Author Archives: Josh Saul

If your answer to that simple question is “Yes”, than this is a product that you might be interested in.  Contour’s newest entry into the extreme-sports-head-mounted-video-cameras product category is the ContourRoam which includes everything you see in the kit above.  Designed to allow the wearer to go to depths of up to 60m, this camera can be mounted to just about anything, freeing your hands so you can do some underwater activity like waving to the people peering into your tank.  Great for watersports as well, the ContourRoam should run you around $250.  Not included: shark bait.… More:

 Here is a video overview of the facilities at Live Aquaria, with a great voiceover by Kevin Kohen.  You may be able to make a buck by farming corals in your basement, but if you want to do it right and survive the inevitable equipment failures, you need to put some time and thought into how to design the facility. Videos like this are not readily available as every farmer wants to make sure that their ideas and “secret sauce” remains confidential.  Thanks to Kevin and Marc Levenson for providing this video.… More:

Every year National Geographic has a contest that is open to amateurs to find the best underwater photographs.  This year had some incredible entries including this great image of a nudibranch.  Be sure to flip through the entire set of winners.… More:

This art installation, scratch that, this “art attack” was done by an artist known as Filthy Luker, an in your face street artists along the lines of Banksy whose work is as daring as it is intriguing.  This “attack” is part of a series of octopus themed displays put on around the world.  Designed to surprise the public, these legs slowly appear out of nowhere, you can check out a video of how it is done here.  Hey Filthy, come to New York and hang out with the original reef gangsters!… More:

This recent report from NBC Universal sheds light on what a lot of hobbyists already know in their heart, that the reef has untold riches to benefit the world if we would just take more time to study them.  The sheer diversity of life on the reefs and the incredible number of compounds found in even the smallest life forms makes it statistically probable that there are many biological and chemical tools available that we just haven’t figured out yet.  Take cancer for instance.  Corals seem to be impervious to cancers, even though they can live for hundreds if not thousands of years.  Octopuses and sharks share this incredible trait.  Also, how many reef animals can regenerate limbs, even with the stressors of an ultracompetitive reef world trying to eat any critter who is weak or wounded?  The number of poisons and toxins alone should be a clue that there are a lot of cool compounds available, even in our lowly aquariums.  This video special really dives into the latest developments in this field.  Take a moment to follow this LINK to see the other videos.… More:

We’ve been testing the new double pack of feeds from Reef Nutrition for several weeks now and are really pleased with this new offer.  First of all, you get everything you need for filter feeders, NPS corals, LPS and even some active feeding SPS, all in one cute package.  Second, the new half sized bottles are great, for a 120-150G tank I find it to be just the right amount so none is wasted through expiration.  In addition, the new Tigger Feast is what we’ve been asking for for years now, specifically more pods so we can feed heavily.  The bottles have the new labels with Karen Talbot’s incredible artwork, and they come gift wrapped to make this a great present for your favorite reefer, or just something you bought to spoil your favorite invertebrate pets.… More:

We are happy to announce that the Reefs app is now the premier mobile app for ORA Coral identification.  The app combines ORA’s awesome official photos of each species as well as care information direct from the guys who farm these popular corals.  The ORA guide is included in the unlockable Coral Database.  When you go into the app you will see the ORA section in the list and can then browse all of the different corals they offer.  This new feature will be available in the updated version of the Reefs app due out next week.… More:

Kessil is showing off their new matrix LED powered lights that utilize the DiCon Dense Matrix LED array.  These 90W lights combine Sky Blue and Deep Ocean Blue colored LEDs and allow you to dial in the level of blue you want.  The 350 has a 31˚ optic which is designed to punch into tanks that are deeper than 24″, whereas the 350W (or Wide) sports a 70˚ lens for covering a large swath of tank but with limited depth.  The low power consumption makes the 350W ideal for lighting shallow frag tanks.  These new lights should be available in the next two weeks from Kessil and most retailers.… More:

• M***********g Montipora
• Brown Sewage Stylophora
• Tub’s Blues 2: Electric Boogaloo
• Barely Legal Rhizo
• Freshwater Favia
• Adolf’s Awesome Acro (LE)
• Ishtar: The Movie: The Coral
• Cancerous Chalice
• Crush & Eat Palythoas

  And the #1 name is…… More:

Here is a beautiful kiln fired ceramic piece that mirrors the whorls and pockets of a nice turbinaria or even pachyseris.  Designed to hang on your wall or sit on a coffee table, this would add some really nice texture to your reef observation room.  This item is available on Etsy and the artist has some really incredible other work that is reef themed.… More: