James Passantino

Recent Content

Fish Tales: Tanks and Partners

Fish Tales: Tanks and Partners

By James Passantino I’ve been away from keeping a tank for a few years. I made those years (my mid-late 20’s) away from my tank pretty productive. I traveled to 30+ countries, learned another language, got my advanced diving license, got stuck in a major hurricane...

Fish Tales: The Evolution of a Frag Hoarder

Fish Tales: The Evolution of a Frag Hoarder

By James Passantino We have all done it at one time or another… stuffed that extra frag into our tank just because we could. But there is a certain breed of reefer who does not… nay, CANNOT stop. Doesn’t matter if their tank is a pico or a 220, either way the frag...

Palytoxin: Don’t Frag Under the Influence

Palytoxin: Don’t Frag Under the Influence

By James Passantino I've done a lot of stupid and dangerous stuff in my life, I've admitted this much before in pubic. I got myself hit with tear gas while involved in student riots in Quito, Ecuador while I was neither a student nor a citizen of said country just to...

pests: the embarrassing STI of my reef

pests: the embarrassing STI of my reef

I'm not sure if it is as bad as burning pee but seeing some dreaded unwanted pest in your tank has to be like getting a call from a one-night stand informing you of his or her not-so squeaky-clean status.  For me that scourge is red planaria.  Yeah, yeah "I swear I...

My TDS meter addiction: a cautionary tale.

My TDS meter addiction: a cautionary tale.

I have an addictive personality.  I've been this way my whole life.  But what has to be the weirdest addiction (besides nutritional yeast as a delicious popcorn topping) is the addiction that manifested itself with my first handheld TDS meter.  (Total Dissolved Solids...

An introduction from some guy you have never heard of.

An introduction from some guy you have never heard of.

Here on this blog we have some of the brightest minds contributing from the world of reefing:  Sanjay Joshi , Rich Ross, Christine Williams,  Joe Yaiullo and the list goes on... and then you have me.  Unknown, under-qualified and intimidated to be listed with these...