Understanding the Coral Biome and Microbiome

As our understanding of corals and coral reefs has increased over the past few decades it has become increasingly clear that a coral reef and even each individual coral is far more diverse than we ever would have expected. Having…

What is Coral Polycropping?

In this new series, I will discuss strategies you can use with current technology to help mitigate the risk of coral disease in your reef tank. In this first installment, I will cover the benefits of polycropping. Polycropping vs Monocropping…

Cryopreservation Breakthrough Sees Coral Larvae Survive and Settle After Freezing

You won’t be surprised to read that coral reefs are going through a tough time. It may surprise you to read, however, that scientists have been trying and failing to freeze coral larvae for the past twenty years in an…

We Planted Jake Adams’ Coral into Andrew Sandler’s Polo Reef

So recently we took a long-awaited trip to Polo Reef. We weren’t the first people to visit, video, and showcase Andrew Sandler’s 17,000-gallon home aquarium, and we certainly won’t be the last. It is safe to say that Polo Reef…

My Mini-Reef Past, Present, and Future

I’m Back. Well, after a brief six-year hiatus, I am happy to be back writing for Reef Builders on a regular basis. To be honest, it is kind of bittersweet, as it is not quite the same as it was…

Watermelon Chalice is a stunning coral

While diving in North Sulawesi, we came across a fantastic small colony of Oxypora lacera, the Watermelon Chalice. While this color morph is quite common in Australia, it’s quite rare in Indonesia. The perfect red colony color, with a green…

The Mother of all Cynarina lacrymalis found on the Great Barrier Reef

Ania Nerowski, our own Australian-based coral nerd, has reported to us a fantastic coral that showed up in Australia. Cynarina lacrymalis, the Button Coral, is normally a solitary, monocentric, one polyp, one mouth coral. Double or triple heads sometimes show…

Tour of a PACKED Reef Tank Run by Konstantinos Michalopoulos in NORWAY

A recent trip to Norway presented the opportunity to visit Konstantinos Michalopoulos and enjoy his jam packed Red Sea Reefer 250, which is the feature of today’s video. Such exceptional displays are a bit of a rarity in Norway, and…

The Deep Water Rose Coral Reef is a Living Treasure

Several months ago a deep reef from French Polynesia made the news as something completely new because we didn’t know about the existence of these deeper reefs. Nevertheless it’s a good thing that corals are in the news, and people…

Signature Frags is a Unique British Coral Boutique

British reefkeepers haven’t had a lot to get excited about lately. An exponential rise in the cost of electricity had loomed over many hobbyists to the point of shutting their tanks down, with few people shopping for new corals and…