Dustin's Blog — aquarium fish tip. Fishtank tips

Guide to Cryptocoryne Aquarium Plants Read Time: 4.5 minutes Tales from the Crypts: History of Cryptocoryne These are some of the coolest, hardiest aquarium plants alive. The name "Cryptocoryne" is Greek, from 'crypto' (hidden) and koryne (club). They're also called water trumpets because of the shape of their stems' flower clusters (inflorescence).  Cryptocoryne plants (or just "crypts") were first described as a species in 1779, then as a genus in 1828 by botanists Anders Jahan Retzius and Friedrich Ernst Ludwig von Fischer respectively. So they've been in the hobby a while. Expeditions to find new crypt and other aquatic plant species are still...

Read Time: 4 minutes Okay, sure, the title sounds kinda clickbait-ish. Most people hear "fungus" and think either "athlete's foot" or "mushroom," but what if we told you fungi might help you grow aquarium plants?  Mycorrhizae: Pretty Fly for Fungi Land plants have a well-documented symbiotic (mutually helpful) relationship between their roots and a huge range of fungal species naturally found in soil called mycorrhizae. Mycorrhizae actually translates from Greek to "fungal root." The fungi infects the plant's roots, obtains "food" (carbohydrates) from the plant and, in return,  increases the plant's root absorption and nutrient uptake by increasing root surface...

Read Time: 6.5 minutes It's funny Anubias (an amazingly easy aquarium plant genus) is named for the Egyptian god of funerals, graves, and the afterlife, Anubis - because these things are borderline unkillable. I like to think, somewhere, there's a jackal-headed death god trying to preserve dead plants named after him and getting annoyed he has to wait because they just won't die.  However, if our friend Anubis wanted to hurry them along to the underworld, there are a few ways he could do it. Here's your guide on how to grow (and how to kill) Anubias aquarium plants.  Anubias Species and Varieites...

Read Time: 9 minutes Freshwater aquatic plant anatomy and physiology, and how you can make easy botany work for your planted tank Welcome back to another installment of the Aquarium Science Series! Got some epic aquarium plants growing, but wondering how they work and why that matters? This post will give you an overview of some botany basics, with more specific posts on roots, plant genetics, leaf physiology and photosynthesis/respiration, etc. to follow later when we really dig into it. Aquarium Plant Classifications Scientific Names/Taxonomy Want to get to know someone? Start with a name. Aquarium plants are no different....

A Huge Guide to Freshwater Aquarium pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrites/Nitrates/Ammonia, Water Hardness, and All the Molecules Bouncing Around Between Your Fish - without Feeling Lost or Like You Want to Fall Asleep in Class Read Time: 12 mins "This 8 oz bottle will prevent and cure all fish diseases, fix all your water, grow a tank-wide bacteria colony in 7.2 minutes, and bring your childhood goldfish back from the dead for $42.99! Ignore the other 600 8oz bottles that say the exact same thing!" is what it feels like walking down an aquarium aisle these days.  Before you go into debt buying products...