I disagree. I got into fish keeping because petsmart had the dollar per gallon and I got all the equipment for a 55 gallon tank for 100 dollars. I got the food, chemicals, test kits, etc for 60 dollars. I have 200 dollars worth of South American cichlids and I still have room for more
I have two Danios, one has buried it self in the substraite, now lit has moved to another place l think she's giving birth. I don't know what or how they do any help please!
For me personally. Depends on how long the vacation is. If I'm gone for a week or less, I have a full planted aquarium so my fish are always fine. They just eat the algea. But if it's for longer I have lil zip lock bags with a pre allocated amount of food w/instructions.
Yes! Do this! I know it would help a lot of people to not get discouraged. Especially since the vast majority of new fish keepers start out with equipment, livestock, and information from a big box store. These places often have inexperienced and sales-driven employees, and their fish often don't get proper QT or care before coming home with a new hobbyist.
Good idea! My betta recently died this month and he was only a year old. I think it was my fault 😢 I tried to follow an internet guide on how to treat suspected fin rot with aquarium salt. Apparently, I did something wrong, because by the third day, he was literally gasping for air and I watched him take his very last breath and float to the bottom and die. Idk what I did wrong, but I did treat him in a two gallon tank, but the article basically said it was okay to do 🤷♀️ I'm scared to ever use aquarium salt ever again now!
The API master test kit was one of the best things I've ever bought for my aquarium.. and fairly economical in the long run. I'm currently (fishless) cycling my 2nd tank & it always amazes me how clear the water looks when it's actually full of poison.
I once accidentally lowered the water below my heater while it was plugged in. It melted through the suction cups, fell into the water and burst. My hand was in the tank (luckily, no fish were) and I got a shock from it (like licking a 9 volt battery).
that happened to me once, but I heard it click on and unplugged it... since then I got a heater that claim it has safety features to shut off till it is reset
I am that exact beginner who likes things clean. I like to do things the right way. Only mistake I think I have made so far, is I vacuumed gravel too well on last cleaning and think I got rid of too much beneficial bacteria as my tank went backwards and caused a mini cycle all over again. Thanks for the tips.
How did you know that you over cleaned it? I'm new to this too and I'm trying to learn as much as possible. How did you know it went backwards in the cycle process?
Let your substrate get really dirty for a few week. Just sweep over it with your gravel vac to take what's loose on top out. This will let the bacteria grow and multiply. After a couple weeks do a good gavel vac on one side of your take and then the other on the next water change then. Only do a deep gavel vac every 3 to 4 weeks. The rest of the time just clean up a bit.
This is an older video, so while I can understand not getting a response, I wanted to say one thing. I love how you address the nitrogen cycle from the very beginning. I work in waste water treatment, and 90% of our job is just that, understanding the nitrogen cycle. The other 10% is phosphorus handling, heavy metals, and solids treatment...things we shouldn't have to deal with in aquariums. I gotta say, your videos and "Top X" videos have given me a lot of insight into not only how I handle my fish, but how I handle my water. Your videos acted as the link between waste water treatment and fishkeeping. One might even say that fish keeping is more about managing water quality. One might say we are all waste water treatment operators as well as fish keepers.
I suggest the Aquaclear brand for those looking to buy a HOB (hang-on-back) filter for their newly set up aquarium! Comes with 3 levels of media that you can also customize since it's just a basket. Mine ran for almost 20 years before it stopped working! I even keep a spare just in case I set up another tank or something breaks and I have spare parts. Don't forget to clean the impeller (motor) and intake/outake, that can get gunked up as well and cause your filter to run slower or even overwork and overheat. My suggestion for a future video: Top 10 Substrates for the Freshwater Aquarium. I find the choices and possible combinations out there are overwhelming, especially for those new to the hobby, or looking to get into live plants for the first time. Thanks!
melamine sponges are the absolute best for the easy removal of green spot algae on the inside glass. they work to clean anything off the glass , but green spot is a pain to remove and these things just wipe it off. they are marketed as [ magic eraser ] and are completely safe for your fish , but you can get them much cheaper on amazon just as melamine sponges.
