Whenever I’m asked to recommend a hardier, similarly sized, and equally attractive alternative to the green mandarinfish, the first species that usually pops into my mind is the sixline wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia). If you can acquire a healthy specimen, you’ll…
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Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion series goes longer and deeper
The Innovative Marine NUVO series is getting new members with the launch of the Innovative Marine NUVO Fusion series featuring two all-in-one aquariums — one aimed at long aquascapes, the other at deep aquascapes. Coming off the success of both…
New Red Sea Seawater Refractometer to others, “You Have it All Wrong!”
A new Red Sea Seawater Refractometer is setting the bar a bit higher for other refractometers. Many of us started out in the hobby with a hydrometer of some sort and when we graduated to the refractometer, it was like night and…
5 Good Reasons to Spend Time Observing Your Saltwater Fish
With today’s chaotic schedules, it’s the norm for many marine aquarium hobbyists to see their fish only in passing (e.g., catching a fleeting glimpse when tossing in some food just before heading off to work) or when performing routine maintenance…
Not Every Small, Benthic Fish Is A Goby
This is a guest contribution from Joe Rowlett, one of the many talented fish geeks working the fish tanks at Old Town Aquarium in Chicago. The taxonomy and classification of fish is not a subject that your average reefkeeper investigates…
Ecotech Marine Radion & Radion Pro wins the 2013 LED Showdown
Congratulations to Ecotech Marine for winning their second Reef Builders LED Showdown for the year 2013. It’s been a long road getting through the whole year, with so many great new LED lights revealed in the last 12 months. Starting…
Saltwater fish can’t do this! Cichlid parents rule
There are few writers in the marine aquarium world who can claim to love marine fish any more than we do. We do our best to cover the weird, the rare, the colorful, the unusual, and with Matt Pedersen’s help,…
Awesome Fish Spotlight: The secret life of Plectranthias inermis
It really is an open secret that here at ReefBuilders, we are head over heels for Plectranthias. It is hands down one of the coolest genus of fish for the home aquarium. They’re charismatic and shy at the same time,…
Purple Firefish: A Shy Beauty for the Small, Peaceful Aquarium
Marine aquarists looking for a gorgeous, interesting, nano-friendly fish might entertain the idea of keeping the purple firefish (a.k.a. the purple dartfish, elegant firefish/dartfish, and decorated firefish/dartfish, among various other common names). Given appropriate tankmates and care, this graceful, hardy,…
LED Showdown Round 2: Who survived and who is moving on
The first round of the 2013 Reef Builders LED showdown is in the books. After the dust settled there were some pretty clear winners and a few closer battles but the bottom line is, some of the tougher battles are…
