reef tank

Editor’s Note: The reef aquarium hobby is not for the faint of heart. Maintaining a complex ecosystem can be a daunting task with many variables in play that all have effect on one another. However, beyond the effort to maintain the ecosystem and address common day-to-day issues, there are...

When I first started keeping SPS (small polyped stony) corals, I had done my research. Well, I thought I had, but as it turns out there is always more to learn and SPS corals are not all that forgiving when it comes to learning. It is for this very reason that most reputable retailers will...

Salinity is one of the most important parameters measured in reef aquaria. It controls not only the salt balance between an organism and its surrounding environment, but also the levels of a host of ions in seawater that aquarists neither measure nor control independently. Consequently...

The Pearlberry is one of those corals that most people look at and think “It’s soooo beautiful – I’m going to try my hand at keeping SPS!” For sure, this is an inspiring coral – it is one of the most spectacular corals in our system, and we sure do love to stare at it. But as most SPS keepers...

You have a lot of options now-a-days when it comes to plumbing an aquarium and that can make the task a bit overwhelming. There are quite a few different solvents, glues, primers, fittings, piping, and sealants all with their own particular purpose. To complicate that a little more each one has...

The reef aquarium hobby is not for the faint of heart. Maintaining a complex ecosystem can be a daunting task with many variables in play that all have effect on one another. However, beyond the effort to maintain the ecosystem and address common day-to-day issues, there are catastrophic...

Elite Aquatic’s Acclimation Box Acclimation boxes are an essential tool for adding new fish to an existing tank, but a tool which is often overlooked or disregarded. I was once a skeptic myself, and I have a feeling many reading this are far from convinced. After all, how could this little...

For many aquarists, pH is not something that they have much experience with aside from their aquarium. For many, pH is almost a black box measurement: something to be considered, but whose physical meaning makes little sense to them. This article will describe pH in an intuitive way (as...

The Bold and Curious Tinker’s Butterflyfish Chaetodon tinkeri The Tinker’s Butterflyfish (C. tinkeri) is a member of the marine butterflyfish genus Chaetodon (familyChaetodontidae) and one of five species in the subgenus Roaps. It isnamed for Spencer W. Tinker who discovered it in Hawaii...

Male and female Macropharyngodon bipartitus in the author’s aquarium. The Blue Star Leopard Wrasse, also referred to as the Divided Wrasse, Vermiculite Wrasse (as well as a few other common names) is one of thirteen species of leopard wrasse in the Macropharyngodon genus. As with most leopard...

Acropora secale is buff. It works out. Not like a “10 minutes on the treadmill” kind of work out, either. This coral is one of the most dense that I have ever kept in my system. It is a high-energy, high-output kind of coral. It obviously loves to consume high amounts of calcium and other ions...

Most reefkeepers know they need to measure alkalinity, and most know it has something to do with carbonate. But what is alkalinity exactly? Why is it important? How is it measured? This article will answer those questions and give you all of the information that you need to fully understand one...

The phosphorus atom is one of living matter’s basic building blocks. It is present in every living creature and in the water of every reef aquarium. Unfortunately, it is often present in excess in reef aquaria and that excess has the potential to cause at least two substantial problems for...

Introduction Nitrate is an ion that has long dogged aquarists. It is typically formed in aquaria through the digestion of foods, and in many aquaria it builds up and can be difficult to keep at natural levels. In the past, many aquarists performed water changes with nitrate reduction as one of...

There is no aspect of reef aquarium chemistry more important than calcium and alkalinity. Many of my previous articles have described various aspects of these systems in detail. In reading those articles, aquarists will note one pervasive theme: that maintaining appropriate levels of each are...

By definition a sump is a pit or hollow in which liquid collects, in particular. (Wiki). If you are new to the aquarium hobby, you may have heard the word sump before. In the aquarium hobby, and even in professional setups like those in zoos and public aquariums the use of a sump is by far the...

When you go to the beach and “sea” foam, pun intended, you will also smell a very familiar odor. The ocean is a gigantic system of natural filtration and chemical dosing. Today we will focus on the filtration factor. Protein Skimming! First off, what on Earth is protein skimming and why do we...