I came up with: #1 Water Quality I know this seems very obvious, but before we go down the rabbit trail of random reasons why your shrimp may not be breeding, let’s make sure we have all the basics covered. Ob...

Are your fish suddenly dropping like flies, even though your water test kit says everything’s fine? Might be chlorine poisoning from your tap water, so keep watching to learn the symptoms and how to treat it. Topics include: ▶ What are 4 common causes of chlorine poisoning? ▶ What do the symptoms of chlorine poisoning look like? ▶ How do you treat a fish that has been exposed to chlorine? ▶ How do you prevent chlorine poisoning from happening again? Materials I Use ▶ Seachem Prime dechlorinator ▶ Fritz Complete water conditioner (with pump head) ▶ Sodium thiosulfate dechlorinator ▶ Tetra 6-in-1 test strips ▶ Quarantine medication trio ▶ Sponge filter References ▶ Dead Fish! Don't Make This Mistake When Cleaning Your Aquarium Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

If you’re getting into planted tanks, learning about lighting can be overwhelming. Keep reading to find out the 5 things I wish I’d known about lighting when starting my first planted tanks. If you want to play with live aquarium plants, lighting is one of the key building blocks that you have to learn about. The goal with lighting is to grow plants, enhance their coloration, and of course minimize algae. When your lighting is out of whack with the available nutrients , your plants can end up failing to thrive or being covered with so much algae that you can’t see them anymore. So let’s dive into my top five list for lighting: Tip #1 : Buy a planted tank LED light Yes, you can use the default light that came with your aquarium kit or get a really cheap light, but I find they’re usually not strong enough or don’t last very long. Some people build their own LED lights , especially if they have a giant fish room with multiple aquariums, because lighting can get really expensive. ...

Everyone’s been hyping up Aquashella , a fish convention for hobbyists, so I really wanted to attend the Dallas 2019 one. But… I’m a major introvert who’s still trying to stay semi-anonymous . So what was it like? Which FishTubers showed up? Was it worth attending? Keep watching to hear my version of the story! Question of the Day Did you attend Aquashella or do you want to? Comment below to share your experiences, and become a Patreon supporter for more behind-the-scenes footage! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

When I was a brand-new fish keeper, I remember asking questions like, “Can you put fish in a new tank right away?” and “What is new tank syndrome?” Keep watching as I explain the aquarium nitrogen cycle in easy, beginner-friendly terms, as well the beneficial effect that aquarium plants can have. Materials I Mentioned ▶ Water test kit ▶ Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad Resources ▶ The Nitrogen Cycle - Fully Explained! ▶ Nitrogen Uptake by Aquatic Plants ▶ Using plants as nature’s filtration ▶ Fish store tour of Ocean Aquarium Question of the Day How did you find out about the nitrogen cycle when you first started keeping aquariums? Comment below to share your because I’d love to hear them. Also FYI, I won't have a post next week because I'll be at Aquashella. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more upda...

So you want to try keeping stem plants, carpets, rosettes, bulbs, or other rooted plants in a planted tank, but after buying your first few, they ain’t looking too hot. Keep watching as I reveal the top 5 things I’ve learned so far about growing healthy roots for healthy plants! When I first started dipping my toe into the aquascaping world, I went with your beginner plants – java fern, anubias, bolbitis, and so on. What do all of these have in common? They’re rhizome plants that that you can pretty much glue to a rock and treat it like a piece of aquarium decor. Very hardy, don’t need much light, hard to kill. Eventually, I wanted to broaden my horizons and get into the world of rooted plants that actually need soil or substrate to live in. That totally opened up my options to stem plants, carpeting plants, crypts, bulbs, you name it! I mean, we’re talking level 2 stuff here, right? Hah! That also means I had to be prepared to face level 2 problems and outright failures. So, c...

So you got your first betta fish, but find it a huge hassle to clean the aquarium. Keep reading as I show you the easy way of keeping the water nice and clear with minimal effort! When I was a kid, a betta fish was one of my first aquatic pets because they’re so beautiful and interactive. Unfortunately, I found it a pain to clean his bowl because I always had to catch him, dump out all the glass marbles, scrub them in the sink, and then transfer everything back. (Kids, don't try this at home.) Eventually, I started avoiding this time-consuming chore and… eventually, my betta fish got sick and died from living in his own waste. Poor thing! Little did I know that there existed a miracle tool that has saved me so much time and energy, so I can actually enjoy keeping fish. Let me introduce you to the aquarium siphon (also known as a gravel cleaner). This simple hose is like vacuum cleaner but without any electronics – and it’s about to become your best friend! The Python min...

