How do I set up a fish tank with live plants?If you've never set up a planted aquarium, we recommend that you start with beginner plants that only require low light. Then follow this detailed guide that covers all the materials you need, as well as the 9 steps you need to be successful. If you run into problems at any point, please post your question on our forum so that we and other hobbyists can best help you.
How often should I add more root tabs?Nutrients get used up over time (even if you’re using a nutrient-rich substrate) and therefore must be regularly replenished. To maintain healthy growth, we recommend adding more root tabs about once a month to continually build the nutrient base in the ground, especially if you are using an inert substrate like aquarium gravel or sand that doesn’t contain any nutrients on its own. Also, remember that as plants grow bigger, they will require more root tabs. A baby Amazon sword that is newly p...
Are root tabs safe for fish, shrimp, and snails?Yes, our brand of root tabs is safe for all animals. The reason is because we use actual soil in our root tabs that is nontoxic if the nutrients get released into the water column. Some people try to save money by making their own DIY root tabs or using fertilizers meant for houseplants and vegetables, but those terrestrial products can cause dangerous ammonia spikes in the water that may kill your fish and invertebrates. For more information, read our full article on root tabs.
What are root tabs?Root tabs are dissolvable tablets or capsules that contain plant fertilizer. At Aquarium Co-Op, we recommend our Easy Root Tabs that are made with mineralized top soil and red clay containing essential plant nutrients, such as: Magnesium Nitrate Phosphate Potassium Manganese Zinc Molybdenum Iron For more information, read our full article on root tabs.
What are the nutrient amounts in each pump of Easy Green fertilizer?The guaranteed analysis of Easy Green all-in-one liquid fertilizer is as follows: Nutrients and Minerals Percentage Total Nitrogen (N) 2.66% Available Phosphate (P2O5) 0.46% Soluble Potash (K2O) 9.21% Magnesium (Mg) 0.7% Boron (B) 0.015% Iron (Fe) 0.13% Manganese (Mn) 0.036% Molybdenum (Mo) 0.00098% Zinc (Zn) 0.0072% The amount of measurable nutrients and minerals in each pump of Easy Green fertilizer are as follows: Nutrients and Minerals Parts Per Million (ppm...
Which aquarium plants need root tabs?Cryptocoryne plants (or crypts), sword plants, bulb plants, carpeting plants, and plants that produce runners all tend to feed from the substrate and will greatly benefit from root tabs. Stem plants like bacopa and moneywort can absorb fertilizer from the water or ground, but they seem to prefer the former. Plants that don’t need substrate to grow – such as mosses, floating plants, anubias, and java fern – typically do not use root tabs as much. For more information, read our full article on ...
My discount code doesn't workAquarium Co-Op no longer offers discount codes, even if you see them mentioned in past videos from us or other creators. Instead, we choose to always offer our best prices up front while still providing rapid USPS Priority shipping, quick customer service response time, and tons of free educational content in our YouTube videos, blog articles, and online forum.
Does Aquarium Co-Op have any discount codes?Aquarium Co-Op no longer offers discount codes, even if you see them mentioned in past videos from us or other creators. Instead, we choose to always offer our best prices up front while still providing rapid USPS Priority shipping, quick customer service response time, and tons of free educational content in our YouTube videos, blog articles, and online forum.
What are the little yellow balls or "eggs" on my aquarium plant's roots?Most live plants purchased online or from a local fish store come in a plastic pot stuffed with rock wool. Plant farms often place small, yellow fertilizer balls in the rock wool to help feed the plants' roots. Please remove the fertilizer balls before planting your plant so that they won’t cause a nutrient spike in your aquarium. For more information, read our Quick Guide: How to Plant Live Aquarium Plants.
How to use the Ziss brine shrimp hatcheryRead our full article here on with step-by-step instructions and images how to install the hatchery and what recipe we use to hatch the brine shrimp eggs. If you prefer to watch a video demonstration, here is our video tutorial, as well as an extra video on how to build a taller DIY stand from PVC.
What easy plants are best for beginners?We like to recommend slow-growing aquarium plants that require low light and little to no fertilizer. In fact, some plants like marimo moss balls, anubias, and java fern don't even need substrate. Read this article to learn about the top 10 easy aquarium plants for beginners.
How do I use root tabs to fertilize plants?Do you have cryptocoryne plants, sword plants, and other aquarium plants that feed heavily from their roots? Try feeding them root tabs in the substrate. Read this article for the full instructions.
What recipe do you use to hatch baby brine shrimp?We recommend the following recipe for hatching: Fill the hatchery with approximately 2 liters of water. (Use 1-2 drops of dechlorinator if your tap water has chloramine.) Add 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt if you have hard water or marine salt if you have soft water. Add up to 1 tablespoon of brine shrimp eggs. Heat the water to 74-82°F (23-28°C) either by heating the entire room, shining a small lamp with an incandescent or halogen bulb, or placing a small heater inside the water. Wait 24 h...
How do I get rid of snails in my fish tank?In general, snails are not harmful to aquarium fish or plants. As detritivores, they tend to consume leftover food or dying plant leaves, which helps to clean up your aquarium. However, some people do not like how quickly they reproduce, so here are some tips that may help. If the snails are already in your fish tank, you can control the population by decreasing the amount of food available to them. Snails will only breed if there is available food, so only feed as much as your fish can entir...
Why is my java fern slowly losing its leaves and dying?Java fern is a slow-growing plant, and if it's not getting enough nutrients, it can also take a long time to die. If your java is losing leaves, has brown or yellow leaves, has leaves with lots of pinholes, is growing lots of plantlets from its leaves, or has stopped growing new leaves – it could be suffering from a nutrient deficiency. The first step is to make sure the rhizome of the java fern is completely uncovered (e.g., the rhizome is not buried in substrate or suffocating under too...
