Vtcourtney

I can't say that I got much (or any) GOOD advice when I brought home 2 goldfish from a county fair, then was "gifted" an enormous pleco. I set up that first tank, and thankfully those fish were VERY forgiving. I now have two happy community tanks that I adore (one 70 gal, one 38 gal). But if I could pick one thing I've learned over the years that I would tell beginners is to PUT LIVE PLANTS IN YOUR TANK!! They are so much better at keeping water quality stable then any chemical or additive ever will. If you're not a great underwater gardener and they die sometimes, so what! Buy a few more and replace them. It's worth it.

What plant is this?? I've had several in my tanks for YEARS and they are super hardy so I want more of them. Just can't figure out what they are called! Thank you!

I have had little success keeping shrimp in my community tanks, but THIS ONE IS A BADASS! (From my first shrimp keeping attempt.) I love a hardy critter! ❤

I adore my two fish tanks. One 70 gal with all freshwater tropicals and one 38 gal with fishies and dwarf African frogs. Your 2/16/21 podcast about "making it easy" and doing what works for your tank helped me immensely. I have been learning as I go over the last few years, and I have often learned the hard way that there is an excess of TERRIBLE info/advice on the web. WHY do retail pet stores and/or local fish stores not tell people that PLANTS IN YOUR AQUARIUM MAKE IT ALL SO MUCH EASIER!?! Why do they display SO MANY gravel vac/siphon thingies when many times all the (planted) tank needs is the detritus vacuumed out of the gravel and the water returned to the tank? Why doesn't anyone know that doing 15-25% water changes frequently actually stress the fish out more than it helps them? Why doesn't anyone say that it's a really good idea to have TWO heaters in each tank....so that if one of them quits working, your fish won't get cold (and get stressed or die)?? I think I could write a book on everything I have learned the hard way (even though I have followed every instruction/guide I could). For instance, I recently had an issue with my new nerite snails. All that shows up on the internet (and from sales associates) is that they are great algae eaters and scavengers. Sounds great, right? Only after they put eggs ALL OVER my driftwood did I find that yes, the internet is correct that will not reproduce in fresh water, but YES THEY WILL STILL MATE AND LAY EGGS! The nerite snail shells are pretty, but no thanks. I spent hours scraping eggs off of driftwood the other day. I took most of the snails back to the store, leaving only one in each tank. I will stick with my adorable mystery snails who on occasion make little clutches of eggs that are SUPER obvious and can be easily removed from my tanks. Another finding was that Seachem labels don't tell the whole story. Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Flourish Advance actually each do very different things...but the newbie consumer doesn't understand this! And if EITHER of my tanks were fed as often as they said, I am pretty sure I would have ONLY plants left in my tanks, and enough algae to take over the world. I am a Chemical Engineer. I understand water chemistry. But I have still accidentally killed SO MANY aquarium critters trying to follow "rules" I have found online, I am embarrassed to even admit what I do for a living. So, thanks for being honest, thanks for being you, and thanks for confirming my belief that fish enthusiasts should just do what WORKS! Sincerely, Courtney