Why Coral Collectors Trim Corals and Why You Should Trim Them Too. 

Have you wondered why some corals look the way they do when you buy them at your aquarium store? Some with a flat base cut, some with grinding marks on them, and other man-made alterations. You might have seen this…

How to Manage Reef Tank Pests

Typically when starting a new project we only see the positive aspects and every task is filled with excitement and anticipation. For instance, when setting up a new garden in the Spring, we cultivate the soil, plant the seeds fertilize…

Phestilla arnoldi is a New Species of Acropora Eating Nudibranch

Researchers surveying a coral reef in the Gulf of Thailand have found 13 species of coral-eating nudibranch, including one that’s totally new to science. The nudibranchs belong to the genus Phestilla – small, frilly, parasitic/predatory sea slugs which mimic the…

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…

Five Best Reef Fish for Beginners

Got a new saltwater aquarium for Christmas? New to reefing? Here are our five best reef-safe fish to get you started on your reef tank journey Common Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris Common clownfish and their close relative Percula clowns (A.percula) are…

My Experience With Fenbendazole

After being in the reefing side of the hobby for almost forty years I have seen or had just about every pest imaginable in my tanks. While I am especially thinking about our friend Jake and his passing a year…

Grzegorz Grebosz’s Acropora are Probiotic Perfection

We admit to following and admiring this aquarium for a while, and although it’s existed in several guises since 2015, the bright, tabling acros and pristine, immaculately clean tank always manage to keep it looking like new. We caught up…

How to Overcome a Total Tank Wipeout

We hate to hear about it happening to someone. We hate to see it when someone posts about it happening to them. But more than anything we hate to experience it. Sadly, almost everyone I know who has been in…

The Five Best SPS Corals For Beginners

Small Polyp Stony Corals are some of the most popular aquarium corals, and the most populous on natural reefs, famed for their spiky branches, flat tables, or swirling plates. Not all SPS corals are the same, however, or as easy…

Watch Than Thein’s ReefStock Presentation

When Than Thein from Tidal Gardens and Jake Adams met at the Reef Builders Studio, it was one of our most-watched videos, so it goes without saying that we just had to have him speak at ReefStock Denver back in…