As the saltwater aquarium hobby celebrates over half a century of maturation, we often talk about the many reefkeeping pioneers. In his 1972 book “Tropical Fish, Freshwater, and Marine Aquaria,” Reginald Dutta talked about equipment such as an Ozonizer, an…
Editorial
What you need to know about Refugia
A reef tank is different from other types of tanks in a lot of ways, with one of the biggest being that most reef tanks utilize a sump to hold the equipment and to add volume to the system. An…
What you need to know about Sumps and Overflows
For any of you that are coming from the world of freshwater tanks and have only had experience with a “standard” tank, that is one with all of the equipment either inside of the tank or hanging on the back,…
How to choose reef tanks and stands
When you ask someone what the most important aspects of having a reef tank are, and what really got them excited not a single individual will ever say “my tank” or “my stand”. But when you think about it without…
Necessary Planning for a Successful Reef Tank
During my career I sat in on countless sales meetings and heard countless sales platitudes like: “Know your customer”, or “Always make a hard close”. But my favorite cliché and the one that was probably used most often was: “Fail…
My Mini-Reef Past, Present, and Future
I’m Back. Well, after a brief six-year hiatus, I am happy to be back writing for Reef Builders on a regular basis. To be honest, it is kind of bittersweet, as it is not quite the same as it was…
Reef Tanks of Instagram are Beauty Magazines all over again
“Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.” These iconic words appeared in the “Wear Sunscreen” address given to graduates in 1997 by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune and were later popularised by Australian film…
Eheim LEDControl Shows How Out Of Touch This Company Has Become
If any other company had released a device like the LEDControl we would give them a pass, but we have much higher expectations of the venerable German company. Looking more or less like a PWM controller, the Eheim LEDControl appears…
How long should you wait to add livestock to your reef tank?
How long should you wait to add livestock to your reef tank? That question has plagued saltwater aquarists for years. Odds are you would receive different responses to the question from anywhere from a few days to months. The later…
Transitioning from clinical to practicing reefer, once again
It’s been a while, huh? Amazing what changes while you’re “away.” Amazing what happens to you when you drift off from the stuff you love so much, isn’t it? Of late, I’ve made a (for me) wonderful and long-overdue transition…