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Hello, I’m just now getting a bigger tank after a few years with my 20! I found someone with a loaded 55 gallon with stand for cheap. Comes with aqua sky light, fluval 407 canister filters and all the extras. I’m super excited, but am not even sure what I’d like to have other than a community tank. I love pearl gouramis so maybe a few of those? Kuhili loaches or something interesting? Any tips on canister filters are appreciated too, I’ve never had one! I’m planning on using fluval stratum for substrate, hopefully heavy planted tank when it grows in. I’ve attached a picture of the tank, and would love suggestions! Thank you!

I introduced a Pearl Gourami into a 1 month old tank last Saturday (04/13). The fish has been lying at the bottom of the tank for the most time. The fish is very skittish and zooms off if I try to take a closer look. While he was interested in Krill flakes yesterday, he didn't eat anything today. Is this behavior normal for newly introduced Pearl Gourami while acclimating or is he somehow sick? Tank has 0 Ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, ph 6.8, 78 temperature, 40kh and 150gh. It has 4 snails, 3 petricola catfish and 8 cardinal tetras which seem to be doing fine.

Hi, folks. I'm three weeks into attempting to cycle a new tank, and it isn't going as intended at all. (The only critters in the tank are a couple pest snails that hitch-hiked in on the plants.) I used old gravel in this new tank (not at all as a source of beneficial bacteria; just because it was lying around and already paid for.) The gravel came out of an established tank a few months ago and laid on a towel in the sun for several days to dry before being stored in a closed bag in the garage. Before putting it in the new tank, I thoroughly rinsed it off bit by bit in a strainer (with tap water) then added it to the new tank. When I filled the tank, there was no cloudiness or floating debris/detritus, which told me the gravel was good and clean. I am using a new filter, but seeded it with some filter media from an established tank, as well as attempting to kick start things with both Stability and Fritz 7 (whatever it is actually called), and using Prime to condition the tap water. There are live plants in the tank (fairly heavily planted), so I added some Easy Green to further feed the cycle and provide some nutrients for the plants as they got established. I let things run for about 10 days, then tested the water. 0 ppm on ammonia, but both nitrites and nitrates completely spiked on the Aquarium Co-op test strips as soon as I inserted them in the water. I mean instant dark pink as soon as the water touched them. Did an 80ish% water change and tested immediately after...same result. Added more Prime and Stability and gave it a few days. Tested again, and again, same instant spike on nitrite and nitrate, but trace amounts of ammonia this time. Did a large water change...same result when I tested after the water change. Added more Prime and Stability. Waited a week or so, tested again...same exact result (instant spike on nitrite/nitrate, and trace amounts of ammonia.) Did a water change, tested again. Same results. Waited a few more days and tested again...same results. (FWIW, I've been using that same set of test strips on my other tanks and they're reading normal, so don't think it is bad test strips.) This is my fifth tank (MTS is real!!), and the others all cycled as expected. The only difference I can think of this time around is the re-used gravel, which has me wondering if I imported a bunch of something or another that is causing me so much hassle. If I break it down to re-clean the gravel, how would you suggest I go about cleaning it to make sure it isn't the cause of the problems? Thank you! Jeff

Here is the final details & look of my mother's home office tank(video included...will take some pics soon): 10 gal rimless Carib Sea Eco-Complete, Red Multiple pieces of Red Seiryu & Elephant Skin rock Several pieces of sourced driftwood pieces(small) Bubble Wall Aquaclear Hangback 20-30 gal rated(sponge on end to prevent shrimpies from going bye bye into filter) Fluval Aquasky Light Plants: 1x Nymphaea sp. Peru Puerto Maldonado(prob the most expensive plant I have bought ever, but wow its beautiful...bought two more for the Discus set up I am doing in my journal below) 1x Xyris sp Red Rare 3x Eriocaulon Polaris 2x Echinodorus Red Devil 1x Java Fern(sourced from my giant Java in my living room tank) 2x Jungle Vale(sourced from new ones sprouted in living room tank) 1x self made island of moss Livestock: 10x Blue Dream Neocaridinas 10x Cherry Neocardinas A few Ramshorn & a couple Assassin snails(to help with the bladders that hopped on plants I bought) 2x Sunset Honey Gourami 5x Red Beckfordi Pencilfish 2x Purple Pencilfish 'Rio Huallaga' 2x Lemon Bristlenose Plecos(seller sent me 2, so I will eventually move 1 to another tank...right now they are ok, super small) Well...that is pretty much the specifics...video below!

