advice

Five Sand Sifters for a Reef Aquarium

Here are five of the best fish and invertebrates to sift the sand in your reef aquarium and keep the substrate clean Chalk Goby, Valenciennea sexguttata  Chalk gobies are attractive, very peaceful bottom-dwelling fish that sift the substrate to find…

Why you should ICP test RO water

For us, one of the biggest benefits that ICP testing brought to the reefing hobby was not just the ability to test your aquarium’s saltwater, it was the ability to test the source water too, the pure, freshwater we use…

Reef Safe Angelfish: What’s the Secret?

Have you ever owned a reef-safe angelfish? A hot topic of discussion that has yet to be answered. If you peruse the forums, you will find yourself reading a multitude of different opinions. Some believe they will get lucky and…

Reef Diving FAQs

Do you own a reef tank and want to take the next leap in learning? Are you traveling to a coral reef destination on vacation? Windsor Adams answers our frequently asked questions on Learning To Dive. Do you need to…

Pros and Cons of Multiple Reef Tanks

One of the interesting observations I have made after years of being a coral hoarder is that one characteristic that I share with many of my fellow hoarders is that our hoarding has often led to us having multiple tanks.…

Understanding Difficult Fish: Why Expert Only Isn’t a Simple Term

When I was a brand new hobbyist, one of the facets of keeping fish I enjoyed most was research. Like most scientifically inclined people, learning about livestock was (and is) something I spent immense amounts of my free time doing.…

Are You a Coral Collector or a Coral Hoarder? 

Do you circle the dates for coral sales and frag swaps, but forget birthdays and anniversaries? Or have a frag tank filled with frags, yet there is no chance that any of these frags will make it into your display…

Mike Paletta Beginner Series: The Grand Finale

How do you write the ending for a story that isn’t finished? For the past 52 weeks, I have been writing articles designed to help newcomers to the hobby. The idea for this was not my own, but rather that…

Top Tips for Beginners and New Reef Aquarium Hobbyists

During my early years in the hobby virtually everyone I came into contact with, from shops to other hobbyists all said the same thing: “Keeping a saltwater tank is too difficult so don’t even bother trying”. Looking back I can…

Only Bad Things Happen Fast: How to Avoid Beginner Mistakes

Wouldn’t it be nice if before you started a project you knew what to look out for so that you could avoid costly mistakes? Like when you started to drive you understood that the police would be looking at you…