What is velvet (or gold dust disease)? Freshwater velvet is caused by external parasites from the Oodinium genus. Under a bright light, it looks like gold, dust-like particles covering the fish's head, body, and fins. It often starts in the gills, so the fish is very sick by the time you see external symptoms on the skin. Flashing, or sudden rubbing against surfaces, is another common symptom. Unfortunately, this disease is quite difficult to treat, spreads rapidly, and does not respond to most broad-spectrum medications. Som...

How does beneficial bacteria stay alive in a bottle? Bacteria starter products like Fritz Zyme 7 contain live, nitrifying bacteria to help kick off your aquarium cycle and grow your biological filtration. This beneficial bacteria helps to consume toxic ammonia waste (produce by your fish) and convert it into nitrate, which is much safer for fish. According to the Fritz Aquatics website, "Unlike some heterotrophic bacteria, which can survive in a long-term spore state, only true nitrifying bacteria can cycle an aquarium. True nitrifying bac...

How much salt is too much for aquarium plants? Aquarium plants generally do not well with salt (or sodium chloride), but a concentration of 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water is generally considered to be safe. Also, in our personal testing, 1 teaspoon of marine salt per 20 gallons of RODI (reverse osmosis deionized water) water was beneficial to aquarium plants because of the added minerals. For more information on how to treat sick fish with aquarium salt, see our full article.

Does dechlorinator remove ammonia? Some of them do, as stated on their packaging. The main reason for this is because when dechlorinators are used to treat chloramine, they only react to the chlorine part of chloramine and not the ammonia part. The remaining ammonia ions left in the water are toxic to fish, so some dechlorinators — such as Aquarium Co-Op Easy Dechlorinator, Fritz Complete Water Conditioner, Seachem Prime, and Kordon AmQuel — contain extra chemicals that temporarily lock up the ammonia into an inert state (i.e....

How do you deworm a puffer? Pufferfish are especially prone to internal parasites like tapeworms, but the dewormers only get rid of adult worms and do not affect unhatched eggs. Therefore, you must apply multiple deworming treatments to ensure all the eggs have hatched and are eliminated. For our personal puffers, we treat them with the quarantine medication trio and then wait two weeks. Next we follow up with a 5-day treatment of Fritz ParaCleanse (using the instructions on the box) and then wait a month. Afterwards, w...

What should I use to treat sick fish if I can’t buy the quarantine med trio? We recommend using aquarium salt – a cheap and widely available “medicine” that is quite effective for broad-spectrum treatment of bacteria, fungus, and external parasites. However, it is not safe for aquatic plants, snails, and certain fish like anchor catfish. For more information, follow the dosage instructions in our aquarium salt article.

Do I have to quarantine my first fish? If you are setting up your first tank, you can theoretically add new fish directly into the aquarium without setting up a separate quarantine tank since there are no existing animals to protect. One situation where you might want to use a separate hospital fish tank is if your aquarium is very large and the fish are small enough to go in a scaled-down quarantine setup. It will cost less money to dose medication in a smaller volume of water rather than an entire display tank. Another instance ...

How do I get rid of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria? Blue green algae (BGA) is a turquoise slime that can cover your aquarium gravel, decorations, and plants. It's actually a cyanobacteria and therefore does not always respond to traditional algae-fighting techniques. It is very susceptible to antibiotics that contain erythromycin, like Fritz Slime Out. To begin treatment, scrub off as much of the blue-green algae as possible and remove it with a siphon. After vacuuming the substrate and refilling the tank, add one full dose of Slime Out (w...

What recipe do you use to hatch baby brine shrimp? We recommend the following recipe for hatching: Fill the hatchery with approximately 2 liters of water. (Use 1-2 drops of dechlorinator if your tap water has chloramine.) Add 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt if you have hard water or marine salt if you have soft water. Add up to 1 tablespoon of brine shrimp eggs. Heat the water to 74-82°F (23-28°C) either by heating the entire room, shining a small lamp with an incandescent or halogen bulb, or placing a small heater inside the water. Wait 24 h...

My fish is bloated. What should I do? If your fish has a swollen abdomen, it could be caused by several things. Run down this checklist to see which disease your fish may have: Obesity: If you are overfeeding your fish, it may be overweight. In this case, fast the fish for 3-7 days and then decrease its food portion size. Constipation: If the fish is unable to pass any waste, its digestive system becomes backed up with food. Stop feeding the fish for 3-7 days and then feed it high-quality fish food with lots of roughage, such ...

How to get rid of blue-green algae (BGA) Blue-green algae (BGA) is technically not a type of algae, but rather a cyanobacteria that grows like a slimy blanket coating the substrate, plants, and decor. It comes with a rather distinctive smell that many fish keepers learn to recognize before the bacterial colony is even visible. No one is 100% sure what causes BGA, but in general, improved aquarium upkeep and increased water circulation with an air stone or powerhead can help keep it away. Algae eaters typically will not eat the stuff...

How to use the Quarantine Medication Trio If you just purchased some new fish, we recommend using a trio of quarantine medications – Fritz Maracyn, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, and Fritz ParaCleanse – to treat any bacterial, fungal or parasitic diseases they may have. This is the same three broad-spectrum medicines that we use on all fish that enter the Aquarium Co-Op retail store. These medicines can all be used at the same time and are completely safe for all freshwater fish, shrimp, snails, and other invertebrates. Follow these dosin...

Does Aquarium Co-Op sell wholesale? At Aquarium Co-Op, we started with a small fish store in Edmonds, Washington, grew an online sales business through our social media platforms, and now offer wholesale aquarium products to local fish stores all around the United States. This wholesale sector of our business is called the Aquarium Co-Op Retail Partner Program (RPP). What kind of products does Aquarium Co-Op sell wholesale? We offer Aquarium Co-Op-branded fishkeeping and planted tank products that were personally developed and ...

How to Join the Aquarium Co-Op Wholesale Program At Aquarium Co-Op, we started with a small fish store in Edmonds, Washington, grew an online sales business through our social media platforms, and now offer wholesale aquarium products to local fish stores all around the United States. This wholesale sector of our business is called the Aquarium Co-Op Retail Partner Program (RPP). What kind of products does Aquarium Co-Op sell wholesale? We offer Aquarium Co-Op-branded fishkeeping and planted tank products that were personally developed and ...

How to Treat Hole-in-the-Head Disease in Aquarium Fish Hole-in-the-head (HITH) disease is known by many names — such as hole-in-head, lateral line disease, and head and lateral line erosion (HLLE). None of these are official disease names, but rather, they are descriptors of a visual symptom. In general, they describe any ailment that causes holes, pits, or lesions around a fish’s head, face, and/or lateral line (i.e., the horizontal line of pores running down the side of a fish’s body that is used to sense pressure and movement in the water). In...

Aquarium Seasoning is Better Than Aquarium Cycling (and Here’s Why) Whenever someone has a fishkeeping problem and asks for help on social media or online forums, people immediately ask if the fish tank is “cycled.” Yes, it’s important to know about the aquarium nitrogen cycle, but just because a tank can process ammonia waste does not necessarily mean it’s a good environment for housing live fish and plants. For example, just because someone has an official college diploma does not mean that he or she is automatically skilled in that field. There are many, m...