Freshwater Beginners
From Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
Hard-learned Lessons
My entry into the world of fishkeeping was quite by accident and for all the wrong reasons. I was living in a small apartment and needed a divider to separate the kitchen from the living room. A 6-foot aquarium seemed just the thing, and besides, I’d always wanted to keep fish but the time never seemed right. So, I bought a 125-gallon tank and brought it home. Read more...
Creating a Balanced Fish Community
if it were yesterday, I can clearly remember walking into a tropical fish store for the first time. Walls of glowing tanks, packed with piscine gems. The place had the warmth, humidity and distinctive aromas of a well-kept aquarium shop, more than slightly suggestive of the exotic tropics. It was sensory overload for a young mind. Read more...
Freshwater Model Aquarium Communities
To start the thought process for planning a new community aquarium, and to highlight some combinations that expert aquarists have found to work, here are some models that can easily be replicated using readily available species, all profiled on this site. Read more...
Keeping Your Freshwater Fish Healthy
Much of the time disease in the aquarium is, not to put too fine a point on it, a disaster. The trouble starts with a new fish or fishes being introduced to the established aquarium. The next thing, there’s a spritzing of spots or a tilting fish, and before you know it, the population starts to decline. Without appropriate intervention, the more delicate fishes are all dead, and before long, the hardier fishes are gone as well. What’s to be done? Read more...