Great tips. On the FX outer sponge filters, I used to rinse them in a bucket of clean tank water but the water would turn black very quickly, so I just started rinsing them under running tap water and have had no issues. I believe that the bio media and substrate/decor has enough BB to support the tank. It made cleaning an FX much easier. Great series!
Another great video guys. My suggestion for a top 10 is asking your subs to send in their stories of the top aquarium mishaps. Then you could make a top 10 list. It would be interesting and stories shared...
Think yer onto something bro....if enuff people are brave enuff to admot that we "all" make mistakes, especially in this hobby...would sure help all of us from beginner to pro...always something to learn...
Watching this has made me feel so much better. I basically need to do less water changes, but otherwise I think I am on the right track! I was definitly worried. I am new to fish keeping and want to keep them happy and healthy! :)
I made the mistake of leaving my heater on while doing a water change. I only realized the heater went out when my Gourami started acting weird and bumping the glass. He was literally telling me he was cold.
Another great Video, Lisa and John... I truly appreciate it, Very Professionally done.. I look forward to more in the Future.... Stay positive guys.. Take care !!! From { WVa}
You provide so much knowledge in all your videos. I moved up to a 55 gallon tank after your oticinclus video. They are my favorite fish. They share their tank with Cory's. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
I had no idea I should be using a siphon but I knew I was struggling to keep my tank maintained! Off to the pet shop today haha. Thank you so much for the tips
Of all the Yutube presentation ,You are the most comprehensive and logical advise I ever watch. I had an aquarium store in Europe and later in California I now live in Ecuador and want to start over again. I am diabetic and this is the best stress release there is. I know I am going to have some challenges, the temperature here varied from 70 to 90 every day of the year and NO A/C. Tank's again
Is that tank with the tree coming out of it ya'lls? That thing looks amazing. Thanks for all of the awesome advice over the years. Yours is one of the first You Tube channels I discovered and remains one of my favorites to this day. Keep up the great work, you guys are an asset to anyone that ventures into this hobby. : )~
I never thought about how to spell "ya'lls" 🤣 I agree about the tank! I was thinking the same thing! I love that tree with the plants around it and with the sand.... VERY NICE!
I want to get into the hobby. All of the maintenance seems a bit rough for a new guy like me. Thanks for this video, honestly I am still shying away. I don't want to buy and kill a bunch of fish.
This is super helpful! Thank you very much! I actually rescue reptiles and recently someone turned in an aquatic turtle and I have NO experience with aquariums apart from keeping fish as a kid (and my parents did the maintenance) so I'm in the process of setting up a few aquariums to accept more rescues of the aquatic nature and just want to know everything I can ahead of time so thank you for your videos. They are very thorough and informative and also not a total drag :)
Hey there! Housekeeper here. I've totally run threw a house with an aquarium and cleaned the outside with windex. 😯 I was super mindful when I did it, but others may not be.
Love watching your guys videos , the only channel i watch and trust when it comes to fish care and maintenance, just started 6 months ago in the hobby and the videos that u guys provide are so helpful!
Amanda..i think that would be a great topic on syphons. My biggest problem is getting it started, then the amount of water. Every vid tells it different. Good luck on your water issue!
Hi I just wanted to say I had a tank years ago and had to get rid of it because my partner then didn’t want it Partner gone Tank back aqua ar850 which I had before Anyway long story sorry I thought I would go and refresh my way to run a tank I have now joined you page and want to thank you Watch and set it all up And doing all that you and your lovely wife say to do not a race 1 week in and tank reads well and looking forward to adding my fav fish Testing and all good but another week is all good to me Love your work and content you and your wife have made it a easy thing to do and I just want to say thank you to both of you
Idea for a video: I haven’t really seen much on taking care of unsexed lake malowi juvenile cichlids. If you could do a video with tips and tricks explaining everything a beginner would need to know that would be awesome! Love your guys videos btw and you guys are the reason I’m into the hobbie and have continued to stay in it. Always watch your videos and appreciate you guys looking out for beginners! Keep it up John and Lisa!
