Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

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!

 

 

Read Reef Hobbyist Magazine!

As most informed reef aquarium hobbyists know, the best information is available online for free, whether it's from WetWebMedia, Advanced Aquarist, our blog, or now, Reef Hobbyist Magazine! 

RHM is a quarterly article full of information about, what else, reef aquariums!  Click the link above to download full issues in PDF format or to order free print copies.  So, download now, and avoid forum mis-information!

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Prop Pumps and In-Tank Reef Aquarium Water Motion: A Step Backwards?

Rather recently, the hobby has seen an explosion in 'prop' or other in-tank water pumps designed to produce a 'reef friendly' wide or variable current, rather than a laminar stream.  Models abound, with the most popular being Hydor's Koralia series, EcoTech Marine's Vortech line, and the Tunze Stream models.  While certainly better than the power head, all of these pumps are just that: a pump, with all associated hazards to motile invertebrate life, inside the aquarium.

It seems the term 'closed loop', once considered by hobbyists (and still considered by anyone that has a vested interest in their system such as public aquariums, hatcheries, and aquaculture facilities) to be the ultimate form of random, turbulent water motion is slowly but surely losing popularity.  This is too bad, because the internal pumps still have several drawbacks: harm to invertebrate life (think how many anemones have been shredded!), heat transfer, electrocution risk, inefficiency, and let's face it: they're ugly, and a giant pain to move around/adjust/clean.  I feel that there are several reasons closed loops/dump buckets/other types of more 'quality' water motion have lost popularity in favor of these internal pumps, which I'd like to discuss individually.

NanoReefBlog Introduces ZeoVit Nano

NanoReefBlog has introduced a svelte-looking all-in-one: the ZEOnano, a new all-in-one nano reef aquarium that has yet to hit the market (although we'll do our best to bring you a review ASAP!).  More info the ZEOnano here!

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New Breed of Clownfish Available (and breeding pairs)!

We here at Captive Aquatics have a new breed of clownfish available to our customers: the Gladiator!  This breed of common clown has extra wide stripes - very cool looking.  We also offer breeding pairs of Percula clowfish, common clownfish, tomato clownfish, Cinnamon, and Clarkii clownfish - these are true breeding pairs that have laid eggs before!  Contact us for prices, and we will sell clownfish directly, and ship.

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Mike Maddox Appears in Advanced Aquarist

Fellow CA blog author Mike Maddox appears in Advanced Aquarist once again; and printed this time is his guide to caring for the challenging and large carpet anemones. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the publication, Advanced Aquarist is literally the best saltwater and reef aquarium publication for those that have progressed beyond the beginner stage, and has even been cited and mentioned in National Geographic.  Second only to WetWebMedia in terms of sheer quantity of information, and arguably tied for quality, I can't recommend this (free!) publication enough!

Want to catch up on back issues?  Order the Advanced Aquarist book today!

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82 Stony Corals Endangered?

So, it seems that a piece of legislation currently under consideration by NOAA would add 82 species of corals to the endangered species list.  This is getting a lot of buzz around the hobby, websites, mostly of the knee-jerk "Oh my god this will kill our profits hobby!" type (ie. Coral Magazine's site, where this proposition is laughed at, yet conservation efforts are recommended only one post below!), a fear that's not only unfounded, but interfering with the protection of these species.

Four Holiday Fish Feeding Tips

During the holidays many hobbyist leave to visit family and find that they have forgotten to plan on feeding their fish during their vacation time.  Don't worry!  Here is a simple list of suggestions for when you are away and the fish must stay.

Cloudy Aquarium Water, and How to Fix It

Many hobbyist at some point will encounter aquarium water that is cloudy, hazy and just plain annoying.  You can't see your fish or enjoy your aquarium, when the water is cloudy!  Here are the three reasons why you  may have cloudy aquarium water:   

A New Salt Mix from Tropic Marin!

Tropic Marin, makers of one of the best sea salt mixes available (and used by virtually all wholesale facilities, and myself!) has introduced a new sea salt mix, which I'm excited about.  Called Bio-Actif (they're German, give 'em a break), it's not yet available, but should be soon.  From the news release:

The new synthetic sea salt combines maximum purity in terms of its components with the protective and growth-promoting action of bioactive substances naturally found in the sea. They form effective protection for the mucous membranes of the fish whose improved health is clearly reflected in their increased levels of mating and reproduction.

Hmm...not a lot of actual information there, or in the rest of the brochure.  I wonder what they've changed? Regardless, I'll do my best to post a review as soon as it ships.  In the meantime, what salt mix do you use?

Update 11-19: Tropic Marin has informed me that the salt contains " long chain marine polymers that will NOT show up on a test kit" and that they are the "key to their new salt".  I'm beginning testing soon, as I've received a bucket of their new bio-actif!

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