Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

New X-Aqua LED Light Coming Soon

They say a picture is worth a thousand words: the above is a picture of X-Aqua's foray into LED reef aquarium lighting.  Pictures, specs, and hands-on experience coming soon...

Kessil LED Lights: Getting it Right!

As you probably already know Kessil, of horticulture LED fame offers a 36w LED pendant designed for reef aquarium lighting.  The A150w as it's called is available in three color temperatures, only one of which is of interest to reef aquarists with a penchant for accurate color rendering and high-PUR outputs such as myself (spectrograph on the left). 

 

Ecotech Marine's Radion XR30 LED Light: a Swing and a Miss?

I'm sure you've heard about EcoTech Marine's latest product from all of the "me too" aquarium blogs that are out there these days:  EcoTech is yet another company making a foray into reef aquarium LED lighting, and yet another company to do so with what seems to be barely, if any orginality or any improvement in technology. 



Using off-the-shelf Cree and Osram emitters that are made for household lighting, not photosynthetic invertebrate illumination, the Radion XR30 reef aquarium led light appears to me to be obsolete before launch.  Here's why:

 

Redfish Magazine Launched 2nd Issue

Redfish Magazine, a new free e-publication for the English-speaking (not just America, thankfully) world has launched their second issue, mostly emphasizing freshwater fish, including discus and goldfish. 

In my opinion the only hobby publications worth reading are the free ones, usually offering much better content and more advanced content than traditional magazines.  Go check it out!

Introduction to Saltwater Puffers

 

Due to the popularity of my An Introduction to Freshwater Puffers I decided to do one for saltwater because everyone should be able to experience the joy of having a puffer.  So, lets quit messing around and bring on the puffers!

 

But, before I start introducing these amazing saltwater puffers I want to make a few points that every hobbyist should keep in mind before purchasing a puffer.

Afraid of Sharks?

So it is officially Shark Week on the Discovery Channel where they are highlighting "shark attacks, killer sharks, rouge sharks" and every other negative aspect about sharks that a human can concentrate on.  I feel as though the entire week is garbage and is used to draw audiences through "fear".  The Consortium for Ocean Leadership posted an article regarding the population decrease of sharks in the ocean due to human activities.  I found the article to be very interesting and I would like to highlight specific parts of the article. 

Redfish Magazine Launches

Redfish Magazine is a new, free digital aquarium and pond magazine for the US, EU, AU, and NZ.  Personally, I'm a huge fan of international publications, because I find US aquarium writing too 'fad-ish' and their aquariums unnaturally gaudy (with the exception of my all time favorite, Advanced Aquarist, of course).  I'm very much looking forward to seeing this publication progress (especially the coldwater topics), and who knows, might even pen an article or two when I have time.  In the meantime go check it out, and while you're at it, enter their aquarium photo competition!

Kelvin Temperature and Aquarium Lighting: What is Kelvin?

Beware, kelvin temperature is another mind bender!  Kelvin temperature (abbreviated as K), is the scientific unit for temperature, and is often used to measure the color temperature of light, or more accurately, the measurement of the temperature of an object emitting black body radiation, also known as thermal radiation, or radiant heat as visible light.  All objects at a temperature greater than absolute zero emit some form of thermal radiation, although at room temperature the wavelength of this radiation is too large for the human eye to perceive.  Still confused?

 

Where have all the predators gone?

A study in Science put in perspective the current decline of predators and the affects of their loss on the environment.  The study was conducted by a international team of scientists whom looked at predators in terrestrial, freshwater and saltwater ecosystems.  The study concluded that "the loss of apex consumers is arguably humankind's most pervasive influence on the natural world." and claims that humankind has only seen the beginning changes that are occurring in ecosystems.  See why below!

Re-homing Fish?

We have all done it.  Just had to drop in on your favorite fish store to see their new stock and you end up purchasing a fish you knew nothing about and now the "cute litte fish" is 15 inches, eats everything in the aquarium and is messier than your kids.  Where do you go from here?