Long-time hobbyists will recall (with humor, or horror in some cases) the evolution of devices used to create water movement in aquaria. In the mid-1960’s, the use of air pumps coupled with air stones was state of the art.…
Dana Riddle
Recent Content
Advanced Water Quality Analyses: LaMotte’s ‘Smart 2’ Colorimeter And a Quick Comparison to the Hach 890 Colorimeter
As aquarists, we are masters of artificial environments we have created, and maintenance of water quality should be more than just a passing notion – it is everything to our captive animals.…
Types of Phosphorus in a Reef Aquarium and Comments and Observations of Removal by Protein Skimming
Phosphorus would likely be of little concern to hobbyists if it was not for the fact that it might promote ‘nuisance’ algal growths, yet its presence is a double-edged sword since it is essential for maintenance of a healthy life.…
Tunze Wavebox, Turbelle Stream Pump, and Wave Controller
Tunze (technically Tunze Aquarientechnik GmbH, and pronounced ‘tune-zah’) is a name familiar to most serious reef aquarium hobbyists. Headquartered in Penzburg, Germany, Tunze has been manufacturing products for the aquarium market since 1960.…
Tunze Wavebox, Turbelle Stream Pump, and Wave Controller
Tunze (technically Tunze Aquarientechnik GmbH, and pronounced ‘tune-zah’) is a name familiar to most serious reef aquarium hobbyists. Headquartered in Penzburg, Germany, Tunze has been manufacturing products for the aquarium market since 1960.…
Actinic Lamps at Home Depot?
Years ago, while on a trip to the west coast, I heard that a local Home Depot home improvement store stocked ‘blue’ metal halide lamps. The person telling me this had not actually seen them, but a friend of his had.…
Equipment Review: Inexpensive Aquarium Thermometers – Bargains or Reef Killers? Plus Notes on Thermometer Calibration
The star Sirius has risen and the hot Dog Days of summer are upon us, giving good reason to examine our aquarium’s water temperature more closely. As we all know, reef inhabitants enjoy a relatively stable temperature environment where excursions of just a few degrees outside of the norm can result in coral bleaching and fish/coral mortalities.…
An Affordable LED Luminaire for Reef Aquaria: Blue Moon Aquatic’s 90-watt Fixture
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are no longer a novelty in the reef aquaria lighting arena. As more manufacturers enter the market, competition drives prices down making them an attractive lighting alternative to more hobbyists.…
Parasitic Copepods: Enemies of Soft Corals, False Corals, Gorgonians, Anemones, Zoanthids, and Tridacna Clams
Our examination of parasitic copepods will conclude this month with an examination of those ‘bugs’ known to infest soft corals, gorgonians and Tridacna clams. Oddly, no reports are known to me of hobbyists observing any of these parasites, and no information has been presented in hobby literature that I am aware of.…
Aquarium Corals: Stony Coral Parasites: Red and Black Bugs: Identification Guide, Preventive Measures, and a Review of Treatment Protocols
This month, we’ll take a look at something most hobbyists would prefer to never see – coral parasites of genera Alteuthellopsis, Parategastes, and Tegastes (the latter two commonly called ‘red’ or ‘black bugs’).…