A GAMER'S WIFE

Check Out My New Blog Posts at AquariumCoop.com!

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 21:41:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I just started my dream job working for Aquarium Co-Op! I actually majored in electrical engineering, and for the past decade or so, I've been creating marketing content for engineering companies. Then in 2015, I got into the fish keeping hobby and started making YouTube videos about aquarium fish in 2018. Around the same time, I heard that Aquarium Co-Op was looking for some marketing help, so I began writing blog posts for them as a contractor. Fast-forward to today, and I'm now working as a full-time content strategist in the aquarium industry!

If you'd like to see more awesome aquarium articles written by me, please visit aquariumcoop.com and subscribe to their weekly e-newsletter so you won't miss a thing. Thank you for joining me on my journey, and I look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. I still release weekly aquarium tutorials on my YouTube channel, Girl Talks Fish. If you'd like to see what kind of stuff I do for my job at Aquarium Co-Op, check out this video:

The Best Foods to Feed Your Cherry Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 04:45:00 +0000

So, you got your first cherry shrimp but have no idea what to feed them! Keep reading to find out what my shrimp go crazy for versus what they avoid like the plague.

When I started my first shrimp breeding tank, I was really nervous about what to feed them. I heard things like:

“Feed mostly vegetables; don’t want to bloat them with too much protein."
"Wait, they need enough protein to breed or they’ll cannibalize each other."
"What about essential minerals for proper molting?"
"Above all… don’t feed them too much!”

Gah, it’s enough to make anyone go insane! Lucky for you, one of my favorite things to do is feed my shrimp random stuff and see what happens. There’s nothing like seeing a horde of shrimp swarm on food like ants on a piece of candy. At this point, I’ve fed my red cherry shrimp at least 30 different foods, so I’m going to quickly summarize the results for you.

Biofilm and Algae

I’d say the #1 important thing for your tank is to grow tons and tons of biofilm and algae because it’s something that both adults and babies can eat and have 24/7 access to, day or night. Algae, of course, is very easy to grow. Just leave your lights on for 8-12 hours a day, and you should grow a healthy crop of on your walls and various surfaces. I scrape the front panel of the aquarium for viewing purposes and leave the other 3 walls to get nice and green.

The next important step is to provide lots of moss, fluffy plants, and floating plants with fuzzy roots… anything that easily traps food particles floating in the water. Not only do they provide safe hiding spots for babies, but also the shrimplets can just park in one area and eat all the yummy crumbs that get caught. Even sponge filters are a great spot for shrimp to graze on because it continually sucks in food in the water column.

Now let’s talk about how to actively grow biofilm – that slimy coating of bacteria and other microorganisms that grows on all underwater surfaces and happens to be what cherry shrimp naturally eat in the wild. One way to grow biofilm is to use dried catappa leaves or Indian almond leaves. There are many other kinds of aquatic botanicals that are suitable for shrimp, but if you get the large catappa leaves that are bigger than your hand, feed one Indian almond leaf per 20 gallons about once a month. For me, I cut off half a leaf for my 10-gallon tank, and whenever I start to see holes in the first leaf, I add a second piece because it takes at least a week before the leaf stops floating at the surface and actually starts breaking down. If you’re going out of town, soak several leaves in a bucket of water for 3 weeks so that they get really slimy with biofilm, and then drop them in your shrimp tanks as a long-lasting vacation food.

Cholla wood and Malaysian driftwood are both softer woods that are also great for breaking down
more quickly and growing yummy biofilm for shrimp. Just a heads up, adding all these leaves and driftwoods will add tannins and give your aquarium water a slight brownish tint. However, with the amount of botanicals I’m using, I hardly notice the color change at all until I do a water change.

If you’re looking for an actual jar of food you can buy to feed your shrimp babies and greatly increase their survival rate, get Bacter AE. It’s basically a powder food that spreads all throughout the tank and contains microorganisms and other nutritious compounds that boost the growth of biofilm. It comes with a little measuring spoon with dosing instructions on the back, but for my 10-gallon tank, I feed about one-fourth a scoop at least once a week. You can also make your own DIY powder food by crushing up fish flakes and algae wafers using a little coffee grinder.

Favorite Foods for Shrimp

To be labeled a favorite food means that as soon as I drop it in, the whole tank swarms it. So far, I haven’t bought that many specialty shrimp foods, but the two I’ve tried are definitely on the list – MK-Breed Cheeseburger (which is an all-in-one, comprehensive food) and Shrimp King Mineral (which provides extra minerals that help with molting and such). Both break down quickly, allow shrimp of all sizes to share without a ton of fighting, and get eaten very quickly without any leftovers.

Their favorite vegetable is canned green beans, by far. I like the French cut version because then the softer insides of the bean are easily accessible.

Finally, they go nuts for Repashy gel food. I’ve tried Community Plus and Soilent Green so far, and they’re great. Repashy is very soft and flakes off into tons of floating particles for the babies to eat. Plus, you can also feed them the straight powder form if you like.

Treat Foods for Shrimp

This category of foods are also favorites for my shrimp, but I don’t feed them as often and use them as occasional treats. They love any kind of powdered food, whether it’s crushed-up flakes, powdered fry food, or Sera O-Nip tabs (which breaks down into a million particles).

Their second favorite vegetable is canned carrot slices. I should probably feed it more and see if the beta carotene enhances their red coloration. Lastly, you can feed frozen foods of any type (like bloodworms, daphnia, and baby brine shrimp). They’re excellent protein sources that help promote breeding, but the adults seem to hog them all, leaving nothing for the juveniles.

Rejected Shrimp Foods

And then we have the foods that my shrimp just hated for one reason or another. For prepared foods, I tried Hikari Crab Cuisine and algae wafers, which are both nutritionally great, but they don’t break down quickly so only the adults get to eat them. They’d probably be just fine if I crushed them up in the coffee grinder. I also got a free sample of Ocean Nutrition shrimp wafers, but nobody would touch them.

Now, in the fish world, live foods are touted as the best thing you can feed them, but don’t try it with cherry shrimp. They are called scavengers for a reason and won’t even eat live baby brine shrimp or the seed shrimp I see crawling all over the algae-covered walls.

When it comes to vegetables, mine are super picky and don’t like anything remotely tough, like spinach, Brussel sprouts, peas, and okra. I’m not saying they wouldn’t have eventually eaten them if there was nothing else around, but that’s not a great review. Even zucchini squash attracted very few shrimp, but 24 hours later, it did somehow get consumed. (P.S. Other people have told me that I didn't cook the vegetables long enough, so maybe try boiling them until they become very mushy.)

Future Shrimp Foods to Try

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of every shrimp food in the world, so there’s a ton of stuff
I still want to experiment with like:

Other blackwater botanicals to make biofilm
Snowflake food (aka soybean shells)
Shrimp lollies
Spirulina algae powder
Bee pollen
Dandelion, nettles, mulberry leaves… the list is endless!

Question of the Day

What's your favorite food to feed shrimp? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

FROGBIT CARE GUIDE | How to Grow, Propagate & Contain It

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 17:10:00 +0000

Interested in getting floating plants for your aquarium? Try Amazon frogbit! Keep reading as I talk about why it’s so awesome, the best ways to grow it, and how to keep it from getting out of control.

I don’t know why I didn’t try floating plants before. I think I’m generally afraid of invasive things taking over my aquariums – whether they’re snails, guppies, or plants! But when I was researching plants for my Shy Guys tank, I really liked the jungle-y look of floating plants and the way it gives everything a green tint. I just haven’t much luck keeping them alive. My first floating plant was dwarf water lettuce, which I still love, but all the long roots fell off and the leaves disintegrated away. Same thing happened to my red root floaters – just massive amounts of die-off and melting. I did manage to save a few, but that’s a story for another time.

Finally, I discovered Amazon frogbit, also known as Limnobium laevigatum or smooth frogbit , and it’s awesome! It comes from tropical slow-moving waters in Central and South America, and unfortunately has become an invasive species in the United States via California. Therefore, do not flush this stuff down your toilet or put it in outside ponds where it can accidentally get caught on some bird’s foot and spread.

Frogbit is also known as South American spongeplant because it has thick, spatula-shaped leaves with spongy undersides that help with buoyancy. Supposedly snails like to eat the spongy parts, so just follow my plant dip tutorial and treat it with alum.

Pros and Cons of Frogbit

I really like this floating plant because the leaves are about 1-2 cm in diameter (at least in my tanks), so even though it can grow quickly, it’s much easier to remove than tiny little duckweed. I also love the long, fuzzy roots because they provide great hiding spots for shy fish and trap food for babies and shrimp to graze on. Finally, it’s great at removing excess nutrients from the water and totally got rid of all the stubborn algae in my betta tank.

However, I don’t like how floating plants get all of your arm and siphon when you’re trying to do water changes, so that was something I definitely had to get used to. Also, they readily multiply to the point where they cover the entire surface of your aquarium. That’s bad because a) the other plants don’t get enough light and b) your fish don’t get enough air because you need good surface agitation for oxygen to get replenished in your aquarium water. So, if you see your fish kinda acting lethargic or gasping at the surface, make sure to remove a bunch of frogbit or learn to contain it (details below).

How to Grow Frogbit

Everyone always says, “It’s so easy to grow, you don’t have to do anything!” But I’ve found that frogbit does best with the following conditions:

Good planted tank light
Good nutrients, such as Easy Green liquid fertilizer
Not too much water on their leaves (although my frogbit does fine even with aquarium lids)
Slow-moving waters to avoid breaking their roots

That’s also why frogbit is so hard to ship because the roots all snap off and the leaves melt if they get flipped over in the water. Luckily if you have at least a couple of surviving leaves with roots, you can usually grow a bunch more in no time.

How to Propagate Frogbit

As with most floating plants, frogbit is super easy to propagate. In the wild, they produce seeds from small white flowers, but in aquariums, they mostly spread via runners. Some people proactively pinch the new plantlets off, but I like to leave the baby plants or as long as possible (until they fall off on their own) because they seem to grow bigger and faster when they’re sharing nutrients with the mother plant.

