Ryan Gripp
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Ryan Gripp founded Reef Builders in 2006. He writes about technology, industry and other associated news relating to saltwater fish tanks. He went to Depaul University and has been keeping reef tanks for over 15 years.

Get your aquatics event on Reef Builders

One of the largest requests we receive here at Reef Builders is local clubs, societies and other groups to post their events on the home page. Starting today you can. Reef Builders events is a new collection of all of…

Massive Black Blob taking over La Jolla Shores in San Diego

No, this isn’t a huge oil slick off the coast of La Jolla Shores in San Diego as some might have guessed. Rather a massive Anchovy Shoal formed and they spend their time “munching on plankton and smaller fish and…

An Abandoned Warehouse Is Full of Live Jellyfish

If you’re near Liverpool and start walking around in a deserted area in the middle of the night you might stumble across an abandoned warehouse glowing blue. Inside you’ll see a ridiculous amount of live jellyfish floating around peacefully. What…

Fritz Quick Change Liquid Salt Concentrate

Fritz has been making pre-dissolved salt for years under their “Pro” line and selling tons of the stuff. It’s popular with larger customers (fish stores, wholesalers, etc.) but we haven’t seen it in consumer friendly packaging. Quick Change is now…

Coral Gumbo is new from Hikari

Hikari released their new Coral Gumbo this past May to stores and distributors. Coral Gumbo is adding to the Frozen fish frenzy that has surfaced in the past several years. The food is frozen in mini pack form and “Free…

EcoSmart Live Beta announced with Dropcam support and VorTech integration

Ecotech Marine announces the availability of a new beta program for their recently redesigned EcoSmart Live software program. The new update has a refreshed look and feel, improved usability and several updates to new features the largest being dropcam support…

The business of the Ecotech Marine and Aqua Illumination Merger

I’ve been following the business side of things here in the aquatics business for some time. Just last week we had the biggest news in the history of the hobby. Two major competitors were joining forces: Ecotech Marine and Aqua…

How to Handle a Hunger-Striking Saltwater Fish

Having a fish that refuses to eat anything offered—or having a specimen that had been eating suddenly lose all interest in food—is a problem virtually every marine aquarium hobbyist can expect to encounter at one time or another. While such…

H2O Plus Marine Based Skincare for Men

H2O Plus is a skincare company that has been in business for over twenty years. The company, based in Chicago offers ocean based skin and bath and body products that are sold in over 40 different countries. Their tagline is …

Corals Gone Wild: Don’t Let Encrusting Polyps Take Over Your Tank!

I have a confession to make. When I mention my 75-gallon “reef tank” in my posts here at Saltwater Smarts, I’m not being entirely truthful in my terminology. When I first set up the tank almost 14 years ago and…