Novice marine aquarium hobbyists—especially those making the transition from freshwater to saltwater fishkeeping—commonly experience “sticker shock” when they see the prices of many marine species offered in the trade. After all, when you’re accustomed to spending only a few dollars…
Marine/Saltwater Fish
Thoughts on Hand-Feeding Marine Aquarium Fish and Inverts
Part of the fun of keeping marine aquariums is reaching that stage where the fish come to recognize you as the supplier of victuals—the face that always peers into the tank right before food hits the water. Some hobbyists might…
Why Are Juvenile Marine Angelfish So Different From Adults?
When human parents bring a child into the world, they watch their offspring eagerly for facial features and other physical characteristics that are similar to their own. Moms and dads experience a certain pride whenever someone acknowledges that, “She has…
Yellow Boxfish: Endearing but Perhaps Best Avoided
For hobbyists inclined to purchase livestock on impulse, a yellow boxfish (Ostracion cubicus) paddling about in a dealer’s tank can prove almost irresistible. Typically sold as juveniles at just a few inches in length, these boxfish are as cute as…
Five External Stressors of Marine Aquarium Fish
Most marine aquarium hobbyists want to provide as naturalistic and stress-free an environment as possible for the fish and other livestock in their care, so they’re careful to maximize water quality, offer nutritious foods, promote compatibility among tankmates, aquascape appropriately,…
Chalk Bass: A Caribbean Jewel Custom Made for Marine Aquariums
Anyone who has visited Saltwater Smarts on a regular basis knows that Chris has a bizarre fixation on Caribbean species. No livestock—fish or invertebrate—originating outside the Caribbean/tropical Western Atlantic is allowed in his tank. If he could, he’d probably go…
When New Marine Fish Die, You Need to Find Out Why!
As many marine aquarium hobbyists have discovered, adding “just one more fish” to an already-established community can, on occasion, be surprisingly problematic. In some instances, every new specimen that’s added lives only a short time, either succumbing to some unknown…
How Big is Bite-Sized in Marine Aquarium Fish?
A novice hobbyist once asked me whether there’s a particular “rule of thumb” with respect to the size of fish that can be kept in the same tank with a predatory fish, such as a lionfish or grouper. He’d heard…
A Fishy Biology Lesson From Paul
Though fish are our distant cousins, there are more differences than similarities between us. In today’s post, I’d like to explore the various characteristics that make a fish a fish—or not. Skeletal distinctions Of course, not all fish are the…
When is it Okay to Leave a Dead Fish in a Marine Aquarium?
A fellow hobbyist once told that when a fish dies in his tank, he just leaves it there to rot because “that’s what happens in nature.” While he was right about the decomposition of a dead fish being natural, allowing…