How to Contain Frogbit

Okay, there are many reasons why you might want to do this, such as:

You need good surface agitation so that your fish get enough oxygen, but you want to keep the frogbit away from the areas with the strongest current so they won’t die
It’s really annoying to have your arm covered with floating plants every time you do a water change, especially when they fall outside the tank and make a mess of things
You want to make sure the other plants down below get enough light

In fact, for the Shy Guys tank, I wanted the frogbit to provide shade for the slow-growing anubias, but not cover up my fast-growing background plants. So, I made a ring out of airline tubing using a hot glue gun, and I clipped one end of the loop to an airline holder to keep it in place. When it’s time to do a water change, I unhook the loop from the airline holder and it floats on the water surface, containing all the frogbit even as the water level falls and rises.

Why is My Frogbit Dying?

I actually have 3 tanks that grow frogbit and interestingly enough, they do better in some environments than others.

#1 Betta Tank
This tank gets the most amount of light since the lid entirely made of glass (no hinge). The flow is relatively slow (using a USB nano air pump and sponge filter), and the frogbit is allowed to freely move (which means they take take turns getting under the strongest light). Therefore, the frogbit in here has the largest leaves out of all the tanks, reproduces the most quickly, and lowers the nitrates to only 5 ppm.

#2 Community Tank
The frogbit is contained and a bit overcrowded. Therefore, leaves don’t grow as big, but they do have the longest, lushest roots (because they’re protected from breakage and the tank is fairly deep). Also, I noticed that in one area of the tank, the frogbit always turned brown and mushy. It turns out that that section wasn’t getting enough light because the black plastic hood was blocking it, so I switched over to an all-glass top that hopefully will allow more light to spread.

#3 Shrimp Tank
The frogbit does the worst in this tank – the leaves stay tiny, turn yellow and develop holes, and then the shrimp eat them when they die. Now, there’s plenty of nutrients from the shrimp waste, but it looks like I still need to add more liquid fertilizers.

Question of the Day

What's your favorite floating plant? Comment below to let me know what you think. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

New Axolotl Checklist – What Do I Need for My New Axolotl?

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 21:13:00 +0000

Are you getting a new axolotl, but aren’t sure what supplies you need? Check out my personal shopping list of everything I bought to make my axolotls happy and healthy in their new home!

Other Supplies

▶ Aquarium stand
▶ Power strip
▶ Siphon
▶ Water dechlorinator
▶ Axolotl pellets
▶ Aquarium water test kit

Let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions to add to the new axolotl shopping guide. For more tutorials on axolotl care, check out my list of articles here.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Aquascape with Super Glue – 8 Tips

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 13:47:00 +0000

Looking to make a really cool aquascape? Then I hope you’re ready to get your hands sticky! Keep reading to find out 8 tips and tricks for building a planted tank with super glue.

After my last post on adding plants to the Shy Guys jungle tank, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the use of super glue in aquascaping. Cyanoacrylate, the primary ingredient in super glue, is aquarium-safe and is totally a miracle tool for attaching plants to hardscape (compared to hand-tying plants using sewing thread). Over time, I’ve picked up more and more clever ways on how to apply this stuff.

Tip 1: Use super glue gel

For those of you who didn’t know, super glue is commonly used to attach moss and rhizome plants (like anubias and java fern) onto hardscape such as rocks and driftwood. And you don’t want to use regular liquid super glue, but rather super glue gel. The gel type is thicker and easier to manipulate when it comes to attaching delicate plants exactly the way you want.

Tip 2: Glue the roots of the plant

Now when you’re gluing down the rhizome plants, make sure not to glop it all over the rhizome. I’ve totally killed off some anubias nana petite because it was so tiny and I ended up suffocating the plant with glue. Instead, focus on gluing the roots down, and your plant will do just fine.

Tip 3: To avoid sticky hands, use nitrile gloves and the bottle cap

The problem with super glue is that it’s really easy to accidentally get it all over your hands, so wear nitrile gloves to protect your skin. Also, use the cap of the super glue bottle (rather than your fingers) to firmly press the plant down for 30 seconds. Super glue cures fairly quickly in water, but I find that I still need to hold the plant in place for that initial drying period in order to get a firm bond.

Tip 4: Cover the glue with sand or soil

Word of warning: once the glue is placed in water, it will dry into a white color that a lot of people don’t like (which is another reason why you should use the glue sparingly). However, you can sprinkle and rub in some sand, soil, or other fine substrate into the glue as it’s curing, which totally hides the white color and gives it a more natural appearance.

White super glue in a planted tank (source: StrungOut)

Tip 5: Use glue and sewing thread for more stability

As awesome as super glue is, unfortunately it’s not always sufficient for holding together top-heavy plants. In my previous video, I mentioned that I have a very large anubias in the Shy Guys tank that hides the sponge filter, and what I did was first glue its roots onto the rock, and then I used some green sewing thread to tie it down for more stability. Without the thread, I find that these taller plants can sometimes fall over and break the glue bond.

Tip 6: Glue stem plants to rocks to weigh them down

Remember how in my previous post, plants kept floating away from the substrate? Instead of using plant weights, just use a little bit of super glue gel to attach the base of your plant to a small lava rock. (You can use any type of rock, but lava rock is very porous, which gives the roots something to grip onto.) Then bury the whole rock and it’ll keep the plant weighted down until the roots get established. How cool is that!

Tip 7: Use glue to attach driftwood together

In fact, super glue isn’t just for plants; you can also use it to connect driftwood pieces. For example, if you wanted to create an underwater tree, you can attach little sticks to a larger stick (the trunk) with super glue gel and then just chip off any excess glue with an X-acto knife. Check out SerpaDesign’s awesome moss ball tree as an example.

Moss ball tree created with super glue (source: SerpaDesign)

Tip 8: Use glue to attach rocks together

Amazingly, you can actually attach hardscape rocks together to make the perfect aquascape. Jurijs Jutjajevs is a famous German aquascaper who shows off this crazy technique where you rubber band the two rocks together, put a fluffy piece of cigarette filter in the crack in between, and then lightly soak the filter with liquid super glue (not super glue gel that we usually use). I haven’t tried this yet, so check out his tutorial for the full instructions.

None of my plants or fish or shrimp have ever died from using super glue (except for that first anubias nana petite), so don’t be afraid to use this miracle adhesive to create that dream aquascape stirring around in your head!

Question of the Day

What tips do you have for using super glue in aquariums? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Choose and Add Aquarium Plants

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 13:13:00 +0000

So, you want to start a planted tank but aren’t sure which plants to use. Keep watching as I share how I research different species and plant them to make a lush jungle tank.

Topics include:
▶ How to research aquatic plants
▶ Where to buy live aquarium plants
▶ How to plant aquarium plants
▶ Melting and algae problems with new plants
▶ Aquarium cycling with plants

Materials I Used

▶ Live aquarium plants
▶ Alum
▶ Aquascaping tweezers
▶ Lead plant weights
▶ Root tab fertilizer
▶ Super glue gel
▶ Green sewing thread
▶ Aquarium water test kit

Resources

▶ Follow the Shy Guys Tank Build
▶ Plant Dip for Snails
▶ How to Plant in Sand Aquariums

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Keep Your Aquarium Sand Clean

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 13:11:00 +0000

Want to use sand substrate in your aquarium, but you’re afraid it’ll be hard to clean? Not a problem! Keep reading as I share my easy tips and tricks for keeping your sand clean and animals healthy.

Recently, I released a post explaining the first steps for setting up a planted tank with sand substrate. Several people asked, “How in the world do you keep that sand clean? Won’t it just get sucked up by the siphon if you try to vacuum it?” Great question! I had the same worries when I first switched from gravel to sand because no one wants to use a substrate that’s hard to clean and could trap excess waste that might harm your fish. But after I teach you a few simple techniques, you’ll realize that there’s nothing to it and it’s just like cleaning gravel… almost. 😉 (By the way, I’m going to be talking about using a siphon to vacuum your aquarium substrate, so if you don’t know what that is or how to use one, definitely check out my water changing article.)

Select the Right Sand

Okay, first off, let’s talk about sand selection. Not all sands are created equally, and if you’re using a very fine, lightweight sand, it’s going to get sucked up more easily in your siphon and you may have to add some more sand occasionally. In fact, word to the wise, you’ll also want to prevent sand from getting sucked up by your hang-on-back or canister filter and ruining the motor – which is exactly what happened to my first AquaClear filter. To prevent that from happening, buy a prefilter sponge (which looks like a cylinder with a hole on one side), and stick it on end of your filter’s intake tube. The added bonus it that it’ll grow beneficial bacteria and prevent any fish or plant leaves from getting sucked up too!

I’ve never had any trouble with aggressively vacuuming my substrate because I use the heavier generic-brand sand sold by Petco and PetSmart. Side note, but I prefer black sand versus a lighter color because fish waste doesn’t seem to show up as much. Some people might say, “Well, why don’t you get a brown colored, natural-looking sand to really hide that mulm?” Personally, I think the fish and plants just seem to really pop against a black background and substrate, so that’s why I prefer it.

Large-grained black sand from Petco

As I was saying before, the Petco sand has large particles that rarely get sucked up because they’re too heavy to make it all the way up the tube. The only time I’ve had problems with this is if I’m using my mini siphon, which is about six inches tall. It seems that the tube portion is just short enough to suck up the sand if I’m not paying attention.

How to Vacuum Sand Substrate

So, how do you deal with sand that keeps getting sucked up in the siphon? Okay, there are three common methods.

Method 1: Hoover above the sand
If your sand is super fine, don’t stick your siphon tube into it. Instead, use the tube to gently swirl water above the sand and then suck up any detritus that floats up into the water column. The great thing about this method is that you’re not really disturbing your aquascape. The sand is still nice and smooth and undisturbed. However, I believe Rachel O’Leary likes to use a chopstick to stir up the substrate a bit and then hover above with her siphon to suck up whatever gets loosened.