Hello Im new to keeping shrimp and a few of my first neocaridina shrimp (red rili) have died.... But strangley the 2 crystal red caridina shrimp I had in the tank before the red rilis are still alive? I thought the crystal reds were dead because I didn't see them for a few days. I know my water is hard, and I tried to soften it with RO water while I still saw the crystal reds. The crystal reds aren't dead, and are still alive after 2 weeks. 2 days ago I got 5 red rilis, they were added to the same tank as the crystal reds. I didn't... Drip acclimate the red rilis 😞 I did drip acclimate the crystal reds. The red rilis were floated in the bag for over 30 minutes. I found 2 red rilis dead one with the head torn off... definitely a failed molt. The other one still in it's shell. Can anyone help tell me why they died? I thought neocaridina liked harder water. I didn't do a water change since adding the shrimp, I did top off the tank a little with dechlorinated tap. The last things I did to this tank beforw I saw these dead shrimp were, in this order from most recent: added 6 pellets of hikari shrimp cuisine, moved decorations around in the tank making the water very cloudy, removed entire plants that were doing poorly, added new plants from my established tank. Then the day before I also added 4 drops of easy green. Days before the red rili shrimp were added, I dropped in 2 casuarina cones. Did they die because I didn't drip acclimate? Or is my water not suitable for neocardina? Should I add API pH up? Water parameters from what I can see, i used the aquarium co op test strips. Ammonia 0 Nirate 0 or 10ppm... I can't tell Nirate 0 Hardness 150ppm Kh 0 Ph 6.4 on test strips. Ph 6.8 with API liquid test solutions. Chlorine 0 4.5 gallon tank. It has uns substrate and inert gravel. Tank mates are 2 kuhli loaches and 5 celestial pearl Danios. (I know that's a lot :(... Please don't be mean about it)

Tank is a 5g, planning for it to house a betta. Right now it’s housing a couple bladder snails and some scuds, and the contents of two medium bottles of Seachem Stability, used over the course of about a month. I cannot seem to get nitrites down. I did have some decomposing plant material in there for the scuds/snails to eat, but I removed most of it (and moved most of the scuds to a big jar, too) and did a 80% water change. 24 hours later nitrites are back up to where the test tube is a glowing magenta. Did a 95% water change today, dumped in more Stability, two hours later test tube is a light purple. I checked ammonia too, and that’s at trace levels - slight, slight hint of green. Nitrates are around 20ppm. Somebody tell me what I’m doing wrong, please!

**For the below, we are assuming no established tank to pull bacteria from** I have been looking online, and have seen 2 main schools of thought on cycling a new tank: 1) Cycle from day one with plants in the tank, and low light. 2) Start the cycle with absolutely nothing living in the, and also no light until ammonia and nitrites are zero (usually 1-2 weeks). Then and a couple plants, use low light, and add a few fish once every 1-2 weeks depending on ammonia and nitrite levels. The second option seems to be the safer option and allows the bacteria to grow gradually with the load in the tank. Thoughts?

So...using a 60 gallon breeder to build another large tank for my parents in their foyer. Ideas, please tell me if my research is wrong and I should think different... Main idea will be a river bank. Branches coming from one corner of the tank with a big sandy floor to the other side with a heavier flow on top of the water with the branch being on an incline to mimic the river bank. Will use larger round rocks and smooth pebbles as scatter gravel with heartier plants that aren't rooted, like Java Ferns and Buces. I plan on having this my first tank with a lid on it as well due to my fish choice possibly. Livestock Idea #1(Would reduce flow rate greatly here while having a lot of filtration and likely not use a lid) 8x German Blue Rams, 6x Congo Tetras, 4x Electric Blue Acara, 8x Rummynose Tetras, 8x Blue Emperor Tetras, 8x Pygmy Corys, 2x Bristlenose Plecos, some Mystery Snails & Amano Shrimp. Livestock Idea #2(With lid, higher flow, still a lot of filtration) 5x Boesmani Rainbows, 5x Turquoise Rainbows, 4x Electric Blue Acaras, 10x Blue Eyes Rainbows(of some sort undecided which yet), 8x Horseman Corys, 8x Blue Emperor Tetras, 2x Bristlenose Plecos, some Mystery Snails & Amano Shrimp Keep in mind I will have loads of filtration(I have a bit less in a 40 gal and its A-OK) and plants plus will be running parameters 7.0 maybe slightly acidic with Livestock Idea #1. Right now I am leaning #1. Thoughts?

Well, I went to the store to get a 20h and came home with a 30-tall. It’s a perfect fit for the space and it wasn’t that much more expensive, but it’s really tall and shallow (front to back): 24w x 24h x 12d. I’m on a budget (which the coop light helped blow) and planning a live bearer tank: platies, mollys, maybe some swordtails, and probably some plecos or something to help with cleanup. My main question is plants: what can I get that’s compact and grows tall? And will look decent? And hide lots of fry?

First aquarium since one I had about 20 years ago as a teenager. First one with live plants. 29 gallons, maybe starting to get the hang of it. Fed them some love baby brine shrimp for the first time and it seemed like a hit. Maybe put too much in, but I can adjust that next time and it looked cool at least, haha

Good day all :) I've recently got into aquarium/fish keeping. After a lot of research and countless videos (which led me to ACO) I took the plunge and got a 20 gallon aquarium. I knew I was going to keep it planted, as I already have lots of houseplants and I love greenery. So I bought the tank, filled it with plants, and let it establish itself for about a month (had some technical difficulties with the water parameters halfway through but got it quickly sorted) before stocking it. Enter Trogdor the Bettanator and the Peasants! I purchased 10 black neon tetras, 4 panda corys, 2 baby mystery snails (plus mini rams horn snails from the plants), and a bright red male betta as the centerpiece of the tank that my husband and I named Trogdor. Anyone know where that name comes from? :D They've all been living together for a week now. Trogdor has gotten a bit sassy with the tetras around feeding time now that he's gotten used to the tank. But 95% of the time they all swim around happily together. I have always loved betta fish so I'm really happy that the community tank is working so far. Please excuse the low waterline, tomorrow is tank maintenance day :) I'm not sure if I'll post much, but I've found some very helpful information from other posters. So, thank you to everyone who shares their knowledge with noobs like me!

I just bought a 29 gallon tank. I plan to have plants and guppies with guppy safe tank mates. I need substrate ideas. The plants I most lean to are both root and water feeders. My other tank (my first tank in this hobby) has stratum that is capped with gravel. I don't have any experience with sand substrate. I've heard of some cool layering that people have done but can't seem to find that info now. I would really like to hear and see pictures of anyone's ideas.

Brief synopsis of previously transpired events: My halfmoon betta, Floyd, was lethargic, barely eating, and was losing color drastically. I reached out for advice, and determined he was suffering from fin rot. I quarantined and treated him with erythromycin and stress guard, and at the recommendation of a few forum members, added almond/cattappa leaves for additional antibiotic properties. Present day: I am happy to announce that after a full week in quarantine, Floyd has made a full recovery! A few days before he was due to be put back in his home tank, I decided to upgrade him from his normal 5 gallon home, to a 20 gallon retirement tank. His previous 5 gallon house had a filter that was causing very strong flow that was built into the tank and I was not able to remove. I believe it was causing him stress from being pushed around and may have led to him getting fin rot. I did try to buffer the flow using a small piece of filter sponge, but it didn’t do much. While I know his rapid decline was caused by him trying to fight off the infection, he had definitely slowed down in recent months, so I figured it was time to give him a chill place to live out the rest of his life. Floyd currently resides in a 20 gallon (tall?) with a peaceful Aquarium Co-op sponge filter, so no more harsh flow! He has the plants and little rock house from his old tank, and a new log to swim around. I also got him a betta log, so that he has somewhere secure where he can rest near the surface so he can get air when he needs it. I did some research and found out that older food can make fish sick as well (makes sense, old food would make humans sick) so I tossed out his betta pellets that were at least a year old, and got him a small pouch of Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. Its small enough that I’ll finish it in about three months and replace it with a fresh pouch so his food is never going bad. I’ll include some pictures below. Also yes, I know, my current light situation is janky at best! It came from my old 2.5 gallon tank, so its very small for a 20 gal, but I’m saving up for a more appropriate one. And finally, a big thank you to everyone who commented on my original post with any and all advice on how to help my poor boy. There were a few days before I started treatment that I thought I was going to lose Floyd. I know his passing is eventually inevitable, but I wanted to do everything in my power to help him recover, or at least ease any pain he might have been feeling if it were to be his last few days. You folks helped me more than you know, and I am so grateful Floyd is alive and well! Thank you thank you thank you 🥲😊❤️🐟

I have a 10 gallon tank I am currently cycling. There are no fish in it and it does not have a light. I keep the temp at 74ish and run a small sponge filter with an airstone. About a week ago I noticed some debris when I stirred up the substrate while adding a fake plant. The substrate is just cheap colored gravel from a BBS. I was out of town for a few days and came home to find a few beige blobs floating on the surface. It has the texture of a loose paste, no discernable smell. It's also in the substrate and all over the plant and the hardscape. Also, it's gross! Any ideas?

