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‘Natural History Redux’ (Trailer)

Posted by Coral Morphologic

Another mystery larva identified and another industry first at the Long Island Aquarium

Posted by Todd Gardner

The Inside Scoop on Fish Tank Kings Season 2 on Nat Geo

Posted by Francis Yupangco

Reefs Magazine – Spring 2013 Issue

Posted by Josh Saul

I was actually trying to photograph an octopus that had created a pile of shells outside its den, but it scooted off leaving me with this little goby, which sadly I can’t identify. If anyone can ID this fish from the Red Sea please feel free to add a comment. You can see more of my images at: www.triggerfishphotography.com

Posted in Too Cute | Tagged fish, goby, octopus, red sea, shells | 1 Comment

New eco-friendly shark barrier

by Heidi dM on June 18, 2013

‘Sharksafe’ is the name of the new eco-friendly shark barrier developed by a team of researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. The Head of the Botany and Zoology Department, Prof. Conrad Matthee, says, “It is estimated that the numbers of certain shark species have decreased by up to 90% over the past 20 years – particularly the number of great white sharks”. He says that part of the problem is the existing shark nets which have been designed with the specific purpose to kill sharks. Not only do the current shark nets kill sharks, but they also unfortunately, result in the death of many other sea animals. According to the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB), their average annual catch of sharks in their nets is 591 and only 13.3% are released alive. Other sea animals included in this average annual catch are 201 rays, 60 turtles, 43 dolphins and 30 fish. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Science | Tagged dolphins, eco-friendly, rays, shark nets, shark species, south Africa, turtles, zoology department | Leave a comment

Terrible Advice Tuesdays (T.A.Tues): Mushroom Eradication Is EASY!

by mrsaltwatertank on June 18, 2013

Terrible Advice Tuesdays (T.A.Tues): Eradicating mushroom corals requires simply cutting the top of the coral off. With the top removed, the base will die. The rest of the story: Whoever said must have fantastic luck or be completely delusional. The only way I’ve ever successfully eradicated mushroom corals from a tank is by cutting the top off, then completely covering the base with epoxy. If the smallest amount of the base is left uncovered, it will regrow a new top and the coral will start growing again. I’ll also add enough epoxy such that I cover an extra inch (1″) of the rock around the base of the coral to make sure it doesn’t somehow find light and start growing again. Other mushroom eradication methods I’ve tried include supergluing over the base, which doesn’t work as the coral will slime. The slime makes the glue not stick and fall off. Kalk slurry bombs also are ineffective as the slurry won’t stay in place long enough to kill the coral. Injecting the coral with a kalk slurry takes skill and luck as the coral usually retracts quicker than you can inject the kalk slurry. Finally, while you can completely remove the rock the mushroom coral is on, but sometimes that rock is a central part of your aquascaping and can’t be removed. Clearly simply cutting the top off the mushroom coral won’t get the job done. Update: Several readers informed me they’ve had luck with the aiptasia/majano wand for mushroom removal. MORE: Terrible Advice Tuesdays (T.A.Tues): Mushroom Eradication Is EASY!

Posted in Corals, Equipment, Fish, Tanks, Uncategorized | Tagged advice, around-the-base, fish, fragging-coral, mushroom-coral, posttagged, reef enthusiast, rock | Leave a comment

SpectraPure Introduces Their Own Dual Chamber Media Reactor

by AquaNerd on June 18, 2013

b8d2SpectraPure Dual Chamber Media Reactor SpectraPure Introduces Their Own Dual Chamber Media Reactor Aquarium hobbyists have long known the benefits of activated carbon and granular ferric oxide (GFO) as major parts of the filtration system, and for the most part, the two have been used conjunction with with each other. While one took up dissolved organic material, the other absorbed photphate and silcates, both polishing and cleaning the water in the process. The immense benefit of both of these filter media products of course prompted aquarists to use multiple reactors, oftentimes with multiple pumps. Thankfully, the aquarium industry responded to the demand with dual stage reactors from the likes of Bulk Reef Supply, and now the other water filtration specialists at SpectraPure have their own version as well. While the SpectraPure Dual Chamber Media Reactor may appear remarkably similar to the BRS model, it differs in one very distinctive way. Where the BRS model has two chambers plumbed inline, the SpectraPure version has them plumbed up separately. Instead of flowing from one chamber to the next, the water line feeding the reactor splits off to independently feed both chambers simultaneously. While keeping the two separate in this manner may or may not be important isn’t even the point. What’s important here are the valves that can be used to regulate the flow rates through each chamber. GFO requires low flow speeds, as it is not desirable to tumble this media. If the grains do tumble, they could break apart and find their way back into the aquarium. Carbon, on the other hand, can have high or low flow rates, it really doesn’t matter much. Lower flow rates improve contact time, while higher rates move more water through the media. Getting back on track, another benefit to this layout is the fact that you could take one of the canisters offline, with the other still filtering water. This is ideal if say the GFO is exhausted before the carbon, or if there is some other issue. The retail price for the SpectraPure Dual Chamber Media reactor is set at $74.99, though it is currently on sale for $69.99. This is about $10 more than the BRS version, but given the fact that you can independently control the flow of each chamber, it’s well worth the extra green. MORE: SpectraPure Introduces Their Own Dual Chamber Media Reactor

