Acclimation is the process of safely introducing reef animals into their new environment/water parameters. This process is more important with some species as compared with others, please read our guidelines below:

Snails: Easily acclimated, a quick 10 minute drip is recommended.
Crabs/Hermits: Easily acclimated, a quick 10 minute drip is recommended. Take 20 minutes with Arrow Crabs.
Shrimp: Moderate acclimation required, a 45-60 minute drip is recommended.
Starfish: Easily acclimated, a quick 15 minute drip is recommended.
Anemones: Easily acclimated, a 15 minute bag float for temperature acclimation is recommended; no drip required.
Scallops: Easily acclimated, a quick 15 minute drip is recommended.
Sea Hares/Nudibranchs: Moderate acclimation required, a 30-60 minute drip is recommended.
Cucumbers/Tube Worms: Moderate acclimation required, a 30-60 minute drip is recommended.
Macroalgae/Copepods: No acclimation required; release freely in tank.
Gorgonians: Easily acclimated, a quick 10 minute drip is recommended.
Sponges: Do not let the sponge touch air. Submerge bag with sponge in tank, cut plastic and release. No acclimation required.
Mushrooms/Ricordea: Easily acclimated, a 15 minute bag float for temperature acclimation is recommended; no drip required.

Some corals you receive may arrive attached to little or no substrate. Attaching them to live rock in your reef tank is very quick and easy. You can go to a local hardware store or pharmacy and pick up Super Glue in the gel form (not liquid form). Apply a small amount directly to the back of the mushroom or zoanthid frag and immediately press it firmly to the rock on which you would like it to attach to. The rock can either be removed from the aquarium before gluing, or it can be left submerged in the tank as it is.

A large percentage of inverts and corals are considered filter feeders, meaning they have adapted to feed by extracting free-floating food particles from the water column. Filter feeders will consume naturally occuring planktonic organisms which can be found in the water in your aquarium. Some of the more common ones include copepods, rotifers, phytoplankton, detritus, and uneaten fish food. For the most part filter feeders can be kept successfully in the tank with regular fish feeding. Some of the more delicate filter feeders do require spot feeding to maintain health.

Photosynthetic anemones, including carpets, condylactis, hatians and flower anemones require a good amount of light wattage/color to remain healthy in an aquarium. Photosynthesis allows the zooanthellae algae in their bodies to thrive, in turn giving the anemone the energy it needs to survive. They also require excellent water paramaters and good "flow", or water movement over their tentacles to feed. Water movement provides the anemone with food by allowing it to extract or "filter" out microorganisms and algaes. Low light anemones, including rock anemones and curly q's do not need any special lighting requirements, their main source of energy is through filter feeding.

Many inverts may lose limbs at one point or another in captivity, but (like a lizards tail) they will grow back! For instance, the coral banded shrimp is prone to losing one or both of its delicate claws when being collected, transferred or handled, however after its first or second molt following the loss of its claw(s), the missing claw(s) will regenerate. This is also true with emerald crabs, porcelain crabs, arrow crabs, sally lightfoots, pistol shrimp and many more crustaceans. Starfish are also prone to lose limbs from stress, collection or handling, however 9 times out of 10 they will regrow the missing limbs fairly quickly. Brittle stars are the most prone to losing limbs due to their delicate structure.

If you are dealing with a major hair algae issue in your reef tank, sea hares are usually a great choice, however there are a few things you must consider. Once the sea hare finishes off all of the hair/macro algae in the tank, it will starve to death unless supplemental feeding is imposed. An easy way to accomplish this is with regular feeding of macroalgae clippings from a refugium. Chaetomorph, caulerpa and halimeda are all great choices and will keep your sea hare healthy and active.

Aiptasia can be a big burden on a tank stocked with coral, however there are a couple sure fire natural ways to deal with the nuisance anemones. The first being peppermint shrimp. These small reef-safe shrimp will eat the anemones one by one until they are all gone. The second, and most effective are berghia nudibranchs. Berghia nudibranchs ONLY eat aiptasia.

Sand Sifting invertebrates are animals that burrow or dig in the sandbed. These animals are highly beneficial to the reef aquarium. Sand sifters will help prevent unwanted nuisance algae growth on the top of the sand, they will keep the sandbed oxygenated with their movement, and they will also help prevent toxic nutrient pockets from forming inside a deep sand bed. A good mix of sand sifting invertebrates completes a well rounded clean-up crew. Some sand sifting invertebrates include Nassarius Snails, Sand Sifting Crabs (Mole Crabs), Fighting Conchs, Queen Conchs, Hermits, Beaded Starfish and Sand Sifting Cucumbers.

Algae growth is a natural process in the reef aquarium. In the first few months of a newly set-up tank you will have to face different stages of nuisance algae growth, from brown diatoms to cyanobacteria (red slime). Eventually after the tank has been established and water parameters have balanced more desirable algaes will take hold and for the most part choke out the nuisance ones. Until then, you must battle the algae that grows on rocks, glass and sand. This can be achieved manually and naturally. Manually, one can only go so far (ie glass scrapers), however a diverse group of live tank cleaners can mean a world of difference. Many snails, crabs, hermits, sea hares and urchins live to feed on algae in the wild, making them perfect candidates to feed on it in the aquarium. A combination of adequate tank cleaners and manual algae extraction will keep your display tank beautiful and presentable.