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Introduction | |
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About This Book | |
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Who I Am | |
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What I Assume about You | |
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Why a Dummies Book? | |
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How This Book Is Organized | |
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Getting to Know Your Fish and Invertebrates | |
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Setting Up Your Aquarium | |
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Taking Proper Care of Your Aquarium | |
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Taking Proper Care of Your Fish | |
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The Part of Tens | |
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Appendixes | |
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Icons Used in This Book | |
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Where to Go from Here | |
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Getting to Know Your Fish and Invertebrates | |
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Your First Salty Steps | |
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What's So Great About Aquariums? | |
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Fish watching | |
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Relaxation | |
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A fishy family affair | |
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Fishy friends | |
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It's a natural thing | |
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The ideal pet | |
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Knowing About Wet Pets | |
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Finding a really fishy dealer | |
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Understanding Your Responsibilities | |
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Getting Started with Your First Saltwater Aquarium | |
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What equipment do I need? | |
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What about brackish water aquariums? | |
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How do I set up the aquarium? | |
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Understanding Water Chemistry and Algae | |
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Keeping Your Fish and Invertebrates Healthy | |
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What do I feed my fish and invertebrates? | |
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What if my wet pets get sick? | |
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Avoiding the wrong aquarium pets | |
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Taking the Next Step | |
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Some Things Fishy | |
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What Is a "Fish"? | |
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Basics of Fish Anatomy | |
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Body shape | |
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Fins | |
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Scales | |
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Swim bladder | |
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Feeding | |
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Respiration | |
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Other organs | |
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Senses | |
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Is It Fresh and Salted? | |
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Osmosis | |
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Osmoregulation | |
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Common Tropical Marine Fish Families | |
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Angelfishes | |
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Blennies | |
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Boxfishes and trunkfishes | |
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Butterflyfishes | |
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Cardinalfishes | |
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Catfishes | |
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Clownfishes and damselfishes | |
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Dottybacks | |
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Dragonets | |
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Fairy basslets | |
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Filefishes | |
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Gobies | |
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Groupers and sea basses | |
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Grunts | |
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Hawkfishes | |
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Lionfishes and scorpionfishes | |
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Moray eels | |
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Parrotfishes | |
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Porcupinefishes | |
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Puffers | |
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Rabbitfishes | |
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Seahorses and pipefishes | |
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Sharks | |
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Snappers | |
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Squirrelfishes | |
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Surgeonfishes and tangs | |
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Triggerfishes | |
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Wormfishes | |
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Wrasses | |
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Choosing the Best Fish for You | |
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Like Night and Day | |
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Advanced Schooling | |
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Trouble in Paradise | |
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Size | |
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Attitude | |
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Diet | |
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Habitat for Serenity | |
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Finding Good Choices | |
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Surgeonfishes and tangs (Acanthuridae) | |
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Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) | |
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Triggerfishes (Balistidae) | |
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Blennies (Blenniidae) | |
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Butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) | |
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Gobies (Gobiidae) | |
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Wrasses (Labridae) | |
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Angelfishes (Pomacanthidae) | |
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Damselfishes (Pomocentridae) | |
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Sweetlips (Haemulidae) | |
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Dottybacks (Pseudochromidae) | |
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Sea basses (Serranidae) | |
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Rabbitfishes (Siganidae) | |
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Pufferfishes (Tetraodontidae) | |
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Identifying the Wrong Fish for the Beginner | |
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Surgeons and tangs (Acanthuridae) | |
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Triggerfishes (Balistidae) | |
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Blennies (Blenniidae) | |
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Butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) | |
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Porcupinefishes (Diodontidae) | |
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Fairy basslets (Grammatidae) | |
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Squirrelfishes (Holocentridae) | |
