Articles by R2R Articles

Snails can be a very useful part of a reef tank, consuming algae, detritus and harmful microfauna that can make life difficult for your corals and fish. In a sense they act as a janitorial service for your tank, which is probably why teams of snails and other scavenging organisms are called the...

So, let's continue on with our discussion of plastics for the reef aquarium, Part 3. Moving along down our list in the table, the next ones are the polyethylenes. Table courtesy of @Seawitch, ©2019, All Rights Reserved. PE: polyethylene PET: polyethylene terephthalate PEX: cross-linked...

Lego, made of ABS, Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Yes, @Brew12, you can have Lego in your reef tank. This is a royalty-free image from by MW from Pixabay. Welcome to Part 2 of Plastic for the Reef Aquarium. In Part 1, we covered some background on plastic, why plastic is of interest to reef...

Introduction At the beginning of January, 2019, I wrote an article about glass. Shortly after that, I was asked to write an article about plastic. This is the result. The article below is organized in a similar way as the glass article. Plastic is of interest to reef aquarists because we use...

We have in our midst a reef aquarist who has had aquariums for the past 40 years and saltwater aquariums for 30 years. That's an enormous amount of reef experience by any measure. He also does things a little differently than some of the others profiled recently. This gentleman in the southern...

When you're starting a reef tank, it can take a long time before your tank starts to look like something you can be proud of. It takes patience and perseverance. We always say, "nothing good happens fast in a reef tank." Recently I visited a big LFS in Vancouver, BC, that had a nice display...

This is a royalty-free photo covered by Creative Commons License CCO. Sperm whales or cachalots Physeter macrocephalus are world’s largest toothed mammals, and they have the largest brains of any living things. They belong to the cetacean group of mammals along with dolphins and whales. Sperm...

We are delighted to announce that the April, 2019, Reef of the Month belongs to @AlexandrFeist. Alex has an excellent build thread which you may want to read. As you'll see below in photos, Alex has an extraordinary reef tank. All of the photos shown below are courtesy of @AlexandrFeist, ©2019...

Depression in Fish The photos included in this article are not depicting depressed fish, but rather they are just some good fish photos from the Reef2Reef archives showing different species that we commonly see in saltwater tanks. ©2019, All Rights Reserved. We often set up aquariums for the...

The author's dog-eared copy of Moe's book. Photo courtesy of @Seawitch, ©2019, All Rights Reserved. The Marine Aquarium Handbook: Beginner to Breeder by Martin A. Moe, Jr. Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: TFH Publications, Inc.; Revised, Expanded edition (September 1, 2009) Language: English...

Forum member @cancun has had reef tanks for the past six years. Because of either extraordinary skill or extraordinary luck or some combination, during those six years, she has had very few problems with her tanks. This is her story. She also has a terrific build thread you can read. All the...

A lovely full tank shot for inspiration. Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @DLHDesign, ©2019 All Rights Reserved. Reef2Reef has a very busy forum. So busy, in fact, that if I post something in the morning, I have to do a big search for it in the afternoon to find my thread...

For inspiration, here is a beautiful 93-gallon cube tank belonging to @vetteguy53081. Photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @vetteguy53081, ©2019, All Rights Reserved. And now we come to Part 3, Powerhead Placement. Everyone is waiting anxiously to hear about powerhead placement...

This 400-gallon tank belongs to @maroun.c, a Reef2Reef staff member. It has a tank turnover of 21,000 gallons per hour. This photo is from the Reef2Reef archives, courtesy of @maroun.c, ©2019, All Rights Reserved. So, last time, in Part 1, we talked about water flow, why you need it in a reef...

This 180-gallon display tank has 15,000 gallons per hour total tank turnover. This tank belongs to, and the photo is courtesy of @fabutahoun, ©2019, All Rights Reserved. This is an article that I’ve been wanting to write (or get someone else to write) for quite a while. Tank turnover is...

An overview of Kenya’s Ornamental Marine Fish Trade On the western coast of the Indian Ocean, Kenya is the biggest exporter of marine aquarium fish. Other countries in this region include Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Somalia. The reefs off the shores of these countries are rich in many...

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Henry David Thoreau We have among us, down in Arizona, a reef aquarist with a very different reef tank. @Exclusive...