Method 2: Vacuum the sand like gravel
If you’ve got a heavier sand like me and really want to get a deeper cleaning, gravel vacuuming is the way to go. What do I mean by that? Just stick the tube down into the sand like an inch or so, suck up some waste, and then when you lift up the tube, the heavier sand particles will fall while the lighter brown detritus continues to rise. Easy peasy! Just like vacuuming regular gravel. I like to systematically clean the tank bottom in a grid-like pattern: vacuum, raise and release, vacuum, raise and release – rinse and repeat until I’ve cleaned about half the tank. And then next week, I’ll clean the other half or wherever looks dirtiest.

Method 3: Crimp the siphon hose
The final method is really useful for my shrimp tank. Honestly, this should be my easiest aquarium to clean because I don’t have to wipe off any algae since it provides extra grazing areas for my shrimp. (Pro tip: use razor blades for algae scrapping to avoid scratching the walls up with sand grains.) Unfortunately, I have a really hard time not sucking up the millions of tiny, clear shrimp babies crawling everywhere. It’s incredibly stressful! So, this principle works for both sand particles and any live animals you don’t want to suck up. Just vacuum like normal, but if I see any baby shrimp in the tube, I clamp down on the hose to stop the flow and wait for the shrimplet to eventually crawl its way out. This works for sand as well. Vacuum, crimp the hose, vacuum some more, and then crimp it to stop. It’s like magic!

More Maintenance Tips for Sand

As awesome as these techniques are, they’re not perfect and some grains may accidentally get sucked up anyway. Because of that, my husband Mr. Gamer really doesn’t want me pouring the wastewater down our sink or toilet and accidentally clogging up our plumbing. Instead I just dump it onto our lawn or use it to water our plants. Win-win situation!

As you refill your aquarium, just realize that sand can be easily disturbed if you aim the hose right at it, so lots of people use plastic bags or colanders to lessen the water pressure and prevent their aquascape from moving around. However, my aquariums are tall enough where I can just aim the spout at a tank wall or maybe some décor to help dissipate the flow.

In fact, in my 20-gallon tank, I’m trying to maintain a gentle slope in the substrate where the sand is lower in the front and higher in the back, kinda like stadium seating for the plants. However, gravity and my nosy kuhli loaches tend to flatten the sand over time, so I usually take the opportunity during water changes to manually rebuild my little hill as needed. Boom! Clean tank, clean sand… looks great for about 20 seconds until my fish mess it up again. 😜

Does Sand Substrate Cause Toxic Hydrogen Sulfide Gas?

I know there's been some discussion about deep sand beds potentially creating an environment for anaerobic bacteria to grow and producing pockets of deadly hydrogen sulfide gas. I’m not really worried about it with my Shy Guys jungle tank because a) my substrate isn’t that deep (like 3 inches at most) and b) I regularly stab root tabs into my substrate, which messes up sand a bit. Plus, Jason from Prime Time Aquatics, who happens to be a college professor of microbiology, says he’s actually seen hydrogen sulfide bubbles coming from some of his tanks but he’s also running a lot of sponge filters so it’s never really bothered any of his fish.

If you want to learn about my whole process for setting up a planted tank with sand substrate, check out the series here. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next post!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

What Is the Best Food to Feed Betta Fish?

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 13:00:00 +0000

So you got your first betta fish, but there’s like a million types of foods to choose from. Which one is the best? Keep reading as I cover my top favorite foods to keep a betta fish happy and healthy!

For the first couple of betta fish I owned, I just bought a random jar of betta flakes or pellets and fed them the same thing for their entire lives. Poor things! Then I found out that there are a huge selection of goodies that betta fish can eat, and so I started buying and trying everything because nothing’s too good for my baby, right? (Seriously, I think my fish eat healthier than I do.) Anyway, to save you some time and money (and refrigerator space), let me share with you some yummy, nutritious foods that my betta fish go crazy after.

What Do Betta Fish Eat in the Wild?

Betta fish are mostly insectivores that’ll eat any bug (or bug eggs) that falls into the water, as well as zooplankton, crustaceans, etc. In the aquarium world, that means they mostly prefer protein-rich, small-sized, floating foods. Their mouths are scooped upwards and shaped for eating off the surface of the water. That’s not to say they won’t go after your catfish’s sinking algae wafers because some bettas are like little water pigs.

For me, I believe that variety is key! There’s no one magical food that contains all the nutrients and minerals a fish needs. (However, some betta fish are very picky and may not take to new foods unless you mix it together with their favorite snack and/or if you don’t feed them for a few days so they get hungry enough to try something else.) One thing to note is I would avoid any messy or microscopic foods. If you don't have any cleanup crew with your betta, then stay away from certain flake foods, powder foods for fish fry, and Repashy gel food. Many times these messy foods will get into substrate and foul up the water faster because the betta fish can’t find it or reach it.

3 Types of Betta Fish Foods

#1 Prepared Fish Food

First off, let’s talk about prepared foods. Sure, they’re not exactly the most natural-looking choice, but they’re like an all-in-one breakfast smoothie that contains lots of protein and essential vitamins. Floating betta pellets are my favorite because they’re very clean, float at the top of the water for easy access, and are great for measuring out exactly in case you have to leave instructions with a pet sitter. Some people like to pre-soak them to avoid causing bloat in their betta fish, but I usually don’t bother. A few high-quality brands that are popular right now include Hikari, Ocean Nutrition, Northfin, and New Life Spectrum. For smaller or younger bettas, try Hikari pellets because they’re very tiny in comparison to many other brands. I do not uphold to any strict rules like “only feed x number of pellets per day” since pellets can really range in size (and bettas also vary in size and activity level).

Betta fish food pellets (source: Alibaba)

Another prepared food I’ve tried is Fluval Bug Bites. I like the concept because they’re made out of black solder fly larva – perfect for our little insectivores. Unfortunately, the granules are tiny and sink fairly quickly, which is not ideal for most betta fish but doesn’t deter my very food-motivated betta named Soundwave. It’s kinda like enrichment for him to hunt for every fallen morsel he can find.

Quick note on prepared foods: Don’t let them expire! It could really get your fish sick, and honestly, some people say that the foods are the freshest and most nutritious within the first month to maybe six months of unpackaging them. That’s why I keep mine in the fridge and I label them with the date they were opened.

#2 Freeze-Dried Fish Food

Next up is freeze-dried foods. They're very similar to prepared foods because they’re both dry, usually come in a jar, and last a long time – but the difference is that these are whole foods that are processed a lot less and they’re generally free from bacteria and parasites (unlike live foods). I’ve only bought freeze-dried bloodworms so far, and fish go crazy for them. They float which is great, and they’re like a tasty treat to feed once a week. Other freeze-dried options include tubifex worms, brine shrimp, daphnia… really anything that is small enough to fit into their mouths. Just be careful that the smaller pieces don’t get lost and dirty the water.

Freeze-dried bloodworms (source: Prodac)

#3 Frozen Fish Food

I really love the next category: frozen foods. They’re my second favorite thing to feed fish and would be closer to #1 if they could be easily purchased online and didn’t go bad so quickly once you thaw them. They usually come in frozen cubes or sheets. For me, one cube is way too much food for one feeding (unless you have other fish to feed), so I prefer the frozen sheets so that I can break off smaller pieces. I like to thaw them in a small plastic container with a lid, use a baby spoon to drain out any excess liquid and feed a few worms, and then refrigerate the rest for a few days. Make sure not to refreeze anything because the food may have bacterial growth. Also, don’t accidentally leave this stuff out on the counter because it’ll stink to high heaven!

My favorites are frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia. Because their exoskeletons are less digestable, daphnia and brine shrimp fed with spirulina algae are sometimes used as a "laxative" to help betta fish who are constipated or bloated.

Frozen bloodworm cubes (source: Alibaba)

#4 Live Foods for Fish

And then we have live foods… this should be the perfect choice, right? It’s the closest thing to what a betta splendens would eat in the wild and provides excellent enrichment, so why don’t I feed them as often? Two reasons: potential diseases and they’re a hassle to maintain. But there are plenty of people who swear by them, especially for conditioning a breeding pair or raising fry, so let’s discuss.

Common suggestions I’ve heard include: live blackworms, daphnia, microworms that you can culture, flightless fruit flies, and even pinhead crickets. Personally I’ve only fed live baby brine shrimp because I happened to be raising some baby honey gouramis, and even though they’re practically microscopic, they swim in these irresistible jerky movements and are great enrichment. My betta fish somehow caught every single one even though they’re itty-bitty.

Live blackworms (source: NeliMartín. Der. Beef)

I’ve also tossed a few shrimp culls in my betta tank. Yes, I know that sound a little unpalatable for some people, but I knew they were disease-free, I didn’t want them breeding anymore, and Soundwave had a good ol’ time chasing them down. However, you’ll be happy to know that in his old age, he’s mellowed out a lot and has decided to graciously spare them… for now.

How Much Should I Feed My Betta Fish?

It is really easy to overfeed betta fish in captivity because they always act hungry and beg for food. I personally feed my betta once a day, six days of the week. Some people believe that fasting one day a week or more can prevent bloating, so I designate Sunday as his "day of rest." In fact, adult betta fish can go a week or so without food, so no need to get that pet sitter if you’re just gone for the weekend.

Now I don’t go by the “feed as much as they can eat in two minutes” rule because my betta can gorge himself to death in that amount of time. So, when I first got him, I started off feeding four pellets a day for a week, and then increased to five pellets the next week, and six pellets the next. You see the pattern. If my betta started getting a little on the hefty side, where his abdomen wasn’t a smooth slope but rather protruded like a pregnant belly, then I backed off by one pellet each week until he reached a healthy weight. Or you can skip a feeding or two to help re-balance him a little faster.

Don't overfeed your betta fish

This system works with frozen or freeze-dried foods as well because you can start estimating about how much volume his daily portion should be. And again, if he’s getting rotund, just cut back on the amount and you should see immediate results.