Recently, there was a video challenge that went around where FishTubers were tagged to reveal their worst days in fish keeping. Find out how I ranked the top five worst aquarium disasters on YouTube and what was the most common mistake among them! Who Had the Worst Aquarium Disaster? ▶ Bentley Pascoe ▶ Heidi's Fish Tank ▶ Mike from 915Mang ▶ Nathan from Simply Shrimps ▶ Zenzo from Tazawa Tanks Question of the Day What was your worst day in fish keeping? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

Ready to start breeding cherry shrimp for fun or profit? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial how to set up a simple and easy shrimp tank for making tons of babies! Neocaridina davidi are a great beginner species that come in a variety of bright colors, breed readily like rabbits, and sell for high prices at local fish auctions. In the past, I’ve kept amano shrimp and crystal red shrimp, but never have I tried to raise neocaridina shrimp for profit. What does it take to set up the ultimate baby-making aquarium that's not necessarily the prettiest aquascape, but is highly functional and easy to clean? Keep reading to find out... What kind of aquarium do I need for breeding shrimp? Cherry shrimp can be kept in tanks as small as 2.5 gallons, but most people recommend 10 gallons (38 liters) or more if you're focused on breeding. The larger the tank, the more stable the water quality is, and the happier the shrimp will be. I personally use an aquarium lid as well to minimize evap...

Remember that beautiful planted tank I designed for my betta? Well, it ain’t paradise any more because we've got cyanobacteria, baby! Keep reading as I talk about what causes it, the natural versus chemical methods I used to treat it, and which one worked the best! All I want is a super easy, low tech, low maintenance aquarium to just sit back and enjoy when I’m stressed at work. Unfortunately, my office tank had a reoccurring issue with, well, multiple types of algae, and one of them was blue-green algae, or more accurately, cyanobacteria. No longer was I calm and relaxed when gazing at my betta fish Soundwave. Instead, his home was an eyesore and constant source of stress… (Why oh why don’t you look like the aquascapes on my Instagram feed?) Cyanobacteria outbreak while on vacation (source: Keudn from Reddit ) Causes of Cyanobacteria There have been lots of studies done on what causes cyanobacteria in aquariums, but nothing is concrete because the bacteria is so ge...

Clown loaches are definitely on my bucket list of fish to keep because of their playful personalities. Unfortunately, online research only provides high-level care info, so I decided to get the inside scope from Colin Barsby, a Iongtime clown loach owner who keeps them in a lush planted aquarium! Topics include: ▶ How does his personal experiences compare with Google research on clown loaches? ▶ What are the top 6 things only clown loach owners would know? ▶ Given all the pros and cons, does Colin recommend clown loaches? Don't forget to check out... ▶ Our other collab video "How to Care for an Aquarium" ▶ Colin's YouTube channel Question of the Day What’s on your wish list of aquarium fish/pets to keep? Comment below to share your bucket list because I'd love to hear about it. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I'll see you in the next post! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on...

Is your betta fish incessantly biting his beautiful tail, like a little kid who thinks it’s funny to cut his own hair? Keep reading to find out what it looks like, why it happens, and some tips and tricks for stopping it. My son really wanted a crowntail betta because of their spiky-looking frills, so we helped him pick out a gorgeous blue and red one from Petco that he named Darth Vader. Unfortunately, Darth Vader had a bad habit of biting his tail! One morning, we woke up to find that he had just happily sheared off the top half of his caudal fin. Darth Vader's new "haircut" Signs of Tail Biting The reason why we knew it was tail biting and not some other dilema is because it had a few telltale signs: Missing chunks (often round) from fins or tail have very clean edges and no discoloration Damage is usually all in one section (not evenly spread everywhere) Damage happens suddenly within a few hours (sometimes catch them in the act) Other reasons why y...

Somehow 2 inches of water disappeared from my aquarium, but everything around the tank is dry! What in the world happened? How will my husband react? 😨 Hope you can learn from my mistakes and why you should never forget to maintenance your filter! Materials I Used ▶ AquaClear filter ▶ Filter foam sponge ▶ Filter biological media ▶ Filter floss pad Question of the Day Has your aquarium ever flooded or leaked in your home? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time! Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

Search for the perfect school of nano fish to light up your planted aquarium? Look no further than the green neon tetra, or Paracheirodon simulans! Keep reading to find out how to care for them and what makes them such a popular choice in the aquascaping world. What's the Difference Between Cardinal, Neon, and Green Neon Tetras? You’re right – all of them have a blue horizontal stripe with some red underneath it. Cardinals are the biggest, and in my aquarium, you predominantly saw the red color more than anything. Neon tetras are the cheapest with only half a red stripe. And green neons? Well, they’re the smallest, barely have any red, and aren’t as common as their cousins. So what’s the big deal? I mean, I almost totally passed over them myself if it hadn’t been for my husband (the one with the art degree) convincing me to get them. Cardinal tetras  vs. neon tetras vs. green neon tetras (from left to right) The reason why you’ll often see aquascapers play with green...

So you’re wanting to make the switch from fake to live aquarium plants, and you’ve already done a bunch of research on lighting, substrate, and so forth. I’m going to let you in on the 5 things I wish I knew about planted tanks that most beginner tutorials never cover. I'm not talking about basic level 1 knowledge like “Put your lights on a timer,” but more like level 2 stuff that you don’t figure out until way later when you happen hear a random comment in a 4-hour live stream. Now I really like the natural look for my aquariums, which I initially tried to imitate using fake plant decor. However, I eventually decided to try live plants because everyone was going on and on about how great it naturally improves water quality, and you know me, I’ll try anything that saves me time. Tip #1: New planted tanks will get algae The first thing I learned is that planted tanks don’t necessarily save time (at least at first). With my fake aquarium decor, I never turned on the ligh...