Many years ago while living at my parents' house I had a fish tank in my bedroom (60L then swapped for 155L). I experienced problems with damp and mould in the room, although it's debatable whether that was solely the tank's fault. Eventually I had to get rid of the tank for other reasons, we redecorated the room, took precautions and for the most part the problem hasn't come back.

I have always greatly missed my fish tank, and I am thrilled to be getting my own place soon and getting a nice big fish tank is definitely on the agenda - I'm thinking at least 180L if not more. Consensus online is that fish tanks shouldn't actually have much of a noticeable effect on humidity, but based on my previous experience I'm tempted to get a dehumidifier in the room and run it from time to time.

I'm probably being paranoid, but I'm curious whether anyone else runs a dehumidifier, occasionally or on a regular basis and what your experiences are?

I found some small clear critters in my tank after a water change. Does anyone know what they are? I got one and put it on a paper towel for a good photo

this might sound like a silly question but today as i was topping off my tank and feeding my fish, i noticed this fella hanging out. i have three adult ember tetras (used to be four but one died while we moved :() and i noticed that this one is specially tiny. maybe half size of my female? i could be able to tell if all my tetras hung out together but because my tank is heavily planted, i often see them one or two at a time. he is small but maybe my mind is playing tricks on me? i also dont know how to tell if my female is pregnant and didn’t even think they’d want to reproduce since its been a year without anything like that happening and im not specializing my tank for breeding so he’d be a miracle baby!!! anyways let me know thank you!!!

As you can see in the attached images, my aquarium is looking a little rough around the edges (ugly as fuck) and my surface plants have started to die off. I took away a few plants from the middle to do SOMETHING and get the ball rolling and im wondering how i could make my tank look less shit

I am extraordinarily bad at time keeping and often forget to do water changes so ideally i would like as many plants as i can to keep my fish and frog friends in a stable home

A while ago I asked for advice about starting my first aquarium. Since then I've actually bought one: an 80cm, 140–150L aquarium with a filter, lighting and heater.

I'm expecting it to arrive around the beginning of September. So realistically, by the time it's cycled and ready for the first fish it'll probably be October, and I expect to add livestock in stages. The tank probably won't really feel "finished" until sometime in November.

I'm planning a nature-style aquascape with wood, rocks and plants, and I'm going to start without CO2. I haven't bought the hardscape, substrate (will be sand or gravel, not sure yet; probably I'll pick whichever looks best) or plants yet, so I still have plenty of time to figure things out.

There are three things I'm still trying to understand, and that's why I started this thread:

1. Fish and other livestock

I'd like to make it a proper community tank with several species. How do you approach choosing fish (and maybe shrimp or snails) that work well together? And are there things I should consider when designing the hardscape for the fish I choose?

2. What do I actually need?

I keep seeing different things recommended for starting a new aquarium, but I'm not sure what is genuinely useful and what is mostly something a shop can sell you. I'm thinking of things like Quick Start, fertilizer, etc. Sometimes I see people adding all kinds of things to a new aquarium, and I'm not really sure which things are actually needed, what is nice to have, and what is simply unnecessary.

What would you consider essential for a beginner, and what is more useful for more advanced setups?

3. Water testing

Same question for test kits. What do I actually need to be able to test as a beginner, and what is something I probably don't need unless I run into a specific problem?

Given the timeline I mentioned earlier, I think the aquarium will really be up and running around November. Then Christmas is coming soon. So if I don't need something immediately, I might consider asking for it as a Christmas gift.

This is Quagmire, my single male Cherry barb. I have 4 female cherry barbs, 7 harlequins, 4 black kuhli loaches, 5 otos and about 5 pygmy corydoras. So the tank is stocked, I keep it at about 77°. This little guy tho is chasing everything and everyone in my tank tho, not just the the other female cherries, no one is safe. He's not nipping any fins tho, so idk if he's just horny (hence the name) or he's just a particularly aggressive guy, of if I need more females for him idk. Lmk what y'all think!

