castor, originally uploaded by haleyluna. Q: J wrote, I have a Crowntail Splendid Betta; named Bartholomew, whom I’ve had for 1½ years now. I keep him in a 5½ gallon tank with a filter, heater set at 73 degrees, and an air pump with no added tank mates. The tank environment consists of two plastic [...]

Mini-cycles generally occur during the fragile period when the tank is new and happen because of something we do to either remove nitrifying bacterial colonies (like removing the filter media) or by rapidly adding food for the bacteria (like adding additional fish).

Ghost shrimp close up, originally uploaded by octopus.gallery. Q: CR wrote, I have a general aquarium question I hope you can help me with. I recently had what I think is a pH crash that quickly killed off my ghost shrimp and several small catfish. I can’t figure out what lead to this and would [...]

Q: SM wrote, I have a question about my tank…I told you in the other email what I have in my tank. I just want to be assured that when I add all the fish, I cannot change the tank,until I meausre the water and the ammonia is really up , then the bacteria starts? [...]

Betta…, originally uploaded by Fabiz Rabbit©. Q: CLP wrote, I got my male betta – Will on November 5th, so he’s still young. He is in a 2 1/2 gallon tank, heated to 76 degrees. I do weekly water changes of 25% and the pH is at 7.0. My betta has started having fin rot. [...]

In an aquarium or fish bowl the fish give off waste, which over a short time breaks down into toxic ammonia.

betta_01, originally uploaded by james_b_b. Q: B wrote, I have been all over trying to get help for my betta, Fritz. He has been sick for over a week now. Color is dim and he just lays on the bottom, rarely tries to swim or eat. I have changed the water, even tried lowering the [...]

Dirty Tank (which has been cleaned!!!), originally uploaded by blaqphlegm. In the aquarium, detritus (often called mulm) is organic material made up of fragments of fish waste, uneaten food particles, dead animals, mucus, shed skin and decaying plant matter. It is commonly suspended in the water and sucked into the filter but in conditions where [...]

portrait of a fish, originally uploaded by olya. Q: SF wrote, I have a betta who is about 2 years old. He’s not well. He is quite lethargic, sits at the bottom regularly, has just developed a few white patches and has had popeye in one eye only for about 7 months. I have tried [...]

breeding tank overhead, originally uploaded by revs45. Indian Almond leaves (Terminalia catappa) are one of those homeopathic additives Betta breeders swear by. They are commonly found all over Southeast Asia and India and are imported to many western countries and available in the U.S. To the best of my knowledge, no serious scientific studies have [...]