Top 10 most overpriced reef aquarium products

It’s no secret that the keeping saltwater fish and live corals in aquariums can be a very expensive hobby. Like any other hobby or purchase in general, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is generally true. Whether you…

The coral-packed reef tank of Aquatic Art Inc.

With the reefing hobby’s increasing emphasis on frags and collecting corals rather than growing them, it’s becoming increasingly rare to see what a real grown out mini reef aquarium should look like. Thankfully, our old friend Cris Capp of Aquatic…

The Top 5 Tips for Beginner Reefkeepers

I started the hobby before the internet became widely used, and information was sourced mainly through local fish stores. I was lucky enough to have some decent ones, but it was limited, no doubt. Today, beginning hobbyists have to deal…

What if bio-fuel from algae could power our reef tanks?

The brain child of architectural designer Jacob Douenias and Industrial designer Ethan Frier, the ‘Living Things’  art installation in Pittsburgh contains furniture of a possible and not too distant future where the symbiosis between human beings and microorganisms are on…

An Ultra-Low-Nutrient System for Acropora and other SPS

Welcome to the next level of coral care. By now I am assuming you have at least understood all the key general practices to maintain some of the hardier corals, from soft corals to large-polyp stony (LPS) corals to some…

And Now for Something Completely Different

A new car, a new house, a new job, just about anything new fills us with a sense of excitement and anticipation. We think of all the possibilities and what we can do since the concept of newness typically means…

Pax Bellum ARID Filter review: the most ‘intense’ way to grow Chaetomorpha

They say that everything that is old will be new again, and this statement couldn’t ring any more true for the Pax Bellum ARID Chaetomorpha filters. In the early days of successful reef keeping, algae scrubbers and phyto-remediation was the state…

Marine Aquarium Terminology: Activated Carbon vs. Carbon Dosing

As if our hobby weren’t perplexing enough to the average beginner given all the oddball jargon we toss around, things can get doubly befuddling for novices when they come across two or more similar-sounding terms that actually apply to very…

Kamoer is becoming the brand for dosing pumps

When we first heard about Kamoer dosing pumps, we didn’t know what to make of the company, or their dosing units. Their dosing pump design is pretty straightforward, and with so many rebadged products coming from OEMs in China, we…

The Water Change Conundrum

We all have a friend in the hobby or know someone who constantly brags about how he or she has never done a water change and their tank is perfect. The corals are growing and colorful, the fish vibrant and active…