Heliopora are Not-So-Soft, Soft Corals

Given their common name of soft corals, one would likely assume that octocorals are well… soft. However, as is common in biology, there are always exceptions to rules. Within the Octocorallia, there are a few species that form aragonite-based skeletons,…

How and Why to Dip Newly Acquired Corals

After getting corals via the internet or from a local shop they need to be treated for parasites, infections, and other maladies that we do not want to introduce into a tank. I know that shops and online stores will…

Which Corals to Add to a New Tank

There are many fun aspects to setting up a new tank, from planning and getting the equipment and then on to aquascaping the tank. But to me, the most fun aspect is selecting and adding the corals. This is when the…

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…

Easy corals: The Space Invader Pectinia

Think of easy, beginner LPS corals and you’ll probably think of Duncan corals, Candy Canes, and Micro Lords maybe, but there’s one frag that’s positively shining in our tank despite us not giving it any special care whatsoever – the…

New study finds herbivore fish poo is bad for corals

For a long time, it has been assumed that herbivores are good for coral reefs and corallivores are bad. Herbivores like surgeonfish and rabbitfish graze the algae which would otherwise overgrow, smother and outcompete corals, and a reef without herbivores…

Awesome fish spotlight: The Whitespotted surgeonfish, Acanthurus guttatus

The Whitespotted surgeonfish is the kind of tang that is overlooked by many because of its lack of color but is sought out and acclaimed by more seasoned reefkeepers. Also known as the Mustard tang, and occasionally the Jewel tang,…

Rescaping the Nano Reef With New Torch Corals [Video]

The Red Sea Max Nano aquarium that we set up in one day and then untouched for a year has been one of our funnest concepts we’ve shared on video. While we thoroughly enjoyed demonstrating what is possible with the most…

Show soft corals some love with a shallow lagoon tank

We don’t show enough of our tanks from the other side of the Atlantic so I thought I would show my own little project from the UK – this 200 liter/52 gallon soft coral-dominated lagoon tank. It was devised over…

Caribbean Corals in a Hobbyist Reef Aquarium

As huge as the reef aquarium hobby has become around the world and especially in the U.S., we find it simply astounding how collectively ignorant reefers are of corals that live right off of our shores. Caribbean stony corals consist…