Now if you have the opposite problem where he’s not eating, he may be sick so take a close look at his environment, check out his symptoms, and maybe get rid of some expired food. 😉

If you have more questions about betta fish care, I may have the perfect video about it in this playlist. Otherwise, comment below to suggest the next betta tutorial I should cover. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next post!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Set Up a Planted Tank with Sand Substrate - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 03:17:00 +0000

Is it possible to grow aquarium plants in sand substrate? Some say yes, same say no… keep reading to find out how I set up a 20-gallon jungle style tank using two kinds of sand!

Topics include:
▶ Preparing the aquarium
▶ Experiment to test sand substrate with plants
▶ Setting up the equipment
▶ My plan for cycling with live plants

In the next video about this tank, I’ll cover how I selected, purchased, and added live aquarium plants to create a jungle paradise for my shy fish.

Resources:
▶ Sand for a Planted Aquarium?
▶ Sand Showdown: Pool Filter Sand vs Nat Geo Aquarium Sand
▶ 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Growing Rooted Aquarium Plants

What Is the Life Cycle of a Cherry Shrimp?

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Ever wonder how long it takes for baby cherry shrimp to hatch? Or how the female’s eggs get fertilized? Keep reading to learn about the amazing life cycle of a cherry shrimp!

When I started keeping shrimp, everyone online just said, “Oh, throw some together and you’ll have hundreds in no time!” Yeah, but how long is that supposed to take? I delved deeper into the freshwater shrimp community, and I found very few resources describing how cherry shrimp breed. I mean, if I don’t know exactly how they reproduce, how do I know if I’m doing something wrong? So today I’m going to tell you the story of a little girl shrimp and a little boy shrimp and how they make babies.

How to Sex Shrimp and Determine if They're Male or Female

Okay, let’s start with adults and how to sex them. If you have 10 shrimp, there’s like a 99.8% chance you’ll have at least 1 male and 1 female, so start with at least 10-20 shrimp to ensure you have enough viable breeding pairs. Now this may vary a little between the different color morphs of Neocaridina davidi, but at least for red cherry shrimp:

Female:

Larger in size, about 1” or 2.5 cm
Redder, darker, or more solid in coloration
May have a white or yellow saddle on their back (which are undeveloped eggs in the ovaries right behind the head of the shrimp
May be carrying eggs under their tail
Often has a curved, rounder underbelly (especially if they've been pregnant before)

Male:

Smaller, about 2/3"-3/4” or 2 cm
Almost transparent in color with red markings
Tail is thinner (similar to a juvenile's tail)
Difficult to see, but has special reproductive structures on the first two pairs of swimmerets

How do Cherry Shrimp Reproduce?

So if you have shrimp of opposite genders, stable water conditions, and plenty of yummy food, the female will develop eggs in her “saddle” where her ovaries are located. Once the eggs ripen, the female will molt her exoskeleton, which looks like a clearish-white shrimp shell that’s completely empty inside. Her new exoskeleton will be soft and flexible, which makes fertilization with the male possible. (Pro tip: make sure your shrimp have plenty of nutrients and minerals to successfully molt if you want to see babies.)

After the female molts, she’s feeling pretty vulnerable with her new soft shell, so to avoid being eaten, she goes into hiding and then releases pheromones or a chemical signal into the water as a signal to the males that she’s ready do the funky monkey dance. So if you see a ton of male shrimp frantically swimming around the tank, instead of passively grazing for food, you know that they’re looking for that newly molted female. And if you see a couple of shrimp that look like they’re “fighting” but there’s no food around, it might be a breeding pair gettin' busy. (Pro tip: make sure not to cull too many males or they’ll have a hard time catching the female right after her molt.)

Shrimp sex is very fast and supposedly occurs less than 10 seconds. The male latches onto the female such that they're facing one another other, deposits his sperm in the female’s genital opening, and then quickly releases her. At this point, the female’s eggs will pass through the deposited sperm as they travel from the ovaries inside her to the outside of her body under her tail. Therefore if you see a female that is “berried,” or holding eggs under her abdomen, then the eggs are definitely fertilized.

Mating red cherry shrimp (source: Peter Maguire)

How Long do Cherry Shrimp Eggs Take to Hatch?

Fertilized shrimp eggs rather large (about 1 mm in diameter) and look yellow or green in color. A transparent, ribbon-like membrane binds the eggs to the female’s swimmerets, and she uses the rear ones to fan the eggs, clean off any bacteria or fungus, and increase oxygen flow. Depending on the temperature of the water, the eggs may hatch anywhere from 15 to 35 days. Other sources say 2 to 3 weeks, so that’s a pretty wide range. The closer the eggs get to maturity, you may notice little black dots in the eggs, which are the baby shrimps’ eyes.

What do Baby Cherry Shrimp Look Like?

When they’re ready to come out, the mom will help the baby by kicking at the egg, so it almost looks like the hatchling flies out like popcorn. Unlike other types of shrimp, Neocaridina shrimp lack a larval stage, so the babies look like itty-bitty, clear versions of the adult shrimp, about 2 mm in length and less than 1 mm in height.

The hatchlings aren’t very mobile at this point since their swimming appendages don’t work properly yet, so they’ll basically latch on to the first thing they find and then try to hide among the rocks and plants as they graze on biofilm. (Pro tip: consider adding plenty of hiding spots and feeding a powdered baby shrimp food to supplement the biofilm.) So don’t worry if your female suddenly “loses” her eggs; most likely the babies are just hiding for the first 3-4 days.

How Many Babies Can Each Female Shrimp Make?

Each berried female usually produces about 21-51 babies per batch, supposedly on the higher side if the female is larger, probably because she can produce and hold more eggs.

How Long Does It Take for Cherry Shrimp to Reach Sexual Maturity?

I’ve heard anywhere from 2.5 months (when scientists kept them at 80°F or 27°C), all the way to four to six months. As I mentioned before, the female will be a little less than 1” in length (2.3 cm) and the male will be maybe two-thirds to three-quarters of an inch (a little less than 2 cm).

What is the Life Span of Cherry Shrimp?

In general, the expected total lifespan of cherry shrimp is 1-2 years. I’ve noticed that my oldest, largest females do not tend to carry eggs very often compared to my younger, smaller females. (Pro tip: don’t buy the biggest shrimp you see because they may be too old to breed.)

If you really want to up your shrimp breeding game, check out my other shrimp breeding tutorials. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next post!

How to Fight Aquarium Algae in 11 Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Don’t you hate having to constantly battle algae? Keep watching for an easy, step-by-step maintenance routine to getting rid of algae and preventing it from coming back!

Note: this is just a starting point to help beginners who need general, actionable advice on how to begin tackling their algae problems. Every aquarium is different, so in a future video, I'll cover the longer process of how to balance and fine-tune a planted tank's parameters.

Resources
▶ Top 5 Tips for Beating ALGAE in Your Fish Tank!
▶ Algae in the planted aquarium - Systems design and control
▶ Aquarium Plant Deficiency Diagram

Why I Rarely Post on Aquarium Facebook Groups

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 13:00:00 +0000

It’s a harsh world out there for new fish keepers. 😲 Hope you enjoy my second comedy sketch for the “Fish Room Lolz” series! (True story: for the longest time, I was afraid of telling anyone online the size of my aquariums.)

Other Fishy Skits
▶ New aquarium hobbyists be like
▶ Goldfish experts be like
▶ 4 Stages of New Fish Keepers

Question of the Day

What are some good ways to help and encourage beginners in the fish keeping hobby? Comment below to share your ideas because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

4 Easy Setups for a 20-Gallon Aquarium

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 13:00:00 +0000

You know the saying, “bigger is better”? Well, some of us don’t have the space to keep a huge aquarium or tons of tanks. Keep reading for some creative aquarium setup ideas if you’re constrained to a maximum of 20 gallons like me.

I currently own 3 “nano tanks” – the biggest of which only holds 20 gallons. In my family, my husband Mr. Gamer is a collector of All. Sorts. Of. Things. And I’m more of a minimalist, so I don’t really have the space or even desire to get a larger aquarium right now. However, that means I’ve had to get pretty creative when it comes to optimizing the enjoyment I get from my 20-gallon tank. Like many of you, I get bored with my setups. I want to try new fish, new plants, new equipment… but I’m limited to the same size glass box. So here are four different ideas of what I’ve kept in a 20-gallon tank over the years – the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Tank Setup #1: Community Tank for Beginners

My first setup was a basic community tank inspired by the beautiful aquascapes I saw on Pinterest. It used natural-looking fake plants from PetSmart and black gravel, which was eventually replaced with black sand. For stocking, we've got albino cory catfish as bottom dwellers, neon tetras in the middle, and then marbled hatchetfish up top. The hatchetfish promptly died of ich, which is when I learned the importance of quarantine.

So I replaced them with another top level swimmer, furcatus or forktail rainbowfish. Very lively and entertaining, but I didn’t realize that smaller Pseudomugil rainbowfish tend to have shorter lifespans. The centerpiece fish was a German blue ram, which eventually died because they like hotter temperatures above 80°F. Other centerpiece fish I kept at various times included a honey gourami and a male betta fish, who did surprisingly well in a community tank and actually stopped biting his tail once he had other tankmates to distract him.

This tank crashed because of improper quarantine that introduced a fast-killing disease called columnaris. Awesome. I’ll make an article on treating columnaris in the future, but by the time I figured out what it was, almost everything had died.

Tank Setup #2: Axolotl Aquarium

I seriously wanted to rage quit the hobby at this point. All that time and money poured into this aquarium obsession, and I was left emotionally drained. This is when I left the fish world and took my detour into keeping axolotls. Still kept the same fake plant decor, but had a totally new set of challenges with keeping the water cold and clean enough. After my experiences, I would recommend only keeping one adult axolotl in a 20-gallon tank because of their heavy bioload, and even then, a 20 gallon long aquarium is preferred. But, if you’re looking for an unusual underwater alternative to fish, give axolotls a try because they’re super cool and very derpy.

