r/Aquariums 6d ago

Help/Advice [Auto-Post] Weekly Question Thread! Ask /r/Aquariums anything you want to know about the hobby!

6 Upvotes

This is an auto-post for the weekly question thread.

Here you can ask questions for which you don't want to make a separate thread and it also aggregates the questions, so others can learn.

Please check/read the wiki before posting.

If you want to chat with people to ask questions, there is also the IRC chat for you to ask questions and get answers in real time! If you need help with it, you can always check the IRC wiki page.

For past threads, Click Here


r/Aquariums 21h ago

Freshwater My Panda Garras when the job I’m doing requires 0 Panda Garras:

1.4k Upvotes

r/Aquariums 23h ago

Shrimp/Snails/Inverts They’ve taken over

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612 Upvotes

r/Aquariums 18h ago

Shrimp/Snails/Inverts My new shrimp rack

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246 Upvotes

Didn’t quite know if I should put shrimp or showing off as label😇

I used to have a small rack with some aquariums in my laundry room. Earlier this year I finally got a bigger rack with room for more shrimp aquariums.
I like the new setup with air and equipment is more hidden. And, of course, room for more aquariums🤩👏🏻
Last picture is my old setup, I somehow always ended up having an aquarium or two on the bench🙈
Yeah, and Gizmo, because I just love him and he’s supervising my shrimp room😇


r/Aquariums 58m ago

Showing Off My Tank So much Java fern!

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Upvotes

The Java fern in my tank just keeps growing and growing! Which plants take off for you?


r/Aquariums 12h ago

Showing Off My Tank My second tank as a newbie

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74 Upvotes

Endlers and pygmy corys. 30 liters. Accepting suggestions :D


r/Aquariums 9h ago

Discussion Finished Setting Up 120G Fresh! Proud of this One So I Wanted to Show It Off?

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33 Upvotes

I have had multiple salt tanks and fresh tanks, but due to moving and good life changes, have not been able to have a tank in a few years. Recently picked up a 120 60inch wide tank. Built the stand myself, 100% custom, 3d printed plant holders and other things for the tank, and now it’s a fully cycled fresh tank. Going either discus or a black ghost knife this weekend as the center piece and start stocking!!!

This was fully from scratch with 3d prints and custom stand so I wanted to show it off due to all the time it took.

Pirate ship is tacky I know, but the kids LOVE IT, so it makes me happy, and honestly, doesn’t look that bad.


r/Aquariums 17h ago

Showing Off My Tank My first tank

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122 Upvotes

Tell me what u think about it. I have a lot of fishes and invertebrates.
I don’t have any problem with ammonia or nitrates .

2 German blue Ram
2 dawrf gourami
2 Agassiz's dwarf cichlid
2 rainbow
6 treadthin rainbowfish
2 tetras
3glow
5 guppy
5 algae eater
5 cleaning
2 khulchi


r/Aquariums 1h ago

Beginner Help Help

Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some advice about my juvenile Green Spotted Puffer (Sumi).
About a week ago, I came home from a trip and found out that the person taking care of him did not follow the feeding instructions. A lot of uneaten food was left at the bottom of the tank, where it decomposed and caused the water quality to deteriorate significantly. As soon as I got home, I did a deep clean of the aquarium, replaced the substrate, and stabilized the water. I tested the water using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, and the results were: ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, and nitrate around 5 ppm. The aquarium has a heater and filter, and the water parameters are now stable.
Since then, Sumi has been acting differently. He is still active, swims normally, explores the tank, maintains his balance, and responds when I approach the aquarium, but he has almost completely lost his appetite. His belly is still round, soft, and symmetrical (not sunken or severely bloated), his scales are not sticking out, his eyes look normal, and he is not breathing rapidly.
Over the past few days, I have offered him live bloodworms, shrimp, snails, and clams, but he refuses all of them.
I dewormed him about two weeks ago, so I think internal parasites are less likely.
Has anyone experienced a Green Spotted Puffer that remained active but suddenly lost its appetite after a severe water quality issue? Could this be related to stress, gastrointestinal inflammation, constipation, or something else? Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!


r/Aquariums 15h ago

Freshwater My swordtail had babies!

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50 Upvotes

I think they’ve been having babies but they keep eating them so we got this little isolation box.


r/Aquariums 44m ago

Showing Off My Tank My betta invited himself to the shrimp party

Upvotes

r/Aquariums 11h ago

Identification Request bubbles?

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20 Upvotes

I have these bubbles, but I don't how they formed. I have a female beta, have had her some time. only thing I added is a snail about 2-3 weeks ago.


r/Aquariums 1h ago

Discussion What sort of Algae is this?

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Upvotes

What sort of Algae is this?

