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Black Water Fish and Their Environments  By: Christopher Fong To understand the fish that live in black water habitats it’s imperative that there is a proper understanding of what black water is and what makes it unique. The term “Black Water” is a term that refers to very soft/acidic water which is stained brown from the accumulation of tannic, humic, and fulvic acids. These acids form and accumulate when various organic matter decomposes in aquatic environments particularly dead plant matter. Due to the coloration and the chemistry of the water many black water habitats house very interesting and unique populations...

What do you think of when you hear the word predatory? First thing in my mind, is a great white shark or an apex predator hunting its food source, but is there any animal which is not predatory, I think not. I have listed my five top predatory marine fish which are available to aquarists. There are no hard to find specimens on my list. Each fish has been chosen for a particular reason. Each are predatory in their own right, but are spread apart by huge differences. 

Whether you are new to the reef hobby, or you’ve been keeping reef tanks for years, one thing that will always be on your to do list will be some form of algae control. Whether it be hair algae, Valonia (bubble algae), Bryopsis (fern algae), Ulva (sea lettuce), or the ultra-pervasive cyanobacteria (slime algae) there is generally a “check list” you can work your way through in order to cut down and ultimately defeat your algae problem. All the algae on the previous list needs two things in order to survive: light and nutrients. We will always have both of...

A number of years ago, I taught at a fish health symposium on natural immuno-responses. I emphasized two key points: 1) Water quality, and 2) food nutrition. Basically my point was if you educate yourself and follow the rules here, you’ll rarely need to worry about treating sick fish . Most of our knowledge concerning fish dietary requirements demonstrates the importance of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates for growth (anabolism) and energy (catabolism). Together they must be balanced to protect the body. This is known as metabolism.   Proteins are primarily needed for growth and the synthesis of antibodies. Good protein...