The reef aquarium hobby has come a long way since the early days of reef keeping but it’s hard to know where the ‘modern’ reef really laid down its roots. One great place to start would be Germany in the…
Historical Photograph of One of the Oldest Wild Coral Transplants
Humans have wondered about and been fascinated by corals on wild corals since long before we were keeping and growing them in our home aquariums. Their skeletons have long been a source of beauty, with many species forming semi-precious materials…
Underwater Exploration Sure Has Come A Long Way!
Modern recreational SCUBA diving is a freeing, world-altering experience which allows millions of people to spend a reasonable amount of time underwater. Today’s diving setups basically consist of an almost naked human swimming freely with just the bare essential equipment…
The Hottest Corals of 2006
Not to make you feel old, but ten years ago was when Nintendo brought out the Wii, and Pluto was still a planet. Yeah I can’t believe they did that to Mickey Mouse’s dog either. The first one billionth song was…
Why we love the reef aquarium hobby
While my daughter Catherine was home for Spring break last week, I took her out shopping one day, and I am happy to report there is something more addicting than this hobby: shopping for a teenage girl. While we drove…
What is new and improved in the aquarium hobby?
For as long as I have been watching television or reading magazines and newspapers, the phrase “New and Improved” has been employed for just about every product on the market at one time or another. Whether it touted how it…
The future of the saltwater aquarium hobby
Since this is my last piece for the year I thought rather than reflecting back on the past year, I would answer one of the questions I get asked the most: What do you see as the future of the…
Signs that Allelopathy Might Be Agitating Your Inverts
Since corals and other sessile invertebrates are more or less stuck in place and can’t chase away competitors or run from predators, many of them—particularly among the soft corals—have evolved the tactic of exuding toxins into the water to prevent…
A Brief History of the Saltwater Aquarium Hobby
Our hobby of keeping saltwater fish for the sole purpose of pleasure is not very old. People have been keeping fish for thousands of years, but virtually all of those fish were used as food. Asian cultures have been culturing…
Aquarium history fun using Ngrams from Google labs
Some of you may know that Google has been scanning books for the last few years and so far they have scanned approximately 15 million books or just a little over 10% of written accounts. Using a subsample of this…