I still have my betta in a hospital tank treating his fin rot (day 5 of his salt treatments and he is improving!) The problem with that hospital tank is that the sponge filter I have in it wasn't seeded it was brand new, so I am pulling water for an established tank everyday for his 25% water changes. I bought and set up a Fluval Flex 9 on Saturday intending on putting him in there asap, and took ceramic balls and a piece of filter from my established tank and placed it in the Flex filter. My tap water ammonia is apparently really high (1.0-2.0) and Prime didn't help at all. The water parameters in the new tank have not moved since Saturday ( I used tap water to fill it) so the ammonia has stayed high (1.0-ish), the Nitrites and Nitrates are still at 0. I don't know if this just takes time, or if there is something I can/should do to help speed this up so I can get him into the tank asap. There are no fish in there, two plants, but because my tap water was already so high with ammonia, and I have seeded media in there, do I just need to be patient?

Would appreciate some advice from experienced keepers. I have a new 40 gal. breeder set up that I used a combination of Fritz 7, Fritz Fishless Fuel (Ammonia) and eventually some active sponge filters from Angelsplus.com to cycle. My goldfish arrived yesterday from King Koi and they appear to be doing great (2 baby Ranchus & 2 baby Orandas). I have some moss, a water sprite and a small crinum calamistratum in the tank as well. The substrate is sand. The water parameters before the fish arrived 24 hours ago: Ph 8.2, Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 10 ppm, 70 degrees f The water parameters this morning: Ph 8.2, Ammonia 0-.25 ppm (can't really tell but it looks like maybe a tinge of greenish), Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 10-12 ppm, 70 degrees f It's hard for me to discern if there's a green twinge, but it seems it could be heading in that direction. Is this to be expected with the increased bio load? Does an increase portend an Ammonia spike? How much Ammonia constitutes a spike? I know it is very important to keep Ammonia & Nitrite at zero, and I have also read a bit this morning about calculating unionized Ammonia versus the raw Ammonia result produced by the test kit. I test the tank daily because I really don't want my fish to suffer any ill effects. Thanks in advance! --Juli

Finally got my wife to agree on letting my start a 55 gallon in our living room. Can I get some stocking ideas?

I was absolutely dumbfounded how many people on aquarium forums thought I installed a tank above a real fireplace I had to disengage frome the websites and take down my pics. Does this look dangerous to any thinking humans?

My wife and I have set up a new 60 gal fancy gold fish tank. We used API’s quick start, stress coat, proper filtration, airration. Ammonia present to start nitrogen cycle of course. As mentioned we used quick start. Question is this, how soon can we add new fish? It’s been 48 hours since we set it up. Any and all assistance is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Chris from Leander Texas

