Mitch Carl to MC MACNA 2014, Todd LaJeunesse and Mike Paletta added to speaker lineup

Now that 2014 is in full swing and we are closer to the next MACNA than we are to the last one, it’s time to kick our 2014 MACNA pre-coverage in high gear. As you know the world’s premiere marine…

ARKA Vida GT doser seen in the wild

The ARKA Vida GT doser is quite simply the most ambitious dosing pump system that has yet been conceived for the home aquarium. The Vertex Libra pushed the envelope a decent amount with stepper motors, high quality dosing heads and…

Reef Builders Prediction – Captive Bred Butterflyfish by the end of 2014!

It has been a long time coming, but just as we see aquaculturists banging hard on the door, demanding to be let in on the secrets of captive-bred Tangs, so too we see the captive-breeding barrier being approached from every…

How Much Time Will You Invest in a Saltwater Aquarium?

When a non-hobbyist visitor is observing one of my marine aquariums for the first time, among the questions he or she almost invariably asks—along with inquiring about the expense and the level of difficulty relative to a freshwater tank—is something…

The Role of Activated Carbon in the Reef Aquarium

Of the three types of filtration used in the reef aquarium hobby today, biological, mechanical, and chemical, it is chemical filtration that is possibly the least understood. This post is all about activated carbon, the most popular type of chemical…

6 Reasons for Poor Protein Skimmer Foam Production

A properly sized protein skimmer is key to the success of any marine aquarium system—provided it’s actually doing the job it’s intended to do, that is. Sometimes protein skimmers just keep right on skimming with little or no foam and…

It’s Back! Let the 2013 LED Showdown Begin

It’s back! It’s January and that means it’s time for our annual jaunt down LED memory lane with the 2013 Reef Builders LED Showdown — so let the haters hate and the photon geeks rejoice. We’ve have a lot of…

Reef Builders Editor’s Choice: 10 best products of 2013

It’s that time of year again, that time when we get to share with you the finest new products that greatly improved our reefkeeping experience over the last orbit of the earth around the Sun. Compared to last year’s Editor’s…

Reef-Friendly Resolutions for 2014

Happy New Year to all our salty friends around the world! Chris and I wish you and your loved ones the very best in 2014. We’d also like to express our sincere gratitude for the support you’ve given us since…

Jake and Mark talk about reefs over beers

Writing short and brief blog posts and occasionally articles about the state of the marine aquarium hobby, is both liberating and limiting. On the one hand we are not hamstrung to recount an entire story about a single topic, just…