My fish..a carnival win by my son has been with us about 14 years. I think our goldfish has 9 lives, boo ya cats, it has come back from a few episodes of " weird behavior, lying on the bottom of the tank, and actually jumping out of tank and being found in the nick of time. I'm always learning better ways to care for my " Dr. Goldberg" and better ways to change water and provide the proper environment. Anyway..just found y'alls channel and will be following. 🐠
I begin my morning with a fish head count. After I turn on the aquarium light, I locate all the occupants of the tank and quickly look them over to see that they look normal and are behaving normally. That way I know if any fish are sick and need isolation and treatment, or sadly have died during the night and need to be removed to avoid tank pollution.
Eric, I have 6 tetras, 2 Cory's, 2 loaches, 2 Japanese alge eaters and a small angel fish. The aquarium has been going for 11 years. It has gravel in the bottom now. Hang on back filter, 300 watt heater and fluval air pump.
@@debracook9272 well, the EASIEST way to convert to a live planted tank would be to replace the plastics with something like Anubias or Java Ferns. They are very undemanding plants that are fairly slow growing (not much trimming, if any), require very little light or fertilizers to be happy, and most importantly, do best when planted ON hardscape (not in the gravel) since they are rhizome plants. So you could very easily buy your plants, tie (or lightly superglue) them to a rock or wood, and place the rock they are attached to directly on top of the gravel in place of the plastic plant. The roots will eventually make their way into the gravel to anchor, but in the meantime, the plant will do just fine on the rock or wood. Another bonus to Anubias- there are TONS of species to choose from, and they are rarely susceptible to being eaten by herbivorous fish, since the leaves are thick and "waxy". Hope this helps, good luck! P.S. If you want to try more "difficult" plants, we can certainly continue the conversation and figure out what's best for you!
Thank so much for your time and information. If I want to use some easy planted plants do I need to take the fish out to put in substrate and put in decor and plants. Basically start over? My fish are so happy and healthy I want to do it right.
@@debracook9272 Any time! No, you definitely don't need to start over. If you want to replace the substrate, you can always siphon the old out, then siphon the new in. But I would recommend just using Root Tabs (made by SeaChem). Keep your existing gravel, slip a root tab in where you intend to plant, then gently bury the roots of your new plant. When purchasing plants, pay close attention to the "care level" and light demands of the plant. Some are very difficult to keep without the right parameters, and you could essentially end up killing money if your tank isn't set up for that particular plant 😂. I recommend any number of Sword plants (Ocelot Swords are BEAUTIFUL) except for Chain Swords (unless you feel like trimming plants constantly, as they grow like weeds). There are quite a few stem plants that are easy to care for as well. With stem plants and Swords, most of them are grown "emersed" before they are shipped to a store (meaning they were grown out of water), so don't be surprised if you see some die-back or leaf melting after you plant them, while the plant transitions its foliage for submerged growth. Simply trim the dead leaves close to the base of the plant without damaging the main body, and you should be good to go! Consider dosing fertilizers for optimal growth, but don't go overboard with it unless you have high powered light and injected co2, otherwise you will wake up one morning and the entire tank will be covered in algae (which I learned the hard way lol).
I have a 75 gallon with 5 full grown silver dollars and 5 baby tiger loaches, 1- 6" bala shark , I run 2 hob filters and 1 powerhead and 1 powerful round air stone and I'm wondering if it's too much oxygen ? Thanks and great channel !!!
Love your 10 things series!!! You have rekindled my love for aquariums.. I was quite the keep fish keeper in my day and honestly videos and information like this, keep me brushed up on my skills for when I can get another one.. and I have something to reference to when people still ask me questions!! Love you guys and thanks for sharing your love... did I see y'all are located in Virginia? I'm in Portsmouth I'm just hoping you're not too far away from me.. would love to visit you guys one day!!!