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Wrasses (Labridae) | |
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Snappers (Lutjanidae) | |
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Filefish (Monocanthidae) | |
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Moray eels (Muraenidae) | |
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Boxfishes (Ostraciidae) | |
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Angelfishes (Pomacanthidae) | |
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Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) | |
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Dottybacks (Pseudochromidae) | |
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Lionfishes (Scorpaenidae) | |
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Sea basses (Serranidae) | |
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Seahorses and pipefish (Syngnathidae) | |
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Pufferfishes (Tetraodontidae) | |
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About Invertebrates | |
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Inside Invertebrates | |
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Recognizing Common Aquarium Invertebrates | |
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Phylum Porifera | |
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Phylum Cnidaria | |
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Phylum Platyhelminthes | |
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Phylum Mollusca | |
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Phylum Annelida | |
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Phylum Arthropoda | |
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Phylum Echinodermata | |
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From the Dealer to Your Home | |
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Stress and Quarantine | |
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How to Choose Healthy Fish | |
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Going Home | |
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Taking the Plunge | |
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Keep a Sharp Eye on Things | |
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Setting Up Your Aquarium | |
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Choosing the Best Aquarium | |
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Placing Your New Aquarium | |
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Fish watching | |
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Windows and doors and floors | |
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Hot and cold | |
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Water and power | |
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Tank Size | |
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Room to move | |
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Bottom line | |
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Types of Tanks | |
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Old school glass | |
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Crazy-looking acrylic | |
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Cap It | |
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More Than a Little Support | |
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Iron | |
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Wood | |
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Figuring Out Filters | |
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Respiration and Digestion | |
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Cleaning Your Water | |
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Mechanical filtration | |
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Biological filtration | |
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Chemical filtration | |
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Filter Choices | |
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Inside box filter | |
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Sponge filter | |
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Undergravel filter | |
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Powerfilters | |
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Canister filters | |
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Trickle filters | |
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Live rock | |
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Filters' Helpers | |
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Fluidized bed filters | |
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In-line filters | |
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Protein skimmers | |
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Diatom filters | |
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Denitrators | |
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Complete water-management systems | |
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Water Disinfection | |
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UV sterilizers | |
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Ozonizers | |
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Which Filter System Is Best for You? | |
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Aeration and Circulation | |
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Air pumps and airstones | |
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Powerheads | |
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Making waves | |
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Heating and Lighting Your Aquarium | |
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Tropical Heat | |
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The Right Temperature | |
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Hot Parts | |
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Types of Heaters | |
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Hanging heaters | |
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Submersible heaters | |
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Warm Options | |
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Thermostat | |
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Temperature control | |
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Thermal protection | |
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One Size Doesn't Fit All | |
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Water and wattage | |
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More than one | |
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Depth and length | |
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Choosing a Thermo Meter | |
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Floating thermometer | |
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Sticking thermometer | |
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Hanging thermometer | |
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Sinking thermometer | |
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Thermometer-hydrometer | |
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Liquid crystal thermometer | |
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Digital thermometer | |
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Temperature controller | |
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Let There Be Lighting | |
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Fishy Fixtures | |
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Lighting the Way | |
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Natural light | |
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Tungsten | |
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Fluorescent | |
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Power compact fluorescent | |
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Mercury vapor | |
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Metal halide | |
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Combination | |
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Switching from Day to Night | |
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Fishy Furnishings and Finishing Touches | |
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Aqua-Decor Is a Matter of Taste | |
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The Natural Look | |
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Some Background Material | |
