Interview and photography by Brett Bingman I travel for work and sometimes that travel happens around holidays. Sure, we’d all like to be with our families and friends this time of year, but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. This year I happened to be in San...
By Matthew Wandell Photos by Richard Ross One of my first experiences with the Tuka Anthias (Pseudanthias tuka) was seeing a shoal of these bright purple fish at a local wholesale facility. They certainly didn't look any different than all the other Anthias in the...
I confess that I cringe a little bit any time I hear someone say "this fish will not eat corals" or "this fish is reef safe" because, like all wild animals, fish are unpredictable beasts with minds of their own. No matter what a website, magazine, book, or local fish...
By Matthew Wandell One of the most enjoyable parts of working at a public aquarium is the opportunity to care for a wide range of tropical marine fish and see what makes them tick. We all know that some species of fish are harder to keep for a long time in an aquarium...
By Matthew Wandell Keeping fish in appropriate social groups is an important step towards creating a dynamic and interesting aquarium. Fishes kept in groups display interesting social behaviors and some species will even spawn in good conditions. Males of many species...
By Matthew Wandell In the last issue of Reefs Magazine, I discussed the Parvulus Cardinalfish, a small fish that can be easily kept in small groups in captivity. In the next few issues we'll take a look at some other species of fish that are ideal for forming shoals...
By Matt Wandell In the last two issues of Reefs Magazine we took a close look at two species of fishes that are ideal for creating shoals, or small groups, in a reef aquarium--the Dwarf Cardinalfish and Randall’s Anthias. In this third and final part I’ll be...
By Matt Wandell Aberrant Tangs are one of the most striking and unique fishes an aquarist can obtain, and for that reason they demand extremely high prices when they are rarely offered for sale. For our purposes, “aberrant” refers to coloration or patterns that are...
If you’re reading this article beyond the title it’s likely you’re already familiar with the importance of phosphate in reef tanks and how granular ferric oxide (GFO) media can be used to control it, but here’s a refresher anyway.…