corals – Fish Tank Fan

Free Coral Guide PDF

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Chad

The Western Australian Museum has put out a free coral identification guide. There are other such guides out there but I have found most of them don't have photos of good enough quality to really assist in making an identification. This guide is an exception. It won't cover 100% of the corals you might come across but I think it does a pretty good job with the major ones you are going to run into....
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Frag Gripper and Plant Gripper a Great New Invention

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Chad

NOTE: this is NOT a paid endorsement or advertisement. My excitement is genuine and not paid. I really do think the product is a good one and no one has paid me to say it is. Many of you remember Bob Bittner the clownfish breeder and creator of Reef Stew. He's back with something new and pretty amazing. It's called Frag Gripper. In talking with Bob it became clear to me this product would also ...
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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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Coral Fighting and How it Affects Placement and Purchase

Posted on March 30, 2016April 6, 2016 by Chad

Corals are vicious animals Many people still don't know that corals are animals, alive and adhering to the Darwinian principle of survival. Since Victorian times, or perhaps even before, many corals were confused for plants. To this day I sometimes have trouble getting guests to comprehend that they are alive. But this fact is vitally important to the aquarist. Corals are downright violent and wi...
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Rapid Hydrogen Peroxide release from the coral Stylophora pistillata during feeding and in response to chemical and physical stimuli : Scientific Reports

Posted on March 22, 2016March 25, 2016 by Chad

Neither I, nor our average aquarist, is really all that interested in the deep science going on in this article. Certainly it is fascinating to ponder and certainly research like this often yields helpful information for us in the hobby. I can't say I know what this finding means for us. One thing it does suggest to my mind concerns water changes. Though the study states that the levels of Hydr...
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