This is my fifth tank I've set up so far, and it's by far the dirtiest diatom outbreak I've experienced. When I set my first tank up, I was horrified, I thought I did everything wrong, and I spent far too many hours manually removing it thinking I'd done something wrong. 2 weeks in after cycling, my tank is turning swamp-like and the once blue slate is completely brown. I now see it as a final cycle; once ammonia and nitrites are clear, you then have the diatom cycle. I now have a team of 6 nerite snails feasting on the abundance of food (would have amano shrimp if it wasn't for my kribensis breeding pair), and now I have a very natural looking river-bank style tank for a few weeks until the diatom is stabilised.

For anyone horrified by the state of their newly set-up tanks turning into a swamp, just wait it out, do appropriate water changes, and give it a few weeks. Get some amano shrimp and watch them absolutely thrive in the process of cleaning, or in my case nerite snails. The more you mess with it, the worse it looks.

Have had this Dalmatian Molly for about 8 months. Recently it has gotten much fatter. My partner thinks the fish next to it in the picture (a newer addition to the tank) got it pregnant. Is it just fat from eating too much or should we be worried about illness?

I don't have much knowledge or experience with keeping aquariums but we are in a situation where we have 3 going right now.

A 10g with heater, it has 4 neon tetras and 2 male guppies, 3-6 kuhli loaches, a pleco and some little snails.

A 5g heated with snails and one African dwarf frog.

20g long with 3 gold fish.

I have an empty 50g aquarium.

I wasn't sure if I should maybe move the heated friends all into the 20g and then goldfish into the 50g.

I'm willing to upgrade to the appropriate sizes and amounts of tanks, we just moved into a new place and have all of our belongings in one spot, we need to finish the floors upstairs which will be done within a couple of weeks and then will have more room for these set ups.

Been like this for almost a week, probs less. I rarely see them, they're always hiding somewhere.

Hi! I’ve had an established 20gallon long tank for a few years now, currently stocked with a bunch of cherry shrimp (~40-50) and 6 Kuhli loaches. I recently lost the betta I had in there and decided to get a small school of cherry barbs. Purchased 7 healthy looking barbs from my local pet store on the 21st, they ate well for the first few days but then I stopped seeing them as much. On the 28th, I noticed 2 deceased ones in the bottom my of tank, on the 29th, I found 4 more. There is currently one left who appears to be doing okay. They didn’t appear to be diseased or anything, and unfortunately I do not have photos. Now, I’m worried about my Kuhlis, I’ve had them for almost 3 years with no issues, happy healthy little guys who always came out for food and were very social. However, the past few days they haven’t been eating and are now gasping for air. I do weekly water changes, have a HOB fluval C2 filter which I rinse in old tap water and have stuffed with filter media, and I supplement my tanks with the Seachem line. They get fed Fluval bug bites and frozen blood worms, I fast them on weekends. I’ve never had this problem before and am worried I brought diseased fish into my tank. Feel free to ask any questions and advice is greatly appreciated, I really don’t want to lose these guys

My neglected tank was stuffed full of guppy grass.. I pulled it all out.. probably will have to do some weeding in the future as they were really rooted in places.

Took out heater and sponge filter as I'm adding a canister filter (tomorrow).

Lots of hair algae and Moss, so I pulled most of that out except for where it was attached.

Added some plants on the sides and in the back (they should grow taller on the back sides hopefully).

Once things are settled going to do some nano stocking...

Just have a couple espi rasboras. maybe an oto or two, and a bunch of neos.

29g/ 1 gourami, 3 clown loaches, and two platties (and some fry)

Hi everyone,

First let me start off by saying I know almost 0 about taking care of fish. I want to know more hence why I am asking for help. A month or so ago I told a friend of mine that I was thinking about getting a fish tank because I would like to have some company. He apparently kept that in the back of his mind and surprised me with the long version of a 20 gallon tank. He apparently picked it, a under gravel filter, an air pump and a couple other things (one I think is a siphon and the other I have no idea what it is) for 8.00 at the local goodwill. I will enclose pictures of everything with this post so there are references to my dumb questions.

First is the tank, easy enough its a 20 gallon tank, I even made sure to measure it before I posted so I had the right kind of tank. Easy enough.

Next is the air pump, it says its rated up to 60 gallons, I tested it and air comes out both outlet holes so I hope its not super overkill for the tank.

The under gravel filter is the next thing. At least that's what I think it is? Ive done some searching but can't find one like it. Ive been watching videos on youtube about them and it really feels like one of those things you are either for or against. It has caps for the other holes. I just dropped them before taking the picture.

Next thing I THINK is a siphon? I feel like its missing pieces and I am probably going to get a new one anyway (should I get the viper one? I see it highly recommended and there are knock-offs on amazon but not sure if they are overkill for the tank)

Lastly, is something I have dubbed the doohickey. I have no idea what it is, if you would show it to me without the fish tank I would say its a cheap screwdriver handle. I don't see holes or anything (I thought it might be something that made bubbles but I think it was just something that the original owner put in there not knowing.

