Having kept all the usual tangs in our home aquariums over the years we wanted something different for our latest tank, and settled on one of the Mimic tangs, Acanthurus tristis. Like its cousin Acanthurus pyroferus, which mimics either Halfblack…
Top 10 Affordable and Unique Corals
Last week we were talking with Reef Builders host Remy about corals we recommend to people, and of course, the obvious beginner corals come up like Toadstools, Green Star Polyp, and Pulsing Xenia. But with 100+ genera of Indo-Pacific hard…
Pollia fumosus – a new form of natural Vermetid Snail control?
A recent article by Michael Paletta which covered Vermetid snails came at a timely moment. I have been tinkering with these whelks at the coral farm for over a year and I feel it’s time to finally share my observation…
Reef Aquarium Plumbing and Pipework
Having worked in medicine for my entire career I got accustomed to the euphemisms that doctors often employed. One of my favorites was the cardiologists who were sometimes referred to as plumbers in that from other physicians’ perspectives all they…
Old and New Reef Tank Pests
It seems that when we take two steps forward we often have to take one step back. Such is the case with the success we have had in the hobby. In the early days of the hobby, we were preoccupied…
How to Aquascape with Reef Cement
Every day is reef tank day for me, but on Sundays, I take the day off from writing and have the opportunity to execute some of my bigger plans. The 200-liter shallow soft coral lagoon is doing great. So great…
Mechanical and Chemical Filtration
Back when I started keeping fish, filtration consisted of angel hair or glass wool as the mechanical filtration and charcoal as the chemical filtration. Now there are a multitude of ways to perform these types of filtration, but rarely are…
Chrysiptera starcki, the Poor Man’s Resplendent Angelfish
We’ve always had a soft spot for damselfish since they were our first saltwater fish over 25 years ago. We still like their bold colors, cichlid-like looks, and behavior, and still add them to our reef tanks even now. Sure,…
How to deal with Valonia Bubble Algae
Bubble algae is one of the most persistent pests of mature reef aquaria, overgrowing corals, weir combs, and wave pumps if left unchecked. Newbies often report surprise when they first find the small, bottle green, glassy balls as it’s something…
Paletta on Protein Skimming
Through the years I have seen marine aquarium filtration go from under gravel filters through canister filters and then trickle filters, all producing various levels of success. But the only filtration method that truly changed filtration was when the hobby…
