Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

Is this really a ‘Dark Hobby’?

Editor's Note: this post introduces Dr. Neale Monks, who should be no stranger to anyone in our community with his many excellent aquatics book and magazine publications!

I have read with interest Robert Wintner's piece on the possible overfishing of reef fish by the aquarium industry as well as Bob Fenner's response  on the Coral Magazine web site. Although both gentlemen make valid points, both have oversimplified the situation in terms of biology, and in doing so, some of the shades of grey between their positions may be lost.

The Aqua LED: Why Aren't Manufacturers More Transparent About Their LED Light Output?

Today I received an email from SolarMax that simply contained this flier (click for full size) about a product that is apparently new, and called "Aqua LED", and uses "Special developed SMD-LED chips". 

If my sarcasm isn't apparent, I'll say it straight: manufacturers need to give us more information than what's in this flier if they expect anyone to purchase their product, as most of us like to make informed decisions (from information written in gramnatically correct English, I might add). 

This issue of a lack of information applies to more than just SolarMax, and has created a false environment where only a few diodes are taken seriously by hobbyists - and this shouldn't be the case.

Heal the Bay Needs Volunteers!

Heal the Bay, an annual volunteer beach cleanup, is hosting it's 2010 bay area beach cleanup!

"On Saturday, September 25th, from 9:00am until 12 noon, over 14,000 volunteers from all over Los Angeles will take action to rid our beaches and inland waterways of unsightly and harmful debris. Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) is an international event with over 90 countries around the world participating, making it one of the largest volunteer efforts on the planet!"  Register today!

Scientific Analysis of Dissolved Organics in the Reef Aquarium from GBD

Glassbox Designs has posted an excellent article regarding the scientific analysis of dissolved organics in aquarium water, and the effect activated carbon has on the DOC level.  There is so little scientific data pertaining to our hobby that I wanted to let you all know to go check it out!

 

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The Smithsonian Grows Two Anemone Species from Larvae!

The Smithsonian Museum's Invertebrate Exhibit has succesfully sexually propagated Urticina anemones!  Unlike 'splitting' or 'fragging', the sexual propagation involves the fertilization of gametes and the successful growout of the anemone from larvae stage to adult stage, something that's much more difficult to do.  I performed some research at A&M University that involved the study of Metridium anemone larvae, and let me tell you that raising them to adulthood hasn't been done!  From the Smithsonian:

The Smithsonian Creates Hawaii Coral Bank

"Washington, DC - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have created the first frozen bank for Hawaiian corals in an attempt to protect them from extinction and to preserve their diversity in Hawaii.

Genesis Reef Systems Storm Pro Aquarium Auto-Topoff Controller: Hands-On Photos and Video

Genesis Reef Systems has recently released what they claim is the most advanced aquarium auto-topoff controller on the market for home aquariums today - and they're right.  With it's ability to control six float switches, your RO unit, and monitor your aquarium, freshwater resorvoir, and sump water level by the second, this is not your grandma's auto-topoff controller!

 

CoralSky Versa SL II Hands-On Photos and Videos

CoralSky's new SL II LED reef aquarium lighting retrofit kits are out, and the latest SL II version features a wide-angle version without the spotlight optics of the original SL and intial configuration of the SL II. Jeff at CoralSky was nice enough to send over two review units, and I've had both kits sitting in my review pile for a few weeks now.  My day job of installing aquarium hardware is keeping me from reviewing it!  However, I've finally gotten around to taking some pics and videos of these (incredibly bright) aquarium LED lighting retrofits.

Skimz iBox LED-lit Nano Aquarium Announced

Skimz, a Singapore-based aquarium product manufacturer, has announced their new "iBox" (I know, I cringed at the name as well) ~8 gallon LED-lit nano reef (or nature!) aquarium. Not many details are available, but the iBox aquarium does have integrated filtration, 21 watts worth of LED lighting, and comes in red, black, and white.  Check back for the hands-on review!

 

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The Elos MIDI Gets a Price Tag

Today from Elos USA:

"The MIDI without light will retail for $1599.99. The MIDI with E-Lite XP will be sold at $2499.99 and the MIDI with AquaTop E-Stripe 60 (2- E-Stripes included) will be sold at $2499.99. The MIDI with AquaTop at $2499.99 is a limited promotion from Italy, and this price will go to $2999.99 after September."  The Midi without the light will only be available online via authorized resellers, however.

Captive Aquatics is also an Elos dealer, and  provide our customers high quality aquariums and top-notch  aquarium products from Elos!

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