You can try looking up beginner aquarium guides online or just learn it by experimenting with the simulator.
While there’s no dedicated tutorial, every parameter in the simulation is extensively described.
Enjoy the journey of learning and creating your own perfect aquarium!

I broke mine :( Think I had too big a fish in too small a tank

Learn about the nitrogen circle in aquariums. Thats the most important thing.

It really is sad to see that there is no manual, no tutorial, no guide whatsoever. "Learn how to aquarium" - that was kind of the point in buying this game. A simulator is great, but no manual is really a downside.

That is akin to developing a flight simulator and telling us "well you need to know how to fly a fighter jet" ...

It's a huge minus for the otherwise excellent game.

You're absolutely right—there's no tutorial at this point. This is mainly because:
a) Our initial target audience was experienced aquarists.
b) A proper tutorial would likely be more complex than the simulation itself—there are entire books dedicated to this topic.

That said, the game does provide a lot of information. Each water parameter includes a description explaining its role, related parameters, and how they interact. With some basic knowledge—possibly gained by reading up on aquarium fundamentals while playing—players can learn a lot and successfully manage their tanks. (Of course, just like in a flight simulator, mastering the simulation mode doesn't mean you'd be ready to do it in real life.)

We understand this is a gap, though, and we do need to address it in some way.

Nah but it's a starting point. And short of dropping $$ on aquariums and fish, I can't think of a better way to learn.

This is like the practical class. I'll find the theory classes on youtube or something and we should be sweet

Originally posted by BitBros Games:

You're absolutely right—there's no tutorial at this point. This is mainly because:
a) Our initial target audience was experienced aquarists.
b) A proper tutorial would likely be more complex than the simulation itself—there are entire books dedicated to this topic.

That said, the game does provide a lot of information. Each water parameter includes a description explaining its role, related parameters, and how they interact. With some basic knowledge—possibly gained by reading up on aquarium fundamentals while playing—players can learn a lot and successfully manage their tanks. (Of course, just like in a flight simulator, mastering the simulation mode doesn't mean you'd be ready to do it in real life.)

We understand this is a gap, though, and we do need to address it in some way.

Thank you for the kind reply. Trust me, I know what a PITA it is to setup good tutorials and/or manuals (we indeed simulate fighter jets lol). But ultimately, it is very hard to get into the simulation mode. My main issue here is: atm I am more of a gamer, than an aquarium enthusiast, my last tank I had as a kid, and it will be a while, before I can have one again, aka, not planning on it. But the game is addictive, aqua scaping is so much fun. Yet, this is why I am reluctant to open a can of worms to feed the hungry fish, because in the end the game is still more finite than reality (much like any sim has to be), and thus any knowledge beyond the one required for the game feels a bit like a waste of time (for now). This is a pure gamers (simmer at heart) standpoint ofc. Would I seriously consider getting back into fish keeping, both would go hand in hand naturally.

Hence, for us mere gamers out there, a few suggestions for the future (with my apologies, as I am sure you are tired of suggestions by now):

1. Example Tanks for Simulation. An easy tank for forgiving species, A saltwater tank, An old world ciclid tank. A new world cichlid tank (looking at you, discus!) etc

2. The info is there, that is right, but it does not really connect at times, especially lacking the knowledge about chemistry. IRL I maintain my pool, so it isnt completely new to me, but there are a ton more parameters, and "the how one thing reacts with the other" info is overwhelming for starters. What would really help is a hint/tooltip system that can be turned on and off.

3. A short tutorial "mission" to set up a simple freshwater and a simple salt walter tank.

4. More info on the livestock and plants. I frequently get "not enough co2 consuming plants" with an aquarium full of everything. So like basic "ability cards" for the plants and fish. It already has something like that, but mostly you get warnings when you are in the red with something, it would be great if it read PH range, minimum school size, max number, and origin. I finally figured out which cichlids are tanganyika, which malawi, etc, - this ofc helps, to not mix wildly, which one is tempted at the beginning to do, but even in designer mode, I prefer to make biotopes and nox mix species that do not live together irl, etc. I would assume this also makes things easier with water quality, etc. Same for plants, consumption, production - it's in the end a bit like a management game, and the plants are our factories, haha.

5. Realism customization, aka ability to set how strict paramters must be met and ability to ignore some, say like PH, or KH, etc.

6. Ability to copy a tank from designer mode into simulation mode. Like this we can build without hassle and then freely experiment, etc.

7. Ability to share and subscribe to sim tanks on steam workshop.

Anyway, I have taken already too much of your time. All that said, I really enjoy aqua scaping and already I am learning more about fish keeping than a non fish keeping person should, haha. For now I will stick to designer mode, so much fun to build nice scapes. For a beginner I am quite happy. Check out my workshop if you like: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/profiles/76561197993087752/myworkshopfiles/?appid=1611580

Thanks a ton for this little gem - I hope it thrives long and we will see more species, more plants (!!) and many more scapes.

PS: A subreddit would be great, so we can show off our stuff haha!