Care guides for freshwater, pond, and reef keepers, built around the numbers that keep fish alive: water chemistry, stocking, and the gear that holds it all steady.
Target ranges, freshwater community tank
Typical ranges, not a reading from your aquarium.
Size up your own tank
Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) need warm, filtered water in at least 5 gallons, one male per tank, and a protein-heavy diet. Here is how to set up the tank, pick tank mates, feed them, and spot trouble early.
Discus fish need warm, soft, and slightly acidic water to thrive-ideally between 79-84°F, a pH of 6.0-6.5, and a hardness of 1-4 dKH. Meeting these strict parameters, along with frequent water changes, is essential for keeping them healthy and encouraging breeding.
Freshwater shrimp require precise water parameters - pH, KH, GH, TDS, and temperature - tailored to their species, with consistency mattering far more than chasing perfect numbers. Learn which parameters your shrimp need and how to test and adjust them for breeding success.
Cold water ponds don't need heaters when stocked with hardy species like goldfish, sturgeon, sticklebacks, and dace. Here are the nine best cold water pond fish and what you need to know to keep them thriving year-round.
To keep your betta fish healthy and thriving, you'll need to maintain specific water parameters including temperature, pH, and nitrate levels. Here's a practical guide to getting each one right.
Daphnia (water fleas) are easy to culture at home and offer excellent live food for conditioning fish and feeding fry and larger species alike. With the right setup, water, and feeding routine, you can maintain a reliable colony that yields hundreds of daphnia weekly.
Feed adult angelfish twice a day, only what they finish in two to three minutes, and rotate pellets or flakes with frozen foods. Here is a weekly schedule, plus what to feed fry and breeding pairs.
Anubias nana is a slow-growing, low-light plant that you attach to wood or rock instead of burying. Here is how to plant it, keep algae off the leaves, and split the rhizome to make more.
Eleocharis acicularis and Eleocharis parvula are both sold as dwarf hairgrass. Acicularis grows taller and thinner, parvula stays shorter and spreads faster. Here is how to tell them apart and grow either one as a carpet.
Learn how to care for peppered corydoras (Corydoras paleatus), provide cool-water community setups, protect barbels on sand, and trigger spawning.
Learn how to care for glass catfish (Kryptopterus vitreolus), maintain tight schooling groups, set up gentle water flow, and feed timid transparent fish.
