Understanding lighting

While planning and choosing the right tank and selecting a stand are all important aspects of setting up a tank, they are not sexy and probably seemed kind of obvious. Understanding lighting and choosing proper lighting, however, is where things…

Acropora for Beginners

With the introduction of more aquaculture and mariculture facilities, there has been a boom in specimens available at the local fish stores these days. But I will say for certain that if you can get a frag from a successful…

The Hammer Coral: A Sizeable Stinger with Showpiece Potential

Several of the so-called large-polyp stony (LPS) corals offer the advantages of being very hardy, adaptable, and beautiful and, thus, make excellent reef aquarium candidates, even for relatively new reefkeepers. The hammer coral (Euphyllia ancora), however, I would characterize slightly…

The Perfect Beginner SPS Coral: Seriatopora (Bird’s nest)

If ever one is looking to get into small polyp stony (SPS) corals but is hesitant because of the challenges associated with them, consider an SPS coral from the genus Seriatopora. Seriatopora corals, commonly referred to as bird’s nest corals,…