3,895 answers about fish & aquatics
A healthy aquarium is a balanced one — water chemistry, filtration, stocking and feeding all work together, and most fish problems start with the water. This page gathers the fish and aquatics library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic for freshwater and saltwater keepers alike. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
297 answers in Young Pets — page 7 of 13
In its first two months at home a young betta should eat two or three small meals a day, each no bigger than what it finishes in a couple of minutes — its stomach is roughly the size of its eye. Vary tiny pellets or crushed food with small frozen or live offerings so growth and colour get the protein they need. As the…
A young betta needs more protected rest than an adult: aim for a long, genuinely dark night with the tank light off and room disturbance low, because growth, colour development and immune strength are all built during rest. Adults thrive on the same steady day-night rhythm but tolerate shorter nights and household…
Separate young male bettas when sparring stops being play: watch for persistent chasing, nipped fins, one fish claiming the feeding zone, and males flaring with full intent rather than in passing. That moment usually arrives as fins lengthen and colour deepens, and from then on each male needs his own warm, covered…
Corydoras eggs are small, sticky spheres the female carries between her fins and presses onto glass, leaves and tank seams; you can raise them by gently rolling them off with a fingertip into a small hatching container of the parents' tank water. Keep the eggs gently aerated, remove any that turn white and fuzzy, and…
Once angelfish fry let go of their spawning surface and swim free, they need food immediately and in quantity: newly hatched brine shrimp offered several times a day is the food that grows them fastest and most evenly. Keep them in tall, clean water with gentle filtration, change water frequently as feeding ramps up,…
The reliable way to protect fish eggs is to put something between the eggs and the parents' mouths: let eggs fall through marbles or mesh out of reach, scatter them into dense plants or a spawning mop you can remove, or net the adults out the moment spawning ends. Which method fits depends on how your species spawns —…
Move fry to a grow-out tank when crowding, not the calendar, says so: growth rates splitting apart, water quality in the nursery needing ever-larger changes to hold, and youngsters big enough to eat standard crushed foods and hold their own at feeding time. Match the grow-out's water to the nursery's, move the fry in…
Serious bloodline records start with an identity for every breeding fish — a code, photographs and its origin — and a spawn log for each pairing recording the parents, the outcome, notable traits and any defects that appeared. Track generations deliberately so you know when a line needs fresh blood, and record where…
Condition a healthy adult group on rich live and frozen foods for a couple of weeks, then move a plump female and a bright male into a dim, soft-water spawning tank with fine plants or a spawning mop and a mesh or marble layer the eggs can fall through. Tetras typically scatter eggs at first light, and the adults…
Responsible breeders first separate weak fry and ask whether the problem is fixable — hunger, water quality or bullying — before deciding anything final. Fry that are healthy but small, surplus or simply not breeding quality can usually be rehomed to other keepers, a local club or a shop, honestly described. Culling…
Betta fry are helpless for their first days, hanging at the surface under their father's bubble nest before they can swim, and they need minute live foods such as infusoria and microworms once they feed. Keep the water warm, shallow and still, with a tight cover so the air above stays humid for their developing…
Baby yoyo loaches need a group of their own kind, caves to claim, soft sand to dig in, and sinking foods they can find by scent along the bottom. Their dark, maze-like markings sometimes seem to spell their name along the flank, and they rest in comical positions, even on their sides, which is normal for a relaxed…
Baby white cloud mountain minnows are cool-water fish that usually need no heater, thriving instead in gently flowing, well-oxygenated water with dense plants. Feed tiny foods little and often, because their mouths are small and their appetites steady. Males grow slimmer and flash red-and-gold fins at each other,…
Baby tiger barbs thrive in a large, busy school of their own kind, which absorbs the chasing and nipping this species is famous for. Feed a varied omnivorous diet in small meals, keep long swimming room open, and never house youngsters with slow, long-finned fish whose fins they will shred. Within a big group their…
Baby serpae tetras do best in a group large enough to keep their nipping among themselves, fed a varied omnivorous diet in small meals. In a small trio their reputation for chasing and fin-nipping appears quickly, while a proper group spends its energy on its own sparring hierarchy. Their deep red colour deepens on…
Baby scissortail rasboras need a long tank with a tight-fitting lid, a school of their own kind, and small foods offered in the upper water where they feed. Their forked tails flick open and closed like scissors as they swim, a motion that only shows properly when the school cruises unhurried in open water. They are…
Baby rummy nose tetras need soft, stable water, a good-sized school, and tiny foods matched to their small mouths, fed little and often. Their famous red noses are a built-in water gauge: bright crimson means conditions suit them, while pale, washed-out noses warn that something has drifted. Keep lighting subdued with…
Baby rosy barbs need a proper school, swimming room, and a varied diet mixing quality flake or micro-pellets with vegetable matter and small live foods. Young males deepen toward their rosy-gold flush as they mature, while females stay rounder and paler, so colour is a rough guide rather than a promise at this size.…
Baby peppered corydoras are among the hardiest young catfish you can raise, provided they have a shoal of their own kind, soft sand to sift, and sinking food that reaches them. Their mottled bronze-green bodies camouflage well, so count them at feeding time when they cluster over a food patch. They tolerate cooler…
Baby peacock cichlids need hard, alkaline water, plenty of rock caves, and moderate feeding that protects their digestion while young males slowly colour up. Females and juveniles stay silver-brown at first, so do not judge a youngster's quality by early drabness. Give each fish bolt-holes in the rockwork and watch…
Baby panda corydoras thrive when they are kept as a proper shoal on soft sand, fed tiny sinking foods they can reach at the bottom, and left in calm water with plenty of cover. Their cream bodies and dark eye and tail patches hide easily among plants, so check numbers at feeding time when the whole group gathers. Keep…
Baby oscars are hardy but grow at a startling pace, so care means feeding several small, protein-rich meals a day while protecting water quality against the waste those meals create. Offer finely crushed quality pellets and small soft foods only in amounts eaten within a couple of minutes, and remove leftovers…
Baby odessa barbs hatch from eggs scattered through moss and fine plants, and the fry are moderately sized and straightforward: save the eggs from the adults, feed infusoria briefly, then baby brine shrimp and crushed foods, in clean water with gentle flow. The youngsters grow into one of the most colourful barbs,…
Baby nerite snails cannot develop in a freshwater home tank: the females lay tough white egg capsules, but the larvae that hatch are planktonic and need brackish to salt water to grow, so the capsules in a freshwater aquarium simply never produce snails. Home care therefore means keeping adult nerites well fed on…
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