What is a Coral?

This may be very obvious to people in the reefing community, but people who have stepped into their first fish store may wonder “Is it a plant?”, “What are they made of?”, or “Are they alive?”. Corals are indeed living…

Salty Q&A: Can We Do Better for Beginners than Caveat Emptor?

Question I recently had a frustrating experience at a major chain pet store in my area. I watched as the aquarium department salesperson sold a type of butterflyfish that has a very specialized diet to a self-identified newbie, and he…

Reef fish can see more colors than us

We knew the mantis shrimp had super-stellar vision being able to perceive 100,000 colors, but it looks like they aren’t the only ocean denizens that can see more colors than humans. Reef fish can apparently also see more colors than…

Researchers from the Philippines to map seafloor up to 200 meters’ depth

There is so much we don’t know about the ocean, with the ‘twilight zone’ quickly becoming the next frontier in ocean exploration. Technological advances in ROV and camera technology is allowing us to go deeper longer and explore these unchartered…

Falling in Love With the Hobby Again

There are countless clichés about love and falling in love and most of them are clichés because they are true. My two favorites are ‘it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ and…

Is It Possible to Overdo Marine Aquarium Water Changes?

In a recent meandering conversation I had with my freshwater-pond-keeping brother-in-law, the question of water change volume and frequency was raised—specifically whether it’s stressful to the livestock if you perform them too frequently or change out too much water at…

IceCap Magnetic Kalkwasser Stirrer Prototype Spotted at MACNA

The Icecap Magnetic Kalkwasser Stirrer is a type of kalkreactor which could make dosing kalkwasser cool again. Dosing a solution of calcium hydroxide is one of the oldest ‘methods’ in reef keeping so any device that can streamline that process…

A Deeper look into Mokupapapa Discovery Center’s Aquarium

We recently visited a very unique aquarium at the Mokupapapa Discovery Center in Hawaii. The mere size of this aquarium is not what makes it impressive but the beautiful and extraordinarily rare fish that it contain. While there are many…

Friday Smorgasbord: Hawaii’s new preserve, APEX meetup, sewer fishing and more

Its Labor Day weekend and less than a week to go before MACNA! Before you cut out of work and head out for one last long weekend this summer, we have one final Friday Smorgasbord. This week we look at…

Jumpstarting a reef tank after a long break

With Labor Day fast approaching, vacations winding down and the kids going back to school, it’s a sure sign that the end of summer is upon us. And with Fall and the colder weather, many of us start spending more time with…