Is the Hobby Less Fun Than It Used to Be?

I think that we can all agree that there are many reasons to have a hobby. Some of us have one as it helps us relax such as with gardening or needlepoint. For others, a hobby keeps us active and…

Water Chemistry Part 1: Salinity and Temperature

There are a lot of sexy aspects of having a reef tank including planning and setting it up, aquascaping it, and then selecting the fish and corals to go in it. And you can also get excited about choosing the…

Try Acanthurus tristis – The Indian Mimic Surgeonfish

Having kept all the usual tangs in our home aquariums over the years we wanted something different for our latest tank, and settled on one of the Mimic tangs, Acanthurus tristis. Like its cousin Acanthurus pyroferus, which mimics either Halfblack…

Water changes: Are you Pro, or No?

We’re sitting here while mixing up a batch of saltwater for our new 120-gallon tank. Nothing terrible has happened, our last ICP test was okay… but we like to do regular partial water changes with our reef tanks, just as…

Automatic Top-Off Systems, Reservoirs, and Dehumidifiers

One of the crucial aspects of having a successful reef tank is having the tank be as stable as possible and this is especially true in terms of salinity. But when setting up a new system, one of the aspects…

How to properly Treat and Dip Newly Acquired Corals

As we have gotten better at keeping our corals and especially propagating them, we have also gotten better at recognizing the many pests that feed on them. As a result, it is now necessary to manage these pests lest they…

Clownfish Larvae Become Mini Athletes to Swim Against Ocean Currents

It is well known among breeders that Clownfish undergo major physiological changes as they transition from pelagic larvae to reef-dwelling, anemone-dwelling adults, but researchers at the James Cook University in Australia took a deeper dive into exactly what happens during…

Invasive Pulsing Xenia Wreaks Havoc in Venezuela

A popular aquarium coral has reached plague proportions off the North coast of Venezuela, threatening ecosystems and even decreasing native fish stocks, as it invades and overgrows everything in its path. We know it in the aquarium trade as Pulsing…

DeJong Marinelife Successfully Breed the Circled Dragonet

Dutch wholesaler DeJong Marinelife has successfully bred the Circled Dragonet, Synchiropus circularis. Combine a male and female dragonet, feed them plenty of the right food and even captive spawning often comes naturally, but what makes this such a big deal…

Gateway Aquatics Store Suffers Fire

A popular aquarium store in St Louis woke up to find a fire had devastated their retail premises overnight. Nobody was hurt, but the picture is one of devastation to the store and its livestock systems. In a statement on…