Dustin's Blog — blog

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....

Read Time: 5.5 minutes Aquarium plants for cold water, crazy pH, giant tanks and nano tanks, evil fish, too little or too much light, and any other extreme you can throw at them Overall Tips for "EXTREME" Aquarium Plants (AKA the biggest piece of advice for planted tanks) The single most helpful tip we can give you on growing these plants, and any plants, really, is to study and imitate nature. If you're not sure if you can keep a plant in a certain tank environment (we're pretty awesome, but we can't list out every plant, here) look up where the...

Read Time: 8 minutes So, you've found a crusty, old fish tank and have no idea if it, or your plans for a new tank, will hold water. It's easy to see a grimy tank on the curb and think, "Well, that thing's never coming into my house." But it could be a diamond in the rough. Here are tips and tricks for finding and buying secondhand fishtanks, cleaning them up, and getting them in shape for new fish and aquarium plants. For a more detailed post on fixing up cracked/broken aquariums, check this blog post out! Biggest tip we...

Read Time: 5.5 minutes Plant Placement 101 Figured out you want to grow some live aquarium plants, taken the plunge and ordered some, and staring at a fistful of plants you don't know what to do with? Been there. Fortunately, most aquatic plants can be broken down into four categories of where to place them: foreground, midground, background, and floating plants. Some plants overlap into more than one category depending on how you want to grow and trim them, but generally, you can gauge where to put something based on how a species falls into these. If you ever hear...

Read Time: 7 minutes It's the most frustrating thing ever: you get these rich, deep red and purple plants, all is right with the world, and then one day you look at your tank and they're barely pink, if not completely green. Want to turn your green plants red again? Here's how to keep your red aquarium plants from fading, and a guide on which red plants are right for you and your tank. Why Are Some Plants Red?  Before you can fix the problem, you have to understand why red plants are even a thing to begin with. The easiest way...