Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
Site Supported in Part by:
Ocean Nutrition 

Saltcorner Mission

Salt Corner is basically a nonprofit website dedicated to Marine Aquarist 'Enlightenment.' Even though some advertisement graces its pages, the 'extremely small fees' for space go solely to website expenses. Companies interested in advertising here should contact me for details.

This website is composed of several areas as denoted in the Menu Bar.

'Bio' may be of interest, as I've been in the hobby for over 60 years!

'Bob's Books' is dedicated to the booklets and books I've authored or co-authored. Each is fully explained and includes their Table of Contents.

'Reviews' is split into two sections. One is comprised of 'dozens' of book reviews that I've written over the past years with each showing a photo of the book's cover. The other half of this area provides various 'Product Reviews' of some of the leading aquarium products both past and present.

'Articles' provides just that, those written by many different and noted contributors, including myself on various subjects of interest to aquarists. It's a must see listing and it continues to grow in length as contributors add more articles.

'Q&A' is devoted to sharing questions and comments by readers, and my answers to those questions to help other readers with possibly similar problems. And to accelerate finding the information needed, the Q&A exchanges are linked to 'key words' to speed up finding those answers!

'Species Library' is a MASSIVE section of this website as it contains 'thousands' (not ten or twenty, not a few hundred, but 'many' thousands) of fish, invertebrate and algae photos with almost all posted with their scientific names, common names, range, husbandry, etc. And to further make finding subject species of interest much faster, the entire library has been divided into subsections such as you will see when visiting this area. And I should note that in August/04 this website was honored when the scientists responsible for the world's latest 'official' Butterflyfish Taxon revision allowed its first posting to occur on this website! Again, a massive undertaking to bring forth what is no doubt the largest collection of marine species anywhere on the Internet for the interested aquarist or diver!

'Gallery' opens a vast collection of aquarist system photos, including my own, along with a history of the individual systems. And yours can be added if you wish.

'Links' opens a page dedicated to those aquarium product companies that support this website. Their banner and logos are also distributed throughout the many pages of this website and are all linked to their home website. These supporting companies are to be commended for supporting this website!

'Contact' opens a page where you can send me questions, items you would like to contribute and have posted on this website, of course with due credit, and/or discussion on how to make Salt Corner an even better website!

Furthermore, by clicking on any highlighted species or words, you'll be taken directly to its photo! Simply use a possible existing return arrow (not everything yet has this arrow) or your back one page arrow on your browser to return to where you were.

And in an effort to further broaden the availability of the information presented on this website to those not understanding English, translation software has been added to all pages/articles. I realize this software is still far from rendering accurate translations but at least it's a step in the right direction.

In closing I want to thank the following world renowned marine scientists and photographers for giving permission to reproduce their photos and articles on this site: Bob Fenner, John Randall, Sam Gamble, Martin A. Moe Jr., Matthew Mayo, Adrian Marsden, Alfredo Carvalho Filho, Daniel Gotshall, James Fatherree, Peter Wirtz, Richard Field, David Cook, Keiichi Matsuura, Robert Patzner, Vincent Hargreaves, Daniel Geiger, Andrea & Antonella Ferrari, Leslie Leddo, Keith Hiscock, Massimo Boyer, Massoud Abadi, Mary Jane Adams, Thierry T.C. Chan, Hiroyuki Tanaka, Julian Sprung, Stephen Kempf, Hans Bersch, Lance Ichinotsubo, Jim Stime Jr., Matt Clark, Chris Aslett, David Vaughan, Rob Toonen, Tristan Lougher, Shao Kwang-Tsao, Richard Harker, Charles Delbeek, Darryl Torckler, Zaid Fadul, John Clipperton, Johnny Jensen, Alf J. Nilsen, Jim Greenfield, and James Gasta. They are to be commended for helping make this website one of the most educational aquarist websites in the world! Please note that all photos should be considered as being copyright protected, with the photographer holding the rights to the photos. Please contact them directly if interested in using their photos.

A 'Suitability Index' has also been placed into the Aquarium Library in response to a viewer request to save time searching for reef-safe species without looking through each of the many listed animals. Of course that term, reef-safe, is quite general and those having a 'suitable' icon must still be checked out carefully to fit one's needs. The developed icons will help speed up finding animals that can be considered suitable/unsuitable or invasive/pests for our aquariums.

Its 'Key to Symbols' has been placed at the end of all species lists, whether needed there or not at the present time. If future species additions require an icon, it can then be added as needed without reinstalling the code for this index. Keep in mind these icons are used only where species dictate a clear need for them. Consider this a work in progress.

And also, the addition of the book The LIVING Marine Aquarium Manual, containing about 300,000 words and over 1100 photos that actually depict what is discussed, is a FIRST in the hobby and its there for all to read for FREE and can also be read in many different languages!

