Mass Urchin Die-off Threatens Reefs in the Red Sea

A species of Sea urchin has undergone a devastating wipeout on reefs off the city of Eilat in Israel. The entire population of Black Sea urchins, Diadema setosum, has died off in just weeks from a suspected pathogen, with their…

Salty Q&A: Should You Scrub New Live Rock?

Question I’ll be receiving a shipment of live rocks in a few days, and I could use some advice on how to clean them up before putting them in my tank. Do I just need to give them a good…

Can Live Rock Be Added Directly to an Established Marine Aquarium?

“Caribbean Chris” and I are very frequently asked whether it’s okay to add new pieces of live rock directly to an established system. Ever erring on the side of caution, we generally discourage this practice. Instead, we recommend curing them…

Bubble-Tip Anemone Safety Tips

The bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), or BTA, is justifiably popular in the marine aquarium hobby, being relatively hardy and easy to keep as anemones go as well as being a suitable host anemone for many clownfish species. But to horribly…

3 Good Reasons to Quarantine Live Rock

Here at Saltwater Smarts, we emphasize again and again the importance of quarantining all marine livestock before introducing it to an established aquarium. But what about those pieces of live rock that we occasionally add to our established systems to…