It should go without saying that the hermatypic, stony, reef-building corals will dominate most reef aquaria. Thankfully, so long as (1) key water parameters are monitored, (2) the appropriate light conditions are provided and (3) nutritious planktonic foods are present, these beautiful plant-animal symbiotic combos easily flourish even in the care of novice hobbyists. Especially …
Corals
Enhancing Coral Nutrition with Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria
Most people who are familiar with corals–whether admiring them in the wild or displaying them in a glass box–understand quite well that corals are incredibly complex animals. This certainly so with the zooxanthellate corals. Virtually all corals (zooxanthellate corals included) are predators of plankton and other tiny organisms. But the zooxanthellate types undoubtedly are the …
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A Quick Guide to LPS and SPS
There comes a time in this hobby when many aquarists grow bored of their beginner corals and they become interested in small and large polyp stony corals (SPS and LPS, respectively). For those of you who have been maintaining a “softie” reef (which includes coral such as zoanthids, mushrooms, leathers, and star polyps), you may …
Keeping and Feeding the Sun Corals
Reef aquarium keepers are always looking for that one oddball “piece” of coral that will really make their aquarium display shine. Sometimes this is just something a little different in terms of ecology or behavior. Other times it is something that is atypical in terms of shape or placement. Quite often it is something that …
Carnation Corals in the Home Aquarium: A New Hope of Success?
Advancements in the reef aquarium hobby have been developing at a dizzying pace. As our understanding of coral reef biota (and how to care for them in captivity) grows, many more tools are becoming available to those who wish to keep increasingly specialized aquarium systems. As of late, there has been a particularly strong interest …
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Aquariums: The New Medicine
You enter the waiting room of your doctor’s office and you know she’s not going to be happy about your blood pressure or weight gain. Your palms start to sweat as you try to think of excuses for your lack of exercise and bad eating habits. As your pulse quickens, you look over to the …
The Mighty Copepod
When thinking about crustaceans many creatures come to mind like shrimp or lobster. And while your mind may be wandering toward an all you can eat buffet, there is another type of crustacean that isn’t so tasty to humans, but boy do the fish love them. I speak of the mighty (and tiny) copepod. Copepod …
Sustainable Aquariums
What are Sustainable Aquariums? An aquarium is a cornerstone of many homes and apartments, but how often have you come home to find your fish floating belly up? Whether the kids forgot to feed them or neglected to change the water filter, the bottom line is it’s time to go out and get a few …