Posted in Industry, Uncategorized | Tagged aquarium equipment, immense benefit, industry, media reactor, spectrapure | Leave a comment

French Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru, Angelfishes

by Barry Brown on June 18, 2013

c90eFrench Angelfish 457x305 French Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru, Angelfishes Good morning from a tiny island in the Caribbean called Curacao. While I was underwater shooting the submersible yesterday I was joined by a very curious French Angelfish who was pretty much begging to have his or her picture taken. I encounter these magnificent fish on just about every dive and it’s always the same circumstance. For instance, I will be shooting something else and these fish will swim directly in front of me and my camera as if to say “look at how beautiful I am, take my photo instead!” Then once they pass they always come back and usually do circles around me until I give them some attention. I remember once in Bonaire a dive master from Buddy Dive had two pet French Angelfish at a dive site on Klein Bonaire, the minute we jumped in they swam directly to him and waited by the boat until we returned. In this case he was feeding them fruit of some kind and they loved it, kind of strange considering their main diet is sponges. For you photographers, the slower and more quietly you dive the closer you will get to these fish, they tend to react differently to new or bad divers and usually will just swim away. I finally got into the deep-water labs yesterday and was able to photograph the beautiful assortment of slit-shells we currently have, will send that out to you tomorrow. I will be heading to Mexico in July to meet and work with the crew from the CATLIN project in Australia and help them photograph the reefs there, stay tuned for more. Well, we have two sub dives today, one will go to 1000 feet the other to around 550 so I need to get ready to submerge. Have a wonderful day, Barry MORE: French Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru, Angelfishes

Posted in Conservation, Corals, Fish, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged angelfish, circles, magnificent fish, pomacanthus paru, shells | Leave a comment

Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess!

by Reef To Rainforest on June 17, 2013

6975Hepatus Tang Featured Image Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess!

The Poster Child of the Tang Police: Paracanthurus hepatus is actually very site-specific and not range as widely over the reef as do other tang species.

Most marine aquarists who frequent online message boards have heard the term “Tang Police” (abbreviated here as TP). Some are even members of this group themselves, while a few other unlucky souls have been “arrested” by them. Conversely, there are also a few people willing to challenge their assertions regarding the swimming space requirements of Acanthurids (surgeonfishes and tangs). For those who haven’t heard the term, it will help to define the phrase “Tang Police.” The best way to identify an officer in this force is by hearing him LOUDLY express his opinions regarding the amount of swimming space required by tangs (or other species). MORE: Arrested by the Tang Police: I Refuse to Confess!

Posted in Corals, Fish, Opinion, Science, Tanks, Uncategorized | Tagged author, corals, dry, hippo tang, officer, paracanthurus hepatus, physics, police, policy, science, tanks | Leave a comment

A Quick Look at the Vertex Libra Dosing System

by Richard Aspinall on June 17, 2013

Whenever products arrive through my door for testing, I always think to myself: ‘will I be able to say good things about it?’, ‘what happens if it’s rubbish?’ and so forth. Fortunately manufacturers rarely send out bad products for review, (well, you wouldn’t would you?), mostly they’re great and I can rave about them and rarely (but sadly for my bank balance), I receive some great products that I just don’t want to give up and actually end up buying. The Vertex Libra falls into that later category. Continue reading →

Posted in Equipment | Tagged austrian company, bank balance, pumps, rubbish, software update | Leave a comment

