Toledo Zoo Aquarium Renovation – Update 12: A Work in Progress

Salties who have been following the $25.5 million renovation of the Toledo Zoo’s Aquarium (slated for completion in 2015) might be wondering about the status of the project since we haven’t provided an update in a while. Well, we can…

Saltwater Confessions: Bizarre Marine Aquarium Blunders

After many years in the marine aquarium hobby—I’m not talking Paul B years here, but let’s just say a reasonable length of time—I like to think I’ve acquired a certain degree of wisdom with respect to keeping saltwater organisms. What…

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…

X. auromarginatus: A Well-Mannered, Reef-Friendly Triggerfish

As I alluded in an earlier post about the Niger triggerfish (Odonus niger), triggers in general aren’t usually among the first species that come to mind when one is seeking an aquarium specimen with a peaceful disposition. Certainly as far…

5 Good Reasons to Keep a Marine Aquarium Journal

Quick! What were your aquarium’s water parameters in the fourth week of January? When was the last time you performed a water change and exactly how much did you change? Can you recall precisely when you last swapped out your…

Aberrant Moorish Idol absolutely defies belief

This aberrant moorish idol from Segrest Farms is a specimen the likes of which we never expected to see. There’s only one species of moorish idol, Zanclus canescens, and it is placed in its own family Zanclidae, which split off from the…

End the Toil and Trouble of Bubble Algae

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” could be the lament of any marine aquarium hobbyist battling a stubborn outbreak of green bubble algae. (Okay, “Double, double toil and trouble,” is the actual incantation from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but I digress.) Green bubble…

Andrew Sandler’s reef tanks are a cumulative 1,600 gallons of awesome

Andrew Sandler, or his online alias Hedgedrew, is a dedicated and real hardcore reefer with several amazing set ups. A cumulative total of roughly 1,600 gallons comprising numerous set ups, including amongst others a 1,250 gallon SPS tank, a butterfly…

Don’t Contaminate Your Saltwater Aquarium!

When we think about toxins in a marine aquarium, the first thing that usually comes to mind is ammonia or a toxic allelopathic chemical released by a coral—in other words, a biologically produced toxin originating in the tank itself. But…

The Basics of Marine Aquarium Backgrounds

When setting up a new saltwater aquarium, one of the many decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want to put a background on the tank and, if so, what kind you’d prefer to use. The choice of background…