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Aquarium

What is the difference between a UV steriliser and a UV clarifier?

The very simple answer to this is gapping. Sterilisers have a chamber that brings water and the organisms within it into very close conta...

Why have the fish I just bought developed white spots?

Moving house is stressful for anyone and especially so for aquatic animals. Water quality can be completely different from one aquarium t...

Is it normal for fish to rub against rocks?

Fish will get the occasional itch and seeing a fish flick against a rock isn't necessarily a cause for alarm. But if it's performed with ...

How do I know if my water is too hard or too soft for my fish?

In a word: Homework.  It's fair enough to say that your local fish shop is likely to use tap water to fill their tanks and on the...

What are gill flukes and how do I get rid of them?

Gill flukes (Dactylogyrus) and skin flukes (Gyrodactylus) are common parasites that affect fishes. Like popular community fish, they are ...

How do I calculate the volume of my aquarium/pond?

Ponds of irregular shape can be tricky to give accurate volume calculations for and often require some imaginative estimation. For an inf...

Why are Siamese Fighting fish popular and what’s the best way to take care of one?

There are many reasons why Siamese Fighting Fish or Bettas (pronounced 'betters') prove a popular choice in the fishkeeping hobby, Certai...

Why are my guppies fighting?

Like most livebearers, the life of a guppy is pretty much all about sex and violence. The reason why males are naturally colourful is to ...

What’s the easiest Cichlid to start off with?

Cichlids are justifiably popular and they've got everything you could wish for in a wet pet, including personality. These fishes have bra...

How can I ensure my community tank is peaceful?

A bit of research is the answer. Most problems with aggression in community tanks are caused by impulse buying and one of the nicest thin...

What fish are best for a tropical nano tank?

The short and rather obtuse answer to this question is shrimps! The many attractive colour forms of domesticated Caridina and Neocaridina...

What is a “Tankbuster”?

"Tank busters" are big, powerful fish unsuitable for the average domestic aquarium. If you've seen a species on TV being held by a celebr...

How long do I need to leave my tropical tank before I can add my first fish?

It is a good idea to leave a newly installed aquarium for a week to ensure that all the electrical equipment is working properly, the tan...

How do I get rid of the nuisance snails in my tropical aquarium?

Nuisance snails are often a sign of excessive organic matter in the aquarium such as uneaten food, plant remains or detritus. Reviewing f...

What puffer fish are suitable for a tropical freshwater community tank?

At first sight this question has a very short answer - none! Puffers are equipped with powerful bites and short tempers and this ...

Can I keep Goldfish with tropical fish?

When temperatures are high, nobody keeps coldwater fish. Likewise, in areas of the world where the climate means that even an unheated aq...

What is the best way to keep Shrimps in my tropical freshwater tank?

With their bright colours and compact size, freshwater crustaceans have quickly become a popular addition to the aquarium hobby. Many of ...

Why do you sell plants that are not true aquatic ones?

A number of the more brightly-coloured choices amongst the plants we offer are not aquatic. Many of these are variegated or have purple t...

Why have my aquarium plants stopped growing?

You wouldn't buy a bare-root rose and expect it to grow in a bucket of gravel, but this is precisely what many people do with aquarium pl...

Do I need CO2 to grow plants in my aquarium?

In short no, but not all plants are equally undemanding. Slow-growing, green plants such as Java fern (Microsorium) and Anubias can thriv...

Are real plants better for my aquarium than plastic plants?

From the point of view of the fish there’s very little difference in terms of shelter potential and for some species that eat live plants...

How many lights do I need to grow plants successfully in my aquarium & how long should I leave them on?

As aquarists, we are lucky in that never before has such a wide selection of aquatic plants been available from all corners of the world....

​How hard is it to keep Marine Fish?

“I’ve been keeping tropical fish for years and fancy stepping up to marines, but all the forums I see make it seem so hard! What’s the sc...

Why might a well-established coral suddenly die?

Many avid marine aquarists will have a well-established reef tank that provides the perfect conditions for growth thanks to proper water ...

What's the best Goby for my reef aquarium?

The perfect reef fish should be "invert safe", peaceful, colourful, suitable for small tanks and as an added bonus it would be nice if th...

