Chad – Page 6 – Fish Tank Fan

Survival is NOT Success

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Chad

There is a common trend I've noticed on some of the forums I admin where people feel that they are doing well if their fish survive. Of course we want our fish and other livestock, and plants, to survive, but survival is not the measure of success. Survival is the minimum thing. What we are looking for as keepers of things in water, is for those things to thrive. To thrive is better than to survi...
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PomPom Crabs: Reef Safe?

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Chad

For the most part you will hear people say to keep all crabs out of your reef tank. I don't agree. Of course there are "bad" crabs but not all crabs fall into that category. This video explores the Pom Pom crab and where it fits into that idea of a "bad" crab. A big hint as to my answer should be the fact that this video is of my own pom pom crab. https://youtu.be/AaOxw374kZc
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Arowanas – and other big fish

Posted on September 23, 2018September 21, 2018 by Chad

The below linked article is about the popularity of the Arowana. If you haven't heard of them I'm not surprised. They aren't readily available in most fish stores anymore. Time was you could get them at Pet Smart. Some species of Arowana, like the Asian Arowana are banned at the federal level in the US though you can still legally get the Silver Arowana. The Asian Arowana does well in American wat...
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Do you need a fancy salinity testing pen?

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Chad

When keeping a marine tank, a reef tank, or a brackish tank we all know it's important that the salinity be maintained and correct. I mention three different kinds of tank above because they can have different salinity from one another. Sometimes you will see salinity recommendations expressed differently, sometimes you see something like 32 and others 1.025. There are different ways to measure it...
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Cold Water Reefs are a Thing

Posted on August 26, 2018 by Chad

Scientific explorers have just discovered a new cold water reef of the coast of South Carolina. It's 85 miles long and about 2500 feet below the surface. Cold water reefs aren't something most hobbyists think about and perhaps some weren't even aware of their existence. We focus on tropical reefs in the hobby for good reason. I've only known one hobbyist to attempt a real cold water tank. T...
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