Guides
Long-form, research-backed guides on the fundamentals of freshwater aquarium keeping.
Start here
The complete beginner journey, in recommended reading order.
- How to set up a new aquarium From empty box to thriving tank: a complete step-by-step guide covering equipment, assembly, cycling, and stocking.
- How to choose your first fish What makes a fish genuinely beginner-friendly, the common species to avoid, and concrete recommendations by tank size and water type.
- How to cycle a new aquarium A step-by-step guide to the nitrogen cycle for freshwater tanks: fishless cycling, dosing, and knowing when your tank is safe for fish.
- Aquarium water parameters explained A complete reference for temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness, and dissolved oxygen, including Australian tap water profiles.
- Aquarium water changes How often, how much, and how to do water changes properly, including the common mistakes that hurt fish.
Stocking and fish selection
Working out what to keep, how many, and what suits your water.
- Best freshwater fish for Australian tap water Which freshwater fish suit your local Australian tap water: hard- and alkaline-water species for Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, soft-water species for Melbourne, and reliable all-rounders for anywhere.
- How to stock a community tank How to stock a freshwater community tank: working out stocking levels and bioload, schooling group sizes, compatibility, and adding fish in thirds, with Australian notes.
- Native Australian fish for the aquarium Native Australian fish for the aquarium: hardy rainbowfish and blue-eyes suited to Australian tap water, where to buy them legally and ethically, and how to set up a native tank.
Species spotlights
In-depth care guides for popular fish and invertebrates.
- Betta care Betta care done properly: why a betta needs at least 30 litres (not a cube or vase), heating and filtration, feeding, tankmates, and common health problems, with Australian notes.
- Keeping freshwater shrimp Keeping freshwater shrimp: cherry, amano, and crystal red shrimp compared, the water parameters they need, how moulting works, the copper warning, tankmates, and Australian notes.
- Why goldfish aren't starter fish Why goldfish aren't starter fish: they are large, long-lived, cold-water fish with a heavy bioload that need at least 150 litres, not a bowl, with Australian notes.
Equipment and setup
Choosing and setting up the gear behind a healthy tank.
- Advanced aquascaping Advanced aquascaping: iwagumi and composition mastery, forced-perspective hardscape, demanding carpets, high-tech CO2 and dosing, maintaining a mature scape, and Amano's IAPLC.
- Aquarium lighting explained Aquarium lighting explained: how much light fish and plants need, what PAR, Kelvin, and photoperiod mean, how to avoid algae, and how to choose an LED, with Australian notes.
- Aquascaping for beginners A beginner's guide to aquascaping: the main styles, the composition rules that make a layout work, choosing rock, wood and plants, and building your first scape.
- Choosing the best aquarium substrate How to choose aquarium substrate for your fish and tank type: gravel, sand, and planted soil compared, with picks for bottom-dwellers, shrimp, plants, and hard-water tanks.
- CO2 for the planted aquarium A complete guide to CO2 in the planted aquarium: whether you need it, the ways to add it, building a pressurised system, dialling it in safely, and avoiding algae.
- How to choose an aquarium filter How to choose an aquarium filter: sponge, hang-on-back, internal, and canister types compared, plus how to size a filter to your tank and what media to run.
- How to modify a hang-on-back filter How to upgrade a hang-on-back aquarium filter: swap the cartridge for better media, add a pre-filter sponge, baffle the flow, cut the noise, and skim the surface.
- Planted tank basics and the best beginner plants A beginner's guide to live aquarium plants: easy hardy species like anubias, java fern, and vallisneria, plus low-tech setups, light, fertiliser, and care.
Feeding, maintenance and health
Keeping an established tank clean, fed, and disease-free.
- Aquarium maintenance schedule A daily, weekly, and monthly freshwater aquarium maintenance checklist you can tick off: water changes, filter care, testing, and the occasional jobs, with Australian notes.
- Cloudy and green water: quick fixes Cloudy or green aquarium water, sorted fast: tell a bacterial bloom, diatoms, and a green-water algae bloom apart by colour, and the quick fix for each.
- Common fish diseases A symptom-first guide to identifying and treating freshwater aquarium fish diseases: ich, fin rot, fungus, dropsy, and more.
- How to deal with excess snails How to deal with a pest snail outbreak: why they boom (overfeeding), identifying bladder, ramshorn, and trumpet snails, and bringing the numbers down for good.
- How to feed your aquarium fish How to feed aquarium fish: how much and how often, the food types to use, why overfeeding harms the tank, fasting, and feeding your fish while you are away.
- How to quarantine new fish How to quarantine new aquarium fish: why it matters, setting up a quarantine or hospital tank, the step-by-step routine, and when to medicate, with Australian notes.
- Types of aquarium algae and how to control them Identify common aquarium algae by appearance, understand what causes each type, and how to control it in tropical and cold water tanks, with Australian context.
No guides match your search. Try a different word, or browse all guides.