Reef Factory Smart Tester Can Test Ca, Mg, PO4 or NO3

The Smart Tester by Reef Factory is a mostly nondescript enclosure that doesn’t divulge its intended purpose but underneath that glossy smoked black window is a veritable aquarium robot. The machinery hidden within Reef Factory’s Reef Tester is designed to…

How We Manually Dose a Spectrum of Additives at the Studio

Dosing of liquid additives is one of the most important aspects of routine aquarium maintenance, and paramount to having a healthy, growing reef tank. Despite this being such a critical part of a reef aquarium regime, the conversation about dosing…

Mastertronic is a New Water Testing Machine Under Development

Focustronic has carved out a very interesting space in the reef aquarium market for itself in a fairly short time. It all started with the dynamically movable Focus 1 LED light fixture, continued with one of the most refined alkalinity…

How to Actually Make Corals Grow Faster, High pH

After temperature and salinity, the pH of aquarium water is one of the most important parameters of reef aquarium chemistry. In freshwater tanks soft water fish have been adapted to higher pH and vice versa, and saltwater fish are not…

Three Young Up and Coming Additive Companies from around the World

Reef aquarium chemistry was once such a nebulous subject, no one really knew what was required to keep marine life alive and thriving in an aquarium environment. But as the curtain has been pulled back over a whole generation of reef…

The importance of testing reef aquarium water

During the first semester in my biochemistry class the professor started the class by bringing out two clear beakers into which he appeared to pour two identical clear fluids.  Once they were full, he pulled out a worm and placed it…