Intermediate Education

So here you are. You’ve spent countless hours studying, dropped some pretty serious cash, tried a lot of the animals on your dream species list--maybe suffered some devastating and demoralizing mistakes. But where many other half-hearted hobbyists are hawking tanks on Craigslist and saying goodbye, you’re ready to move on. Sure, maybe you still exhaust the folks on your favorite online forum, or the lady at the LFS, with your burning questions. Maybe you don’t feel like an expert quite yet. But you do have some valuable experience under your belt and a healthy, stable tank to show for it. Congratulate yourself, as you’ve advanced to the rank of “intermediate aquarist.” You started out with the so-called basics. Animals have (perhaps to your surprise) survived under your care; now, you want to see them thrive. To that end, like so many other reef aquarists at this stage, you have become fascinated by (1) relatively advanced techniques such as phyto dosing and (2) somewhat specialized equipment/components such as refugia. In this section, you will learn how to beef up (if not totally replace) that first aquarium, try species beyond the short list of “beginner species,” etc. These works are not just intended to instruct, but are also meant to inspire intermediate-level aquarists to push into the less-beaten paths.