Articles

I’ve certainly spent enough time talking abstract philosophy of late, right? While I’m pleased with the level of discussion, I think it’s time to talk about ways to run a more biologically diverse reef system in 2018. With all of the cool gear around, to me it’s actually more beneficial to talk about the way I’d want to set up the system- it’s “theme” and philosophy (ahrggh, there’s that word again!). So, my stated goal is to create a modest-sized aquarium that embraces natural processes...

I wanted to share some insight regarding shipping coral in summer. Maybe this will be helpful to members here who like to sell their extra frags to others, or maybe it will help customers understand the thought process in beating the summer heat for your coral. Before I created Boom Corals this year, I was a member who had shipped coral, so my experience comes from the past few years.

It’s been a lot of fun to mix it up here and chat with some many of you over the past few weeks. It’s been a great exchange of ideas, philosophy, and camaraderie,and I couldn’t be happier. In fact, this lively atmosphere has gotten the old gears spinning, as I contemplate my next step on the planning of my next reef aquarium. And what’s neat is that I think I’m going to incorporate a lot of “old school” thinking with “new school tech”, with more emphasis on diversity than any other reef tank...

Maintaining water quality and critical parameters is the single most important aspect of having a successful aquarium. Knowing your water's parameters is usually the first troubleshooting step to any health issue arising in aquatic life and is vital to maintaining sensitive fish, coral, or other ornamentals. As aquarium technologies develop, so do the tools we use to test our water. Hobbyists are no longer constrained to simple chemical test kits, but now have a multitude of options ranging...

As reef keepers, we know precisely what causes bleaching. Within coral tissue lives photosynthetic zooxanthella algae. To maintain coral health, a delicate balance must be maintained, ensuring the zooxanthella don’t grow too quickly, but that they can always photosynthesize and provide the coral with any additional nutrition.

It’s kind of funny to me how the same sorts of topics and issues keep popping up in the hobby world. Now two years removed from the business end of the reef world, I can see with a bit more clarity some of the happenings and trends in the hobby. And, talking to aquarists of all types daily, I am seeing what I find s somewhat obvious “cultural issue” we have in the hobby. And I’ll come right out and state my “thesis” here: I think that we- as a hobby, are not doing a good enough job...

Brandon Hooten of Current USA and PE Mysis , George Mavrakis of CoralFish12g and Shawn Hale of Fritzs Aquatics are taking a Summer Roadtrip from Dallas all the way to Glacier National Park. We will be stopping at 50+ LFS's on the drive up in only 5 days! What stores along this route are your favorites? Also, we will be met in Denver by Jake Adams of Reef Builders where he will escort us to all the best stores in the Denver area!

As some of you might know, I’ve done a little “pivot” away from the business end of the reef hobby world, to focus on my other aquatic obsession, blackwater aquariums. Doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned reefkeeping. Nope. Just put my business focus on a different challlenge. It was funny, when I announced that I sold my interest in Unique Corals and started my own FW gig,some of my daily readers were sort of freaked,thinking,"Old Fellman's lost it and gone off the deep end!" Which, of course, I...

Hanna Instruments care about the success of your saltwater aquarium! It's been said that saltwater aquarium keepers are not keepers of coral or fish but rather keepers of water! That's why Hanna not only cares about you but cares about your water! Hanna Instruments has a history of developing innovative products that make analytical measurements easier to perform at an affordable price. Many innovations introduced by Hanna are now the norm for the instrumentation industry.

In our previous article in this Your Guide to Aquarium Photography series, we looked at how you should prepare for a photoshoot of your reef. In this third installment, we will be focusing our attention on camera settings/parameters and how to get them right for fish, coral, and FTS photos.

LRS Foods just celebrated their five year anniversary by releasing a “behind-the-scenes” video produced by Mark Callahan. They’ve come a long way in a short period of time and this video shows the care and diligence which has been the foundation of their success. LRS has offered up a nice package of frozen, dry and liquid foods as a way to say “thank you” for supporting their family business. You may not know it but LRS now distributes PE Mysis, Reef Nutrition, Coral Frenzy and Masstick...

We've all been there - the daunting reply to a thread in which every other word is an acronym or a term that everyone else but you seems to understand. Here is an attempt to clear up and define some more of the commonly used terms in the hobby and on the forums. Ive searched through the forums and combined some of the older acronym lists that have been buried and included some of the more current terminology as well as chemical formulas, coral names, people, vendors and treatments that are...

Prize: POTM Winner Banner, one year free Premium Membership and an Avast Marine Porthole courtesy of Avast Marine. Details below. (Note: Winners located outside the United States will be responsible for applicable shipping costs)

In writing this first article of mine, id like to help people to investigate unknown reef conditions and to find the cause and hopefully the solution.

I was recently asked a question by a customer about taking a photo under different lighting than what I had used on my site. They wanted to see a heavy blue/actinic picture. Long story short, it got me to thinking about the various techniques used in coral advertising today. Every seller is different, and no one way is right or wrong. For some it's about getting the coral to look close to what the naked eye sees. For others it's about the presentation. And sometimes it's all about the...