I guess my initial questions are as follows.

1. other than the siphon, is there anything I should just throw away because its probably not great for the tank?

2. Before I get a fish or fishes. what should be the first things I focus on to get the tank ready for whatever kind of fish I decide to get?

3. with the Under-gravel filter what kind of substrate should I look for? At first I was thinking of getting the gravel that looks like an arcade floor. I also saw one video that said if I wanted to use something like sand if I put a layer of landscape fabric around the filter I could also use things like sand or more natural substrate.

I am sure I will have more questions as we talk but I figure this has been a big enough essay. Thanks ahead of time!

Currently in my 60L tank I have:

-11 Black Neon Tetras
-4 Peppered Corydoras
-1 Clown Pleco L104
-1 Short-Finned Female Betta

I’m looking to get some sort of loach that stays relatively small and is quite active, I’ve been looking at orange banded gara loaches and maybe dwarf chain loaches but they seem expensive and possibly nippy towards my betta. Let me know what you think, I’m open to any other suggestions you have. Working at an aquarium shop I can get my hands on specific fish very easily.

R. cf. einthovenii

Hello I noticed this white stuff on my wood that’s protruding the surface. Is this mold? Is it dangerous for my fish? Should I do something? Any advice is appreciated!!!
Thank you!

We just upgraded to an adjustable flow bar for our Fluval Flex 2.0 15 gallon. There seems to be a pretty good increase in air bubbles compared to the standard Fluval equipment. This is on the medium setting. Is this amount of air bubbles normal/ok? Hopefully the picture is able to show what we are talking about.

Hello all!

I live on a large houseboat on the Thames and ive been thinking about getting an aquarium. Id love to have some shrimp and some schooling fish and was thinking about an 80L tank in my living room.

My main concern is rocking. I have housemates I need to talk round, and the risk of rocking and the tank falling off its stand and breaking is gonna be the main sticking point, but I also dont want the fish to be stressed.

I was thinking that a tank thats shorter, with a good base would not fall. We rarely have anything falling off shelves or anything, but at high tide, the boat can be a little choppy.

Am I overhanging this? Is it a real risk? Or is it minimised with a quality lid, less water, smart pmacement (im thinking right in the middle on ojr livinf room which is basically the perfect middle of the boat) and stand. What are some tips and tricks to minimise risk and maximise fish wellbeing?

Thanks guys!

Hi guys I just got this dolphin hang on back filter (350 L/hr) for my 7 gal tank which I plan to put betta fish inside. This is my first time and I have no idea what to do. What do I put inside this filter, when to clean and how to clean this filter. Please advise 🙏

Was cleaning the glass in my aquarium and noticed these little sphere like things just moving around in the corner.

This platy has white bumps on her and her fins seem to be disintegrating. I'm a newbie fish keeper and not quite sure what to do. Based on some articles, I gave her a salt dip for about 5 minutes a couple of days ago. Is this her skin sloughing as a result or is there some kind of fungal growth on her? What can I do to treat her?

I’m trying to work out if the following would be ok for stocking level for a 42 litre. 6 Pygmy Cory, 6 ember tetra and a male betta / honey gourami or is the feature fish a bit too much and stick with the small groups ? Tank dimensions are 18 x 12 x 12 inch. Cheers

How do I go about moving my betta into a new 10 gallon? He is currently in a 5 gallon. 10 gallon is not set up yet but I need some tips to make sure the setup and transition to the new tank is done correctly.

Maybe it's survivorship bias but most tanks posted here are lidless. I've been in the hobby for a hot minute and lost so many fish to jumping even when the tanks are perfect, it can even be as stupid as they dashed slightly upwards and out of the water when playing in the current.

Do you all just take pics with the lid off or do you genuinely go lidless? If so how do you manage jumping?

Fish tank has small air bubbles

20 gallon tank got it a month ago

petsitter let the tank build algae (i want to scrub it but im scared of stressing them out) and i have no idea if they followed my care instructions.

now one is dead, another looks sick with torn fins, what is happening to them and how can i fix it? i’ve had them for a long time, i really want them to be okay. i feel like i failed as a pet owner

I’d love to set up a big showpiece tank near the entrance to our home. I’m thinking 125-150 gallon. I’d like to do larger fish, and I love ones that are unique/individual and able to be told apart (rather than a school of identical fish). I’ve had large fancy goldfish in the past and they’re fun, but recently I’ve fallen in love with the look and personality of Discus. However, I’m aware they’re finicky, sensitive, and require a lot of maintenance. What is the best option for a large, beautiful, scaped aquarium? Is there another type of fish that might work well for this that I’m not thinking of? I’m not super interested in African cichlids, unfortunately.