REEF Frag & REEF Plates by Brightwell Aquatics

Brightwell Aquatics is jumping into the coral propagation angle of the marine aquarium hobby; yesterday we told you about the new fluorescent super glue REEF Fuze and today it’s all about the frag plugs and things to glue our corals…

You Can Succeed with the Copperband Butterflyfish
Copperband butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) are among my favorite fish and have almost always been a staple in my tank since the saltwater hobby started in the 70s. It’s not just the beauty of the distinct black-bordered yellow stripes on a…
A. nigropunctatus: The Pet-Like Dogface Puffer

Hobbyists with sizeable tanks who are looking for a truly pet-like fish won’t be disappointed in the aptly named dogface puffer (Arothron nigropunctatus). Looking rather like a pudgy beagle with fins instead of paws, A. nigropunctatus is loaded with piscine…

Triton Reef display tank gets mad flow from two HydroWizard Medium pumps

The incredible slice of reef aquarium skill contained within the Triton Reef display aquarium is exactly the kind of excellence you’d expect to find at the intersection of the Triton Method, Lani LEDs and HydroWizard pumps. We could go round…

The Long and Short of Marine Aquarium Tank Shape

Here at Saltwater Smarts, we often make the case that size matters when it comes to saltwater tanks. The bigger the tank, the better for a variety of reasons (though we can’t dispute that nano tanks offer certain advantages too).…

Blue Hypnea algae is a macroalgae worth growing for its looks

Blue Hypnea is a new macroalgae from ORA which is interesting and colorful enough to be cultured in aquarium for its own sake. Not to be confused with more purple colored Ochtodes from the Caribbean, the blue Hypnea algae is an attractive algae which…

2013 Marine Breeder’s Year in Review

It’s the 4th annual installment of the Marine Breeder’s Year in Review (see past installments at 2010, 2011a, 2011b, and 2012) and frankly, it’s been an interesting if not arguably “slow” year for a change, and yet I’ll probably write more…

How to Handle a Hunger-Striking Saltwater Fish

Having a fish that refuses to eat anything offered—or having a specimen that had been eating suddenly lose all interest in food—is a problem virtually every marine aquarium hobbyist can expect to encounter at one time or another. While such…

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great times to be a reefer

The annual holiday shopping season officially kicks off this week with the traditional Black Friday shopping day and we’ve got our annual list of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to share. We have done our best to cobble together…

Unbelievable – RAP Does It Again!

Last year was my very first Reef-A-Palooza (RAP) and I was so excited to be part of such a historic event, as they broke their attendance record.   Well, this year I could not have asked for more excitement – they…