We recommend floating the bag your animal came home in inside the tank for 30 minutes to equalize the temperature. Most of the time, that’s all you need. If you have a sensitive animal or you want to be extra careful, you can open the bag and add some water from the tank a little at a time to acclimate them to the chemistry of your tank too. Shutting the lights off for the first day can help as well.

Not as much as you think, and probably less than the instructions on the fish food. A fish’s stomach is often about the same size as their own eye, and their metabolism isn’t nearly as high as a warm-blooded animal that has to heat their own body. A pinch every day or two should be enough. Never feed more than once a day.

In freshwater, the rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon of water… assuming all other requirements are met, of course. A 6-inch-long fish won’t do too well in a 6-gallon tank! In saltwater, one small-to-medium sized fish per 10 gallons is the rule. There are some exceptions: goldfish are notoriously messy, while invertebrates like shrimp and snails produce much less waste than their spine-sporting tankmates.

That depends on what type of fish you want to keep! Paradise fish and Medakas can handle room-temperature tanks all year long, and some fish can even spend the winter outside. Most of the animals we sell will need a heater, but if you would prefer not to run one, we can help you find an animal that will work for you.

Theoretically, no, but if it’s your first time keeping an aquarium, you will probably want one. Filterless tanks are the hardest to keep clean and healthy, and are rarely worth the risk involved. Luckily there are a huge variety of filters of all different sizes, price points, and noise levels, so we can help figure out what works best for you.

If your tap water has chlorine in it, yes. Water conditioner (sometimes called dechlorinator) neutralizes the chlorine that keeps bacteria and algae out of our drinking water, but can also kill filter bacteria and cause chemical burns in fish. If you’re not sure whether or not there’s chlorine in your water we can check it, but it doesn’t hurt to use a water conditioner anyway.

The only place worse than a bowl for a Goldfish is the floor. They can get up to 9 inches long in an aquarium (and even bigger if they get loose) and produce an abnormally high amount of waste for an animal their size. While Bettas can handle tight spaces a bit better, they’re very prone to fin rot and small tanks with low filtration are notoriously difficult to keep clean.

Nope! “Tropical” refers to the regions just north and south of the equator. These parts of the world are typically warm all year long, so animals that originate from there will need their tanks kept warm with a heater, regardless of if they come from fresh– or saltwater.

Regular water changes (removing some of the water and replacing it with clean, dechlorinated water) are the most important part of tank maintenance. We recommend changing ¼–⅓ of the water every week or two, especially for new fishkeepers. There are a variety of tools you can use to clean algae as it develops, as well as animals who will clean it for you. NEVER use soap to clean anything in an aquarium.