Why is my coral sulking?

Like most issues in aquaria, water quality is vital to success and should be the first thing to investigate if any of the animals in your...

I want to start my first marine tank - what are the fish to avoid?

Unfortunately, Damselfishes are a problem in new setups and some species such as Neoglyphidodon or Dascyllus are...

Why does my anemone move around my tank so much?

Anemones are fairly mobile, it enables them to find the perfect environmental conditions to thrive. It also allows them to take shelter t...

​Why are marine tanks generally more expensive to set up than freshwater ones?

Blame the fish. Most freshwater species inhabit changing environments where they’ve evolved a need to adapt to changing conditions. This ...

​What is the smallest viable marine tank and what equipment do I need?

It can be said with all honesty that the better you know the rules, the more you can bend them before they break. Once you've run a large...

How long do reef fishes live?

Unlike many popular freshwater fishes that naturally live from one wet season to the next, reef fish are built to last. In the wild, the ...

​Why are so many marine fish so specialised in their diet?

In the complex environment of a coral reef, there are huge numbers of species and many of them are in competition. One way to beat the op...

​How does the partnership between algae and coral work?

If you live permanently attached to a site under the tropical sun, it makes sense to be solar powered. Although this is common in plants,...

​Apart from the zooxanthellae, how else do corals feed?

Not all corals live in sun-drenched shallows, or grow slowly enough to gain all their nutrient needs from their symbiotic algae. ...

​Why are most marine fish so territorial?

Coral reefs are an island of life in otherwise low nutrient seas. Most of the resources are tied up in the tissues of plants and animals ...

Is there a dominance hierarchy amongst corals?

Like trees in a forest, corals are in competition for space and light in a reef environment. Because of this, they have evolved ways...

​Why are my fish gasping at the water’s surface?

When fish gasp at the surface, it generally follows that they are short of oxygen. Often this is due to other pollutants such as ammonia ...

​The only space I can put a fish tank is in a busy hallway and wanted to know if that is ok?

An aquarium is a combination of water, electricity and glass - sitting one somewhere where accidents are likely needs careful c...

Will my fish only grow to the size of the tank?

“I’ve often heard people say that fish only grow to the size of the tank, but is that true?” No, this really is a myth. Fish come...

​What are dyed fish and why don't you sell them?

If you're a beginner, visiting an aquarium shop can be like a trip to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory; everywhere you look there are fish...

Which aquarium fish are easy to keep?

"I’m looking for something for my little boy who's 5 years old. I realise that I'm the one who'll be properly looking after them, so I’d ...

Why do I have to wait before I can put fish in my aquarium?

Now this is a question that generates many different opinions. There are many conflicting arguments regarding the maturing or establ...

Why do I need to test my aquarium water?

For aquarists, two factors are important when discussing water - clarity and quality. A glimpse of some of the habitats that fishes call ...

Why do the new fish I buy for my aquarium die while my others are “ok”?

Firstly, do ensure that the water conditions in your aquarium are safe and within acceptable levels for the new fish you’re adding. Test ...

Do I need to quarantine my new fish, and if so how do I do it?

There are a number of different ideas and thoughts about quarantine. If you are buying all your fish from the same aquatic shop, then you...

What's the most effective way to lower my aquarium's pH?

The best way to lower the pH of an aquarium is to reduce the hardness, as by doing this, the buffering capacity drops. Once the carbonate...

What's the best way to swap my livestock to a new tank?

Given the luxury of space, the easiest way to relocate aquatic pets is to prepare the new tank and move livestock and a mature filter sim...

Why won't my aquarium's cloudy water clear up?

Cloudy water is caused by three main factors and identifying which one is to blame is the first stage in fixing the problem. Most...

How can I get my fish to shoal in my aquarium?

Some species have a very flexible attitude to shoaling. Many fish have a concept of personal space and some of the more feisty tetras are...

Is rainwater safer than tap water for my tank?

Depending on where you live, tap water can be absolutely awful and only marginally suitable for aquarium use. It may be full of chlorine,...

What is the best size aquarium to start with?

This used to be an easy question to answer and a lot of the advice still holds true today. A larger tank tends to be more stable and hold...

