The Importance of Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium in a Reef Tank

There are many aspects of the hobby that for one reason or another are controversial. But one of the few that isn’t is the need to manage the big three: Calcium Alkalinity and Magnesium. That is everyone agrees that it…

Scientists Discover New Deep-sea Octopus Nursery in Costa Rica

A team of international scientists has discovered a new deep-sea octopus nursery at a low-temperature hydrothermal vent off Costa Rica. The discovery of the brooding site brings the number of the world’s only known octopus nurseries to three.  The octopus…

31 New Records of Reef Fish Found in Hong Kong

Underwater visual surveys conducted across 55 dive sites in Hong Kong have revealed another 31 reef fish species from 14 families living there. The species include members from Acanthuridae, Chaetodontidae, Diodontidae, Gobiidae, Labridae, Mullidae, Nemipteridae, Pinguipedidae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, Ptereleotridae, Solenostomidae,…

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…

Why Florida Sea Cucumbers Are Champions of Cleanup Crew 

The Reef Aquarium Industry is heavily reliant on invertebrate cleanup crew. Demand for cleanup crew organisms will only continue to sky-rocket with the popularity of the hobby. Economic and environmental criteria define the future of an ideal reef cleanup crew…

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…

Watch Reef Therapy Session #71 with Sara from The Butterfly Pavilion

Mark van der Wal is a busy guy, and this week he’s away doing his day job – I.T – but fear not, as Raj and Remy have been joined by Sara Stevens from The Butterfly Pavilion, and when she’s…

A Diffusion Tube is a Useful Device for Culturing Delicate Invertebrates

Aquarists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium utilize an ingenious yet seemingly simple device to culture a variety of “gelata”, the collective name for the pelagic gelatinous animals that drift in the plankton. Some of the better-known gelata are jellies and…

What Ozone and UV do on a Reef Tank

When you are starting a new tank there are always a lot of lists of different things. There is a definite need to have a list that includes things like a protein skimmer, lights, etc. Then there is a list…

Jeff Senske uses Freshwater Design Principles to Aquascape a Reef Tank

In the Aquascaping World, Jeff Senske and his brother Mike need no introduction. They head up Aquarium Design Group in Houston, Texas, and their tank designs have been featured on the covers of books and magazines, on social media, and…