It takes a lot of guts to try a new technique, change the setting on a pump or light, alter a water change schedule, etc. Understandably, these changes aren’t carried out with at least a little bit of stress; after all, we pour lots of heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears and cold hard cash into our aquarium systems. Really, what it all boils down to is that we are putting the lives of our beloved pets on the line. So, it takes even more guts, and trust, to take a chance on a new product. Aquarists generally like to research products thoroughly before using them, much less purchasing them. However, it can be rather difficult to find good information about a prospective product, even online–if the info exists at all. Product descriptions, by design, offer plenty of hype but offer little in the way of detailed explanation of how a product works. And in all fairness, the conventional product description is simply too short and refined to allow for that level of elaboration. This is why AlgaeBarn is dedicated to providing its customers with plentiful, honest, relevant, in-depth product information. Our writing team has worked well into many nights conducting that “extra” research so that you don’t have to! Our blog catalogue contains as much content as the average double-volume work of nonfiction, all of which speaks directly to the common needs and questions of our clientele–no hype. Best of all, with so much professionally penned info under your belt, you’ll never have to feel like you’re taking any chances with your valuable aquarium livestock when using our products for the first time. In this section, you will learn all about AlgaeBarn products, the impact they will have on your animals and whether or not they are right for you and your tank!
Earth is a planet of pods. Wherever there is water, there are amphipods, isopods, branchiopods, and so on. Pods are an integral part of pretty much every freshwater, brackish and marine ecosystem. But even among all these big players, the tiny copepod is a giant; in terms of both biomass and sheer number, copepods (subclass …
Why EcoPods are the Best Live Copepod Product Ever Read More »
AlgaeBarn is hardly the only aquarium hobby-centered business to produce phytoplankton and macroalgae. But we like to think that we’re pretty darn good at it–if not the best! Consider our highly-acclaimed premium live phyto blend OceanMagik in various kits or our standard-setting CleanMacro series. If it needs to be stated, algae is kind of the …
The Whole Package: Integrating AlgaeBarn’s Kits & Combos Read More »
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: …
For a couple of decades now, tridacnid or “giant” clams (genera Tridacna and Hippopus) have been regarded as the cherries on top of any well-constructed and well-maintained reef aquarium. Though there have been a couple of newcomers along the way, most members of the relatively small family Tridacnidae have been available in the trade all …
Managing dissolved nutrients–especially ammonia, nitrite and nitrate–is among the major tasks of reef aquarium husbandry. Accomplishing this can be easy or difficult, cheap or expensive, depending upon how you go about it. And there are lots of ways an aquarist can go about this job. This ranges from operating planted refugia to performing massive regular …
Using MarinePure in the Aquarium, Sump and Refugium Read More »
We get it… Copepods aren’t always cheap. Especially if you use a clean, high-quality, high-density, expertly packaged product with as many as four copepod species at various life stages (e.g. EcoPods!). But, using top-shelf products, you do get what you pay for. That’s why making a little extra effort to get the most out of …
Reef aquarium keeping has gotten a lot more sophisticated over the years. Fortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has gotten more complicated or more time-consuming. To the contrary, we now have the knowledge to create convincingly realistic representations of coral reef habitats with surprisingly minimal effort. While it’s true that we’ve now got some …
What’s the Difference Between PNS ProBio and PNS YelloSno? Read More »
When purchasing live foods for your tank, many people simply take the shop employee’s advice when handed a jar of unidentified copepods for their reef tank. Most do not research into the different species of copepods, we just understand that they are a major element of our clean up crews and that our fish love …
Phytoplankton Species and their individual Strengths Read More »
Though they are nowhere near as ecologically complex as actual, wild coral reefs, reef aquaria can be incredibly complicated and downright tricky to maintain in a “natural” manner. To be fair, reef aquarists have to sustain a precarious balance between underfeeding to the point of deprivation and overfeeding to the point of feculent nastiness. Waste …
A Saltwater Smorgasbord: Using The Ultimate EcoPack Read More »
Particularly for animals that live in water, acclimating from one environment to another–even if quite similar physically and chemically–can present serious stress. Yes, “pods” (copepods, amphipods, etc.), are known to be incredibly resilient and adaptable. Indeed, the tidepool-dwelling harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus californicus is regarded as one of THE toughest of all invertebrate species. All that …
Maintaining a saltwater aquarium–especially a really nice one–is a hell of a lot of work. And this is a workload that is added to our already impossibly busy lives. Is it really all that bad to rely heavily on the convenience of prepared foods? The answer, unfortunately, is probably. There are at least a couple …
Prepared Aquarium Foods: They’re NOT All the Same Read More »
Aquarium Starter Kits make it easy for you to get everything you need to begin building a happy, thriving saltwater fish tank. Instead of trying to put your refugium together piece by piece, these kits are already pre-built to include the live algae and copepods, biological filtration, and bacteria starter you will need to get …