The ATK (Automatic Top-off Kit) is a simple, standalone, and complete solution for replacing water lost to evaporation. The ATK – Automatic Top-Off Kit was designed to not only be super-simple to install and use, but it is unique in the market as an ATO device with three layers of redundant monitoring and water-level control. The ATK does the work for you, while at the same time protecting your tank and your home. And now you can win one for free!

One of the most important things I learned from these individuals is that all of them believe that stability is one of the keys to their success. Most of them not only keep the parameters of their tanks very stable, but they also are not constantly adding or changing the fish and corals in their tanks either. Something I really need to do a better job of doing. While it is clear that some of the parameters of their systems vary markedly from one another, there seems to be little variance in...

Since opening our business and launching our website, the number one area we have received comments and questions on has been our photography. All of the comments have been positive and most of the questions are in the “how do you do it” category. Among the many principals our company was founded on is complete transparency of what we do and how we do it. To us the most important aspect of our business is meeting or whenever possible exceeding customer expectations. If our customers know...

Sometimes it's really all about the silver linings. I mean, I'm not the worlds most emboldened optimist - trust me, but in the wake of a devastating circumstance, I think if we can find just one flake of positivity, then at least we can't consider it a 100% failure. I have often considered the “first crash” an essential rite of passage in every reefers journey. Whether by malfunction, equipment failure, direct human error, the result of pests, or some other quirk we never discover, this...

In our previous article in this Your Guide to Aquarium Photography series, we examined some photography basics. In this article, we'll look specifically at how you should prepare for a photoshoot of your reef. Preparing for a photo shoot a couple of days in advance can make a difference in the quality of the pictures and the amount of post-processing needed.

I am very excited to announce Dana Riddle as the newest Expert Contributor to the Reef2Reef Community. Dana will be heading up and overseeing the lighting forum. If you know about Mr. Riddle then you'll be very excited about this news! If you don't know him then you will quickly learn what a valuable asset he is going to be to our reefing family here at R2R!

Our previous article on Keeping Seahorses in Aquaria focused on how to feed and nourish your ponies. This, our final article in this series, will address how to deal with time away due to travel and also how to handle disease and sickness in your herd.

Tank photography has been and continues to be a challenging topic for many reefers. When I started my tank, I was using an SLR (a non-digital for the newer generation); yes, we used to shoot using film and wait for days to finish the roll and get it developed. I remember taking notes on how each shot was taken (no Exif info was available then) and then keeping the notes to compare with the pictures when the film was processed. I was able to raise my ratio of good shots from 2/36 to 25-30/36...

Please do not view the information below as a shortcut to quarantine. Use it only in an EMERGENCY SITUATION when treating a fish with parasites/worms PLUS a serious bacterial infection.

Another aspect of keeping your herd happy and healthy is feeding them properly and well. Certainly one way to a seahorse’s heart is through its stomach! This is a time to really enjoy your ponies. As their owner, you get the experience of interacting with them at feeding time. It is an excellent opportunity for you to inspect each pony and determine its health and behavior patterns. Seahorses quickly learn that the appearance of their owners usually means yummy things to eat will soon...

Enter for FREE to win the Tunze 9404 Skimmer. The DOC Skimmer 9404 compact is very easy to install, features silicone feet for a completely silent operation and can be easily positioned in every nano cabinet filter.

So why is everyone pushing quarantining these days? So what is the deal, anyway? I do not need to intricately discuss the importance of quarantining, or how to do it. It’s been covered very well in other articles. I do, however, want to address the reason that there are so many quarantine and preventative-treatment cheerleaders throughout Reef2Reef and the reefing community.

As a member of the Reef2Reef community, perhaps you've noticed that some members seem to have labels (sometimes a whole stack of 'em) under their username. Maybe this is something you're just now noticing, or perhaps it's a question you've been muddling over for a while but just never got around to asking... What the heck are these labels and what do they mean? Well, keep reading because today I'm going to work on unpacking all of the different user "banners" you'll see around R2R.

The time has come to reveal the results of the Marine Pure test! As the thread title alludes to, we ran into some speed bumps during this test, but we still walked away with some eye opening results.

Neptune Systems is at it again! By adding even more to their ever growing line up of aquarium gear Neptune Systems is quickly becoming a one stop shop for all the equipment you need to keep a saltwater reef aquarium running successful and as hassle free as possible. Before we lose you please note that the new ATK or Automatic Top Off Kit can be used with or without the Apex controller as a stand alone unit!

One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank goes through as it matures but this addresses the one most commonly discussed.

Hanna Checkers are small, handheld colorimeters that provide higher accuracy results than typical chemical test kits. Offering improved technology, these portable colorimeters make measurement hassle-free with their simple design and easy to follow instructions.

Jellyfish are becoming the next trend in ornamental aquariums and Jellyfish Art is the leader in supplying live jellyfish and their specialized aquariums and products. Their mesmerizing forms and soothing movement create living works of art. Jellyfish aquariums are a new kind of interior decoration, sources of light and life that become the focal point of any space.