Adult brine shrimp are not considered a good source of food for any fish, but they are sometimes used to entice a slow eater to start eating. Newborn brine shrimp, however, are an excellent source of food for many small…
Equipment
DIY Target Feeder for Mandarinfish (and Pipefish)
We as aquarists tend to keep all sorts of creatures in our tanks, and some of them present a challenge to feed. We know what fish eat, and we know how fish eat, but sometimes the fish’s schedule does not…
6 Reasons for Poor Protein Skimmer Foam Production
A properly sized protein skimmer is key to the success of any marine aquarium system—provided it’s actually doing the job it’s intended to do, that is. Sometimes protein skimmers just keep right on skimming with little or no foam and…
The Calcium Reactor: A Device Well Worth its Salt
A hobby like reef keeping has its fair share of intimidating technologies. I suppose it doesn’t help to call certain technologies sterilizers, fractionators, or reactors, which further instills a sense of complexity. One such device is the calcium reactor, and…
The Long and Short of Marine Aquarium Tank Shape
Here at Saltwater Smarts, we often make the case that size matters when it comes to saltwater tanks. The bigger the tank, the better for a variety of reasons (though we can’t dispute that nano tanks offer certain advantages too).…
The Basics of Marine Aquarium Backgrounds
When setting up a new saltwater aquarium, one of the many decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want to put a background on the tank and, if so, what kind you’d prefer to use. The choice of background…
Keep Spares of These Key Marine Aquarium Components
According to Kurtz’s Law, the likelihood of a key aquarium component breaking down and leaving you and your livestock in the lurch varies inversely with your local fish store’s business hours. Okay, so I totally fabricated that law, and I’m…
Tips for Childproofing Your Saltwater Aquarium
Kids do the darndest things—especially the little ones. From the moment they learn to crawl, they seem to have the uncanny knack to zero in on the one circumstance in their environment that presents a hazard to life and limb—even…
4 Easy Ways to Avoid Marine Aquarium Malaise
A well-functioning and properly stocked marine aquarium can be a wonderful source of interest and inspiration. However, after many months or years of looking at the same setup and livestock, even the most colorful, compelling aquarium can begin to lose…
4 Reasons Not to Knock Nano Aquariums
One of our earliest posts here at Saltwater Smarts was titled “4 Reasons to Start with a Bigger Saltwater Tank.” In it, we outlined the various benefits of starting with a larger aquarium and the potential drawbacks to downsized systems—instability…