They are found in freshwater, saltwater, and on land; they are called snails! Hobbyists have found saltwater snails to be one of the
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Beginners Education
Arguably, there are few “pastimes” as challenging and all-consuming as marine (and especially reef) aquarium keeping. Longtime hobbyists might forget the relative ease with which they likely got “into” reef aquaria--very possibly with a lot of freshwater aquarium keeping experience behind them. While it is true that the foods, equipment and methodologies of today are greatly improved from those of yesteryear, there is now so much more to learn from the get-go. Definitely a lot of choices to make! With the massive amounts of (often contradictory) information out there, beginner reef aquarists might feel more intimidated now than ever before.
That’s totally cool. You’ll get “there” soon enough. The most important thing is to move forward step-by-step, and to have fun along the way. The whole point of spending all that money and time on this (or any) hobby is to relax and maybe learn something, right? The vast majority of saltwater aquarists who throw the term “newbie” around don’t really mean it as a pejorative; if anything, they recall that period with nostalgia (and maybe even a bit of envy), for it is the fleeting beginner stage where aquarium keeping is especially exciting and the animals so incredibly fascinating.
No one here would suggest that a beginning aquarist should avoid challenges, but we certainly would advise one against making some of those beginner mistakes. In reef aquarium keeping, there is no bigger virtue than patience!
In this section, you will learn how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls for novice aquarists as well as how to build the foundation of knowledge you’ll need to master the art.
189 Posts
Power Outage Preparedness
Some aspects of this hobby are often overlooked until problems actually arise. Marine aquariums require a lot of time and dedication,
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Macroalgae for Beginners
Macroalgae is a large type of algae that is mostly beneficial and is used mainly to fight nutrient levels and microalgae growth. It is
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Quarantine and Dip Treatment Method
Anyone can agree that having a tank wiped out by disease is a terrible experience and having to treat a reef system for ich or marine
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Common Saltwater Fish Diseases
Across all organisms on Earth, disease is a large factor in preventing the successful survival of creatures. Fish in the saltwater
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Aquarium Water Testing for Beginners
An idea that I have heard often within the reef community is that you are not caring for corals or fish, but rather you are caring for
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Nitrate Management in Your Saltwater Aquarium
When setting up new aquariums, most people worry about and focus on ammonia and nitrate management. Everyone knows that cycling a tank
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Eliminating Detritus in the Refugium
Ever feel like no matter how much time you spend cleaning your tank, it can never really ever get clean? Detritus build-ups can be
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Manipulating Nutrient Levels to Control Algal Growth
Ahhhh… A freshly set up and (just now) fully cycled marine aquarium. Nutrient Free, No algae. No slime. Clean, shiny,
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A Sump AND a Refugium?
Our aquarium systems grow over time. It’s almost inevitable. It’s well-nigh organic. And we surely all hope that as they grow, they get
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A Clean Start: The Benefits of Using Dry Base Rock
Considering that it serves as both aquascape material and biofilter medium, it’s safe to say that live rock is pretty important. We
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The Anti-Aiptasia Trifecta: Decimating Glass Anemones with Peppermint Shrimp, Molly Millers and Aiptasia-Eating Filefish
A lot of us are pretty careful to avoid introducing pests like aiptasia when building and adding to a reef aquarium or refugium. This
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Cultivating Ogo and Sea Lettuce for Your Tangs
These days, it seems that most marine aquarists are reef aquarists. And reef aquaria almost always house one or more tangs. This should
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Phytoplankton
The first link in a food chain is always a primary producer, like phytoplankton (i.e. algae, plants, various types of bacteria). This
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Phytoplankton, Macroalgae, or BOTH?
As marine aquarists, we might think of algae as being divided into three (maybe four) distinct categories: the benthic (i.e.
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Feeding the Mandarinfish with a Mix of Live and Prepared Foods
For so many aquarists, the green mandarin fish (Synchiropus splendidus) is a must-have species. Its endearing personality, exquisite
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Copepods
Imagine for a second how food energy from grass, a primary producer, is transferred to a bluebird. The bluebirds don’t eat grass.
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Brine Shrimp: Live Food Fast
Prepared foods have their merits. Aside from the obvious (their convenience), they are consistent in quality, easily available and
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Sea Lettuce (Ulva lactuca): The Most Underappreciated Macroalgae?
The use of macroalgae in marine aquaria has steadily increased over the years. Ever since they have become more widespread in the
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A Beginners Guide to Mysis Shrimp
Just like any other pet or animal you care for, it is important to be sure that the inhabitants of your saltwater aquarium are getting
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