Coral pests are never fun, especially the type that are hard to remove with a simple dip. But undesirable parasites are even scarier and coral life-threatening when we don’t even know what we’re dealing with, as is the case with…
Waterpik: Removing Coral Pests with a Miniature Pressure Washer
Dealing with coral pests and parasites can be one of the most challenging experiences beginner and experienced reefers will ever have to deal with. It’s the most frustrating to have a healthy reef tank with ideal parameters, only to have…
Five Reasons Sponges Are BAD For A Coral Reef Aquarium
Sponges are some of the most remarkable life forms that we can encounter in the ocean. These resilient and diverse ‘creatures’ are not quite single celled, not quite organisms, but colonies of single cells all working together. The can be…
Anacropora Can Get Flatworms Too!
Anacropora is one of the lesser known small polyp stony coral species which are closely related to Acros and Montis. Montipora is known to be infested by pesky white nudibranch, Acropora has its issues with Amakusaplana (Acro Eating Flatworms) and…
Vermetid ‘Tubeworms’ Are Bad for Aquariums, AND Coral Reefs
We’ve hated vermetids for as long as we’ve been reefing, and now science has given us the last nail in the coffin for this unwanted aquarium critter. Although they look like tubeworms, vermetids are actual a kind of snail which…
Biota’s Bristletail Filefish are TRAINED to Eat Aiptasia!
Bristletail filefish, Acreichthys tomentosus, is a well known reef fish that has a strong potential to eat Aiptasia and Majano pest anemones. Despite their long record, I’d actually never personally employed one for this purpose, opting instead for peppermint shrimp and/or copperband…
Coral Typhoon Made a Washing Machine for Coral Dips
If you’ve been trading corals for any length of time now, you probably already know how easy it is to get coral coodies, pests, and parasites. Therefore all reefers are encouraged to dip most corals before introduction to the tank…
How to Eliminate Aiptasia in Aquariums
Aiptasia is a group of pest anemones that all aquarists will invariably have to deal with. Whether you have a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) or a full blown reef tank, these troublesome anemones seem to pop up out of nowhere.…
Asterina starfish, an introduction to this common reef aquarium critter
Have you ever wondered what that itsy bitsy starfish is doing in your tank? The sneaky starfish probably hitchhiked its way in on some live rock or new coral, but now there are dozens of small grayish starfish roaming your tank. It’s…
Top 5 invasive corals that border on being aquarium pests
We’re so used to thinking of corals as precious and delicate, it’s hard to imagine some of them are invasive species in our aquariums. Invasive corals in the wild are a real problem, with sun coral Tubastrea having two established species…
