Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

Phytoplankton - What Your LFS Isn't Telling You

Ah, the green stuff. The miracle cure, the lifeblood of a reeftank, the savior of fan worms and clams of all ages... Or maybe not so much.  Could it be that phytoplankton actually does more harm than good in a reef aquarium?

In the ocean there is a lot of phytoplankton and it's crucial to the ecosystem. In the ocean. In your tank, however, phytoplankton dies and fouls up your water quality. I mean let's think about it, you're pouring live green stuff into your tank where chances are that only a miniscule part of it will be used for food. In fact, it is arguable if any realistic part of it will be used for food by your tank's inhabitants.

 

A Trip To The Dallas World Aquarium

I had a recent free day and decided to take the oppurtunity to catch some photographs at the Dallas World Aquarium. Although there were issues like bleaching and pests (aiptasia and red flatworms), DWA has some really amazing corals and fishes. The acan lord in the picture below was over a foot in length! Many of their aquariums also used LEDs for supplementation. Here are some of the pictures that I was able to capture. Enjoy.

Hitting the 'Wall': What Causes it and How to Avoid it

Regardless of how enthusiastic, or excited you are, you  will eventually hit what I like to refer to as "the wall".  This is where either you don't care about the hobby anymore, or any maintenance, or spectating of the tank is no longer out of enjoyment, but out of habit.

I myself have hit this wall a couple times myself.  I am now able to recognize the signs ahead of time, and find ways to prevent it.

 

Pacific Coast Imports Gen-X Pumps: Settle For Less

 
 
This is a bit of a longer article so please bear with me.  First and foremost, if you have submersible Gen-x pumps IMMEDIATELY inspect the back of the pump for rust. There is a plastic cover on the back that is easily removable.  This article was written about two years ago, but I went to a local dry goods wholesaler last month and the pumps still had exposed metal so if you've got one of these in your tank chances are you've got a rustbucket.  The sad fact is that this company has been knowingly manufacturing this substandard and quite likely dangerous product for more than 5 years!

College Reefing Tips

I’ve noticed that the reefing community has had a major surge of teenagers and college students in the past year. I, myself, am college student that has been unable to find a job to work around my schedule. In order to continue my love for the hobby, I looked for ways to maximize what I can do for my tank while minimizing how much I was spending. Here are just a few of the tips that greatly reduced the amount I was spending on my tank.

When Corals Collide: Our Hobby is Still Full of Surprises!

On rare occasion in his hobby a few things pop up that make you scratch your head and drop your jaw, and as fortune would have it last week Monday one of those days.  While unpacking some corals from Indonesia this colony of Australomussa rowleyensis popped out, and I still have no clue how this happened in nature.

Reviews and Honesty Policy at the Captive Aquatics Blog

We wanted to write a post letting everyone know a bit about reviews here at the Captive Aquatics blog.  A few of our reviews have been getting quite a bit of traffic and controversy, so we thought we'd let you all know our ideals here.

The Captive Aquatics blog is not intended to make a profit.  In fact, we have declined some offers for additional sponsorship, especially offers from aquarium product manufacturers.  Let me tell you my reasons...

 

Species Spotlight Video: Warty Frogfish

The New England Aquarium Explores Fiji

Known to aquarists for their ongoing work in coral flourescence and the Fiji clownfish, the New England Aquarium 'global explorers' team is back at it, researching the remote Fiji reef of Vatu-i-Ra. 

Tank Raised Pinnatus Batfish Sighted!

  

A surprsing and welcome new addition into the hobby today are tank raised Pinnatus Batfish.  Like mandarins, they are another of the beautiful species known to have low survival rates, and these tank raised fish will allow knowledged hobbyists to add a beautiful new tankmate.  On an important note however, these new captive raised arrivals are only 3" tall, it's important to keep them in a system that can adequately handle their adult height of 18".