We’ve come a long, long way in advancing natural marine aquarium keeping. Those of us who started out in the 80’s with barren “aquascapes” dead coral skeletons and crushed coral bottoms might look back with amazement at how so much has changed so fast. Just recall how many developments have taken place over the last …
Corals in a Box of Water: Creating a Natural Reef Tank Read More »
Aquarium lighting has come a long way. There are now many, many different types to choose from. For sure, different lighting systems have different capabilities. The one that is best for you all depends on what you plan on keeping in your tank. If you don’t plan on keeping any photosynthetic organisms (corals, tridacnid clams, …
No one said that reef aquarium keeping is a cheap addiction (hey, at least it’s a healthy one!). The hobby is rife with stories of reefkeepers playing shell games to keep their spouses unaware of their aquarium expenditures… of reefkeepers eating raman so their fish can eat fresh seafood… of reefkeepers taking up a second …
Reef Now: Financing Your New CADE Aquarium System Read More »
When someone new to the hobby comes in to my shop asking about setting up their first tank, one of the first questions I receive is, “What size do I need?”. This is a very loaded question that considers weighing many variables. My response is always “As big as you can go”. This is because …
Diary of a Shopkeeper – Tank Buying Tips from a Pro Read More »
Starting a new aquarium requires hobbyists to make a lot of choices. What kind of corals, if any will be kept in the aquarium? Where is the aquarium going to go? What size will it be? How much will be spent on equipment? Will the aquarium be glass or acrylic? All of these questions could …
Aquariums come in many different shapes and sizes. It really depends on your situation to determine which size is best for you. You have to consider things like where you will put the tank, what fish you want to keep, and your skill level. In this article, I will explain why you may want to …
We’re all subject to impatience. Particularly when we’re anticipating a highly gratifying event, such as adding the first round of corals to a newly set up reef aquarium. Thankfully, using dry rock, it only takes a few extra days to help ensure a clean and pest-free system from the start. There’s even an added bonus: …
There are all sorts of bad algae–hair, slime, turf–and they are widely recognized by aquarists as a manifest sign of poor water quality. On the other hand, a healthy growth of calcareous algae is regarded as desirable. Calcareous forms are slow-growing yet they compete for space with (and thereby suppress) all the ugly bad forms. …
We aquarists don’t talk much about sand. Quite frankly, it’s just not all that exciting–on the surface, anyway. But we don’t have to dig very deep to find that aquarium sand (or rather the stuff that lives within it) is not only quite interesting, but it also carries considerable importance for the health of our …
In case you haven’t heard, lighting is a pretty important feature of a reef aquarium. This is understandable considering that the main feature of reef aquaria, zooxanthellate corals, require rather intense light to survive. So, just as so many aquarists endeavor to imitate nature in general, they specifically attempt to replicate natural sunlight with their …
You may find that your reef tank is just like every other reef tank. There is nothing that makes it special. Sure, it has bright corals, healthy fish, and overall looks great, but it is still just another reef tank. There is nothing wrong with that, although you may want to step it up a …