Salt Corner is a 'vast' effort, designed to bring forth honest and valuable up-to-date information, all in a 'quality' format that will hopefully help all aquarists have healthier animals and long-term successful systems. Thank you for viewing and would appreciate your thoughts. Bob

Bob Goemans' Biography

Bob Goemans

With over sixty years in both the freshwater and marine hobbies, often look back and think about the changes I've seen. My beginnings in the hobby are still very clear in my mind. - I was born and raised in Queens, New York and the early post World War II years were hard on our family. Yet, I maintained a freshwater 10 gallon glass aquarium with a slate bottom and metal frame. I gathered live foods such as daphnia and mosquito lava from local ponds, even if I had to walk 10 miles with pail in-hand to feed my guppies. During some of my grammar school summer recesses was sent either to my grandparent's farm in New Jersey or my aunt's tavern that was located at Rockaway Beach, New York. At my grandparent's potato farm I cared for their vegetable garden and fed the chickens and pigs. At my aunts tavern I sometimes swept the dance floor in the mornings, but actually spent most of my time at the beach, which was only a hundred yards away, where I became an excellent swimmer. Those summer 'vacations' certainly helped the meager food budget for the rest of our family while I was away. And while away my Mother fed the guppies dry food and think those guppies were actually happy to see me return. I learned respect for nature at an early age, and also that farmers had a hard life and how important they were to the rest of the population.

At this early age joined an aquarium society in Jamaica, New York, and at their monthly meetings my questions always centered on natural looking aquariums and how to improve water quality. The answers, in the late forties were always water changes and to maintain a good growth of live plants. Actually, still good advice these days! At one society meeting a guest speaker who had just come from Europe showed a new device that could draw water through bottom gravel. He felt it would result in a healthier aquarium and the item was called the 'French Invisible Filter.' It was made by a gentleman named 'French' and 'Invisible' because its porous tube-like body would be buried in the substrate with only its clear chamber-like portion containing an airstone remaining above the substrate surface. The speaker said this was the first showing of this item in the United States and he thought it might prove to be a major improvement in aquarium keeping. How right he was!

The gentleman had only two such devices with him and was kind enough to offer one for the night's auction before he returned to Europe. I was the only bidder and purchased the item for twenty-five cents. That was big money for me in those days, as I can remember a newspaper costing two cents! This was the first 'undergravel filter' (UGF) ever sold or used in the United States. After purchasing this 'filter' it was placed in my aquarium within a few inches (7.5 cm) of the front glass and connected to an air pump. Within a month's time the dark line of waste matter just below the gravel's surface became much less visible. In those days all I knew was that waste products were being removed somehow and my aquarium looked cleaner. It appeared I had a healthier environment for my fishes. At a following meeting was asked to come up on the front stage and then questioned if I thought the filter was working as discussed in the previous meeting. Explained what change I had seen, but was laughed at by many of the attending 'experts.' Over the next few decades the UGF became a standard accessory and saw many physical changes.

During the next 60 + years, whether in the USA or the Far East, have maintained aquariums of different sizes and complexity. In fact, had as many as eight aquariums going at one time ranging from 10 to 320 gallons and collected specimens for many of them from the South China Sea to the Caribbean. And over the past 35 years have seen my writings go from general chatter written for a local aquarium society newsletter to those in major aquarium magazines. - In the 80's and the 90's, wrote for Marine Fish Monthly for almost 14 straight years, along with a couple of the decades of monthly columns and various articles in Freshwater Aquariums and Marine Aquariums (FAMA), which were incorporated into Aquarium Fish International (AFI), which sadly ceased its operations in Oct/2012. Have also written for Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH) for about two decades, and also Bob Fenner's Digital Magazine and for UK magazines, e.g., Marine World, Practical Fishkeeping, and Marine Habitat. Have also written a series of 5 booklets on aquarium husbandry, and also self-published a CD-ROM book, The New Wave, dedicated to aquarium microbial processes with co-author Sam Gamble. And in 2009, with the help of coauthor Lance Ichinotsubo and TFH/Microcosm, published the extremely successful 'The Marine Fish Health & Feeding Handbook.' Add to this writing the lead article for the return of the renown Sea Scope, and the development of a very successful website - saltcorner.com, and occasional articles for i-5 Publishing, now in 2017 LuminaMedia, (Marine Fish & Reef USA/Coral & Reef USA magazines) continue to stay quite busy.

In fact, millions of words have been written these past years and hand written mail, faxes, e-mail and phone calls have been received from all fifty states, Europe, Australia, Mexico, the Far East, Mid East, Canada, Africa, South America, and numerous Caribbean Islands. It seems like the only place I have yet to receive mail from is the Moon! I've also provided many question and answer sessions at our home, spoken at various aquarium societies and marine conferences and even did a TV show for a local ABC station. Presently, and for the last 35 years, we reside in the foothills surrounding Tucson, Arizona, and are just a few hours by auto from the Sea of Cortez where we take vacations as frequently as possible.

Several years ago retired from a subsidiary of General Motors where my position title was 'Environmental Contracting Manager.' Should also add here that I have no allegiance to, or paid affiliation with any aquarium product company. Nor have I ever been paid for the use of my name. As for our home in Tucson, Arizona, its been something like Grand Central Station, especially these past twenty years with people coming and going, and with our phone always near a meltdown condition. I feel sorry for the postal carrier who always has to get out of the mail truck to stuff everything into our rural mailbox. My wife, who didn't know the difference between 'gefilte fish' and 'angelfish' many years ago has become quite interested in the hobby and deserves many kind words for her continued patience and support.

My Doctorate is in Business Management, and am a 32° Mason.

Even though I'm not a scientist or a marine biologist, nor do I profess to completely understand the ocean's entire and intricate ecology, my respect for its delicate existence and for those who depend upon it for their subsistence remains paramount. And because of my independence from aquarium product companies, you have, at least in my opinion, a source of information that is free of any preferential treatment and filled with years/decades of personal experience.

Site Supported in Part by:
Boyd Enterprises