Fish
- -Recently-
-
-
-
Category Archives: Eye Candy
Latest Posts
Orphek Atlantik Shines Bright at SWFMAS 6th Annual Reef Conference
There is no doubt that LED lighting is one of 2013’s hottest topics. That shined true this past weekend for Orphek’s latest release, the Atlantik LED aquarium lighting fixture. With its sleek European design, unsurpassed clean, crisp lines and enough power for any reef aquarium, the Atlantik’s turned quite a few heads this last weekend at the South West Florida Marine Aquarium’s 6th annual reef conference.
Frag Junky displayed Orphek’s flagship lights over their frag tanks at the reefing event and had this to say about the lights: “The power and color that these lights produce along with the easy controllability of these lights are incredible. We are so excited to … More:
Posted in Corals, Events, Eye Candy, Fish, Industry, Invertebrates, Opinion, Tanks, Uncategorized
Tagged custom leds, florida marine, lighting fixture, marine-aquarium, Zoas
Leave a comment
Lionfish Attack the Endangered Social Wrasse
The ongoing effort to stifle Lionfish outbreaks in the Caribbean gets some attention in this latest article by Luiz Rocha, curator of ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences. Writing from Belize where he studies the Social Wrasse Rocha raises new concerns for a species that is currently one of the world’s most endangered reef fish (Halichoeres socialis.) 
Photos courtesy of Luiz Rocha. This fish is one of the most exquisite of the Wrasse family and is strictly limited to the waters of Pelican Keys. Living in and around mangrove fields its habitat is currently being inundated by local community wastes and now faces the ballooning numbers of a foreign apex predator. Rocha and his team will be collecting Lionfish from the reefs of Belize and examining their stomach contents to better understand the Lionfish’s role as foreign predator. Their findings are limited at the moment as the study began December 15th, however, Rocha remains optimistic in his efforts stating: “It’s up to us to figure out what they are doing to their new home because maybe then we can devise better ways to mitigate their impact on the reef and the social wrasse.” The endeavor to conduct such a study does come with consequences. Check out some of the challenges his team faces when dealing with the poisonous Lionfish after the break! Read more here! Ouch that stings!… More:
Posted in Conservation, Eye Candy, Fish, Industry, Opinion, Science
Leave a comment
Local Fish Store Teases Kessil Owners With New Mounting Hardware
A leader in the SF Bay Area reef market has introduced a new product for Kessil A350 LED spotlights. The “Premium Light Bar” appears to have been designed and manufactured by Neptune Aquatics in Milpitas, CA. Teased Tuesday on facebook this product has yet to see any other specs disclosed. 
Utilizing a clean hollow (probably milled steel) tube to hide the wire creates a simple and elegant look, while the light itself is cradled in a circular frame for the light housing base. Although Kessil lighting solutions come with mounting hardware this product is sure to have a following, adding a revenue stream to a company that already specializes in not only saltwater aquariums but also freshwater aquariums. Check out the pics here and contact Neptune Aquatics here!… More:
Large Zoanthid Colonies Needed
In recent Reef Threads podcasts Christine and I have discussed the unique beauty of soft-coral aquariums and how they should be viewed with more enthusiasm by hobbyists. As part of our discussions we’ve talked about how uncommon it is to see decent-sized zoanthid colonies. Most zoanthid collectors tend to have a lot of small clusters on frag plugs rather than mature colonies that play a notable role in their overall coralscapes.… More:
Posted in Corals, Eye Candy, Photography
Tagged colonies, Coral, Photography, zoanthids
Leave a comment
MACNA Corals Photographs Pt.1 (and free wallpaper, too!)
All photographs by author 2012 MACNA in Dallas welcomed many coral&fish vendors from every part of United States and they didn’t disappoint show attendees by bringing some of the most beautiful and healthy marine creatures, including sponges, photosynthetic and non- photosynthetic corals, clams, anemones and other sessile invertebrates. I don’t know if you agree with me, but… More:
Posted in Corals, Events, Eye Candy, Photography
Tagged lps photos, MACNA, macna corals, macna photographs, macro photography, sps photos
Leave a comment
Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #100: Don’t Believe The Rumors
Cleaner shrimp make a flashy and useful addition to any saltwater tank. With their long antennae and their eye-catching colors, you (or your kids) will fall in love with them. While cleaner shrimp are great eye-candy, there is only one cleaning job you should trust them to do. P.S. Don’t miss the bonus section to this week’s tip! Tagged as: cleaner shrimp , friday am quick tip , ich , marine velvet
Taken from:
Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #100: Don’t Believe The Rumors… More:
Posted in Corals, Equipment, Eye Candy, Fish, Funny, Opinion, Podcast, Uncategorized
Tagged cleaner-shrimp, diseases, Equipment, facebook, friday am quick tip, ich, mrsaltwatertank, reef junkie
Leave a comment
Fish of MACNA (and free reefs.com wallpaper!)
Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (or MACNA as we called) in Dallas welcomed some exciting new announcements from leading aquarium industry companies, but as you may suspect, MACNA is not only about new equipment. There were many beautiful tanks teeming with reef life on display and this two part photo article aim to show you some of the most remarkable fish and invertebrates I managed to capture at the show. Plus, there’s a little freebie for reefs.com blog readers at the end of this article. Enjoy! … More:
Posted in Conservation, Events, Eye Candy, Fish, Photography, Uncategorized
Tagged fish photos, MACNA, Photography, reef wallpaper, seahorse, wallpaper
Leave a comment
Lightning Strikes!
It’s been a little while since I posted an update on Matt Pedersen’s Lightning maroons. When they first hatched Matt asked me what my thoughts were regarding the potential for the offspring showing “Lightning” patterns and I told him I expected quite a few of them to have it. Take a look at them now! 
These fish hatched on 6-29-2012 so they are about 2.5 months old now. 
Matt said about 50% have some type of the “Lightning” traits so it looks like I wasn’t too far off. Nice work, Matt! You can read full details on Matt’s blog: Lightning Project… More:
Juvenile Metasepia are Awesome
The Marine Breeding Initiative’s 2012 workshop is next weekend, so the timing to share a pic of a captive breeding success story. Metasepia spp have long been thought of as one of the ultimate aquarium display animals. Their colors and patterns that continually change and move across their skin make their common name obvious – the Flamboyant Cuttle. The problem? The only live about a year, and they have traditionally shipped poorly which means if you are lucky enough to get one that survived shipping, its probably near the end of its natural lifespan anyway. Captive breeding would be a no brainer, except getting brood stock has been near impossible because on the rare occasions these animals do get imported, the get imported in single digits. That changed several years ago when a shipment of about a dozen animals came through and were distributed to ceph heads at 2 public aquariums. Those animals were successfully bred, shared with other public aquariums and now we have several generations of captive bred animals at several institutions. Without captive breeding, these animals would have only been a flash in the pan display, but due to the dedication of aquarists and the commitment to captive breeding on the part of public aquariums, we are well on our way to establishing a potentially stable captive bred population. Captive breeding is fun, educational, beautiful, and holds the potential for anyone involved to make cutting edge breakthroughs and observations – 4 really good reasons to give it a try yourself. For more info on the Flamboyant story, click here and here.… More:
Posted in Conservation, Events, Eye Candy, Invertebrates, Opinion, Too Cute
1 Comment
Have you met Carl? Discosoma Carlgreni
Being a Florida native I have a lot of appreciation for our unique local corals. The corals that come from the Florida Keys and surrounding reefs generally aren’t as popular as their Pacific relatives, but are equally as beautiful. This week I would like to introduce Discosoma carlgreni mushrooms. These are probably one of the most unrecognized mushrooms in the hobby. When I have posted pictures of them online, few people can identify them because they are not readily available to LFS and hobbyists alike. Like other discosoma mushrooms there are many different color morphs and tentacle patterns within this species. Carlgreni mushrooms are easily overlooked even in their natural habitat because they occur in very silty areas and are often found growing at the base of gorgonians in partial shade. Even though they are from different families, Carlgreni mushrooms share many of the same characteristics and care requirements as Tonga mushrooms (Rhodactis inchoata). They prefer moderate lighting, med – low flow, and don’t need pristine water conditions; making them a suitable candidate as a beginner coral. Unlike other discosoma mushrooms which have a tendency to spread and take over an aquarium, these are a much slower growing variety. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned next week for another mysterious mushroom, Discosoma sanctithomae.… More:
Posted in Corals, Eye Candy
Tagged discosoma carlgreni, mushroom coral anemone rhodactis reefgardener.net
1 Comment
Gearing up for the MBI workshop – Breed somthing!
In anticipation of the MBI workshop coming up on July 28th in Bloomfield Hills, MI, I have been breeding everything I can get my hands on – including the dwarf seahorse Hippocampus zosterae pictured above. These little seahorses max out at about an inch, and both parents and fry can be raised and maintained with easy to hatch, enriched Artemia. If you have a fuge or a spare 5 gallon tank, why aren’t you breeding these guys? Or some clownfish? Or some Banggai cardinals? Seriously, find someone who is breeding any of these easy fish (buy captive bred animals as it is possible wild populations of some of these fish may be in trouble), get some yourself and do it. Little to no impact on wild populations, super fun, super educational, very easy, and there is nothing like the cuteness of little animals you can raise yourself…why isn’t everyone doing it? No reason I can think of, so get to it.… More:
Posted in Conservation, DIY, Events, Eye Candy, Fish, Opinion, Too Cute
4 Comments
Just hatched Wunderpus photogenicus – too cute
Just hatched Wunderpus photogenicus paralarvae. So super cool, laid in captivity at Roy Caldwell’s lab at UCB, and yes, I am trying really hard to keep them alive and through settlement (though the odds of success are traditionally roughly if not equal to zero). For more info on Wunderpus check out www.TONMO.com or click here for an article from several years ago. And just for fun, here is a pic of an adult so you can see why got it scientific name. 
… More:
Posted in Eye Candy, Invertebrates, Too Cute
4 Comments
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Reefs® Community System