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December 1, 2025 Fish & Livestock Plants & CO2

Why I Stopped Believing the “Plants Will Hurt Your Betta” Myth

The betta community has this bizarre obsession with keeping these fish in what basically amounts to underwater prison cells. You know what I’m talking about – those depressing setups with…

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November 28, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance

My Four-Year Journey Fighting Every Type of Aquarium Algae (And What I Learned)

So there I was last Tuesday night, kids finally in bed, doing my weekly tank maintenance when I spotted this weird fuzzy stuff growing on my driftwood. After four years…

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November 27, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock

Why I Actually Recommend Tetra Whisper Filters After Testing Dozens of “Quiet” Models

My neighbor Janet knocked on my door around 11 PM last Tuesday, looking completely frazzled. “I can hear your fish tanks through the wall,” she said, which honestly confused me…

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November 26, 2025 Fish & Livestock

Why That “Angelfish” at the Pet Store Isn’t Just an Angelfish – A Retired Nurse’s Take on Fish Varieties

I was at my local aquarium store last week picking up some plant fertilizer when I overheard this conversation that made me cringe a little. A customer was pointing at…

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November 25, 2025 Tank Setups

My Complete Tank Setup Process After Years of Expensive Mistakes

The first time I walked into an aquarium store with my then three-year-old daughter, I was completely unprepared for how overwhelming it would be. The smell hit us first –…

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November 24, 2025 Plants & CO2

How I Learned to Stop Killing Plants and Love Aquarium Glue (The Hard Way)

You know what they say about learning the hard way? Well, I’m apparently a slow learner because I’ve made just about every possible mistake with aquarium glue over my five…

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November 21, 2025 Fish & Livestock Tank Setups

Why I Almost Gave Up on Discus Fish (And What Finally Worked)

Okay, so you know how some fish just make you feel like you’re not good enough at this whole aquarium thing? That’s exactly what happened the first time I saw…

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November 20, 2025 Aquascaping Design Tank Setups

Building My First Saltwater Sump System – What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting

Last Saturday I was helping my buddy Dave set up a sump in his basement, and honestly, it looked like a Home Depot plumbing aisle had exploded all over his…

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November 19, 2025 Aquascaping Design Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock Plants & CO2 Tank Setups

The Day My Car Became an Aquatic Disaster Zone (And How I Fixed It)

My buddy Steve texted me at like 11 PM last Thursday – “Marcus, my car smells like death. Help.” Turns out he’d been helping out this local fish store, transporting…

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November 18, 2025 Tank Setups

Why I Stopped Adding Salt to My Freshwater Tanks (And You Should Too)

I was at the Petco near campus last week grabbing some fish food when I witnessed something that made my eye twitch. This employee was confidently telling some poor customer…

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November 17, 2025 Fish & Livestock

Why I Finally Stopped Calling Mollies “Beginner Fish” (They’re Way More Interesting Than That)

You know what really bugs me? When someone dismisses mollies as “just beginner fish.” I used to do it myself, honestly. Had this whole mental hierarchy where mollies were training…

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November 14, 2025 Fish & Livestock

Why I Finally Found a Doctor Who Actually Gets It (PeaceHealth Fisher’s Landing Review)

Walking into PeaceHealth Fisher’s Landing Primary Care Clinic last Tuesday, I couldn’t shake this weird feeling – like maybe, just maybe, this healthcare visit wouldn’t completely suck. I’d been putting…

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November 13, 2025 Fish & Livestock

The Fish That Actually Won’t Die on You (Learned This the Hard Way)

I was at my local fish store last month when I witnessed what might be the most painful conversation in aquarium retail history. This mom and her daughter, maybe seven…

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November 12, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock

Why I Lost Six Fish to Temperature Shock (And How You Can Avoid My Mistakes)

I was checking my tank thermometer this morning – you know, that obsessive ritual all fishkeepers develop – watching it bounce between 76.2 and 76.8 degrees, when my daughter asked…

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November 11, 2025 Aquascaping Design Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock Plants & CO2 Tank Setups

My Eight-Year Journey with African Water Ferns (And Why I Almost Gave Up)

Looking back at my aquascaping notes from 2016, I can see where I wrote “Bolbitis = DISASTER” in red pen with about five underlines. Yeah, that was after my first…

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November 10, 2025 Fish & Livestock Plants & CO2

Why My Angelfish Destroyed Half My Plants (And Which Ones Actually Survived)

So I thought I was pretty hot stuff at planted tanks, you know? Had a couple successful nano setups running, plants were thriving, fish were happy – I was basically…

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November 7, 2025 Aquascaping Design Tank Setups

Building My First Outdoor Pond – What I Learned Moving Aquascaping Outside

Three weeks ago my neighbor Sarah basically ambushed me at my front door with what she described as “either brilliant or completely insane.” She’d been staring at her depressingly bland…

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November 6, 2025 Fish & Livestock

Why Black Moor Goldfish Nearly Made Me Quit Fishkeeping (And What I Learned)

Standing in the aquarium section at Petco last weekend – you know, the one where half the fish look stressed and the water’s always slightly cloudy – I watched this…

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November 5, 2025 Fish & Livestock

The Shrimp I Almost Killed Teaching Me Which Species Actually Work for Beginners

Man, I never thought I’d be the guy with forty cherry shrimp living in a tank on my kitchen counter, but here we are. Started with aquascaping, got obsessed with…

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November 4, 2025 Plants & CO2

The Day I Realized I Was Basically Torturing My Plants (And How I Fixed It)

So there I was last Tuesday night, both kids finally asleep, doing my weekly tank maintenance ritual with a podcast playing in the background, when it hit me like a…

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November 3, 2025 Fish & Livestock

