I started this blog in 2009, with the goal of helping you (or other people like you) get up to speed quickly with your reef tanks and avoid making the same mistakes I did. Well, the good news is that there’s a lot of learning going on these days, as I continue to make mistakes.Last night, I was painfully reminded …
5 Ways to Use Vinegar to Help your Saltwater Aquarium Look and Perform its Best
If you’re like me, your aquarium needs a thorough cleaning, to get back into shape. One of the most versatile weapons in your saltwater aquarium arsenal is vinegar. Why is vinegar so useful? It’s a food, it’s an acid, it’s inexpensive and easy to find. Here are 5 ways to use vinegar to help your saltwater aquarium look and perform …
How to cure live rock
Looking for information about how to cure live rock? Live rock is one of the most important things you will add to your saltwater aquarium. It serves as both the structural and filtration-al… (I never miss an opportunity to make up a new word) foundation of most saltwater aquarium systems. Live rock also provides an important source of biological interest …
3 Biggest aquarium mistakes of the holiday season
‘Tis the season for new gadgets, gear, gift cards and fishes, corals and other invertebrates. I love this time of year–from a personal and family perspective, but also from my personal aquarium perspective–because this is the time of year to think about what I want to do to change up or add to my tank. A lot of us are …
Keeping a successful saltwater aquarium: check out these 5 tips
I asked members of the Saltwater Aquarium Blog Newsletter Community, “What is the best tip you ever received about keeping a successful saltwater aquarium?” You shared A LOT of tips–many of them were variations on a similar theme. Here are the top 5 tips for keeping a successful saltwater aquarium These are the top tips that you shared about keeping …
Chasing perfection when good enough is good enough
Chasing perfection when good enough is good enough One of the things I love the most about this hobby is that it is an art, as much as it is a science. However, inadequate success with the artful side of things can also be maddeningly frustrating. Our tanks are not just a comprehensive set of water parameters, they are living, breathing, imperfect things. …
Drip acclimate or not
To drip acclimate or not to drip? That is the question. A few weeks back, I published an article about a small piece of equipment that I use to help make it easier to drip acclimate your new arrivals. I was surprised when a loyal and helpful reader sent me a link to a thread on Reef Central that was …