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Simply paint | |
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Stick-ons | |
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Dioramas | |
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Unravel the Gravel | |
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It's alive! | |
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Grain size | |
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Depth | |
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Getting Rocked | |
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Dead rock | |
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Tufa | |
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Lava rock | |
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Live rock | |
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Keeping Coral | |
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Dead heads | |
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Artificial | |
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Live coral | |
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Adding Inverts | |
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Providing Plants | |
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Offering Ornaments | |
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Saltwater | |
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Natural seawater | |
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Artificial seawater | |
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Water Exams | |
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Hydrometer | |
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Water chemistry test kits | |
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Test probes | |
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Quarantine Tank | |
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Nets | |
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Size | |
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Meshing around | |
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Cleaning Tools | |
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A good bucket | |
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Substrate sucking | |
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Away with algae | |
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Odds and ends | |
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Partial to Salt: The Brackish Aquarium | |
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The Brackish Water Environment | |
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Equipment You Need (or Don't Need) | |
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Tank | |
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Filter | |
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Light and heat | |
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Other ingredients | |
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Fishes for the Brackish Water Aquarium | |
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Monos (Monodactylidae) | |
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Scats (Scatophagidae) | |
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Archerfishes (Toxotidae) | |
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Mollies (Poeciliidae) | |
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Puffers (Tetraodontidae) | |
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Plants That Are Partial to Salt | |
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Providing for grazers | |
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Planting and tending your garden | |
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Getting Your Aquarium Up and Running | |
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Stand and Aquarium Placement | |
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Aquarium rinse | |
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Aquarium placement | |
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Background | |
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Filters | |
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Undergravel | |
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External power filter | |
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Canister filter | |
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Trickle filter | |
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Fluidized bed filter | |
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Protein skimmer | |
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Live rock | |
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Substrate | |
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Ornamentation | |
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Aeration | |
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Heater | |
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Water | |
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Water Conditioner and Salt | |
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Hood | |
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Thermometer and Heater | |
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Filters, Again | |
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Undergravel filter | |
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External power filter | |
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Canister filter | |
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Trickle filter | |
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Fluidized bed filter | |
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Protein skimmer | |
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Live rock | |
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Aeration, Again | |
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Lighting | |
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24-Hour Adjustments | |
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Live Sand and Rocks | |
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Maturity | |
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Adding Fish | |
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Taking Proper Care of your Aquarium | |
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The Nitrogen Cycle | |
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Nitrogen In and Out | |
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Understanding the Cycle | |
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The role of bacteria | |
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Testing the cycle | |
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Waiting for Your Aquarium to Mature | |
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Taking the Next Step Just Add Bacteria | |
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Add the rock | |
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Seed it | |
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Start to stock | |
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Accelerators | |
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Taking the Final Steps to Maturity | |
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What About Problems? | |
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More Chemistry Salt, Acidity, and Gases | |
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The Importance of Water Quality | |
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Checking Your Salt Level | |
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An affinity for salinity | |
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Specific gravity | |
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Fluctuating salt | |
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What Are Acid and pH? | |
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Scaling pH | |
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pH fluctuations | |
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pH solutions | |
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Hardness and Alkalinity | |
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Hardness is easy | |
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Carbonate hardness | |
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Water Gases | |
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Oxygen (O2) | |
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) | |
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Considering Other Chemical Factors | |
