Water Colors Aquarium Gallery

As we move into the new year, we celebrate our 250th episode by reminiscing on 2025. We had some monumental accomplishments this past year, including many amazing podcast guests, an extremely successful batch of baby bamboo sharks, and the astounding growth of our podcast community! We want to take a moment to thank everyone for following along and supporting our mission. We wrap up this episode by brainstorming new goals for 2026. This episode is dedicated to Splash, the greatest shop dog we could have ever asked for.

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In this exciting episode, we have two celebrity guests in the studio to discuss their personal fish room builds! Mike Monje and Craig Forist share details about their own fish rooms at home, as well as some secrets to help you build your own dream workspace. The hosts and guests share some great accomplishments, tank disasters, and tips and tricks for creating the most efficient and effective fish rooms. What does your dream work space look like?



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Enjoying the show? Support the gallery by shopping aquarium plants, merch, equipment, and more! https://watercolorsaquariumgallery.com/

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In this episode, the Water Colors team discusses their top 5 favorite fish that are not safe to keep with coral. The average reef aquarium in 2026 has a variety of mixed corals. Many of the most interesting fish in the aquarium trade are unsafe to keep with corals. This means there’s a whole world of fun and unique species that get overlooked, simply because they’re not compatible with the average reef tank. Many of the species mentioned in this episode will eat corals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in the hobby! What are your favorite non reef safe fish?



Looking for more content? Become a YouTube member for exclusive access to behind the scenes livestreams! https://www.youtube.com/@watercolorsaquariumgallery

Enjoying the show? Support the gallery by shopping aquarium plants, merch, equipment, and more! https://watercolorsaquariumgallery.com/

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Species mentioned in this episode:

Scribbled boxfish, ostracion solarensis

Yellow clown goby, gobiodon okinawae

Red Sea cleaner wrasse, larabicus quadrilineatus

Orange spotted rabbitfish, siganus guttatus

Eibli angelfish, centropyge eibli

Lemonpeel angelfish, centropyge flavissima

Regal angelfish, pygoplites diacanthus

Brownband butterflyfish, roa modesta

Threadfin butterflyfish, chaetodon auriga

Chocolate chip starfish, protoreaster nodosus

Peppered butterflyfish, chaetodon guttatissimus

Undulated triggerfish, balistapus undulatus

Caribbean longnose butterflyfish, prognathodes aceleatus

We all love bettas, but what other anabantoids need some time in the spotlight? In this episode, the Water Colors team discusses their top 5 species from the suborder anabantoidei. This includes many beloved fish such as gouramis, paradisefish, badis, and even channa! Discussions include native habitats, captive care, breeding reports, and more! What’re your favorite anabantoids?



Looking for more content? Become a YouTube member for exclusive access to behind the scenes livestreams! https://www.youtube.com/@watercolorsaquariumgallery

Enjoying the show? Support the gallery by shopping aquarium plants, merch, equipment, and more! https://watercolorsaquariumgallery.com/

Join the discussion on the Water Colors Aquarium Gallery Podcast Listeners Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/788428861825086/

Join our growing community on Discord! https://go.watercolors.shop/discord



Species mentioned in this episode:

Blue paradisefish, macropodus opercularis

Spiketail paradisefish, pseudosphromenus dayi

Gollum snakehead, aenigmachanna gollum

Noble gourami, ctenops nobilis

Ornate paradisefish, melpulatta kretseri

Peppermint pikehead, luciocephalus aura

Crossband chocolate gourami, sphaerichthys selatanensis

Honey gourami, trichogaster chuna

Giant sparkling gourami, trichopsis schalleri

Leopard bushfish, ctenopoma acutirostre

Black paradisefish, macropodus spechti

Rainbow snakehead, channa bleheri

Banded bushfish, microtenopoma fasciolatum

Red flame badis, dario hysginon

Strawberry licorice gourami, parosphromenus nagyi

Moonspot licorice gourami, paosphromenus linkei

In this episode, the Water Colors team takes a trip back in time. The early aquarium hobby has some fascinating origins, some good and some not so good. Much of what we know about aquariums has changed through the years, but one thing remains constant – people are enamored with fish. In this discussion, we’ll go through some of the earliest fish species to be imported and kept in the US, as well as aquarium styles, equipment, and care through the years. Do you own any retro aquariums?



Join the discussion on the Water Colors Aquarium Gallery Podcast Listeners Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/788428861825086/



Enjoying the show? Support the gallery by shopping aquarium plants, merch, equipment, and more! https://watercolorsaquariumgallery.com/



Looking for more content? Become a YouTube member for exclusive access to behind the scenes livestreams! https://www.youtube.com/@watercolorsaquariumgallery



Sources used in this episode:

The Aquarium, Mulertt, Hugo

Handbook to the Fish House, E. W. H. Holdworth

The Way We Were: 1973: Breeding The Clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris, Martin A. Moe

Guppies, The New York Times