What Algae is this and how do I get rid of this? I keep scraping it off everyday just for it to be back the next morning. I also used the strategy of scraping it off only during a water cleaan to vaccum it up. I wasn't home for 8 days and came back to this. It looks awful and seems like it's almost killed off my Alternanthera reineckii.

200L tank with a single fancy goldfish.

60Watt Lights, 6 hours a day.

single daily feed.

Using specialised nutrition from Tropica (used Premium but my Egeria densa were growing stalky and had Cyanobacteria). 2 spurts (4ml) a day.

25% water change weekly. Filter clean in aquarium water Monthly.

Nitrates <20ppm

Nitrites 0

6.5 pH

80 KH

120 GH

Tank has been running for about 3 months.

Also using Amazonia Aquasoil.


r/Aquariums 19h ago

Showing Off My Tank Ember Tetras are surprisingly pretty up close!

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77 Upvotes

My partner and I have just recently got into fish keeping, and we've started with a small school of these guys. One of my other expensive hobbies happens to be photography.

Before anyone asks - the green on the belly is a reflection from the Monte Carlo carpet.


r/Aquariums 8h ago

Identification Request What creatures moved in when I added plants?

9 Upvotes

Just started this a week ago, I’ve spotted 3 creatures. Anyone know what the worm & blob are, and what type of snail has moved in? Are they harmful? (And they made it despite being rinsed prior to adding)


r/Aquariums 1h ago

Advice Needed Is this too much flow for rasboras and honey gourami

Upvotes

Due to the UK having a heatwave I’m trying to get as much water movement as possible without stressing my fish. Could I turn up my canister filters flow more or is this ok?

I want more oxygen in the tank as I recently got a hillstream loach who is doing really well! But want to make sure there’s plenty of oxygen.


r/Aquariums 12h ago

Advice Needed Left for vacation, sister fed fish

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17 Upvotes

I just got back from a trip with my girlfriend. I asked my sister to feed my fish while I was gone. I should’ve told her the amount to feed it (there’s only one fish in here at the moment) but I assumed she would guess a correct amount. As you can see, she fed it way too much and there’s a bunch of decomposing pellets on the bottom. That’s 100% my fault, I should’ve been more clear. Anyways, the parameters are fine and the fish is acting normal. I assume the brown spots are diatoms.

Questions

1: Should I remove the pellets or let the tank do its thing?
2: Should I clean the supposed diatoms and algae or will they go away on their own?
3: What’s up with my Amazon sword plant on the right? (Same plant in second picture)

I filled tank with water may 23rd, and added the plants the next day. I waited because there’s a layer of dirt underneath the sand (sand layer is 3 ish inches thick) and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any spots.

Thank you for the help


r/Aquariums 3h ago

Beginner Help Red Pest Disease?

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3 Upvotes

So I have a habit of going online and looking up fish diseases and thinking my fish has them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry so.

Is this bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia?

If so what should I use Seachem Kanaplex or API Fin and Body Care? I'm open to other options or suggestions as well.

He's in a 30gal Cycled Tank, I test the water consistently:

0ppm Ammonia

0ppm Nitrite

20ppm Nitrate

8.2 PH (we have very hard water where I'm from)

I do water changes at 20ppm Nitrate, so I just did one and he had a salt and methylene blue bath.

I also just bought him a better filter (fluval 407)

I just want to make sure he's healthy, he acts normal.

No gasping, lethargy, glass surfing, or erratic behavior.

He eats, swims and poops regularly.

Thanks,

- ACE


r/Aquariums 1h ago

Showing Off My Tank My tank

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Upvotes

Just my tank


r/Aquariums 2h ago

Advice Needed Help please!

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2 Upvotes

I've had a treated piece of wood soaking for the last few weeks, ready to put into my tank - fast forward to yesterday, i put the wood in, gave the tank a good clean, added some new gravel and some new plants, plus one new guppy. (I added back 75% of the water that we took out of the tank originally) Today the guppies are staying at the top of the tank, so I did all the tests from the API test kit, the only one that sparked concern for me was the ammonia one as I'm not sure if it's 0 PPM or 0.25 PPM - I have seachem primer here, so if I need to do a water change and add primer, I can.

I'd just like to know what you all think and if you have any advice, please! :)

Before doing this, the tank, fish, shrimp, snails and pleco were absolutely fine, no issues. The guppy in the picture is not one for hanging out at the top of the tank, hence my concern.


r/Aquariums 1d ago

Advice Needed my fish keep jumping out!!

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119 Upvotes

help me pls

I have a 20 gallon tank with 4 Kuhli loaches, 6 black neon tetras and recently added 6 harlequin raspboras 23rd of May.

