Quick answer: Vampire crabs (Geosesarma) are small, stunning semi-terrestrial crabs, usually deep purple with cream spots and pale, glowing eyes, and they make fascinating pets. The single most important thing to know before you buy one: they are not aquarium fish and must not be kept in a water-filled tank. Read more
Quick answer: The galaxy rasbora (Danio margaritatus), better known as the celestial pearl danio or CPD, is one of the most beautiful nano fish in the hobby. It has a dark blue-green body scattered with pearly “galaxy” spots and bright red-orange fins, it stays under an inch long, and it Read more
Quick answer: The pygmy corydoras (Corydoras pygmaeus) is the tiniest, most charming cory catfish you can keep. At about an inch long it is peaceful, active, and perfect for nano tanks, and unlike most cories it spends a lot of its time hovering in midwater like a little underwater hummingbird Read more
Quick answer: The honey gourami (Trichogaster chuna) is one of the best beginner centerpiece fish you can buy. It is small, peaceful, hardy, and a soft golden color, a single one is happy in a 10 gallon, it eats almost anything, and it gets along with most calm community fish. Read more
Quick answer: The best algae eater fish for most freshwater tanks are the otocinclus, the bristlenose pleco, and the true Siamese algae eater. For small tanks, shrimp and snails like Amano shrimp and nerite snails often do the job better than any fish. No algae eater keeps a tank clean Read more
Quick answer: A nerite snail that hasn’t moved for a day or two is almost always fine. Nerites graze mostly at night and can sit in one spot for several days, and new snails often stay still for up to a week while they settle in. Check four things before Read more
If your Pink Princess is pushing out plain green leaves and the pink seems to be disappearing, here is the short honest answer: it is almost always a light problem, and it is fixable going forward. But there is one hard truth most articles skip, so let me give it Read more
Quick answer Caridina japonica is the older scientific name for the shrimp now classified as Caridina multidentata, and known to most aquarists as the Amano shrimp. It is a freshwater shrimp native to Japan and Taiwan, reaching around 2 inches (5 cm), living roughly 2 to 3 years, and kept Read more