As far as visual resources go, YouTube is the first port of call for many people who are fishing for general information or answers to specific questions. It’s no different for fish owners. Whether you’re a seasoned fishkeeper or have just dipped your toes in, YouTube could make for a fish owner’s most valuable resource – if you know where to look. That’s where this article comes in.
Let’s dive into the world of fish-related YouTube channels and see which four YouTubers deserve that all-powerful thumbs up.
1. Cory McElroy from Aquarium Co-Op
Whether you’re a newbie or an experienced fishkeeper, Aquarium Co-Op has a video for everyone. This channel is run by the affable Cory McElroy, who was on the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society’s Board of Directors, and his small team of fish enthusiast employees who often make appearances in the videos.
Wondering how to balance your freshwater aquarium? Or keen to find out what a nitrogen cycle is and how to perfect your tank’s own? Whatever the question, chances are that Cory has the answer. From educational in-depth tank setup guides to entertaining Top 10 style videos, it’s easy to immerse yourself in the content on offer from Aquarium Co-Op.
What makes Aquarium Co-Op a fantastic YouTube channel to follow are the Live Q&A streams that occur most Wednesdays and Sundays. In these live streams, Cory uses his decades’ worth of knowledge to provide expert answers to the questions his subscribers ask in real-time, a feature that makes him and his channel stand out from the rest.
2. Tanner Serpa from SerpaDesign
Next up is SerpaDesign, a YouTube channel that is all about complex builds, interesting aquatic creatures, and all-around education and entertainment. The brain behind SerpaDesign is a fastidious man named Tanner Serpa, who is a nature-loving, Fine Arts degree-holding, DIY enthusiast who combines his passion for art and aquatics to create educational and inspiring videos.
Due to the scale and scope of most of Tanner’s aquarium builds, his content might be geared more toward experienced fish keepers, but it provides an ocean of inspiration for ambitious beginners to swim in. The content you’ll find on SerpaDesign is not exclusively focused on fish, with separate playlists dedicated to terrariums, vivariums, paludariums, ripariums, and aquascapes, but Tanner’s skill and dedication to his craft make for easy watching no matter which scaled creature he’s building a home for.
SerpaDesign’s calling card is that Tanner regularly posts follow up videos on his existing builds and the creatures they contain. This means that his followers can witness how certain builds fare over time or gauge the longevity of specific equipment. On the more emotional side, it’s also nice to see how Tanner’s beloved pets are doing months – or sometimes even years – down the line.
3. KG Tropicals
Now let’s move on to KG Tropicals, an upbeat educational YouTube channel headed up by husband and wife duo John and Lisa Hudson. Their channel started as a space to document their African Cichlid breeding journey in 2012 and has evolved to cover everything and anything relating to fish care from a no-nonsense, common sense point of view that their fans enjoy.
KG Tropicals is all about education, and this is reflected in the type of videos uploaded by John and Lisa, ranging from tips on breeding Angelfish to healing sick and injured Goldfish – and many topics in between. John and Lisa’s focus is on finding the easiest, cheapest, and quickest way to create the aquarium your marine pets deserve.
What makes KG Tropicals so unique is their over-the-top, loud, classic vlog YouTuber approach to topics that risk veering on the boring side. If you follow KG Tropicals you can expect to learn (and often laugh) while watching videos with phrases like “Don’t be this guy,” “Learn from My Mistakes,” and “Stop Wasting Money on These Products!” in the titles.
4. Unidentified Pair of Hands from Foo the Flowerhorn
Last but not least is Foo the Flowerhorn, a channel that is suitable for beginners, pros, and – quite frankly – people who just enjoy fish gazing. Nobody knows who runs this faceless channel as they’ve chosen to remain anonymous, showing only their skilled hands at work.
As you may have guessed by its name, this channel was dedicated to the care of Flowerhorn fish when it first began, but since the death of its namesake, the channel has expanded to cover the care of snails, shrimp, Betta fish, Oscars, and other carnivorous cichlids.
While some videos feature step-by-step instructions on how to set up no-filter tanks, and others feature emotive updates about how a specific fish, snail, or plant is doing, all are informative and set to a background of soothing classical music. A word of advice is to avoid watching Foo the Flowerhorn whilst feeling drowsy, as the gentle music and mesmerizing visuals create a sense of calm that has been known to put people to sleep!
