By Scott W. Michael
The marine aquarium community is finally starting to appreciate the smaller, yet fascinating fish that are abundant on coral reefs. This is in part due to the increasing popularity of nano-reef aquariums (defined as a marine aquarium under 30 gallons).
I also believe aquarists are becoming more responsible and now realize that many of the larger fish available to us really don’t do well in the average home aquarium. For example, large angelfish and surgeonfish will travel many hundreds of yards of reef in a day. Keeping these active fish healthy in a 100-gallon aquarium is very difficult because of their increased stress levels and the maladies associated with such confined living. Fortunately, there are hundreds of small fish species available to hobbyists, and these will thrive in an area the size of a coffee table or even a phone book.
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