Some years ago, I read a rather unflattering feature article in a local newspaper about the reefkeeping hobby and its impact on the natural reefs. To say this piece was biased, wretchedly researched, and wholly unsupported would be putting it…
5 Ways to Make Marine Aquarium Maintenance Easier
Routine maintenance is an unavoidable aspect of marine aquarium keeping, but let’s face it, most of us would much rather spend our time enjoying the fruits of our labor than actually doing said labor. With that in mind, anything we…
Brooklynellosis (Clownfish Disease): A Subtle, Fast-Moving Killer
As with many illnesses that affect people, fish diseases often manifest themselves in the earliest—and most treatable—stages through subtle, easily overlooked symptoms. Further clouding matters, many fish diseases have certain symptoms in common and are, therefore, easily confused with one…
Have a Fellow Aquarium Hobbyist on Call for Vacation Emergencies
What is it about taking a vacation that seems to precipitate problems in a marine aquarium? My system can go for many months or even years without a significant glitch, but then as soon as my wife, Melissa, and I…
4 Tips for the Right-Brained Marine Aquarist
As regular Saltwater Smarts visitors may be aware, I was an English major in college and currently make my living working with words as a writer/editor. Admittedly, I’ve never really been able to wrap my head around more complicated mathematics…
The Pros and Cons of Using a Marine Aquarium Cover Glass
To put a lid on it or not to put a lid on it, that is the question! Okay, with profuse apologies to the Melancholy Dane, the point I’d like to mull over in today’s post is whether it’s a…
Signs that Allelopathy Might Be Agitating Your Inverts
Since corals and other sessile invertebrates are more or less stuck in place and can’t chase away competitors or run from predators, many of them—particularly among the soft corals—have evolved the tactic of exuding toxins into the water to prevent…
The Rockmover Wrasse: What a Difference Adulthood Can Make!
In a previous post titled “Marine Fish Bait and Switch—5 Adorable Juveniles that Blossom into Brutes,” I listed the rockmover wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus), aka the reindeer wrasse or the dragon wrasse, among four other species that are typically sold in…
Beware Marine Aquarium Complacency!
A funny thing sometimes happens to marine aquarium hobbyists who have a few years’ experience under their briny belts—they have a tendency to become complacent in their methods and attitudes. Once they’ve mastered the basics of aquarium keeping, it can…
When Piscine Personalities Collide: Incompatible Energy
When trying to determine whether different species of marine fish will cohabit peacefully in the same aquarium, we usually ask ourselves whether the combination will result in one fish eating another or whether interspecific squabbling is likely to be an…