Q: I’m setting up my first saltwater aquarium, and one piece of advice I keep hearing is that “bigger is better” when it comes to the size of the tank. I was planning to use a 40-gallon breeder, but now…
Observations on Dry Rock Aquascaping
Throughout my years in the marine aquarium hobby, I’ve typically aquascaped my systems using cured live rock from Fiji. However, when setting up my 125-gallon tank in our new home about a year and a half ago, I wanted to…
Salty Q&A: Why Do Hobbyist Anecdotes Differ So Dramatically?
Q: I’ve been battling hair algae in my tank for months, and I can’t seem to beat it no matter how much of the stuff I pull out, what herbivores I add, or how often I change water to lower…
The Challenge Of Adding Bubble Tip Anemones To A Stocked Reef System
Adding Bubble Tip Anemones The various color morphs of the bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) are mainstays in the marine aquarium hobby, and justifiably so. Not only are they genuinely gorgeous, but they’re also relatively easy to maintain as anemones go,…
Marine Aquarium Projects for Home-Bound Hobbyists
Here in Ohio, we just received the official order to stay at home in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, and similar orders are being given all over the US and around the world. That means a whole…
Salty Q&A: Can I Kickstart My Cycle with Aquarium Water?
Q: I’m a newbie aquarium hobbyist and just starting to set up my first tank, which will be a 40-gallon soft-coral reef system with a few small fish. A friend of mine, who is also fairly new to the hobby…
The Flower Anemone: A Hardy Caribbean Beauty
Anemones are iconic marine organisms that have long captured the imagination of saltwater aquarium hobbyists. Unfortunately, many of these iconic critters are poorly suited to life in the average home aquarium. Even those that are generally considered good aquarium candidates,…
The Most Important Takeaway for Novice Marine Aquarists
I was recently perusing a popular saltwater aquarium forum and came across a post from a novice hobbyist who is considering making the switch from freshwater to saltwater aquarium keeping. He had heard that the saltwater side of the hobby…
Salty Q&A: Need Advice on GFO Use
Q: I’m thinking about using GFO in my reef tank, but this product is new to me, so I have a few questions before I go ahead and buy it: Does GFO really do a good job of lowering nitrate…
Plan for an Accessible Saltwater Aquarium
There’s a lot to consider when planning a new saltwater aquarium system—where to site the tank in your home, what sort of livestock you’d like to keep, what equipment will serve your needs best, how to gaslight your significant other…