Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

New: Nutridiet from Seachem

Seachem has introduced yet another new product, Nutridiet Fish Eggs, Mealworms, Fly Larvae, Waxworms, and a Betta food.   I'm always excited when Seachem releases a new product, because I know of no other company that is as dedicated to producing quality products for our hobby.

I'm hoping the fish eggs make great foods for coral and smaller marine fish (depending upon the size), and the mealworms will be excellent for feeding to carnivores such as puffers and cichlids. 

NutriDiet foods are touted to have a greater nutrient profile, as they're kept moist, and not freeze dried, further preserving nutrients that would be denatured during a freeze drying process.  For more information, check out Seachem's NutriDiet page.  We'll of course be bringing you a review as soon as they ship!

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Captive Bred Triggerfish!

Andy Rhyne, assistant biology professor at the Roger Williams University in Rhode Island used eggs collected from Queen Triggers at the New England Aquarium in Boston, and copepod cultures from Erik Stenn to succesfully rear four Queen Triggerfish to sub-adulthood, and all four are now feeding on dry food.

This is excellent news for those active in ornamental aquatics aquaculture, and their techniques could someday provide a home-grown source of triggerfish to the hobby!  Although there are two sides to the aquaculture coin (the benefit of wild caught fish provide a source of income for native peoples and sometimes an incentive to protect native reef habitats) rising fuel prices and increased legislation may put pressures on our hobby that aquaculture could help mitigate.

Image credit: D.L. Ryan 

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Preview: AquaBeam 1000HD LED Lighting

 

 

The superior field of LED lighting has a new player: the AquaBeam 1000!  Touting ten intense CREE LED's @ 3 watts each in it's ~8" square waterproof case, the AquaBeam 1000 is rumored to rival a 150w halide.  The LED's range from 14k to 50k in color temperature, so colors should really pop underneath this nifty, modular fixture.

New from Seachem: iPhone App, Salt Mix

Seachem, my favorite manufacturer of media and additives, has announced two new products!  One is an iPhone dosing app, that you can get here, and the other (and even better!) is their new salt mix, Salinity.

Salinity is part of Seachem's newer premium line, aquavitro™.  I'm excited about their new salt, as I've always trusted Seachem to delivery quality products.  The tech specs for Salinity can be found here.  I really like how they've formulated the mixture to mix to a pH of 8.6 - I'm so tired of having to raise the pH of my mix water from ~8.2ish to 8.5!  Additionally, the salt will be highly concentrated, mixing to the desired salinity with less volume than other brands.  Additional specs @ 35ppt salinity:

JBJ Announces 28g LED NanoCube!

JBJ contacted me and let me know all about the new 28 gallon, LED-lit NanoCube a few weeks back, but I wasn't able to say anything until the official announcement today: offering the PAR rating of a 14k 150w halide, the new NanoCube touts twenty-five 3w, 14k daylight LEDs, as well as four actinic and two moonlight LED's, for a total of 89 watts - much more efficient at a 150w halide, and without the heat! 

In addition to the improved lighting, the system also offers a re-designed filtration compartment with a refugium, and dual return pumps with an included wavemaker.  For more information, read JBJ's announcement here.  The 28g LED won't be widely available until February, but I've been provided with a review unit, so stay tuned for the actual review in December!

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New! Blue Zoo Video

This informative new video is brought to us by my buddy Frank from Blue Zoo TV.  As a hobbyists, it's tough to get an insider's view of the supply chain that provides us all with fish and inverts, but Frank did an awesome job filming a 'behind the scenes'.  This video also introduces a new category to the Captive Aquatics™ blog, the new Video category.  We hope to bring at least one new video to the blog every week for your viewing pleasure!  Before you watch, sign up via RSS or e-mail on the right for free updates!

The videos featured on the Captive Aquatics™ blog are either the intellectual property of Captive Marine Aquatics, LLC, or are posted with permission, and are not to be re-posted or embedded without permission from their respective owners

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Mike Maddox Interviewed (again)!

I meant to post this back in June, but we've been so busy around here at Captive Aquatics that I forgot!  Anyways, our very own Mike Maddox was interviewed by Frank Reece of Blue Zoo Radio concerning our aquatic business and services, aquarium science, Mike's no-nonsense approach to hobbyist education (no, just because someone posted it on Reef Central doesn't make it true!), and more.

Mikemaddox_bluezoo

MP3 and WMA formats for those that want to download it rather than listen here. 

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VorTech MP10 Video

Check out VorTech's new MP10 - the latest in their awesome line of pumps.  Almost as good as a closed loop!

MP10 in Solana 34-Gallon Cube

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Fishing Regulations Enforced!

 From Fox News:

"SANTA BARBARA - Three fisherman are paying a $10,000 penalty rather than fight state and federal allegations they fished in the protected Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.  Investigators say Shane and Jason Robinson of Santa Barbara and Joseph Campopiano of Morro Bay, fished south of Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands during a two week period in March 2008.

State and federal officials say it's within the sanctuary's no fish zone."

That marine sanctuary laws are being enforced, especially those in poorer countries, is great news!

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Fluval G Teaser

Fluval's new 'designer' canister filter.  Review coming soon!

Do you think a filter can be a designer item? Comment and let us know!

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