I just set up my 29 gallon fresh water tank 7 days ago. My current water parameters are below. I currently have half gravel and half Fluval Stratum. I'm using the API master test kit and Tetra strips to monitor everyday before and after water changes. This tank is planted as well and I'm getting the below fish. Besides lowering my ammonia to below .25 what else needs to be done with this tank? I'm planning on stocking 12 Cardinals on Wednesday and feeding them after 4 days then waiting a week then feeding them again then twice the next week and so on until each day. I will be getting the other fish the following week or so as I had to special order all these fish because the local stores only do Cichlids and a few others I don't want and Petco doesn't have them either. I plan to water change every day and treat fully with Prime. The plants are doing great and no issues I see. I have the 3 snails in it already since day 2. I seeded the tank with Fritz fishless fuel and Fritzyme 700 on the first day and then got filter sponge water from a koi tank at the local fish store the next day and added a few small pieces of raw chicken that I just took out today. The tank topped at 5 ppm ammonia but never touched any Nitrite or raised the Nitrate. I just started doing 50% water changes yesterday and today and dropped it from 5 ppm ammonia to 1.5. Today it got to 2 ppm and I changed and its at 1ppm. I'm also using Prime at every change a little over the normal dose. On day 3 or 4, I did clean the filter and sponge out in a bucket of tank water just to get the mass amount of dirt from the substrate out and then put them back and I left the tank light on from day 3-5 24/7 to try and get allege and left the window blind open as well but none grew so I went back to 12-14 hours of light. This tank is for my son's birthday and was a last minute idea as we just went to the aquarium and he absolutely loved them and is so excited for this tank. Otherwise I would of done this the right way and let the tank cycle over several weeks before stocking anything. Tank pH - 6.6 Ammonia - 1 ppm Nitrite - 0 ppm Nitrate - 5 ppm GH - 75 KH - below 20 Temp - 76-78 Tap pH - 7 Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate 5 GH - 150 KH - 30-40 Fish 12 Cardinals 6 Rummies 6 Harlequins 3 Pygmy Corries 3 Khuli loaches 2 Hillstream loaches 3 Nerite Snails Plants 1 medium Amazon Sword 1 small Flame Sword 1 medium Narrow leaf chain sword with 2 off shoots I replanted 1 Bronze Wendtii 1 Green Wendtii 2 small cups of Java moss split into 4-5 patches Filter 1 medium sponge air filter 1 Aqueon QuietFlow LED PRO 20 with a sponge over the intake 1 Fluval small bio ball in the filter 1 small Fluval polishing pad cut up to fit in the filter 1 Carbon filter that came with the filter

My tank is three weeks old today. I started out doing a fishless cycle. On Day 3, due to a very kind and sweet husband, who did NOT understand the term "fishless cycle", I was the proud owner of 13 platys! All the fish have been treated and are doing great and my plants are growing. I've attached a picture of my water parameters. I've been doing 30% water changes every four or five days and of course the ammonia goes back down. My question is: how does my tank fully cycle if I keep doing the water changes? Is it just a slower process because of the fish and having to do water changes? Thanks for any help.

Hi All, I have a newly planted tank a couple of weeks old now with some small carpeting up in the foreground. Does anybody have any recommendations for some bottom dwellers that I can add that wont dig up all of the little plants as they get settled? I've heard that even corys can be a menace to this but any feedback and experience is very much welcomed. Thanks!

Just purchased 6 ember tetras to start a new tank. Will it be ok to add more to the school later on or will the existing embers school more on their own?

Got a new 55g last night! Currently having my trusty HOB filter clean out all the crud. After that, just gonna use a sponge filter. I will be moving my stock in the 20g long below into the 55g when it's ready. I'm gonna test the TopFin stock lights to see if it will grow Water Wisteria and some other easier plants though I don't have high hopes. Stocking will be 6 Neon Swordtails 1 Gold Gourami 8 Tiger Barbs Possibly 1 Golden Wonder Killifish And likely more down the road! The substrate and plants will also be moved as well though most plants will likely spread to other tanks, not the new 55g. The main focus for this 55g is for my Crinum Calamistratum and I highly doubt these lights will do well for it. I plan on getting Finnex Stingray when I can and because of that, the Crinum will stay in a tank with proper lighting until then, not risking my favorite! I'll be putting Black Sand in the 20g long and going for a neocardinia shrimp colony, specifically blue coloration. I have now beaten my record for a maximum of 5 tanks 10 years ago, 6 tanks now!

So I have decided to upgrade my betta Mr Darcy's tank (plus his tank mates, neo shrimp, mystery snail & nerite), from a 5gal to a 10 rimless (with clear lid). I need some advice before the change over ... My tap water runs at a Ph of 8.0 and Mr Darcy and the snails seem to have done fine, though the plants and the neos I think don't like that ph. So, for the new tank, I've decided to go with the Fluval Stratum, capped with a pea gravel, for a substrate. I read that the Fluval Stratum lowers ph quite a bit, like possibly into the 6's, which might be good for the neos. One of my questions is ... will the Ph lower gradually or fairly quick? I am trying to plan this out. Can I stick the fish/etc in right after scaping? (I have established sponge filters running almost a year in current tank). Or do I need to let the tank sit for a bit without critters then drip acclimate them? I've never used this substrate so I am just a little anxious, as I don't want to harm the critters or the plants. Thanks for your patience in reading this and any advice! ~Jennifer pic of current 5gal for tax