Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

Is this really a ‘Dark Hobby’?

Editor's Note: this post introduces Dr. Neale Monks, who should be no stranger to anyone in our community with his many excellent aquatics book and magazine publications!

I have read with interest Robert Wintner's piece on the possible overfishing of reef fish by the aquarium industry as well as Bob Fenner's response  on the Coral Magazine web site. Although both gentlemen make valid points, both have oversimplified the situation in terms of biology, and in doing so, some of the shades of grey between their positions may be lost.

Palythoa Eating Amphipods?!

The photo above is a picture of my absolute favorite palythoas. Exactly one week after the photo was taken, my frag started showing extreme signs of stress. Each of the polyps were closed…actually, would closed and open. You could see the tentacles and mouth being choked off by the stalk of each head. I immediately started checking for any zoa pests. Nudibranch? None. Heliacus snail? Nope. Zoa pox? Negative. I've fought zoa pox in the past and it definitely looked completely different, so what was this new affliction?

The Aqua LED: Why Aren't Manufacturers More Transparent About Their LED Light Output?

Today I received an email from SolarMax that simply contained this flier (click for full size) about a product that is apparently new, and called "Aqua LED", and uses "Special developed SMD-LED chips". 

If my sarcasm isn't apparent, I'll say it straight: manufacturers need to give us more information than what's in this flier if they expect anyone to purchase their product, as most of us like to make informed decisions (from information written in gramnatically correct English, I might add). 

This issue of a lack of information applies to more than just SolarMax, and has created a false environment where only a few diodes are taken seriously by hobbyists - and this shouldn't be the case.

Aquarium Lighting and CRI - What is CRI?

CRI, or Color Rendering Index, is a somewhat dated term used to describe how accurately a given light will protray colors when compared to a reference light of the same color temperature.  While not typically used or measured for aquarium lights, this term has gained renewed interest due to the recent explosion in popularity of LED aquarium lighting.

Chalices - Fad or Fiction? 18 Colonies of Eye Candy!

 

'Name brand' chalices with high end prices are everywhere these days, and the formula has stayed simple: bright eyes on a different colored base, preferably with an alternate colored rim.  Chalices can be some of the most colorful corals and we're eating them up hook, line and sinker, but are they really unique and rare gems from the ocean or is it all smoke and mirrors (like the high prices are)?

So without further ado, here are some pictures of a small selection of chalices that I've seen come and go just within the last two months.  All of these colonies went to physical LFS locations across the country where they were sold as full colonies for fair prices, somewhere between $3-10 per eye, so don't forget to support your local LFS if they're a good one!

Heal the Bay Needs Volunteers!

Heal the Bay, an annual volunteer beach cleanup, is hosting it's 2010 bay area beach cleanup!

"On Saturday, September 25th, from 9:00am until 12 noon, over 14,000 volunteers from all over Los Angeles will take action to rid our beaches and inland waterways of unsightly and harmful debris. Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) is an international event with over 90 countries around the world participating, making it one of the largest volunteer efforts on the planet!"  Register today!

Symbiosis in the Marine Aquarium: Pistol Shrimp and Gobies

 Last week I discussed common forms of symbiotic relationships in the home marine aquarium. The relationship I will be discussing this week is slightly more complex, but this is the relationship that I am currently enjoying in my aquarium. I don’t go into the science as much as I go into the hands on aspect of the keeping of the pair.

Orphek PR-156 Reef Aquarium LED Light Review

 

PUR and Reef Aquarium Lighting: What is PUR?

PUR stands for Photosynthetically Useable Radiation.  PUR differs from PAR because the basic definition of PAR is any light in a specific frequency range.  PUR is the usable portion of PAR, and different photosynthetic species will have a different PUR range to which they respond. 

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.