Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

Large Marine Pufferfish Care, Part One: Aquarium Housing and Filtration

Who doesn’t love pufferfish?  They’re my favorite fish family, and I’d like to share some information that has allowed me to be successful with this fascinating, intelligent group of fishes.  In this  two part Puffer Primer I'll be going over the basics that you'll need to be succesful with large saltwater pufferfish!

Marine puffers are cute when small, engaging when large (who can resist those big puffer eyes), interactive, and BIG!  The vast majority of commonly (and not so commonly) available pufferfish attain lengths of 12 inches (30 cm) at the very least.  Add to this their active nature, four sharp teeth, a rambunxious personality, and messy feeding habits and you have yourself a handful.  Of course, these hurdles have never deterred me, and I’d like to share with you a few tidbits that have worked in my ten years of experience caring for marine pufferfish!

 

 

Caring for Trachyphillia in the Reef Aquarium

How to keep your brain (coral) healthy!

Unfortunately, due to the fact that Trachyphillias are generally known as beginner corals, the majority of hobbyists run into problems when attempting to care for this genus long term.  Fortunately, these issues are generally correctable with some time and patience, and the information listed in this series can be applied to any stressed LPS coral. While beautiful, these LPS corals tend to be some of the most problematic "beginner" corals to keep, and this is due to several issues which I will be discuss ing in this multi-part series.

 

 

PAR and Reef Aquarium Lighting: What is PAR?

Photosynthetically Active Radiation, or PAR as it's commonly called, is a term that's widely used in the hobby, and is often not well understood, especially when applied to LED lighting.  When used correctly, PAR information can be very helpful in determining the best way to light a reef aquarium, and where best to place corals, clams, and other photosynthetic invertebrates.  When misunderstood, it can lead to unnecessary and costly lighting purchases and have detrimental affects on your reeef aquarium!

Shipping Fish and Corals Using Heat Sealed Bags

 

Editor's Note: this post introduces Miguel Toloso, a coral farmer and wholesaler saltwater livestock reseller from Los Angeles and a new author here at the Captive Aquatics blog.  He is the owner of practicalcoralfarming.com.

Rubber bands are so 2009...

How do you ship fish and coral? Just about everyone shipping corals these days uses rubber bands to seal their bags.  The biggest issue with rubber bands is that if the bags are hit hard enough they will leak, and if your the styrofoam cooler is leaking, the carrier usually delays or returns the shipment, which kills a lot of corals or fish.  It's also really time consuming to bag up corals with rubber bands, and doing so for long enough will make for some pretty annoying blisters as well! Fortunately, there's a much better way that's not only faster and safer for the corals, but can save a lot of time and money!

 

 

The Gold Australe Killifish: A Breeding Project

The gold australe killifish is an uncommon but beautiful fish, and is one of the first out-of-the-ordinary fish that I have ever managed to breed.  If you’re like me, and you don’t have a ton of time and money to devote to breeding, these are the perfect fish for beginners to try albeit being somewhat difficult to find.  Known scientifically as Aphyosemion australe, these fish tolerate most normal freshwater aquarium conditions, being affected only by far out parameters. Not only are they extremely hardy, but they are really easy to breed!  In captivity, the Gold Australe Killifish lives for approximately 3 years, making them one of the longest living killifish.

 

Introducing Kyle Phillips

I'd like to introduce our latest author, Kyle Phillips!  Kyle is a freshwater and reef aquarium hobbyist and breeder, and an ower of several unique biotope aquariums.  He sits on the committe for his local aquarium society, and authors multiple aquarium columns.  We're lucky to be able to offer his freshwater breeding expertise on the Captive Aquatics blog!

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The Underwater River World of San Marcos, Texas

Take a video tour through the crystal clear spring-fed waters of the San Marcos River, home to the endangered Fountain Darter, Texas Blind Salamander, and Texas Wild Rice.  The stable Edwards Aquifer keeps the river water at a rock-solid 72 degrees, even while the ambient (environmental) temperature swings as much as 80.  Cool temperatures and critters make it a summertime refuge for local college students and tourists alike.

If you're lucky enough to spot them while exploring, you'll more than likely find that the Fountain Darters are as curious about you as you are them...

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Lots of Aquarium Product Reviews Coming Shortly!

 

Although surprising in this economy, business has tripled as of late, leaving me with a big stack of aquarium products I haven't had time to review!  I finally unpacked a few things today that I'm most excited about, and took a quick pic to let everyone know that yes, the reviews are coming, so sign up for our free RSS feed and weekly newsletter so that you won't miss out on the details! 

 

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Current USA TrueLumen Flexible LED Strips Announced

Current USA has just announced a new line, dubbed 'True Lumen' of LED strips and T5 bulbs designed for reef aquarium lighting.  I'm not  a big fan of T5 lighting, but I sure am a fan of LED lighting, so check out the True Lumen flexible LED strip specs below!

Luxeon Releases New Rebel ES LED

Luxeon has announced their new Cree XP-G competitor: the Rebel ES LED.  At 210 lumen when driven at 700mA, and 320 lumen at 1000mA, the Rebel ES is extremely efficient.  Below is the spectral output for the two colors released: neutral white (4100k) and cool white (5650k).