I wasn't sure what video to comment on and not sure if you're up for it.. I've seen alot of your videos and will keep looking but have you thought of doing a video of different ways to fill your filter with different types of media? Like which setup works best,if you should just use the pre-made filters for certain filters or if there is a special way to layer media in a HOB filter for maximum effectiveness/efficiency? I've seen your video on putting sponges in a filter to boost it.. any more content like that would be very much appreciated!
Question: I purchased a garden tank - 3 gallon. Ideally, the plants grown on top of the tank allows the water flow to exchange nutrients from plants to water to plants Thus, no filter is required (as advertised). I add water softener and antibacterial products according to directions. I change the water as suggested 4-6 weeks- unless needed sooner. I love your info videos and how much you care. I have not seen a plant topped tank explained. Thanks
Question... I got an aquarium a few years ago and I love it! It's so relaxing to sit and watch the fish. I had a little blue fish, two Angel Fish, and a little shark. I lost one of the angels and the three remaining fish got along well. One night I fed the fish and went to bed. In the morning only the blue fish was there. The other two were no where to be found. What happened? Then a few weeks ago I went out of town for a month and had a trusted friend watch my house and my fish. When I returned, I could hear the pump screaming from the backyard, the tank was almost out of water, and the motor was burned out. I called my friend who insisted she had been there the night before and the tank was fine. How could a 36 gallon tank run out of water overnight? There are no leaks. Thanks! 🐟🐠💙
I've neeeeeveeerr forgotten to unplug the heater or make sure it's fully submerged and later smelled a plastic plant burning....😅 Honestly, this is the first time in all my years of keeping fish that I've actually done water tests... Mostly I haven't needed it but looking back, there's many times when they would've come in handy...mostly, you know, trying to keep a fish alive in a 1 gallon tank from Walmart as an 11 year old and such.
I’m new to this hobby but I love it I think we should have both a small and large net large for when we buy quite a few fish and are putting them in the tank at once
We take in fish at our rescue and have several quarantine/isolation tubs always ready to go. Each is numbered and has their own dedicated supplies: test tubes, airline tubing, thermometer, heater, nets, etc, etc. Anything that goes inside of that tank never goes inside of any other tank. Ever. We find this is important for us because the fish we usually get in are frequently extremely sick or injured so this helps prevent the spread of infection. We tell adopters to always have an isolation tank or tub ready to go, and to keep some basic meds on hand, because things will happen. Also knowing how to properly disinfect isolation tank stuff after dealing with a sick fish is important - and being able to do it in a way that it's not contaminated with chemicals that will be harmful next time you use it.
i ve been following this channel for a while now but all i see is fish keeping for beginners only. so if you guys want some suggestions for video please make 10 fish/things that are for little experienced fish keepers.
Yeah I forgot to unplug my heater one time. When I started refilling my tank the glass on the heater broke in half, and the water started to steam. It was pretty scary to see steam coming up from my fish tank. Now I never forget to unplug my heater.
I cant stop watching your channel use guys are amazing. I recently got 4 beautiful black moor goldfish and there doing great could use do a care video on this fish please
I use windex or glass cleaner on the outside of my aquarium all the time and never had a problem. But I NEVER spray the glass. I spray the paper towels, rag, what ever I am using to clean the glass. That way, I get the no streak clean that I want, without harmful chemicals getting into my tank.
I use rain water, it's higher in pH but no harsh chemicals. I just keep it in jugs to get room temp and adjust pH before adding to my aquarium, 40 gal.
do you do water changes even if the load is very light and parameters are just fine? 55 gal 2 month old tank...It scares me to death to think of disturbing a tank that SEEMS to be doing just fine
Hi John. You will probably not like and/or agree about this topic. What about ten things you should know about a no water change ecosystem tank? That is what I have. My water is crystal clear and the parameters are just fine, and by the way I use the API Master Freshwater Test Kit. I do my weekly maintenance and test daily. During the week I just enjoy watching my 70 gal tank. I can share my tips with you. Regards, Johann from Centurion, South Africa
API test kits are NOT EXPENSIVE when you consider the service and importance they provide for us. Also, they are only like $18 on Amazon and have been for the last 6 months.