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Calcium (Ca) | |
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Phosphate (PO4) | |
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Copper (Cu) | |
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All About Algae | |
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What Are Algae? | |
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Light and nutrients | |
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The sterility syndrome | |
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Algae Are Out of Control | |
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Go to the source | |
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Feed some fish | |
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Harvest time | |
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Knowing Your Algae | |
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Green algae | |
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Red algae | |
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Brown algae | |
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Diatoms | |
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Dinoflagellates | |
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Blue-green algae | |
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Keeping Your Aquarium Clean | |
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Performing the Basics | |
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Sucking it up | |
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Cleaning your filters | |
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Testing, testing, testing (your water) | |
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Changing the water | |
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Sticking to Your Maintenance Schedule | |
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Every day | |
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Every week | |
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Every two weeks | |
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Monthly | |
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Quarterly (every three months) | |
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Taking Care of Emergencies | |
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What, no power? | |
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Oh no! A leak! | |
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Too hot to handle | |
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The solution to pollution | |
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Taking Proper Care of Your Fish | |
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Feeding Your Fish | |
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Giving Them Their Meat and Veggies | |
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Meat eaters (carnivores) | |
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Grazers (herbivores) | |
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Meat and potatoes (omnivores) | |
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Knowing the Building Blocks of Fish Nutrition | |
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Identifying the Types of Food | |
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Natural foods | |
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Prepared foods | |
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Live foods | |
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Putting Food in Their Mouths | |
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Dealing with the oddballs | |
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Keeping a watchful eye | |
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Offering a variety | |
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Going away? | |
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Feeding Your Invertebrates | |
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Hunting and gathering (carnivorous) | |
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Scraping (herbivorous) | |
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Sifting (filter feeders) | |
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Preventing Stress | |
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Stop the Stressin' | |
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Stressful Conditions | |
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Poor water quality | |
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Handling | |
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Injury | |
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| |
Lack of nutrition | |
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Overcrowding | |
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| |
Aggressive behavior | |
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| |
Temperature changes | |
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| |
Salinity changes | |
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| |
Disturbances | |
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Recognizing Stress | |
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Acting weird | |
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Looking weird | |
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| |
Making a Diagnosis | |
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Diseases and Treatments | |
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Reviewing the Treatment Methods | |
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Direct aquarium treatment | |
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| |
The hospital tank | |
| |
| |
The dip method | |
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| |
Internal medication | |
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| |
Getting to Know Common Medications | |
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| |
Copper | |
| |
| |
Antibiotics | |
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| |
Recognizing the Bad Guys | |
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| |
Bacterial infections | |
| |
| |
Viral disease | |
| |
| |
Fungal disease | |
| |
| |
Parasitic infestations | |
| |
| |
Other health problems | |
| |
| |
Why Invertebrates Don't Get Sick | |
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| |
| |
Observing Your Fish | |
| |
| |
Seeing Is Believing: Fish Can Be Fun | |
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| |
Fish watching | |
| |
| |
Relaxing | |
| |
| |
Having fun with your family | |
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| |
Showing off | |
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| |
Experiencing marine biology in your home | |
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| |
Keeping a Log | |
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| |
Comings and goings | |
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| |
Fish interactions and behavior | |
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| |
Feedings | |
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| |
New equipment | |
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| |
Problems | |
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| |
General notes | |
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| |
Taking Pictures | |
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| |
| |
The Part of Tens | |
| |
| |
| |
Ten Fish to Avoid | |
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| |
Sharks | |
| |
| |
Skates and Rays | |
| |
| |
Stonefish | |
| |
| |
Moray Eels | |
| |
| |
Lionfishes and Scorpionfishes | |
| |
| |
Boxfishes and Trunkfishes | |
| |
| |
Groupers and Sea Basses | |
| |
| |
Parrotfishes | |
| |
| |
Snappers | |
| |
| |
Seahorses | |
| |
| |
| |
Ten Invertebrates to Avoid | |
| |
| |
Octopuses | |
| |
| |
Crown of Thorns Starfish | |
| |
| |
Bristleworms | |
| |
| |
Mantis Shrimp | |
| |
| |
Jellyfish | |
| |
| |
Queen Conch | |
| |
| |
Lobsters | |
| |
| |
Bivalves | |
| |
| |
Sea Cucumbers | |
| |
| |
Fire Coral | |
| |
| |
| |
Five Simple Metric Conversions | |
| |
| |
Temperature | |
| |
| |
Length Conversion | |
| |
| |
Weight Conversion | |
| |
| |
Area Conversion | |
| |
| |
Volume Conversions | |
| |
| |
| |
Ten Great Public Saltwater Aquariums | |
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| |
| |
Appendixes | |
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| |
| |
Resources | |
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| |
Books | |
| |
| |
Clubs | |
| |
| |
Magazines | |
| |
| |
Internet | |
| |
| |
| |
Glossary | |
| |
| |
Index | |