Tank Setup #3: Planted Tank for Beginners

After my axolotls passed away, I took another long break before starting tank setup #3 – the beginner planted aquarium! The decorations consisted of seiryu stone and spiderwood as the hardscape, as well as easy live aquarium plants like anubias and java fern. No more collectoritis for me – this tank focused on three fish species: a school of albino cory catfish, a school of green neon tetras, and a honey gourami as the centerpiece (plus some amano shrimp as the algae clean-up crew). If you’re looking for fun breeding projects that aren’t livebearers, the cory catfish and honey gouramis were both fairly easy to breed, and I quickly grew the number of fish I owned.

After a year with this setup, I was ready to try something new! Got my first-time experience selling fish and plants at my local club auction, which was really exciting and I was happy to see them go to other hobbyists who will take care of them.

Tank Setup #4: "Shy Guys" Jungle Tank

Today I’m currently on setup #4 with this 20-gallon aquarium – the Shy Guys jungle tank. I’ll go into more detail in future posts on my plant selection and stocking choices, but given my struggles with algae in a tank full of slow-growing plants like anubias, I wanted to try creating a more heavily planted jungle-style aquarium using some faster-growing, beginner plants. I also deliberately chose fish and invertebrates that are all considered super shy (hence the “Shy Guys” theme) because there are certain species I’ve always wanted to try but I heard they hide all the time. So what would happen if I got a whole aquarium of timid creatures? Hmm…

In the future, I have many more plans for this tank. I’d like to do more breeding projects, or perhaps keep some coldwater fish, or maybe once this tank is really established and good at growing plants – try to do a planted axolotl tank? I’m kind of torn since axolotls can live a really long time, so I don’t want to get one until I’ve kept some of my bucket list nano fish… or until I’m able to get another tank. 😉

Question of the Day

Let me know in the comments below what aquarium themes or stocking ideas you would recommend trying in a 20-gallon tank. As always, take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next post!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

The Top Fish to Avoid in a Planted Aquarium

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 18 May 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Don’t you hate it when you’ve got beautifully planted tank and your brand-new fish demolishes everything? Keep watching to find out who made it on my list of notorious plant destroyers that you should avoid.

I’ve spent the better part of this year researching the perfect plants, hunting them down, and then carefully nurturing them in a 20-gallon aquarium. After months of growing without interference, it’s now time to add fish. But the last thing I want to do is accidentally add some creature that would turn this lush jungle into a deserted wasteland. I know saltwater fish are usually labeled as “reef safe” or not. So why don’t they do that with freshwater fish and plants? I did a little digging on the Internet and came up with three categories of fish: those that are definitely dangerous to plants, those that might be a little risky, and those that I heard a rumor from a friend of a friend about. So, don’t forget to comment below with any fish or invertebrates you’d add to the list.

The Chronic Offenders

Silver dollar fish
Monos and scats (brackish water)
Buenos Aires tetras
Goldfish and koi
Many types of African or larger cichlids (e.g., mbunas, uaru cichlids, flowerhorns, oscars)
Monster fish in general (e.g. stingrays, large catfish and plecos, pacus)
Larger crayfish

Buenos Aires tetras (source)

There are many articles that suggest "goldfish-safe" or "cichlid-safe" plants, such as:

Anubias, java fern and java moss that can be attached to rocks to avoid uprooting
Fast growing vallisneria or hornwort
Large potted plants like an Amazon sword
Certain floating plants or plants that grow above water like pothos

Java fern and anubias attached to hardscape

The Casual Snackers

Mollies
Florida flagfish
Larger gouramis
Bristlenose plecos (specifically likes Amazon swords)

Balloon molly fish

The Rumored Bad Boys

A bala shark tore up carpeting plants
Siamese algae eaters mowed down newly planted vallisneria
Larger snails such as black devil snails (Faunus ater), Columbian ramshorn snails (Marisa cornuarietis), Sulawesi rabbit snail (Tylomelania gemmifera), and some of the largest species of apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata)

Sulawesi rabbit snail (source)

Thankfully, none of the fish I got for this community tank are on this list so I think I’m safe for now. Honestly, the greatest danger to my plants is my own black thumb, so ya’ll can be praying for me. 😉

Question of the Day

What fish or inverts would you add to this list? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Protect Your Fish from Heater Failure

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 11 May 2019 14:16:00 +0000

Have you heard horror stories of aquarium heaters malfunctioning and frying an entire tank of fish? It’s happened to me before, so today I’m going to talk about heater controllers and whether or not they’re worth using.

Back when I was a beginner, I made the poor decision to buy a batch of used aquarium heaters. Gonna cut to the chase and recommend you never do that. Sure they’re only $5 a piece, but you don’t know how old they are, if the previous owner properly waited 30 minutes before turning it on, if they turned it off during water changes, etc. I had set up a quarantine tank with one of these used heaters and a few days later my husband Mr. Gamer noticed condensation and rust forming inside the glass heater tube. Oh no! Never again...

I currently use Aqueon Pro and Fluval LCD heaters, and they’ve been working well for me so far. However, I found out that many aquarium heaters, no matter how good, tend to eventually die. Now there’s several ways it can fail:

It can just stop working and the water gets colder and colder, freezing your fish.
It can stick on and get hotter and hotter until your fish cook to death.
The heater itself can crack and leak toxic compounds into the tank, which is what happened to the King of DIY’s poor freshwater stingrays.

Some people solve this problem by entirely removing all heaters from their aquariums and just heating their entire fish room. That’s not going to work for our family because my tanks are scattered throughout our home and my husband likes to keep the house cold. So, I need to use heaters, but I’d like to minimize the effects of failure if at all possible.

What is a Temperature Controller?

A temperature controller is an extra layer of protection to help maintain proper temperature in your aquarium. How it works is you plug your heater into the controller, plug the controller into the wall outlet, and set the temperature you want the controller to maintain. If your water ever gets too hot, the controller kills the power to the heater, thus preventing it from overheating.

A temperature controller kills the power to the aquarium heater if the water gets too hot.

Yes, if you have an adjustable heater, it’ll have its own internal thermostat to maintain the temperature, but the controller’s thermostat and sensor are supposedly more accurate and having a second thermostat provides an extra safety net. When I looked on Amazon and fish forums, InkBird seemed to be the most popular brand. After reading some reviews, I got the basic ITC-308 model, which comes with one outlet for a heater and one outlet for cooling with a fan or chiller. InkBird also sent me a free ITC-306T (their new dual timer controller) to review, so I’m going to cover the features/differences between the two timers, how to set them up, and then give an honest assessment of what I really think of these InkBird controllers and whether or not they’re necessary.

Features of ITC-308 vs. ITC-306T

Okay, let’s start with the ITC-308 I bought for myself last year. It comes with this display unit, a temperature probe, the two outlets for heating and cooling, and a plug. My favorite feature is that it has alarms for when the temperature is too high or low.

The new ITC-306T is different because it has two outlets for heating and you can set the heater to hit two different temperatures throughout the day – like a daytime and nighttime mode. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a temperature alarm you can set, which I was surprised to find out.

If you'd like to see how to set them up, view the video above for step-by-step instructions.

Review of InkBird Temperature Controllers

Well, I just got the ITC-306T for review, but I personally wouldn’t get it because I have no need for temperature changes throughout the day. I’m guessing certain reptiles or other pets like distinct daytime and nighttime temperatures. Or maybe if you wanted to make the fish or shrimp you breed hardier and more adaptable to a wide range of temperatures, you could use this. However, the lack of adjustable temperature alarms was a no-go for me.

As for the original ITC-308 I bought, I’m going to be honest and let you know that about 6 months after I set it up, the temperature reading started climbing and climbing to over 100°F, even though my digital thermometer said the water was still at 78°F. I went to InkBird’s website, found out they have a 1-year warranty, and emailed them. The customer rep immediately responded and helped me troubleshoot the issue, told me I had a faulty temperature probe, and sent me a brand-new unit via Amazon.com that arrived two days later. Didn’t have to return the old controller or wait two months for the new one to ship from China or anything.

Final Thoughts: Should You Get a Heater Controller?

I still think it’s worth it to get a temperature controller for any display aquariums or special fish you really care about, just as extra protection against overheating. But for all my other tanks, I’ve started using an industrial digital thermometer by General Tools because it’s very reliable compared to the cheap Zoo Med ones and it has high and low alarm settings that you can program. It won't save your tank from overheating if you're not home, but it’s definitely saved my fish a few times when I forgot to turn on the heater after a water change.

If you like the idea of a heater controller and aren’t afraid of DIY projects, the King of DIY has a popular tutorial on how to make your own. Also, huge thanks to Hannah Horinek for being the latest supporter on my Patreon! Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next video.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Boost Your Betta Fish Tank Filter the EASY Way

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 04 May 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Remember that DIY betta tank filter hack I posted last year? Turns out my DIY tricks didn’t work so well in the long run, so here’s the part 2 sequel of lessons I learned and what I would recommend doing instead.

Materials I Used

▶ Top Fin® 5 gallon glass aquarium
▶ Filter sponge media
▶ Bio-rings
▶ Internal filter
▶ Never clog air stone
▶ Mini sponge filter
▶ Aquatop air pump
▶ USB nano air pump
▶ USB backup battery

Resources

▶ How to Reduce Aquarium Filter Flow for Betta Fish
▶ You don't need an Aquarium Filter. You need...
▶ A Great Tank from Amazon?! The MarineLand 5 Gallon Portrait Tank
▶ How to Clean a Betta Fish Tank… the Easy Way!

Question of the Day

Are you a fan of aquarium starter kits or not? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Breeding Cherry Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Cherry shrimp are supposedly really easy to breed, but you’re not seeing any babies. Keep reading as I run down my complete checklist for figuring out why!

