As a thank you to our readers for another great year, Jeff and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to offer a holiday sale to the Saltwater Smarts community. From now until the end of the year, use the promo codes below to receive $5 off on the eBook or print versions of The Salt Smart Guide to Preventing, Diagnosing, and Treating Diseases of Marine Fishes and The Avant-Garde Marine Aquarist: A 60-Year History of Fishkeeping.…
Caribbean Chris and I get lots of excellent, thought-provoking questions from Saltwater Smarts visitors that we believe might be of general interest to other salties out there. So we thought it would be worthwhile to begin posting some of them here in Q&A format.…
The bioload in a reef aquarium increases through both the acquisition of new specimens as well as the growth/reproduction of established livestock. So, unless fish and corals are dying in significant numbers (which they shouldn’t be unless there’s a major problem), the bioload in any reef system is usually trending upward.…
Fish oil is an important part of Paul B’s fish feeding regimenHobby pioneer Paul “Paul B” Baldassano has some strong opinions on what types of foods are best for fish, formed over his many decades of involvement in the marine aquarium hobby.…
Throughout my years as an aquarium enthusiast, I have followed advice from all the books I could get my hands on, since there were no other hobbyists with the same interest as I in my circle of friends growing up.…
Back in the sixth grade, I had my sights set on a BB gun for Christmas. It didn’t necessarily have to be the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action, Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle so famously coveted by Ralphie in A Christmas Story; make and model were of no consequence.…
Marine aquarium hobbyists who maintain a nano tank can find it challenging to acquire fish that are well-suited to their diminutive systems. But with the yellow watchman goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus), they can get all the attributes they seek—small mature size, attractive coloration, hardiness, and interesting behavior—in a single package.…
While reverse-osmosis units are among the more practical, affordable means for producing purified tap water suitable for sensitive reef systems, there’s no question that they generate a lot of waste water relative to the volume of purified product.…
Let’s face it, if we marine aquarists had our way, every gift we received during the holiday season would be hobby-related. Trouble is, ours is such a specialized pastime that few, if any, of our loved ones really understand it or have any idea what sort of item would be appropriate to buy—that is, of course, unless we sneakily supplant those visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads with some good gift ideas.…
Upon entering the world of small polyp stony corals (or SPS), many people ask the magic question, “Which types are best for beginners?” In my opinion, the most beginner-friendly choices are found in the genera Montipora, Pocillopora, Seriatopora, and Stylophora.…