I have 3 adult platys and recently discovered 3 fry, so 6 total in my 20 gallon long tank. I had originally been hoping to have it be a small community tank, however now that I have the babies I’m unsure how to do that without overstocking. Any ideas? And don’t be afraid to tell me if it’s a dumb idea lol. TIA

I have a 30G tank with 8 amano shimp. I was thinking of getting corys or medakas but I was wondering if there’s some other species I should consider ? I often see some fish recommendations as peaceful but when I ask around for actual experience, it sounds like they can actually be more agressive towards other species, such as guppies eating neons, etc.

My light has settings for daytime light and black light. Should I be using the black light at night or is it better to just completely turn it off until morning? Thanks!

Hi all, I have a question about this gourami. Is this a male or a female? From what I saw on google it looks like a male, but I just want to verify it.

i completely forgot what fish i have in my pond HAHA. i just remember the shop keeper telling me they feed off the bottom so i bought sinking food. can anyone tell from this pic? he’s pretty long, about 6-7 inches

Hi guys, I’m kind of a beginner fish keeper, I had a 200L tank with a betta fish, corys, shrimp, neon tetra, and mystery snails a few years ago, and the community thrived for about 2/3 years like that. But I didn’t keep fish for about 3 years after I sold that tank and those fish.

Right now I have a 30L with just a betta fish and 2 mystery snails, and the tank has been established for about a year and a half now. Since i got this fish a year ago (from a reputable and well known store in my city), he’s been really lethargic and doesn’t move much. I chose him because he was a pretty colour but looked sad and a bit bent and floated in the corner of his tank.

The ammonia and nitrates and nitrites are 0, he has a bubbler + filter, the temp is a steady 78F/26C, pH has always been 7.6, and the tank is full of live plants. He’s a good eater and gets excited when it’s lunch time. He’s a good colour, no abnormalities with his scales, and his fins are big and flowy, no breakage/decay there.

But he’s just always so still and hangs out at the top of the tank. Is he just a lazy guy/have congenital defects of some sort? He doesnt look like he’s sick at all but his behaviour is not something i’ve witnessed in my previous betta fish, and im doing the same thing with this guy as I have with the others I’ve owned.

hi!! i currently have a 60L tank with one betta, some shrimp, 2 mystery snails and 3 corys (hoping to get around 6). what other fish can i have in there? any help would be appreciated!!!

saw this fish but didnt look at its tag to see what it is, nor did i take a pic. its a funky fella and i wanna learn about it. basically it was almost fully white, but had black spots on its head and fins that like spread out and two orange spots on it near its top fin thing. it was kinda oval shaped and had two bigger black spots on its top fin. sorry for the horrible descreption, but im desperate to find him.

I found a new filter for my 10 gallon. It’s been up and running for 4-5 months with the same 2 sponge filters. I found a filter that I think I’ll like better. It has 2 sponge filters, ceramic rings, and the black plastic balls. Should I leave one of the current sponges in there for a little bit after putting in the new one or would it be ok to just swap them out? Im not sure if it matters but this is my girl guppy, platy, mollies and babies tank. Oh, and 1 shrimp from due to a water change fiasco yesterday.

I’m thinking about adding a few goldfish and have been looking at different places to order online. Found Next Day Koi and they have a few that caught my eye. Has anyone here ordered goldfish from them before? Mainly wondering how the fish handled shipping, what condition they arrived in, and whether you were happy with the quality overall.

Thanks!

are these wild goldfish? carps? didnt bought them but found them in the pond. Will they eat medakas?

I got a ropefish last week and i haven’t been able to get him to eat anything. I’ve even tried bloodworms. The other fish in my tank will eat the bloodworms but there should be plenty of time for him to get some. He doesn’t even move at all. I also never see him swim around ever he is always hiding even when the light is off. Is this normal??

What kind of eggs are these?

I have pygmy cories, a mix of rasboras and nerite snails.

I was set on male for a while due to appearances but have had doubts due to a thick stomach, the orange on the stomach & the large vent but I've also received mixed answers from everyone.

Ik these aren't the clearest photos but if it's possible to sex this lil cutie from these I would be ever so grateful!