Another shot of Fauna Marin’s line of Blue protein skimmer. This time however it seems to be a much larger brother of the other unit we showed you some time ago. Interesting too is the unique bubble plate which seems to have a rather new design. Perhaps a new way to coax smaller bubbles to form? We are eagerly awaiting more photos, so until this is confirmed take this with the usual bit of salt. Got it?
We found out that Current’s new 20″ Nova Extreme T5 lighting unit pricing should be around $300. Keep in mind that this is a little more then a Metal Halide pendant running about 150 watts, but this unit is also more efficient than a 150 watt metal halide unit or any other higher wattage unit. Thankfully the T5 can support SPS and LPS corals without any problems, which is nice to know, since you can reduce your electricity bills without having to change your coral buying habits.
Just a reminder for those of you that haven’t voted for the Tank of the Month for July you can do so now. We have quite a bit of nice looking tanks for this month and those that are learning here on Reef Builders are really starting to show. So head on over and vote for your favorite tank.
Hydor, after having released their original Koralia models, then to go and make pumps that are controllable has announced their newest line. The Magnum Koralia are to push even more flow in your aquarium by still using low wattages. The Hydor Koralia Magnum model 5 pushes 1850 GPH using only 8 watts. The Hydor Koralia Magnum model 6 pushes 2200 GPH using sipping 10 watts. The Hydor Koralia Magnum model 7 pushes 2700 GPH while using 12 watts and finally the Hydor Koralia Magnum model 8 pushes water at 3250 GPH while eating up 19 watts. Overall the stats look nice, however, we would like pricing to go along with this and a firm US release date.
Are you tired of trying to interpret your test kits? Elos has come out with a new colorimeter to help you accuratly testing your aquarium water parameters. A Colorimeter is an instrument that compares the amount of light that passes through a solution with the amount that passes through the pure “solvent”. So clear the unit, add the reagent, then the colorimeter will pass light through and process the results and display them to you. No word of an ETA of when these might be available in the United States, but we sure would like to have one. We expect this unit to be in the $200+ range. Still this takes a lot of the color matching work away, which is well worth the price.
The Percula Clownfish known as Amphiporion percula as the scientific name. The Percula Clownfish comes from Australia, New Guinea, and Melanesia to the east towards the Solomon islands. This is very similar to Amphipron ocellaris, the percula generally has more black pigment on the body. It lives with three host anemones species: Geteractis magnifica, H. crispa and Stichodactyla gigantea. Using these three anemones will insure that the clownfish will host with it faster then an unfamiliar species.
Size: Males 2.4-2.75 inches in size, and females up to 4.3 inches.
Feeding: Wild collected will eat finely chopped shellfish, mysis and brineshrimp and perhaps dried foods in time. Tank raised will eat dried foods such as flake and pellet immediately.
Location: Australia, New Guinea, and Melanesia to the east towards the Solomon islands.
Breeding: Yes this fish is the most popular fish raised in captivity.
Tank Size: 25 gallons for a pair. 13 gallons for a singles.
Behavior: A clownfish will vigorously defend its own host anemone and generally is more violent with its own species.
Word of Caution: On wild collected specimens they should have clear eyes and no turbidity of the skin. On captive bred fish look for congenital deformities like misshapen heads, missing gill covers, etc.
Coral compatibility: Will not harm corals or ornamental shrimp. In the absence of a host anemone it might adopt a “surrogate.” Some of the favorites are Sarcophyton spp. soft corals and Goniopora spp. hard corals. The coral will become irritated so that polyp extension does not occur or becomes reduced.
You remember we had a spy shot of a 20″ model of Currents Nova Extreme Lighting? Not much was known until now. Current has officialy released a 20″ version of their Nova Extreme lighting goodness. Packing 6×18 watt T5 power. It is fan cooled with splash lens/docking mounts. Demensions are 20″ x 12″ x 2.25. MSRP isn’t known at the moment, but we do know that this unit has begun shipping from Current. Hit the Gallery for high res shots, one in particular the aquarium photo shows growing SPS and LPS with no problems with this light.
The Red Blotched Perchlet known as Plectranthias inermis as the scientific name. The Red Blotched perchlet comes from Indonesia and the Phillippines, if you happen to live on the UK, most of those specimens originate from Balinese waters. This is considered a rare species and few specimens are collected, making it one of the more expensive fishes.
Size: Males and females up to 1.8 inches in size.
Feeding: In the wild amphipods and other small crustaceans. Accepts most frozen foods in the aquarium
Location: Indonesia and the Phillippines mainly.
Breeding: Hasn’t been recorded yet of breeding, but it is possibly in a larger system.
Tank Size: 13 gallon, a great fish for a nano aquarium. If you want to house two, the min tank size is about 40 gallons.
Tank introduction: Any larger fish will most likely bully the Red Blotched Perchlet.