If you've been following me on social media, you can tell that I've been bitten by the shrimp breeding bug. Several months ago, I got some high-quality red cherry shrimp from a local breeder, set them up in a 10-gallon tank with everything they could possibly want, and then waited… Hmm, why am I not seeing any babies? Everyone says they’re supposed to breed like freshwater cockroaches. Are my dreams of selling hundreds of shrimp for profit completely doomed?? Luckily, there are lots of helpful veterans in the freshwater shrimp community, and after researching their advice, here’s the troubleshooting checklist I came up with:

#1 Water Quality

I know this seems very obvious, but before we go down the rabbit trail of random reasons why your shrimp may not be breeding, let’s make sure we have all the basics covered. Obviously, we don’t want any toxins in the water, such as ammonia, nitrites, and excess nitrates. Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m fine because they’ve been in well-established, cycled tank for ages.” Well, don’t forget that a population explosion could cause your nitrates to creep up, so remember to bring out that water test kit every once in a while. Also, make sure you don’t have any other toxins coming from outside the tank, such as cigarette smoke, harsh cleaning products being used nearby, or not washing your hands thoroughly before putting them in the tank.

As for water parameters, PH is not as important for neocardinas compared to other shrimp species, since they can withstand wide range of 6.0-8.0. Same thing with KH (or carbonate hardness), which can span from 0-8°. However, you should have at least moderately soft to moderately hard water at about 4-14° GH (or general hardness). Also, make sure there’s enough oxygen in the tank. A lot of people like to put shrimp in planted tanks with CO₂ injection, so gas levels may be something to watch out for. Certainly, adding a sponge filter or bubbler of some sort will help introduce more oxygen into the water.

#2 Temperature

I wanted to put temperature in its own category because even though cherry shrimp easily live at a wide range of temperatures, they’ll breed more readily at warmer temperatures higher than 72°F (or 22°C). Of course you don’t want to go too far with temperatures hotter than 80°F (or 27°C) because it will shorten the shrimp’s life span and potentially affect the survival rate of eggs and baby shrimp.

#3 Stable Environment

When I first got my shrimp, I kept checking every day for berried females, not realizing that newly acquired shrimp have an adjustment period of approximately one to two months where they’re still getting used to their new environment. Once they get comfortable and start breeding, don’t forget it takes another month on top of that for those eggs to hatch.

With that in mind, don’t be constantly (or rapidly) changing their environments. In fact, that’s why many veterans recommend not doing frequent water changes or, at the very least, only doing small water changes when you do.

Last comment on their environment is tank size. Obviously, if the aquarium is too small, you may run into overcrowding issues quickly where there's not enough food for everyone or the water quality starts suffering. And some people say that if the tank is too big, then the males can’t locate females in time when the ladies are ready to mate.

#4 Culling

Speaking of males and females, a lot of shrimp keeping veterans recommend a ratio of 1 male to 2 females, or maybe 1 male to 3 females at most because if you don’t have enough males, then they may not be able to catch the female right after she molts. So, point #4 is don’t cull any shrimp while your colony is small. This is actually a mistake I made because I wanted to keep my shrimp as red as possible and unfortunately males don't look very colorful. So if you cull too aggressively too soon, you might accidentally rid yourself of all viable males!

#5 Age of Shrimp

Not only do you need to patiently wait while your new shrimp are getting used to their tank, but also because your shrimp might be too young to breed. Sellers often send juveniles that are only 1/2 to 3/4 inches long, and most shrimp reach sexual maturity when they’re closer to an inch (2.1-2.5 cm) long, depending on the gender. So, wait till they get a little bigger before expecting any monkey business.

#6 Food and Nutrition

This is a very important criteria, and I fully admit that I've made several of these mistakes. If your shrimp aren’t breeding:

Are you feeding them enough protein? Just like how chicken eggs are full of protein, shrimp also need protein to make their eggs. Consider giving them protein foods (like frozen bloodworms) one to two times a week.
Are you feeding them enough, period? Everyone always warns beginner breeders not to overfeed their shrimp tank for fear of having water quality problems, but underfeeding will also cause major problems. Shrimp are tiny little grazers that need constant access to food.
Are they getting enough minerals? I’m going to make a post about the shrimp reproductive process, but females must molt first before they can mate. So, if they don’t have enough calcium and other essential nutrients to successfully molt, you’re not going to get any babies. Personally, my tap water is on the soft side, so I currently use cuttlebone and Shrimp King Mineral food to ensure proper molting.

#7 Predation

There’s a reason why all the experts suggest that you keep a species-only tank for breeding shrimp because almost all fish will prey on shrimp, babies and/or adults. If you’re bent on keeping shrimp with fish, make sure you provide lots of cover with hides or heavy foliage and just be okay with the fact that some babies will get eaten. Also, don’t forget that predation also comes in small packages, such as planaria, hydra, and dragonfly nymphs. Fenbendazole dog dewormer is a popular treatment for planaria and hydra. However, dragonflies are super tough and may require you to restart your tank, since most things that kill them will also kill shrimp.

Dragonfly nymph (source: Wikipedia)

#8 No Babies After Seeing Eggs

Finally, let’s consider the case where maybe your shrimp are successfully mating and carrying fertilized eggs, but you’re not seeing any evidence of babies. First off, baby shrimp are super small and they don’t move a lot for the first few days after birth. So if you had a berried female and suddenly the eggs are gone, it could be that they actually hatched but you’re just not seeing them yet.

Another problem may be not having enough biofilm or other baby foods available for the shrimplets. I’ll do a whole post on this later, but I recommend adding Indian almond leaves and cholla wood to grow biofilm, letting lots of algae cover your back and side tank walls, and getting a powdered shrimp food like Bacter AE that will float around the tank so they don’t have to fight the adults to feed.

Also, while you’re doing water changes, make you’re not accidentally sucking them up. I usually move pretty slowly while gravel vacuuming, but just in case, I siphon out the dirty water into a white bucket, use a flashlight to find any escapees, and then return them using a turkey baster.

After a few months of improving my shrimp’s environment and diet, my dreams are finally coming true! I’ve grown from 15 shrimp to a colony of 100 to 200, with more and more babies are popping up every day. Maybe I should start working on my next dream of breeding crystal red shrimp…

Question of the Day

Do you have any tips for breeding cherry shrimp? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Save Your Fish from Chlorine Poisoning

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Are your fish suddenly dropping like flies, even though your water test kit says everything’s fine? Might be chlorine poisoning from your tap water, so keep watching to learn the symptoms and how to treat it. Topics include:

▶ What are 4 common causes of chlorine poisoning?
▶ What do the symptoms of chlorine poisoning look like?
▶ How do you treat a fish that has been exposed to chlorine?
▶ How do you prevent chlorine poisoning from happening again?

Materials I Use

▶ Seachem Prime dechlorinator
▶ Fritz Complete water conditioner (with pump head)
▶ Sodium thiosulfate dechlorinator
▶ Tetra 6-in-1 test strips
▶ Quarantine medication trio
▶ Sponge filter

References

▶ Dead Fish! Don't Make This Mistake When Cleaning Your Aquarium

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

5 Things You Need to Know About Planted Aquarium Lighting

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 13:00:00 +0000

If you’re getting into planted tanks, learning about lighting can be overwhelming. Keep reading to find out the 5 things I wish I’d known about lighting when starting my first planted tanks.

If you want to play with live aquarium plants, lighting is one of the key building blocks that you have to learn about. The goal with lighting is to grow plants, enhance their coloration, and of course minimize algae. When your lighting is out of whack with the available nutrients, your plants can end up failing to thrive or being covered with so much algae that you can’t see them anymore. So let’s dive into my top five list for lighting:

Tip #1 : Buy a planted tank LED light

Yes, you can use the default light that came with your aquarium kit or get a really cheap light, but I find they’re usually not strong enough or don’t last very long. Some people build their own LED lights, especially if they have a giant fish room with multiple aquariums, because lighting can get really expensive. But if you only have a few tanks like me, light companies like Fluval or Finnex are pretty good at what they do. Buying quality lighting from them ensures that your plants will get the full spectrum they require.

Homemade aquarium lighting by the King of DIY

Tip #2: Get a light that covers your entire tank

Some lights aren’t great at light dispersion or spread, which means the plants right underneath the light get lots of photons but the plants on the edges of the tank are pretty shaded. Now you can work around this by planting high light plants in the middle and low light plants on the edges. However, most people just get a better light or buy multiple lights if they have a large aquarium to cover.

Multiple lights used on large planted aquarium (source: American Aquarium Products)

Tip #3: Make sure your light is strong enough

Speaking of making sure all your plants get enough light, you also want to consider the brightness in your aquarium, especially if you have a deeper tank. You may hear people talk about a light’s PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) rating, which refers to the light's strength. There’s a lot of debate on how much PAR is required, but the rule of thumb I’ve heard is that low light plants need 15-30 micromols of PAR, medium light plants need 35-50 micromols, and high light plants need over 50 micromols (plus CO₂ injection to avoid algae). Some products will list the PAR rating, but other times I’ve had to search online for the PAR readings that other hobbyists took. If you’re lucky, your local fish club may have a PAR meter that you can rent (because they’re super expensive).

Tip #4: Use an outlet timer with your light

Why do you need a timer? Because if you forget to turn on the lights enough, your plants will get sad and lose their leaves. If you give them too much light (or leave them on 24/7), you’ll have so much algae and green water, you probably won’t be able to see into your tank anymore. How long to turn on your lights really vary from tank to tank. If you have a ton of fast-growing plants in a high tech tank, you may leave that light on up to 12 hours a day. But if you have slow growing plants in a cold water tank in a room that already gets a bunch of ambient lighting, maybe you set your timer closer to 5 hours. Some people split up their lighting so that it’s on in the morning, turns off while they're at work or school, and then is on again at night.

Tip #5: Lessen your lights in the beginning

If you remember my previous post, I mentioned how new plants in your aquarium need time to acclimate to their new environment. During those beginning stages, they’re not going to grow a lot, so if you provide a lot of light, the plants aren’t going to use it as much, and algae is going to take advantage of it instead. Therefore, some people recommend starting your timer for only six hours a day for the first few weeks, and then gradually increasing to eight hours or beyond afterwards.

