Tip of the Day – 5/16/2011

If you have seahorses, mandarin dragonettes, pipefish, or any other fish that are finicky eaters and require live foods, then a well populated refugium is certainly a tool you need. Even though an established reef aquarium is teaming with life, a single fish can decimate pod populations, eventually causing the fish to starve. To keep the fish fat and happy, you can supplement with live foods. Another quick tip is to simply take a handful of macroalgae from the refugium and give it a good shake. You can do this either in the refugium, or pull a small clump of algae and shake it into the display aquarium itself. Either way, make sure live pods get into the aquarium and also make sure to catch any loose algae that gets into the tank, is Caulerpa can grow like crazy in the display.