ORA Baby Clams

by Josh Saul on June 17, 2013

For those that don’t follow ORA’s blog or Facebook status, you’re missing out on some crazy photo updates from their various efforts to raise new and unusual animals. Pictured here are Hybrid Squamosa x Maxima baby clams, they were born in 2012 and are around 8 months old in this picture.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blog, crazy photo, facebook, maxima, photo updates | Leave a comment

Ocean Corals Shows Off Giant “King” Turbo Snail

by AquaNerd on June 17, 2013

68f6Ocean Corals Giant Turbo Snail Ocean Corals Shows Off Giant “King” Turbo Snail Anyone who has been around the hobby long enough knows that marine snails, specifically turbo snails, can get pretty big. Mexican turbo snails are typically the largest we see, with certain individuals growing to be just a tad smaller than a baseball. But a recent import of ultra large Trochus snails (Trochus niloticus) by UK based Ocean Corals has us rethinking just how big and beefy marine snails can get. They recently shared images of what they’re calling King Turbo Snails on their Facebook page, which show these mega Trochus snails to be near 4-5″ in diameter and several inches tall. These snails are almost too large to fit in your hand! The going rate for these ginormous snails is £30 each, or just a shade under $50 at current exchange rates. A total of four were imported, but two have been sold as of yesterday. As far as information about this species goes, Gerald Heslinga of Indo-Pacific Sea Farms has a viewable paper on them HERE. MORE: Ocean Corals Shows Off Giant “King” Turbo Snail

Posted in Corals, Uncategorized | Tagged aquarium invertebrates, aquarium livestock, corals, king turbo snail, trochus snail | Leave a comment

Deep Sea Crab, Deep Water Crabs, Spider Crabs

by Barry Brown on June 17, 2013

daf2Crab 457x305 Deep Sea Crab, Deep Water Crabs, Spider Crabs Good morning all, here’s a new crab they found yesterday at 767 feet buried in the sand out in front of the Substation. Talk about a face only a mother could love??!! He is currently doing very well in my giant cold-water aquarium equipped with all the comforts of home including deep sand, rocks and caves and things to crawl on. This lucky crab is being returned to were we found him sometime next week because we have no reason to keep him, we just wanted to take his picture. I will contact my friends at the Smithsonian today and get you his or her name and update the post immediately, it’s really a super cool creature! I am off to go take some photos of horses believe it or not, will be nice to be away from the H2O for a bit!! Talk more later, Barry MORE: Deep Sea Crab, Deep Water Crabs, Spider Crabs

Posted in Conservation, Corals, Fish, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged comforts of home, deep-water, smithsonian, spider crabs, water aquarium | Leave a comment

Reef Threads Podcast #136

by Gary Parr on June 16, 2013

It’s Regular Guy Week #2! This week we welcome John Davis, who is not an aquarium hobbyist. He recently was exposed to the hobby while making an aquarium-pickup trip with Christine. Hear how this hobby appears to an “outsider.” Also, be sure to consider attending the Marine Breeders Initiative workshop, July 13. Download the podcast here, or subscribe to our podcasts at iTunes. Also, follow us on Twitter at reefthreads.—Christine and Gary Marine Breeders Initiative Workshop
This is an excellent event. Make every effort to attend. Click here to visit the website.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged initiative, itunes, reef, threads, tweet | Leave a comment

The Unique Corals Supernova Scolymia is Absolutely Out of This World

by AquaNerd on June 14, 2013

d35fUnique Corals Supernova Scolymia The Unique Corals Supernova Scolymia is Absolutely Out of This World To say that we have an obsession with those big, beautiful Scolymia australis corals is a bit of an understatement. We just can’t get enough of them, whether its watching videos of them inhaling various food items or just gazing at vivid pictures. In our constant perusal of Scoly web content, we always randomly find one or two that put all of the others to shame, but this latest beauty from Unique Corals has really raised the bar for this coral species altogether. Appropriately dubbed the Supernova Scolymia, this amazing piece has out of this world coloration. In fact, it is the best coloration of any Scoly that we’ve laid eyes on, even surpassing the beauty of those legendary ‘Master Scolys’. The 2.5″ WYSIWYG specimen is currently listed at $498, but we don’t expect it to stay on the Unique Corals site much longer, assuming it is still there when this article publishes. MORE: The Unique Corals Supernova Scolymia is Absolutely Out of This World