Hot Topics

What is that oily, milky film on my tank surface? Is it bad? What can I do to reduce, avoid and/or remove it? Surface Scum- let's find out more.

Floating plants such as Salvinia minima / Water Spangles are popular and can be beautiful (and useful) to have in a planted tank. So why do we need to be so careful with them?

What is an ideal temperature for freshwater planted tanks? Does it really matter if mine is hotter or cooler? Does temperature influence algae? How does temperature affect aquatic plants?

While it takes some practice to ‘read' submerged plants, the common red root floater (Phyllanthus fluitans) above turns out to be a surprisingly easy-to-use indicator.

Struggling with Java Fern or Anubias? These hardy plants have certain vulnerabilities. We explore them in this post.

3 Hacks to Starting a New Tank....the 2Hr Way

Sudden widespread algae infestation can take place when changes in environmental parameters induce adaptation stress that weaken plants which become vulnerable to algae.

Matthew Manes (MM) is an award winning aquascaper (World #1 IAPLC) and 2Hr Aquarist brand ambassador. Here we share some notes from our recent conversation.

Hair / fuzz / thread algae on plants in a new tank? Avoid the common mistakes in tackling them.

The amount of light plays an important role in plant health, colour and algae control. Here we share how we tune light- The 2Hr Way.

During the transition, healthy plants in perfect parameters can easily look terrible for 2 to 3 weeks - with algae, deteriorating leaves and lackluster colors. But this is a natural, temporary phase of adaptation.

Aquarium Tallman is a unique planted aquarium shop in Osaka city, Japan. What makes Tallman unique is that it uses fully aquascaped planted tanks as holding tanks for their fishes.