Why do I need to add bacteria (e.g. AquaCare Bio-Boost) to my tank?

No matter how posh or basic your aquarium, all conventional filtration is powered by bacteria. This has always been the case and although...

What type of fish would be best for a child’s first aquarium?

This is traditionally a job for goldfish which seem to have gained a reputation for being easy (and disposable!) pets. Perhaps your paren...

How do I get rid of Nitrate in my fish tank?

Nitrate is a plant food and is normally rare in situations where plant growth is abundant such as ponds and natural water bodies - this i...

What should I do if I have a power cut on my aquarium?

First and foremost - don't panic! Most aquarium inhabitants can happily survive the slightly lower temperatures of a heated room for a li...

How often and much do I need to change my aquarium water and clean my filter?

A good general rule of thumb is 'keep your water clean and your filter dirty' and this is really the secret of successful fish keeping. A...

How many fish can I keep in my 60-litre tank?

With modern filtration and regular water testing, the old stocking levels quoted by many sources are now a little obsolete. Variables suc...

How do I get rid of black algae in my aquarium?

Black beard algae is actually a red algae and thrives in high-phosphate environments. What this means is that if you have it in your aqua...

How many of each fish should I keep in my aquarium?

Very few species of tropical fish are naturally solitary or pair forming and so most need to be kept as shoals or groups for best results...

Why are my loaches bullying my catfish?

Although catfishes are a very broad group and include some species that you wouldn't want to share a tank with, most commonly-kept commun...

Can I aquascape my coldwater aquarium?

The term "Aquascape" has become attached to the rather "designer" Iwagumi layouts where fishes are often secondary to the overall aesthet...

Why are my goldfish changing colour in my aquarium?

Goldfish are a domesticated form of a brown wild ancestor and their familiar bright colours are a result of many generations of selective...

Why does my Goldfish keep swimming upside down in my aquarium?

As goldfish are mostly vegetarian by nature, they have a long gut to digest high-fibre foods. Although a diet based on dry food has all t...

Can I keep Goldfish in a bowl?

Lots of us can remember having childhood goldfish that were won from the fair, or bought by our parents who carefully swapped dead fish w...

What should I look out for when buying second-hand aquarium equipment?

In a word, reliability. Typically aquariums, heaters and filters are fairly crucial in keeping fish alive and their failure can be disast...

How can I make my aquarium setup less noisy?

There was a time when aquarium filtration was almost entirely driven by air pumps and many of us over a certain age still enjoy the sound...

What is the best gravel for my aquarium?

On the face of it this is a simple subject but it does have some unforeseen effects. Starting with particle size, large grades of gravel ...

How does a protein skimmer work?

We’ve all seen foam on the beach or river banks and this is a natural phenomenon exploited by the technique of ‘Foam Fractionation’. This...

What is R.O. water?

Reverse osmosis, or R.O. water for short, is water that has been stripped of most of its mineral content by a membrane that only allows c...

Why is the water green in my aquarium and how do I resolve this?

Green water is caused by free-living algae that thrive on high nutrients and light. No matter how fine your filter media is, the microsco...

What is a Cyanobacteria bloom and how do I get rid of it?

An unholy alliance of bacteria and algae, Cyanobacteria or Blue-green algae are adaptable, tenacious, and ugly. Their partnershi...

I just added some wood to my aquarium and the water has gone brown- how do I clear this and is it dangerous?

For many species, the tint that comes from tannins in wood or leaves is a natural part of their habitat. Indeed, some people go to great ...

Can I add stones, rock or wood from my garden into my aquarium?

Outside of the artificial rocks designed for marine tanks, there’s no such thing as ‘new’ rock or stone. The rocks in your garden are mil...

What are the benefits of having a UV steriliser on my aquarium? 

Ultraviolet units have two main functions in fishkeeping, with the most common being algae control in ponds or aquaria located in sunny p...

How does the Ocean Free Hydra filter work?

No other filter does what a Hydra does, so it’s hard to compare it to anything. In a nutshell, these filters prevent new tank syndrome by...

Does adding fish to my aquarium add more diseases?

As we routinely receive livestock from suppliers all over the world, we know that fish from different sources can come with different pat...