Over the years I have been fortunate enough to attend or speak at just about every large show, frag swap and meeting that occurred throughout North America. From MACNA to Reefaplaooza, IMAC, The Southwest Marine Conference and ReefStock – I…
Things That Scare Me About The Hobby
Boo and Happy Halloween. I am not really much of a Halloween person, I am much more into Christmas, but I understand how some people really get into it. In fact, I recently learned that humans are such an overwhelmingly…
What Do We Need To Start A Reef Tank, Versus What We May Want?
I have a wonderful 21-year old daughter, who I have spoiled over the years. During that time, I have also spent a lot of time trying to teach her the difference between wanting something and needing something. Unfortunately, learning the…
Things About The Aquarium Hobby That Make Me Happy
Recently I had a major life event occur that made me reflect on many of the aspects of my life. One of the things that I spent some time thinking about were the things in my life that have made…
Problematic Algae And How To Manage It
I have now been keeping reef tanks for over 30 years and over that time I have seen fads and techniques come and go and I have been asked questions about just about every aspect of the hobby. Despite all…
Mistakes Newbies Make
Literally every person I know laments over the mistakes they made in the past. Many of us fondly recall our early years in the hobby, and we also all remember the mistakes we made then. This often leads to the…
Mistakes Even Experienced Hobbyists Make
I would love to say that I never make mistakes. But as anyone who knows me knows, I do make them, and sadly I make them way too often, especially in regards to this hobby and how long I have…
Getting Burned Out On The Hobby (And How To Avoid It)
As Neil Young sang “It’s better to burn out, than it is to rust, cause rust never sleeps”, is applicable to this hobby in a number of ways. First, as anyone who has had a tank for a while knows,…
Best Advice I’ve received in the hobby
While cleaning out my office, again, I came across some old written notes, yeah they had to be old as they were hand-written, that were a listing of some of the advice I had received over the years that I…
Taking Control Of Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium
One of the things that fascinates me and probably helps fuel my passion for the hobby is that I have been able to watch and learn through the years as we have gotten better at just about every aspect of…