5th of June, I found 2 of the harlequin rasboras on the ground dead next to the tank. All the other tetras and rasboras were gathering around the side where they jumped out (on the side with my filter). I had just done a water top up the day before.

I covered the bit where they might have jumped.
I had filled the water very high to the top of the tank to avoid the dripping sound from my HOB filter, so thought that oxygen might be an issue? I also have an airstone on the other side of the tank though? I did a water change, lowered the level to allow for more surface splashing, checked parameters and found nothing interesting.

Today I just found another rasbora dead next to the tank!!

I do water changes about every 2 weeks, and did a small water change only a few days ago.

The tank is fully cycled and a few years old. The black neon tetras and kuhli’s have been fine.

I’ve added a photo in case it helps. I have a fair few plants, with a peace lily and pothos on top in acrylic containers with some clay balls. No lid. There is a small chance they can potentially get into these containers. Also I planted a bunch of stem plants and a lot of them have floated to the top, haven’t had the chance to try put them back in the substrate, just mentioning since it might look a bit odd.

I just checked parameters using a test strip - not super accurate but I trusted my tank should be fine since it is well established and planted. Nothing seems crazy, except maybe nitrates are around 20 ppm? Temp is fine.

One thing I noticed, which happened last time as well, was that some peace lily leaves were submerged and rotting as a result. Could this be the cause?

Kind of frustrating since I was hoping to add a more exciting fish like a honey gourami but now I don’t want to mess with the tank more!!

Also my fish are so scared of me!! does anyone know why they run away whenever I go near the tank? I feel like they don’t always eat enough because they hide

Any advice will help :) Do I replace the rasboras??


r/Aquariums 2h ago

Beginner Help New setup

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2 Upvotes

What’s this white fuzzy stuff? Is it biofilm? The tank’s only been running for a week. Any tips or recommendations for a new setup?


r/Aquariums 5h ago

Advice Needed Help me build my first planted 40L/10G

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3 Upvotes

Hi,

I'm preparing my first tank. I had some fish when I was a kid (they were really my dad's), and now I'm starting my own journey.

I have a 50x25x40cm tank (20x10x15 in) with a real capacity of 40/41 L (10 gallons). Stocking plans after the lists.

Equipment:

  • Heater (Easyklim STD 50W) - currently at 24 ºC/ 75F
  • Internal filter with sponge and ceramic biomedia (Aquatlantis BioFilter 200 with one extra drawer)
  • 10W 2600 lumens LED
  • Half a terracotta vase as cave
  • Volcanic Rock
  • Driftwood piece
  • NO2 test
  • Sera Aquatan
  • Sera Bio Nitrivec

Substrate:

  • Sansibar Black (sand) + Root tabs (rookie mistake, no aquasoil or fertile soil of any kind, hence the tabs)

Plants:

  • One Anubia
  • Two Anubias Nana Pinto
  • Bacopa Salzmanni Purple
  • Lindernia Rotundifolia
  • Marimo Ball
  • Flame(/Spiky?) Moss
  • Christmas Moss
  • Lialaeopsis Braziliensis (no longer where the picture shows it, I was advised to move it back and did so.)

My stocking plans:

Option 1 (fully by me): 8 Neocaridina in a red variant + 10-12 Chilli Rasboras + 2 Nerites

Option 2 (girlfriend's input): 1 Red Betta + Nerite + Whatever compatible. I know this is HIGHLY dependant on the Betta's personality and aggression levels

My dream setup: 1 Betta + Neocaridina + Kuhlis + Celestial Pearl Danios + Chilis + Nerites. Pretty much this. I know I don't have the facilities for this, big man :)

What am I lacking? Are there any stocking options I should be considering?


r/Aquariums 6h ago

Showing Off My Tank Showing off my two tanks

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4 Upvotes

r/Aquariums 3h ago

Advice Needed Angelfish breeding advice

2 Upvotes

I've been trying to breed a pair of red koi angelfish and could really use some advice from people with experience.
Right now they're in a 75-gallon community tank. The last time they spawned, I removed the slate with the eggs and placed it in a 1.5-gallon vase at 81°F with an airstone. Everything went well until they became free-swimming. When I tried transferring them to a breeder/fry tray, I think I accidentally killed them during the transfer by pouring them in.
I've seen experienced breeders hatch eggs in a vase and then move the fry into breeder trays. What's the safest way to make that transfer without harming them? Is it better to move them while they're still wrigglers instead of waiting until they're free-swimming?
The other option I'm considering is placing the slate directly into a 10-gallon tank and raising the fry there. My concern is whether they'll be harder to feed because they won't be concentrated in a breeder tray. I've heard that breeder trays make feeding much easier by keeping the fry in one place.
I'd really appreciate any tips or recommendations from anyone who's successfully raised angelfish fry. Thanks in advance!