You can’t see the most important organisms within your reef tank. You can’t see some of the most important organisms on your body either. Why? Because they are microbes, tiny single celled organisms that arrived on Earth billions of years ago, as inorganic carbon...
I entered the marine aquarium hobby a long time ago. So long in fact, thinking back about it makes me feel old. Not that I am old, it just seems like a really long time ago. I was a kid when I got into marine aquariums, and I moved into the realm of marine tanks after...
So it’s time to ring in the New Year. 2014 has been a year of great changes for the reef aquarium hobby. While change is neither inherently good, nor bad, the changes that have taken place this year in the hobby, may surprise some reef keepers. The Obama...
“Have you seen my signature gold dragon’s eye merlin’s chalice of wrath?” Nope this isn’t a game of Dungeons and Dragons, or a World of Warcraft convention. It’s the reef aquarium hobby. Years ago, if you stepped into a coral shop, or onto an online forum muttering...
Today there are so many aquarium additives and devices on the market, it’s easy for aquarists to become overwhelmed, when trying to decide how to maintain a healthy reef. Some additives claim to make aquarium water crystal clear, while others offer to reduce nitrates,...
Two years ago I was knee deep in the trenches of building my house. If you’ve ever built a home, you know that so many aspects require attention to detail, it’s easy to get lost and confused. If you’re a reef aquarist like me, then it is inevitable that at some level,...
Last time, I went over what some may call a reverse acclimation. A process in which the QT tank is transformed to match a new arrival’s bag water, rather than bag water matching the QT tank. The thought behind this is simple, a fish bag is a disposable habitat, only...
It’s without a doubt that the process of traveling from a coral reef to a home aquarium is one of the greatest threats to survivability for marine fish, once they enter the reef aquarium trade. Going from a remote island, in the middle of the ocean, across the globe,...
The term zeovit reactor is making its rounds on the aquarium forums and in fish store chatter more and more these days. To help clear any confusion, zeovit refers to a zeolite media sold by Korallen zucht, and available online via www.zeovitusa.com. While we are on...
I must say, on one hand, I was very flattered that Reef Threads felt it necessary to dissect my 11 hard truths about reef aquariums. Though on the other hand, it made me a bit queasy. Why, you ask? It reminded me, all too well, of the greedy aquarium store owner...