Bentley Pascoe said that if you have a dimmable light like the Fluval Plant Spectrum LED light, he actually dims the lights for his new plants. With an 18-24” tall tank, he starts off the light at 50% strength for the first two weeks, checks for plant versus algae growth, ups it to 65-75% strength if the plants are doing well, and then keeps increasing the light strength until he hits the maximum amount he wants. For shorter tanks, he’ll start the light off at 25-35% strength and then slowly increase from there. Genius!

Question of the Day

What’s your favorite type of aquarium light and how long do you have it on for? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

An Introvert’s Guide to the Aquashella Aquarium Festival

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 13:00:00 +0000

Everyone’s been hyping up Aquashella, a fish convention for hobbyists, so I really wanted to attend the Dallas 2019 one. But… I’m a major introvert who’s still trying to stay semi-anonymous. So what was it like? Which FishTubers showed up? Was it worth attending? Keep watching to hear my version of the story!

Question of the Day

Did you attend Aquashella or do you want to? Comment below to share your experiences, and become a Patreon supporter for more behind-the-scenes footage!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

What Is the Nitrogen Cycle for Freshwater Aquariums?

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 13:00:00 +0000

When I was a brand-new fish keeper, I remember asking questions like, “Can you put fish in a new tank right away?” and “What is new tank syndrome?” Keep watching as I explain the aquarium nitrogen cycle in easy, beginner-friendly terms, as well the beneficial effect that aquarium plants can have.

Materials I Mentioned

▶ Water test kit
▶ Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad

Resources

▶ The Nitrogen Cycle - Fully Explained!
▶ Nitrogen Uptake by Aquatic Plants
▶ Using plants as nature’s filtration
▶ Fish store tour of Ocean Aquarium

Question of the Day

How did you find out about the nitrogen cycle when you first started keeping aquariums? Comment below to share your because I’d love to hear them. Also FYI, I won't have a post next week because I'll be at Aquashella. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Boost Root Growth in Aquarium Plants

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 14:12:00 +0000

So you want to try keeping stem plants, carpets, rosettes, bulbs, or other rooted plants in a planted tank, but after buying your first few, they ain’t looking too hot. Keep watching as I reveal the top 5 things I’ve learned so far about growing healthy roots for healthy plants!

When I first started dipping my toe into the aquascaping world, I went with your beginner plants – java fern, anubias, bolbitis, and so on. What do all of these have in common? They’re rhizome plants that that you can pretty much glue to a rock and treat it like a piece of aquarium decor. Very hardy, don’t need much light, hard to kill.

Eventually, I wanted to broaden my horizons and get into the world of rooted plants that actually need soil or substrate to live in. That totally opened up my options to stem plants, carpeting plants, crypts, bulbs, you name it! I mean, we’re talking level 2 stuff here, right? Hah! That also means I had to be prepared to face level 2 problems and outright failures. So, come along with me as I reveal the lessons I’ve learned so far when it comes to growing healthy roots for healthy plants!

Tip 1: Leaves may melt off after you first plant them

First off, I learned that at the plant farms, most aquarium plants are actually grown emersed (above water with only their roots and substrate covered in water) rather than submersed (grown entirely underwater). Crazy, right? The reason why they do that is because aquatic plants grow much bigger and faster when they have unlimited access to carbon dioxide from the air, and their leaves are also free of algae and snail eggs. However, when we take those emersed grown plants and plunge them into the water, those leaves go into shock and often melt off, leaving you to think that you bought a dud. Don't throw the plant away! Leave it in your tank, cut off any dying, emersed grown leaves, and eventually the new submersed grown leaves will pop out, probably looking a little smaller and shorter than before. You’re essentially paying for the healthy roots on a plant, not the leaves.

Emersed vs. submersed grown leaves on a crypt parva (source: spec-tanks.com)

Tip 2: Don't move your rooted plants if at all possible

Once you’ve picked a spot for your new plant, don’t move it. Unlike rhizome plants that allow you to frequently redo your aquascape just by moving the stone or driftwood they're attached to, rooted plants need time to settle in and become, well, rooted. Every time it gets uprooted – whether because you’re rescaping, you accidentally bump it when gravel vacuuming, or you have a jerk of a fish who likes to dig – you’re basically pushing the reset button for that plant and it has to get used to its surroundings all over again. It’s not going to grow well until it feels nice and stable for a while. (P.S. Plant weights can help keep your plants down until they grow more roots.)

Tip 3: Make sure the substrate is deep enough to grow roots

So, what’s the best way to make a rooted plant feel nice and comfortable? Well, I’m not going to get into a big debate about which brand of substrate is superior. Just remember: regardless of what kind you choose, make sure you use enough of it. Some of you might be tempted to buy something really high quality and expensive, which means you may not have the funds to get a lot of it. Most planted tank sources recommend a total substrate depth of 2 to 3 inches (or 5 to 8 cm). That way your plants have enough room to grow deeper roots and not get uprooted at the slightest touch.

Tip 4: Pay attention to the particle size of the substrate

Speaking of substrate selection, I know I just said that I didn’t care what kind you bought. That being said, you have to make sure the substrate particles aren’t too big or too small. If you go too big and have the equivalent of river rocks for your ground cover, the gaps between the stones are too wide and the roots won't anything to hold on to. (Again, I’m talking about rooted plants, not rhizome ones that can hold on to practically anything.)

River rock is too big of a substrate for most planted aquariums (source: Reddit)

If you go with a really fine sand, like Caribsea Super Naturals sand, there’s hardly any space between the particles for the roots to grow in. The sand is going to compact way too much and end up smothering the roots to death. Therefore, if you want to use sand, make sure it’s much coarser and larger in diameter, like Seachem Flourite black sand.

Tip 5: Use fertilizers to enhance root and shoot growth

Okay, so you’ve got your perfect substrate, you’ve planted your rooted plants, and you pinky swear not to move them. But they’re still not thriving and staying rooted for some reason. What else can really encourage good root growth? First off, if you're using an inert substrate that doesn't innately contain any nutrients, don't forget to add fertilizers into the substrate in the form of root tabs. Most aquarium plants consume nutrients from the ground and from the water column, but which one they use more depends on the species.

Another tip I heard was from Aquarium Co-Op, a retail and online store that sells live aquarium plants. Remember in the beginning of the article , where I talked about emersed versus submersed grown plants? Well, when Aquarium Co-Op gets their shipments from the plant farms, they actually try to start the process of converting plants to submersed grown, and their secret sauce for encouraging roots to grow faster is using a combination of their own Easy Green all-in-one fertilizer and Seachem Flourish Advance. Flourish Advance is described as a natural phytohormone supplement that “dramatically stimulates the growth of both roots and shoots in aquatic plants.” The ingredients include potassium, phosphates, calcium, and magnesium, which are some of the basic building blocks for plants.

Aquarium Co-Op starts converting plants to submersed growth before selling to customers

When I was having problems with plants staying rooted in my betta tank, I started adding this magical juice to my regular Easy Green dosing, and boom, no more floating plants! It’s too early to tell whether or not this definitively works for me, but Aquarium Co-Op is buying this stuff by the gallons so you can be sure they wouldn’t be wasting their money if it wasn’t worth it.

Question of the Day

What are some lessons learned about planted aquariums that you wish you'd known as a beginner? Comment below to share, and I may include them in the next plant tutorial article. If you missed Part 1 of this series, check out my 5 Tips for Starting Your First Planted Aquarium. Take time to enjoy your aquariums, and I'll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Clean Your Betta Fish Tank the Easy Way!

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 09 Mar 2019 14:00:00 +0000

So you got your first betta fish, but find it a huge hassle to clean the aquarium. Keep reading as I show you the easy way of keeping the water nice and clear with minimal effort!

When I was a kid, a betta fish was one of my first aquatic pets because they’re so beautiful and interactive. Unfortunately, I found it a pain to clean his bowl because I always had to catch him, dump out all the glass marbles, scrub them in the sink, and then transfer everything back. (Kids, don't try this at home.) Eventually, I started avoiding this time-consuming chore and… eventually, my betta fish got sick and died from living in his own waste. Poor thing!

Little did I know that there existed a miracle tool that has saved me so much time and energy, so I can actually enjoy keeping fish. Let me introduce you to the aquarium siphon (also known as a gravel cleaner). This simple hose is like vacuum cleaner but without any electronics – and it’s about to become your best friend!

The Python mini siphon is my go-to tool for cleaning betta fish tanks.

How to Do a Simple Water Change

So let me cover how to do a simple water change for your betta fish, which will only take you 5-10 minutes at most. You’ll need 3 things: a mini siphon (linked above), water dechlorinator, and a bucket with a pour spout that’s big enough to hold at least 50% of the tank water

Remove the lid on the aquarium and turn off heater and filter.
In order to start “vacuuming” your fish tank, put the big tube end of the siphon in the tank and make sure the small hose end goes in the bucket.

How to Start a Siphon
You can start water moving through the siphon simply by dipping the upright tube into the tank, raising it up out of the water, and then before the water totally drains out of the tube, quickly plunge it back into the tank.

Once you notice water moving into the bucket, you can invert the tube and start vacuuming the bottom of the tank to remove fish poop, uneaten food, and other detritus.
When you’ve finished vacuuming and have removed 25-50% of the tank water, take out the siphon and empty the bucket. (Old fish water is good fertilizer for houseplants.) Then fill the bucket with warm tap water that matches the tank temperature.
Add water dechlorinator to the bucket (or directly in the tank), and refill the aquarium.
Turn back on your heater and filter, replace the tank lid, and you’re done!

All the water change materials can go back in the bucket so it’s easily accessible for next time.

How to Deep Clean the Tank

Now a water change once a week is pretty easy, but once a month, I like to do a deep cleaning on the aquarium. Here’s my detailed routine, which also includes a few extra steps you may need if you’ve upgraded your betta fish to a planted tank. You’re going to need all the materials from before, as well as a water test kit, algae scraper, fertilizer, and maybe some aquascaping tools.

