Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

A Montipora Eating Nudibranch Primer

 

Some of the most difficult pests to deal with in reef keeping are Montipora eating nudibranch.  Their tiny size beguiles the enormous headaches they'll cause if you end up in the unfortunate position of having them in your tank.  The most unfortunate thing about dealing with these nudibranch is that by the time you spot them it's already too late.  Gauging the extent of the infestation is very important, and these pictures should help to give an accurate idea of where your tank stands once you come across them as well as some telltale signs of their presence.  So how do you prevent and cure montipora eating nudibranch?  Read on.

Reefing While You're Sick - It's No Fun!

This past week I developed a really horrible cold that left me confined to my room unable to tend to the needs of my tank. As hobbyists, we try our best to keep our parameters stable. Many hobbyists utilize programmable controllers for top offs, heaters, dosing, etc. As a college reefer, my budget cannot handle such extra equipment.

A Brief Look at Minimalist Aquascapes - No more box of rocks!

 
I have been a bad reefer: when I received free liverock I took advantage of it.  I took advantage of it to the point where my tank is literally stuffed to the brim with live rock!  At first, I was happy with it.  But once I realized that cleaning it was a burden, I was instantly regretfull.  This made me do a little research on a term I had heard before "minimalist".

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.

Six Great Live Food Choices For Freshwater Aquarium Fish

You get tired of eating the same thing everyday, right?  So do your fish!  Here is a quick tip on where to find live food that is good for your fish to snack on.  Just make sure when collecting live food that the collection site is free of pollution and that you have permission to collect live animals from that location!

Aquarium Algae Problems? Four Great Algae Eaters for Freshwater Aquariums!

Still have too much algae growth in your aquarium, even after proper aquarium maintenance and want to know what you should do now?  Here are the top 4 algae eaters that many hobbyist purchase to help with their algae problems!

1.  Mystery Snails - Snails of any species, specifically rams-horn and mystery snails are algae eating machines - I love snails in freshwater aquariums! They are fun to watch and easy to care for.

Tip: Metal Halide Bulb Replacement

Contrary to popular belief, (quality) metal halide bulbs seldom need replacement.  Spectrometer reports of halide bulbs shows very little spectral shift even after several years of use.  I've tested the spectral and PAR output of bulbs I've ran for almost five years against new bulbs, and there is virtually no difference between the two!

 

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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.

 

 

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!

 

 

Jumpstart Your New Aquarium's Cycle!

So you've bought your first freshwater aquarium, installed the filter, got your decorations, and now you want to add fish...but you have to wait 4 to 6 weeks.  That's no fun!  Want to shorten the wait?  Here are three things you can do to your aquarium to jump start the cycling process in your new aquarium, and get you closer to those adorable goldfish you have your eye on!

1.  Add Bacteria
Many products are in LFS and online that have beneficial bacteria in a bottle.  One of these products, once added to an aquarium can, help establish the beneficial nitrifying bacteria that break down fish waste into less harmful substances - getting you closer to buying fish.  I recommend Seachem's Stability.