Word of Caution: This species needs lots of time devoted to it, they aren’t difficult to keep in a aquarium however this fish prefers the more dimly lit areas of the home aquarium and isn’t the most obvious fish in the aquarium. However having this fish in your aquarium is sure to be a nice bragging right.
Coral compatibility: Will not harm corals, and commonly kept invertebrates.
We know what you are thinking, how can I rid my aquarium of Aiptasia? You might have tried several other methods to no avail. However you can get great advice from Andy who decided to take Aiptasia destruction to a whole new level. What level is that you ask? Using a torch which looks similar to ones you would use to make creme brulee, Andy completely destroys the Aiptasia pest anemone in one fail swoop. After doing that he simply wipes off the ashes. We sure are proud.
Editors note: We don’t recommend this, unless you know what your doing however if you do decide to apply “HOT FIERY DEATH” to your Aiptasia anemone do your reef aquarists a favor and record it on video.
Fauna Marin released the Ultra Algae X to the US shores with much fanfare. However, we were very curious if this stuff actually worked, in theory you should be able to dose it into your aquarium and it will rid you of all algae problems. We acquired these before and after shots, the picture shown above is the before tank shot. The tank owner had been using Ultra Algae X for about one week. Click the read link for the after shot.
The Scribble angelfish known as chaetodontoplus duboulayi as the scientific name. Most of theses fish are exported though Australia and therefore shipped very quickly. Because of this we get vibrant imports, however because of this these are expensive fish to purchase.
Size: Males get up to 11 inches and females are slightly smaller.
Feeding: Scribbled angelfish eat sponges and tunicates in the wild. However in the home aquarium you can offer frozen food formulations that contain a lot of sponge tissue in their food. You can supplement with mysis, chopped shelfish, enriched brineshrimp and dried algae. Including vitamins supplements are highly recommended.
Location: The scribble angelfish is from Northern Australia and Indonesia.
Breeding: This fish will not breed in an aquarium. However males are larger then females, all these fish are females until they reach their full grown state, then some become males. This is called protogyny.
Tank Size: 120 Gallon, fish only or live rock bases fish only.
Tank introduction: Scribbled Anglefish that are juvenile are quite vulnerable so do not introduce them containing aggressive species.
Word of Caution: The Scribbled Anglelfish’s breathing rate should be slow and steady, avoid any fish that is thin, discolored, or that do not eat. Keep this fish singly or by itself.
Coral compatibility: Will nibble at most sessile invertebrates, but should not harm ornamental shrimp.
Polario which we haven’t heard about these past years has finally released some models to beta testing. Coming in two models 50w and 80w pushing 3,500gph and 5,500gph respectively.
If beta testing all goes well we could see these as soon as the end of this Year. Retail should hit around $150+
Elos has just officially released the new Elos System mini and the nifty e-lite LED lighting unit. If you happen to just want the light or not want the e-lite, its a cool $700. Some of the specifications of the new nano aquarium from Elos include:
You can stop by your local Elos dealer to see if they have any in stock yet, which isn’t likely. Shipments of the new Elos system mini should arrive in the next few weeks.
We received another picture of a new Fauna marine impeller. We are really short of details at the moment but this appears to be a new model from either a new or existing pump. Not much is known and we will be sure to update you when we know more. Perhaps it is one impeller that is compatible with their new line of blue line protein skimmers? We shall find out soon enough.
The pink skunk clownfish known as amphiprion perideraion as the scientific name. The pink skunk clownfish has the dorsal band but can be distinguished by a vertical band across the gill cover. You can buy tank raised individuals but most likely you have a wild caught species.
Size: Females get up to 4 inches and males get up to 2.75 inches.
Feeding: Pink Skunk clownfish like to eat macro-algae, diatoms, tunicates, copepods, benthic worms and many of the animals associated with zoo plankton. At home offer enriched mysis and brine shrimp, chopped shellfish and dried algae.
Location: The pink skunk clownfish is from the Eastern Indian Ocean to Western Pacific Ocean, Tonga and the Great Barrier Reef.
Breeding: Like most all clownfish (anemonefish) this species is a protandrous germaphrodite which means that is a male before it becomes a female. If you buy two, the largest fish will be female.
Tank Size: The minimum tank size is 13 gallons with excellent water quality.
Tank introduction: When newly introduced into the tank the pink skunk clownfish can fall victim to territoral fish such as dasmselfishes or wrasses. However pink skunk clownfish that are settled into a host anemone have little to worry about.
Word of Caution: At your local-fish-store some specimens arrive in quite poor condition, select only ones that are eating or very active swimming individuals.
Coral compatibility: The pink skunk clownfish should not harm invertebrates however some have been known to adopt a long-tentacled coral species as a surrogate anemone. If this happens it will irritate the coral and the polyps will be prevented from opening.
Be sure to keep the pink skunk clownfish by itself or in small groups added simultaneously as juveniles and additionally only wild-collected true pairs. Interesting to note the Pink Skunk clownfish has been known to share its anemone in the wild with the A. akallopisos species.
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