beginner

Hi all. I’m a total beginner fish keeper. My brother has given me some fish so I’m still learning! I have 9 platy and a Bala but one of my platy has had clamped fins for the last few days. At first I thought it was stress but I’ve noticed he’s swimming erratically, he’s lost weight and he swims...

Hi Guys, I'm new to fish keeping and have got a 10-gallon tropical tank that I'm about to cycle and wondered if you guys could give me any stocking advice. I also wanted some sort of algae eater and some shrimp in there too, if possible. Unfortunately, you can't get ammonia where I live so I...

Okay, I've had a goldfish for around 5 years now, we got him from a fairground as a small one and he's grown into a 10cm long fish. He's currently in a biorb 15l which is clearly too small for him as the water is constantly turning dark green. We're looking to buy a new aquarium/tank with a...

Most people's first fish tank is small, usually 5 US gallons (19 liters) or less. It is far too common that people will buy a 1 gallon, or 3 gallon, or 5 gallon tank, and then find out later they have stocked it with the wrong kind of fish, or too many fish, or a bad mix of fish. So I wanted to...

Hi everyone, I'm getting back into the hobby after about a 10 year hiatus, and am looking to start out again with my first truly planted tank, a 35 gal. cube with some dwarf grass, marimo moss balls, and a Xmas moss bonsai. The most I've done with plants in the past has been some hornwort...

I would like to Hardscape my aquarium - (Rocks, Stones, Gravel, and Limited Plants) However, have got some fish doing just fine in my tank that has a mix match of ornaments, such as a large fake wooden background log thing...:S:fun: and a few small fake plants. The fish I have...

Hi all, Used to keep a 25 gallon freshwater fish tank when I was a kid, and now getting back into the hobby after being gifted a 60L BiOrb tank (http://www.biorb.com/en-us/shop/aquariums/life/biorb-life-60/)- about 16 gallons. I've read a lot about cycling the tank, how long it can take...

Hi All, This forum is invaluable for people like me who always had the desire to set a happy and healthy environment for fish to thrive in but never had the push to do it. Well, I have taken the plunge and decided to purchase my first tank as a beginner (I am 33 yrs old so not too late I...

Hi, In advance I am really sorry if this has been asked before etc but I am absolutely gutted!! Bought the biorb was so excited to get a cold water arrangement of minnows, shrimp, snails etc... Turns out I can only have 4 minnows and no shrimp because of the way the biorb is set out... My...

Hi everyone! I have a new tank which has 12 Neons 5 Salt and Pepper Corys and a male Betta in. The tank is rougly 18gallons (though I live in the UK so its 70 litres). I've been using the JBL proscan test strips and app. I've always had really reliable results and my local aquarium shop...

Hello! To begin with, I'm totally new to fish keeping and want to ensure everything is done right before I add any fish to the tank. These forums have been a great source of information for me. I purchased a 180L Rio Aquarium which came with an internal Juwel filter and I fitted an external...

I just got my first paradise betta and tank. I wanted to use shells from when my family visited Florida. My father claimed I could boil them for 6 minutes or more and then rise them well. Will this work? I want to make sure to keep my fish living and thriving as much as possible. Also any...

I'm afraid my fish, John Quincy Adams, is sick! He had a white spot on his fin when I first got him 9 months ago but it did not grow or change so I left it alone. I've begun to notice that his tail looks like it might be deteriorating and some of his dark blue color is lightening. He has...

Finally got round to setting up my Fluval Flex 57L this weekend. Been researching this a lot over the last few months and decided to do a low tech planted tank. The lights probably aren't the best and perhaps the plants I've used are of a higher spec than I think but I'll give it a go. Not...

My readings are Ammonia- 0.25 ppm Nitirite- 5 ppm Nitrate - 20 ppm Do I need to continue feeding ammonia? Does my tank need a water change? Any advice is appreciated, thank you

Recently got into fish keeping after many years since i was a child, i have set up a 20 gallon semi-aggressive community tank. So far i have 2 japanese algae shrimp, 1 Ghost shrimp, the 3 tiger barbs which are the fish that i am worried about due to lack of color and what seems like rapid...

Hey, Panicking! I cleaned my tank a few days ago, still trying to get back on track from my last issue (water pump turning the water cloudy, has since been removed). I assumed the water was still cloudy or that I'd somehow got dust in the tank, however on closer inspection...THE DUST IS...

Hello! I've recently started sorting out the tank I've had since childhood (The scrub mistakes I've made over the last ten years...). So far I have replaced the rubbish internal filter with an eheim ecco pro 130, replaced the substrate and decorated it with some Java ferns, Java moss, Hair...

Hello friends, I'm new to fish keeping so I apologise for any obvious mistakes I may have made! I have a lovely 5 gallon tank set up with filter, heater, LED lights. I bought my little guy home a couple of days ago, half moon betta, no obvious discolouration, no ragged fins, no white spots or...

Hello, I've only gotten into tropical fish keeping about 3 months ago since I took over the family aquarium. In the aquarium at the moment is grey gravel with the odd bright coloured rock, it looks disgusting. I was thinking of switching to sand so I could put live plants in and also for looks...