The Candy Basslet: A Sweet Deepwater Denizen on Many a Hobbyist’s Wish List

Ask any group of marine fishkeepers to name their most sought-after species—the fishes they’d really love to own if money and availability were no object—and most of them will likely place the candy basslet (Liopropoma carmabi) somewhere close to the…

The Peppermint Angelfish that won the world over

Despite the Peppermint Angelfish’s (Paracentropyge boylei) recent meteoric debut in the mainstream aquarium trade, it’s status as an iconic book fish has hardly been relinquished. Familiarity has not made us jaded with the clinquant beauty of this incredible species. In fact, it’s a…

Common Coral Reef Pests and some ideas on how to remove them

In the early days of the hobby, we paid little attention to the many small animals that came in with our corals. We had such a difficult time keeping our corals alive that little thought was paid to the potential…

What Makes Someone a Marine Aquarium Expert?

Being in a somewhat contemplative mood as I enjoy my third cup of coffee this Friday morning, I’ve posed to myself the philosophical question, what does it mean to be an “expert” marine aquarist? In other words, when I write…

Aquascaping visionary Takashi Amano dies at age 61

Takashi Amano, founder of Aqua Design Amano, creator of the Nature Aquarium concept and visual aquatics master passed away earlier this week at the age of 61. The news of Takashi Amano’s passing is causing quite a shake up of…

We tracked down the Purple Monster Acro to its original source

The Purple Monster Acropora is arguably one of the most infamous stony coral strains in the marine aquarium hobby, of all time. This particular strain of deep purple acro is the coral that kickstarted the whole idea of even having some corals that…

Chronic Stress in Captive Tangs

Tangs and surgeonfish are a diverse, beautiful, and often highly personable group of fish. It is no wonder that so many of us want to keep these fish in our systems. Inexperienced keepers do the right thing by going to…

3.1 Fairy Wrasses: The rubrimarginatus group

The rubrimarginatus group is home to some of the most well-known (and well-loved) of the Fairy Wrasses. The group can be divided rather equally into two clades, each with their own separate diagnostic features. The males attain fairly large sizes,…

Answers to the top 10 questions about the MindStream aquarium monitor

We are writing on location in beautiful Vermont and yesterday we spent a whole day in the offices of Step Ahead Innovations trying to wrap our head around their exciting new MindStream Aquarium Monitoring System. It really took a whole…

The deep sea is on display in Curacao

To most people the Mesophotic Zone is an entirely unknown part of the ocean that very few study and even fewer have physically visited. Yet these areas are more diverse than anticipated and contain a cornicopia of life from the…