Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

Luxeon LEDs Increase In Power, No Spectral Improvement

Orphek's diode - arguably the best aquarium LED on the market?

One of the heavy hitters of the mass-produced LED world, Phillips, has increased the power of their Luxeon Rebel LED series, which are now "50% more efficient", according to a Phillips spokesperson.  While this is good news, it isn't that big of a deal, as power and efficiency ratios are only going to continue to increase as LED lighting technology matures. 

What is a big deal  (to us aquarists, admittedly only a fraction of a percent of LED consumers) is broad spectrum output.  Unfortunately, Cree and Luxeon are still failing to produce an LED, or even a combination of LEDs, that yields a truly workable, full spectrum option for reef aquarium lighting. 

Coralife Aqua Gloves Review

I recently purchased the Coralife Aqua Gloves to minimize the introduction of any contaminants. If you’re like me and constantly find crud on your arms and hands, gloves are absolutely necessary.

Who Says LEDs Can't Grow SPS Coral?

LED aquarium lighting is an emerging technology in our hobby, but success is already being had.  Take a look at these pictures of SPS coral (and others) after two months under the Orphek PR-156 I've been testing!

Marine Fish Survival: Discussing Coral Magazine's Poll

I occasionally write content and polls for Coral Magazine's web portal, and couldn't help but notice the results of a poll the magazine took of the survival rates of fish in the care of it's readers.  One can see instantly from the responses that the sample size is atypical of our hobby, as are the results.  Additionally, assuming the results are accurate protrayals of reader's success rates (and they probably are, more or less) one can see how successful aquarists can easily forget, or not even know about the very high mortality rates that are the norm in our hobby.

 

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.

Starry Puffer in HD Video

A species not often seen in captivity, the starry puffer (Arothron stellatus) simply grows too large for most aquariums.  As Merritt and I are big puffer fans, we have an entire room for large systems for the three largest puffer species (A. stellatus, A. mappa, and T. mbu).  Here is a video of our A. stellatus, dedicated to all you puffer fans!  Want to know more?  Check out our guide to caring for saltwater puffers here.

For more information on puffers, see our care guide to large marine pufferfish!

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.

Sustainable Aquatics Now Offering Tank Raised Angelfish

As their Sustainable Islands project progresses, our favorite aquaculture company continues to offer more and more tank-raised species available to hobbyists.  This week Sustainable Aquatics announced limited availability of tank-raised Queen Angelfish and Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris and Holacanthus isabelita, respectively).  Both species are available at 2-3" in size at very respectable prices to dealers. 

Review: GlassCages Aquarium Builders

Ugly. From a seam on a brand new GlassCages Aquarium

Review of GlassCages Aquarium
I recently had the (dis)pleasure of attempting to work with a brand new Glasscages aquarium, and the only comparison I can make is that it was built like a bunker: solid with extra bracing, but with no attention to detail, craftsmanship, or style.  Unlike a bunker, some aspects of construction were slipshod at best, and falling apart at worse - and this was straight out of the shrink wrap.  I'm honestly astounded that workmanship like this actually allows Glasscages to stay in business, it is that bad!

 

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".