Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

The Care and Breeding of Cherry Shrimp

As many hobbyists have noticed, invertebrates are making a comeback in the hobby.  Many hobbyists are keeping invertebrate tanks only due to their interesting characteristics and funny behavior.  The popular invertebrate on the scene are the cherry shrimps, Neocaridina heteropoda.  These fun little shrimps are creating a storm around the globe along with other color morphs.  This is a simple guide to highlight the care and requirements of these intriguing shrimp and to give key points on how to breed them. (photo from: http://www.smartblue.net/akvateam/card_images)

  

GBR Nano Reef Biotope Macro Video in HD

Here's a nano reef we have set up stocked with species found on the fringes of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.  Coral, tunicates, a peacock mantis and more can be seen!  Being able to use natural seawater makes a huge difference in the survival and growth of all sorts of neat invertebrates covering the rock:

 

Photos from a Great Barrier Reef Island

Being a researcher and living near the Great Barrier Reef has it's perks!  We took a day trip to a small nearby island and snapped a few photos with a point-and-shoot (they're not as good as Haille's excellent photos from Florida, but oh well!).  There was a surprising amount of life only a few dozen meters offshore (or even closer, the first picture shows zooanthids growing on a boulder adjacent to shore!), and we thought we'd share:

Video of an LED-lit Estuary Biotope Nano Aquarium

Here's a video featuring a biotope we've set up featuring only species we collected by hand from a local estuary, some endemic to the area (click the video to view in HD).  We've also seen juvenile reef species such as the achilles tang and racoon butterflyfish, protected by turbidity and mangrove roots.

How to Frag Branching SPS Coral

This guest post by My Reef to Yours Coral Frags will teach you all about fragging branching SPS coral!

Fragging live SPS is easy and is a great way to share coral frags with your friends. This article will cover most branching SPS such as Acroporas, Birdsnest, and others. If it has branches, we can frag it safely.

Photos: Singer Island Dive & Artificial Reef

Well, this is my first post as me, although you've probably seen my pictures posted here.  My name is Hallie Carter and I'm an environmental ecologist, photographer and dive master currently living in FL! I hope to provide interesting pictures of marine life to compliment those posted by my friends who are living in the southern hemisphere!

I had a a great bridge dive today off the coast of Singer Island, FL! The visibility wasn’t great at first, but once we hit slack tide it improved immensely. We checked out the new artificial reef which was very popular to a lot of schooling fish. We also found a juvenile jack-knife fish, batfish, and even an orange seahorse. 

Notice the difference in biodiversity compared to the previously posted great barrier reef photos where Mike and Merritt are.  No two reefs are the same...anyway, on to the pictures!

Hawksbill Sea Turtle Photographed

Our friend Haille is a dive master and environmental ecologist currently working off the Florida coast.  She also happens to snap spectacular photographs that we shamelessly share here!  The hawksbill sea turtle is a beautiful and smaller species of sea turtle that's unfortunately been hunted for ornamental purposes in the past. 

Cairns! (Ecology & Tons of Photos)

In between research we decided to take a vacation to Cairns and got a lot of photos.  We stayed on a semi-private beach where a mangrove estuary met the ocean.  Tidepools were everywhere with a variety of gastropod and barnacle species as well as trapped blennies, gobies, and damsels.  Rock anemones and crabs were abundant as well!  Cairns is very close to the great barrier reef (see photo taken from the air above) and close to some of the several island research stations I visit for collecting trips.  More photos:

Shovelnose Ray!

I'm working on a study that is attempting to locate apex predator breeding areas so that the areas can be marked for conservation.  The process includes capturing, measuring, tagging, and releasing various shark species, but today it included the odd looking shovelnose ray!

Remember, humans could not and would not exist without sharks - sharks are an integral part of the ocean's food web, and all life on land requires the ocean food web to function!

Research in the Southern GBR: Whale Sharks, Turtles, & More!

I'm performing research on various outposts scattered throught Australia's Great Barrier Reef.  Here are some photos taken from the southernmost tip of the reef showing sea turtles and baby (12m long!) whale sharks.  Some pictures feature the bleaching which is what we all hope to get to the bottom of.  Many more pictures and many other locations will be added as time permits, as will the results of our findings, although that could be months or years ;).  Enjoy!

 

Waking up to Sea Turtle Hatchlings!

 

Loggerhead hatchlings heading to the coast in the early morning hours (Thanks Haille!)!  Enjoy :)

Our Quirky Fish: Science Finds Fish Have Personalities

Pet owners love to talk about how their beloved animals have personalities. Cats are often “haughty” or “affectionate,” while dogs can so often be “calm” or “fun-loving.” These aren’t just variations in breeds, they also reflect difference in the personalities of individual species. Even the most avid fish lovers will have to admit that fish generally aren’t the brightest species on the planet, so many of us don’t expect our fish to have wildly varying personalities. [Editor's note: the following is a guest post by Dabney B. from Okeanos Group]

AI Vega Powerpuck Customization Awesomeness!

 

Aqua Illumination's Vega + Powerpuck customization shows the most promise for LED fixtures that we've seen in, well, at least a year if not two, and possibly ever.  The fact that they're offering multiple diodes, a drag-n-drop configuation (with a spectrograph!) makes this fixture possibly the only fixture we'd spend money on.  Interchangeable, customizable LEDs?  Yes please!  Kudos to AI for what is sure to be a stellar LED light.  We can't wait for the release!

Green Sea Turtle Photographed in Flower Gardens

Our friend Haille Carter took this photograph while working for Purda Vida Divers & Surf.  Too cool!

Mangroves Are Precious!

 

Took this picture on location at one of the research stations I'm close to and thought I'd share it.  Near-shore mangrove habitats are being destroyed all over the world to the detriment of all, especially local fishermen.  Many species require mangrove habitats to reproduce, and they act as a sanctuary for thousands of species.  We need them!