Articles

Journey of a Regal Tang Meet the newest addition to my reef tank. This Regal Tang has been through the ringer and come out the other side in a miraculous and amazing way. He went through almost 4 months of quarantine and I’ll admit that this was the most frustrating fish I’ve ever dealt with. I was sure he would die at least four times during the ordeal. Against all odds, he made it through everything, all the meds, the moves and transfers, and ended up healthy and active – if a little...

With the constant debates about different lights and which is better, I figured I'd share a recent experience. Many people believe lighting is everything, and expensive lights will keep expensive corals. Many other people believe that water parameters and husbandry play the biggest role. And the majority of people probably fall somewhere in the middle and agree that you can't value one over the other; they are all important and need to be given equal attention. This article will look at a...

There were so many requests to test the Black Box LED that Ryan finally had to bring one in and test it. We can't wait to see where this thread goes, so by all means share your thoughts and opinions and experiences with these lights!

If you haven't checked it out yet, we've been releasing the MACNA 2017 Guest Speaker videos on YouTube! Here's one that we released yesterday with Joe Yaiullo, who talks about pruning and shaping your corals and how it relates to their overall health as well as being aesthetically appealing!

Corals Depot is a wholesale only company but they really want you to be able to buy and enjoy their corals! So much so that they are giving you the opportunity to win a $500 gift card to purchase coral from them just like the big aquarium companies do! Plus they want you to help them get their corals into a local fish store near you!

I went to a Show in Houston Last year and everyone was amazing! I want to help out by donating this great frag pack and all donations will go to the Chargers in Action for Texas Fund. The Chargers Team from Florida took action and filled 6 uhauls, 5 pickups/trailers trucks filled with supplies to assist the people of Houston in need. There are a lot of costs involved and anything [URL]http://wsvn.com/news/us-world/coral-springs-football-team-travels-to-texas-to-help-harvey-victims/[/URL] There are...

One of the most frequently asked questions I get are what are the secrets of the people who are really good at doing this. I would love to tell you that there are a bunch of secrets and I am writing a book that you have to buy to get them, but that is not the case. There really are no secrets nor should there be. When I did the articles on the Master’s tanks I tried to show that there were none, by revealing exactly what they were doing. Despite that I have still been asked about what are...

For those who are unaware, there is an alternative dipping method out there using Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer for Turf and Soil Concentrate. It has been heralded as a more gentle alternative to things like Revive and Coral RX, yet just as effective. I myself have used this in combination with Coral RX at times (not in the same container but one after the other). But to date I have not had any coral come in with AEFW so I have been unable to truly test it myself. There are...

LED’s work, and they work well! This has been firmly established over the last few years. The once fiery debate over “do they” or “don't they” has been practically extinguished. It seems that one of the last true mysteries with LED success is simply “what do I need to do with them to get my coral to look good?”

We’ve talked so much about the “high-biodiversity” approach to reef keeping that I personally find so compelling (and apparently, so do you), that I thought it might be good to take a moment and give some thought to the kinds of habitats we could actually mimic in our approach to trying to replicate them.

Well guys, I’m excited to share some amazing news with everyone. We here at Among The Reef have captive bred Candy Basslets (Liopropoma carmabi) in stock, bred by the Karen Brittain herself! These special little guys were born on New Year’s Day, and are finally available from us.

It's contest time! Up for grabs this time is a $100 credit towards any Octo Aquatics purchase! This contest is going to be so easy there's no reason not to enter.

Cirrhilabrus, the “Fairy Wrasses”, are one of the most elegant, active, and colorful reef fish. Their appeal in a reef tank is common to many, but not all have a well-rounded understanding of the compatibility amongst them. Enter the notion of “complexes”: groupings of very closely related species within a genus.

SB Reef Lights is launching the new ULTRA light at MACNA! To celebrate they are giving one away here on R2R!! ULTRA lights are on the website if you want to lean more or see specs.

One of the coolest things about our hobby is the amazing progression over the years in both the state of the art and the technology that we embrace. Improvements that have enabled us to do things previously thought incredibly difficult or even impossible, unfold daily on social media. And the progression seems to be accelerating constantly. What an awesome time to be a fish geek!

The Somatic 60 Filtration System is the perfect sump for cube tanks or other nano-systems that require a well thought out modular sump system. With modular add-on components like the Return Pump Basket or the Filter Sock Holder you can customize the sump with the accessories that you need and are purpose built components that will fit perfectly within the 60 Filtration System. By just adding your favorite return pump and heater you will have a ready-to-run sump system.

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...

We're excited to announce that the Reef2Reef Facebook Fan Page has eclipsed 200,000 Fans! To celebrate this milestone World Wide Corals is sponsoring this fun contest where 1 winner will get a $250 coral box shipped to their door! WWC is one of the premier places for coral and fish and have one of the best saltwater reef stores in the world! WWC is top notch in stock and customer service!

Hi! My name is Anton Post and I’m a 29 year old guy from the Netherlands that got into reef tanks three years ago. I’m currently keeping a Red Sea Reefer 525 that has been running since January 2016. I’m very honored to be featured in this month’s Reef of the Month article on R2R! I hope you enjoy the article and pictures. If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask in the tank thread!

Tunze Reef Swag Pack Giveaway! This month we're making it EASY to enter! Winning Prize: Tunze Reefpack 100, Tunze 3152 Nano Osmolator, Tunze Care Bacter and Tunze Care Panes shipped to your door!

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)

Visiting MACNA or any of the large frag swaps or shows 10 years ago the vendors present for the most part displayed large wild colonies of coral under metal halide lamps. IN the last five years this has changed dramatically as now almost all of the vendors show frags of corals under blue LEDs. So this begs the question: why have things changed so dramatically in such a relatively short time? Have hobbyists become more conscientious in terms of not wanting to take colonies from the ocean and...

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.

First off, I don't consider myself an expert reefer. I'm just one person that's been in the hobby for many years and, I'm still learning. I also like to help others to be successful too. So, I want to write this piece to help others dealing with an Aiptasia outbreak to make a decision about using berghia nudibranchs as an option for them.

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)