Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

The Palytoxin Afternoon - Watch out for Zoanthids!

Today, as with most other days recently, I was making frags for a new propagation system at work.  Then out of nowhere, while fragging some Radioactive Dragon Eyes one of the polyps exploded right into my eyes, what a great long distance shot!

Now just for some background, I've gotten zoanthid fruit punch in open cuts before, and even in my eyes countless times, but as soon as this particular brand of sea juice hit my eyes there was a weird, itchy tingling that I hadn't felt any other times.  Having work to do however I pressed on.

NOAA's Virgin Islands Queen Conch Research

My naturalist friend Lauren just got back from performing research on queen conchs in St. Coix, the US Virgin Islands for NOAA, and sent over some pics for me to post!  The conchs are being radio tagged and their migration patterns are being tracked.  The queen conch's numbers are on the decline due to overharvesting for their meat and shells.  Check out the rest of the pics (and captions) below!

 

Apogee MQ-200 Aquarium PAR Meter Video Review

Today Merritt and I will be reviewing an affordable and easy to use PAR quantum light meter: the Apogee Instruments MQ-200 digital Quantum Meter with waterproof probe.  Whitney at Apogee Instruments was kind enough to send over the latest MQ-200, complete with data recording features.  We had some fun playing with it in a few of our coral and invert holding tanks - check out the results, pictures, and video below!

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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Japan's Unusual Fish Market Ice Aquarium

Editor's Note:  this post introduces John Douglas, a reef aquarist from Alberta who will be posting aquarium and biological news and info from around the web!

The Japanese are always doing things that seem unusual to us Americans, and their frozen "aquarium" is no exception: opened in 2002 near a fish market, this aquarium features over 400 fish and inverts frozen into "aquariums" made of solid ice. Check out the rest of the unusual pictures!

Symbiotic Relationships in Saltwater Aquariums, Part I

There is nothing more rewarding that recreating nature in every detailed aspect in a home aquarium, or at least to the extent that it can or should be done.  It is an extremely exciting experience, witnessing something twenty years ago was thought to be impossible: the symbiotic relationship of various marine organisms.  While this could be said about captive breeding, certain fish, or any number of marine topics, I am referring to Symbiotic Relationships.  I have had the privilege to be the witness of two completely different symbiotic relationships in my Nano Reef tank.

Deep Sea Aquatics Neo Nano Aquarium Review

I purchased one of these cascade shallow rimless tanks back in February. On my build threads from various forums, I have had many questions about the quality of the tank, the pros and cons, and mainly the question “Would you buy one again if you started another tank?”

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:

Is Your Local Fish Store a Hidden Gold Mine?

One of the perks of working as a rep at a good, coral based wholesaler is getting to see the huge variety of crazy corals that end up making their way into the hobby.  On the other hand, one of the most unbelievably frustrating things about working with wholesale corals is seeing them get marked up 10,000% by unscrupulous hobbyist vendors.  A lot of people think these hobbyists have great hidden connections, or that they pay huge amounts for them from online vendors, and for the most part these hobbyists are only too happy to let these myths go on.

Species Spotlight Video: Zebra Moray Eel

Zebra Moray, Gymnomuraena zebra
Max size: 60 inches
Fish safe: Yes
Reef safe: Yes, excepting crustaceans
Minimum tank size: 125 gallons

The beautiful zebra moray is a striking eel for the large home aquarium, being docile towards fishes and invertebrates, except crustaceans.  This large eel adapts readily to captivity, and has a very unique pattern of alternating black, brown, and white vertical stripes.