Why I Finally Stopped Cramming Fishing Rods in My Car (And You Should Too)

My roommate texted me yesterday asking if he could borrow my car to go fishing with some friends from his engineering classes. “Sure,” I said, “but you’re gonna hate trying…

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September 3, 2025 Fish & Livestock

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Keeping Bettas (Before I Killed My First Three)

I’m going to be brutally honest here – I killed three bettas in my first year of fishkeeping, and it haunts me to this day. This was back when I…

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June 19, 2025 Aquascaping Design

How I Accidentally Got Obsessed with Creating Tiny Underwater Forests

Walking past this art gallery downtown last month – you know the one near that overpriced coffee place I always complain about but keep going to anyway – I literally…

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June 16, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance

Why I Always Go Overboard on Aquarium Filters (And You Should Too)

Look, I’m gonna start with something that happened just last month because it perfectly explains why I’m basically obsessed with oversized filtration now. My friend Sarah texted me at like…

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May 30, 2025 Fish & Livestock

The Fish Tank Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To

Yesterday at the pet store I watched this dad with his little girl, maybe seven years old, picking out fish for what was obviously their first tank. She had her…

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May 19, 2025 Fish & Livestock

My 15-Year Journey From Fish Killer to Aquarium Whisperer (The Real Talk on Tank Care)

Look, I’m gonna be brutally honest here – I used to be absolutely terrible at keeping fish alive. Like, embarrassingly bad. I’m talking fish-floating-belly-up-within-48-hours bad. My first tank was basically…

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May 16, 2025 Fish & Livestock

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Fish Care Before I Killed My First Tank

I was digging through my old aquarium supplies last week – you know how it is, looking for that one piece of equipment you swear you put somewhere safe –…

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May 9, 2025 Fish & Livestock

That Time I Had to Save My Friend’s Car from Smelling Like a Dead Fish Market

So my friend Marcus texts me at like 7 AM last week – and you know when someone texts you that early, it’s either really good news or really bad…

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May 8, 2025 Fish & Livestock Tank Setups

My Three-Year Journey with Freshwater Puffer Fish – What No One Tells You About These Tiny Terrors

You know that moment when you see something at the pet store and think “there’s no way that’s actually what they say it is”? That’s exactly what happened when I…

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April 24, 2025 Aquascaping Design Plants & CO2

Why My Plants Keep Teaching Me I’m Not As Smart As I Think I Am

So there I was yesterday morning, standing in front of my main tank with my daughter’s sippy cup full of coffee (don’t ask, it’s been one of those weeks), watching…

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April 23, 2025 Aquascaping Design

Why I’m Obsessed with Etsy’s Hidden Aquascaping Goldmine (And You Should Be Too)

So there I was at 2 AM three weeks ago, scrolling through Etsy like some kind of aquarium-obsessed insomniac, desperately hunting for Malaysian driftwood. You know that feeling when you’ve…

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April 17, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock

Why I Lost My First Angelfish (And How Temperature Almost Killed My Tanks)

Last winter, I had what I thought was a perfect 40-gallon setup running in my apartment. Water parameters were dialed in, plants were growing like crazy, my little school of…

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April 14, 2025 Plants & CO2

Why Java Moss Became My Go-To Plant After I Nearly Killed My First Batch

You know how some people have a gift for killing houseplants? Well, I managed to kill Java moss. Java moss. The plant that supposedly thrives on neglect and can survive…

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April 13, 2025 Fish & Livestock

I Stressed Out Over Moving My Friend’s $200 Fish (Here’s What Actually Works)

So there I was last month, standing in Marcus’s driveway holding three bags of his most prized saltwater fish, having absolutely no clue how I was going to get them…

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April 12, 2025 Fish & Livestock

When My Friend Sarah Hooked Her Fiddle Leaf Fig to Her Fish Tank (And Changed Everything)

So I’m at my friend Sarah’s place last month, trying to wrangle my two-year-old who’s determined to touch every single thing in her living room, when I notice something’s different.…

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March 20, 2025 Equipment & Maintenance

Why I Finally Stopped Being Snobby About Hang-On-Back Filters (And You Should Too)

I was up to my elbows in tank water last week, wrestling with my canister filter for the third time this month, when it hit me how ridiculous I’d been.…

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March 11, 2025 Aquascaping Design

Why Most Aquascapes Look Fake (And How I Learned to Build Real Underwater Worlds)

I was at the local Petco last week when this guy walks up to their display tank – you know, the one decent-looking setup they have among all the sad…

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February 6, 2025 Aquascaping Design Equipment & Maintenance Fish & Livestock Plants & CO2 Tank Setups

Why That “Complete” Aquarium Kit Almost Killed My Confidence (And How I Actually Set Up Tanks Now)

So last week my neighbor Sarah showed up at my door looking like she was about to cry, clutching this crumpled Petco receipt. She’d just watched her brand new tank…

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January 24, 2025 Plants & CO2

The Aquarium Plants That Actually Won’t Die on You (Trust Me, I’ve Tested This)

So I’m at my local fish store last week picking up some filter media, and I hear this employee telling some kid that “all aquarium plants are basically the same,…

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January 8, 2025 Fish & Livestock Tank Setups

Why I Fell Into the Expensive Rabbit Hole of Keeping Freshwater Stingrays

You know how sometimes you make a decision that completely changes your hobby trajectory? Like, one minute you’re a normal aquarium keeper and the next you’re explaining to your wife…

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December 15, 2024 Plants & CO2

I’ve Tested 30+ Tanks for Planted Setups – Here’s What Actually Matters (Spoiler: It’s Not What Stores Tell You)

You know what happened to me at Neptune Aquatics last week? I’m standing there minding my own business, looking at their display tanks, when this guy walks up to one…

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