Twenty twenty one was a tumultuous year by any standard and it was one of the most dynamic in the reef aquarium world. The hobbyist and professional sides of reef aquariums witnessed upheavals the likes of which we’ve never seen before with disruptions to livestock and equipment, mergers and acquisitions, and a general malaise about how social media is influencing what are the aquarium hobby is supposed to be about.
While we weren’t as cooped up as 2020, the world is still not ‘open for business’ like it used to be so many of the hobbyists who started their first reef tank in the last couple of years are still enjoying them, and many reefers are also discovering that you don’t really have to wait a fraction of a year to turn a new aquarium into a reef tank. Despite many challenges and logistical shortages we still benefited from the introduction of some really exciting reef aquarium products like the new lights from Kessil and Neptune Systems, an underwater ultraviolet reef pest extinguisher from England, and a novel reversible closed loop pump from Germany.
Alas one unfortunate story that continues to make the headlines nearly every year is the dangers of exposure to palytoxin which is why we always make it a point to emphasize the risk of allowing Palythoa to overrun any part of your reef tank. On the brighter side, torch corals continue to dominate reefers’ coral wishlist and as if they needed any kind of a boost, Australians have discovered a striking anemone that is identical to their precious gold torch corals until you realize that it doesn’t have a skeleton.
One thing we relish about summarizing our most popular stories of the year is seeing what you the reader thinks is most important – we know what we like and thought was most profound, and it’s delightful to see a lot of overlap with popular opinion and interests. The new year of 2022 should see the release of many new products that have been delayed due to the last two years of shortages and with the opening of livestock exports from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, we have a lot of new fish and corals to discover from these remote parts of the world.
Thank you to everyone who read and learned from Reef Builders in the last year and we’ll continue to guarantee the most up to date and thoughtful coverage of all the stories that cross our news desk.
Bulk Reef Supply Acquires Controller Company Neptune Systems
Reef Delete is a New Way to Sterilize Aiptasia and Other Pests
Panta Rhei is Reinventing the Closed Loop with an all NEW Pump Design