Remove the lid and use your test kit to test the water quality to make sure all’s well.
Use your algae scrubber to remove algae off from the walls, plants, and décor. (I personally like to use a razor blade and toothbrush for my glass aquarium.)
If you have live plants, now’s your time to trim and remove any dead leaves.
Turn off the heater and filter, and begin gravel vacuuming the substrate like before.
Clean your filter sponge or other media in old tank water (or you can be brave like Prime Time Aquatics and wash them in running tap water).
Empty out the bucket, fill it with warm tap water, and add your dechlorinator.
Pour your water in the tank. (I like to use a clean plastic bag or colander to pour the water on, so that the water won't disturb the decor.)
Turn on the heater and filter, and add fertilizers as needed.

Pouring water through a colander when refilling the tank will prevent your aquascape from being disturbed.

Bonus Tips

I’ve also got some extra tips for keeping your betta fish tank clean without a lot of extra effort, such as:

Add a gentle filter to keep the water from getting stagnant and gross.
Don’t overfeed your betta fish because less food = less poo.
Consider getting a bigger tank of 3 gallons or more because more water volume means it’ll take longer for your betta fish to dirty the water (and you can do fewer water changes overall).

To learn more practical tips about keeping betta fish, check out my other betta care articles. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next post!

Top 7 Helpful Resources for Axolotl Care

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 13:00:00 +0000

So you’re interested in getting a new axolotl, but feel overwhelmed with all the information out there. Keep reading as I reveal the best axolotl resources to help you get started!

If you didn’t know already, I previously owned axolotls. Unfortunately, one died from my own human error and another from health issues. It's one thing to lose a shrimp or a betta fish, but when you lose a larger pet that’s almost a foot long… it’s just particularly painful. So I haven’t kept axolotls for over a year now because I wanted to take a break and really do some in-depth research on what it takes to own them. I don’t want to go through the heartache of prematurely lose another one, if at all possible.

Online Axolotl Resources

So, today I’m going to show you the results of my search and rank my top favorite axolotl books and resources. This is not a care guide article, so if you just want to go straight to my favorite beginner resource, visit axolotl.org. It’s free and available online, very well-organized and easy to read, and has a lot of accurate, detailed information that really helped me when I was getting started.

Another website that has a lot of information is exopetguides.com. Their axolotl guide was released last year and therefore is the most recent resource out of all the ones I explored. Written by hobbyists, this article describes the latest, most conservative trends in axolotl keeping, so if you don’t want to get yelled at on axolotl Facebook groups or forums, this page will steer you clear of most controversy.

Children's Science Books on Axolotls

Now if you’re like me, I don't like to blindly trust popular hobbyist views and would prefer to double-check information with the professionals. The most readily available resource at the library was children’s science books, which weren’t that helpful because they usually consisted of a 1-page description about axolotls mixed in with other 1-page summaries of other oddball animals. However, I did find Inside Animals: Frogs and other Amphibians by David West to be of interest because of the great diagram of axolotl anatomy.

Research Books and Papers

As for research books and papers, there were tons once I started really digging. Axolotls are commonly used in research for their regenerative properties and have even been shown to have an effect on breast cancer (woohoo!). The king of all axolotl research books is Developmental Biology of the Axolotl, edited by John Armstrong and George Malacinski. Published in 1989, it’s a collection of scientific papers on axolotls. Probably less than 25% of the book contains relevant info on their natural history and practical care because it’s written for research facilities, not hobbyists. If you're interested in checking it out, see if your local university has it because the textbook costs about $100 to $300 online.

The now defunct Indiana University Axolotl Colony also released the Axolotl Newsletter, which you can order all 30+ issues from the Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center (AGSC) for $60. I’ve reviewed several issues online for free, and for the most part the newsletters are heavily geared towards researchers and how to keep axolotls in a laboratory environment. However, there’s a bunch of valuable nuggets of information in them, so check out the newsletter link above.

Salamander Care Books

The next category of axolotl resources actually comes from salamander pet care books, which I think is totally valid because it’s worth looking at how similar species need care. Newts and Salamanders by Frank Indiviglio was published in 2010 and comes highly recommended on Axolotl.org (and I can see why). The book’s author has a master’s degree in biology and worked as a zoo keeper for reptiles and amphibians, so his book is very detailed and informative. Mr. Indiviglio also has a lot of great axolotl articles posted on ThatPetPlace.com that you can read.

Another book I found is also called Newts and Salamanders, but was written by Devin Edmonds in 2009. This one provides a lot more info on how to setup an aquarium for aquatic salamanders, but doesn't have as much specific info on axolotls. Still, it's a decent book to check out from the library.

Axolotl Care Books

Finally, the last category: axolotl pet care books. Axolotl.org lists Axolotls by Peter W. Scott (published in 1981) as the first book on its recommended resources page. The first half of the book is devoted to axolotl biology and the second half is devoted to care. Some of the aquarium setup and feeding info is a little outdated, but I did find the breeding and health sections to be pretty interesting. All-in-all, a good read where the author clearly consulted a lot of university researchers and professors.

Another axolotl-specific book I found is Axolotls, Mexican Salamanders as Pets, published in 2013. The author Elliott Lang writes many different pet books for a living and he’s actually owned axolotls himself, so think of this as a well-researched, hobbyist-written book. As of the writing of this article, I personally think this is one of the most thorough, practical books for keeping axolotls on the market. It lays out how to set up the aquarium, appropriate tank mates, diet, breeding, etc. You may not agree with everything Mr. Lang recommends, but if you’re going to buy a book as a beginner, this is the #1 book I would turn to. Highly recommend!

My Final Recommendation...

Before I finish this post, there is one final resource I would recommend: find a good exotic vet that treats axolotls. I think one of the major mistakes I made when previously owning axolotls was not having a veterinarian lined up for them when things started going south. An experienced vet can offer a lot of knowledge and is capable of doing things the typical hobbyist can’t – like taking x-rays, examining fecal samples under a microscope, injecting antibiotics, and so on. Lesson learned: I can’t state how important it is to find a vet for your axolotl before you even get one.

All-in-all, I feel like I’m much better equipped now with the wealth of resources I’ve collected and hopefully will have better luck with my next axolotl. If you want to learn more, check my articles on axolotl care. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you in the next article!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

How to Prevent the Top 5 Worst Days in Fish Keeping!

noreply@blogger.com (A Gamer's Wife) — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Recently, there was a video challenge that went around where FishTubers were tagged to reveal their worst days in fish keeping. Find out how I ranked the top five worst aquarium disasters on YouTube and what was the most common mistake among them!

Who Had the Worst Aquarium Disaster?

▶ Bentley Pascoe
▶ Heidi's Fish Tank
▶ Mike from 915Mang
▶ Nathan from Simply Shrimps
▶ Zenzo from Tazawa Tanks

Question of the Day

What was your worst day in fish keeping? Comment below to share your experiences because I’d love to hear them. Take time to enjoy your aquariums and I’ll see you next time!

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for practical fish care tips for busy aquarists and follow me on Instagram for more updates! 🎮❤️🐟

A GAMER'S WIFE

Check Out My New Blog Posts at AquariumCoop.com!

The Best Foods to Feed Your Cherry Shrimp

Biofilm and Algae

Favorite Foods for Shrimp

Treat Foods for Shrimp

Rejected Shrimp Foods

Future Shrimp Foods to Try

Question of the Day

FROGBIT CARE GUIDE | How to Grow, Propagate & Contain It

Pros and Cons of Frogbit

How to Grow Frogbit

How to Propagate Frogbit

How to Contain Frogbit

Why is My Frogbit Dying?

Question of the Day

New Axolotl Checklist – What Do I Need for My New Axolotl?

Aquarium and Filtration

Decorations

Cooling Materials

Other Supplies

How to Aquascape with Super Glue – 8 Tips

Tip 1: Use super glue gel

Tip 2: Glue the roots of the plant

Tip 3: To avoid sticky hands, use nitrile gloves and the bottle cap

Tip 4: Cover the glue with sand or soil

Tip 5: Use glue and sewing thread for more stability

Tip 6: Glue stem plants to rocks to weigh them down

Tip 7: Use glue to attach driftwood together

Tip 8: Use glue to attach rocks together

Question of the Day

How to Choose and Add Aquarium Plants

Materials I Used

Resources

How to Keep Your Aquarium Sand Clean

Select the Right Sand

How to Vacuum Sand Substrate

More Maintenance Tips for Sand

Does Sand Substrate Cause Toxic Hydrogen Sulfide Gas?

What Is the Best Food to Feed Betta Fish?

What Do Betta Fish Eat in the Wild?

3 Types of Betta Fish Foods

#1 Prepared Fish Food

#2 Freeze-Dried Fish Food

#3 Frozen Fish Food

#4 Live Foods for Fish

How Much Should I Feed My Betta Fish?

How to Set Up a Planted Tank with Sand Substrate - Part 1

What Is the Life Cycle of a Cherry Shrimp?

How to Sex Shrimp and Determine if They're Male or Female

How do Cherry Shrimp Reproduce?

How Long do Cherry Shrimp Eggs Take to Hatch?

What do Baby Cherry Shrimp Look Like?

How Many Babies Can Each Female Shrimp Make?

How Long Does It Take for Cherry Shrimp to Reach Sexual Maturity?

What is the Life Span of Cherry Shrimp?

How to Fight Aquarium Algae in 11 Easy Steps

Why I Rarely Post on Aquarium Facebook Groups

Question of the Day

4 Easy Setups for a 20-Gallon Aquarium

Tank Setup #1: Community Tank for Beginners

Tank Setup #2: Axolotl Aquarium

Tank Setup #3: Planted Tank for Beginners

Tank Setup #4: "Shy Guys" Jungle Tank

Question of the Day

The Top Fish to Avoid in a Planted Aquarium

The Chronic Offenders

The Casual Snackers

The Rumored Bad Boys

Question of the Day

How to Protect Your Fish from Heater Failure

What is a Temperature Controller?

Features of ITC-308 vs. ITC-306T

Review of InkBird Temperature Controllers

Final Thoughts: Should You Get a Heater Controller?

How to Boost Your Betta Fish Tank Filter the EASY Way

Materials I Used

Resources

Question of the Day

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Breeding Cherry Shrimp