Fish Tank Fan – Page 6 – Freshwater, Planted, Marine and Reef Aquariums

What You Will Find Here

Arizona Fishkeeping seeks to provide practical information on how to be a "fishkeeper" and about just what it means to be a fishkeeper rather than just someone who happens to keep fish. What it means to be an aquarist rather than just someone who has an aquarium. This site includes freshwater information, plants, salt water, corals, as well as the fish, shrimp, crabs, and other things that live in our tanks. We try to make the videos and the articles helpful and short so that they are useful. If you want deeper information we can provide ways for you to discover that as well. The goal is to promote the hobby and help people have fun doing it....

How to choose good live rock

The first thing we should understand is that live rock is not actually alive, it is rock, sometimes coral skeletons or fossils of such, but it is not actually alive. This title refers to the bacteria, and other life that dwells on and within the rock. The posi...

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The four best corals for beginners

Below are listed four very hardy corals, some information about their care, feeding, and behavior. There are other corals that are relatively easy to care for, but really none so easy as these four. They are listed by the names they are most commonly calle...

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How to pick a clean up crew

One of the most frequently asked questions by new reef tank owners is, "what should should I get in my clean up crew and how many?" The clean up crew, commonly abbreviated CUC, is composed of several different types of animals, usually snails, hermit crabs, an...

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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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