Next to fish diseases and power failures, algae outbreaks are the bane of existence for many aquarists. Besides good practices and plenty of algae grazers, we have a good number of tools in our fight against the dreaded green growth…
Problematic Algae And How To Manage It
I have now been keeping reef tanks for over 30 years and over that time I have seen fads and techniques come and go and I have been asked questions about just about every aspect of the hobby. Despite all…
Coralline Algae, What Is It And How To Grow It
Coralline Algae is a vey important part of the reef and can be desirable in the home aquarium as well. In nature, coralline algae grows in lots of different ways but for our home aquariums we are primarily interested in crustose…
Tips For Cleaning The Sides Of Your Aquarium
We all want to preserve the clarity of our acrylic or glass aquarium. While sometimes it can be challenging especially with an acrylic tank, using the right tools will leave your aquarium clear of algae and scratch-free. You will want…
The Pacific Sailfin Tang: A Hardy, Bold Species Demanding Spacious Accommodations
The Pacific sailfin tang (Zebrasoma velifer), not to be confused with its Red Sea namesake (Zebrasoma desjardinii), is a fish with many attributes that make it desirable to marine aquarium hobbyists—it’s attractive, hardy, bold, easy to feed, etc. But don’t…
Reefs In Decline
I have been lucky in my life to have had the opportunity to dive in some of the prettiest and most diverse underwater habitats on earth. Without exception, the nicest dive sites are far from civilization, which stands to reason.…
What if bio-fuel from algae could power our reef tanks?
The brain child of architectural designer Jacob Douenias and Industrial designer Ethan Frier, the ‘Living Things’ art installation in Pittsburgh contains furniture of a possible and not too distant future where the symbiosis between human beings and microorganisms are on…
Invisible ink made from algae grows right before your eyes
While looking for a way to create a more eco-friendly printer ink using algae, the folks at Living Ink Technologies stumbled upon invisible ink that grows after a few days exposure to sunlight. They are now marketing pens filled with this algae-based…
Marine Aquarium Water Changes: Don’t Postpone the Personal Payoff!
Yesterday, I finally got around to performing an overdue water change in my 125-gallon tank. Admiring the fruits of my labor afterward, I couldn’t help wondering, “Why on earth do I wait so long to do these when the result…
SEA Aquarium has the most gigantic ball of spinning Chaetomorpha algae
It’s no secret that I am personally not a fan of the kitchen sink approach to creating a “refugium” with all the sands and cruddy algaes that usually build up there. I and we, are very much in favor of using…
