So you’ve decided you want to take the plunge and learn to scuba dive! Great, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together this list of 5 things to know, before your first open water dive. These simple tips…
Photographing bubble corals in Raja Ampat
The bubble coral (Plerogyra sinuosa) is a beautiful species of large polyp stony coral which is very photogenic. We found this bubble coral in Raja Ampat and used a Nikon Coolpix P7100 with a single SeaLife Digital pro flash to get…
ScubaPro introduces the new EXODRY drysuit
The Exodry suit is made for diving in cold water and will keep you warm and dry during your dive. The new drysuit is a made from 4mm high density neoprene and is the latest drysuit to be released by ScubaPro.…
Smart ATO Micro review
The popularity of All-In-One, nano and pico tanks is still going strong from a few years ago. With the likes of Innovative Marine, RedSea and Advance Acrylics continuing to innovate on looks and function of all in one tanks, but…
Astraea Snails Make Short Work of Algae
This past year, I rediscovered how great an army of snails can be. We go pretty light on cleanup crews in general. For example, there really aren’t any hermit crabs to speak of in our systems. In 5,000 gallons of…
Red Sea REEFER 250 Review part 1
For some of us, planning an aquarium system is a joy. It’s a process that allows us to makes list and complete tasks and people love making lists and checking off those tasks. For the rest of us planing an…
Diploprion drachi, the Drachi soapfish from the Red Sea
Soapfish may not be the first group of fish that jump to mind when it comes to selecting a good reef inhabitant. Heck, they may not even be in the first 8, 9,or 10 groups of fish, and generally there…
Symphyllia: So Stunning, Yet Success Eludes Me!
Symphyllia are some of the most colorful large-polyp stony corals out there. Their bodies resemble Lobophyllia in many ways, but unlike lobos, they have a much more diverse color arrangement. I’ve seen them come in just about every color imaginable,…
Cleaner wrasses are vitally important to the health of reef fish
The five species of cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides are truly an interesting group of fish. While not a unique behavior in the underwater world, their pathogenic cleaning service is quite remarkable. These small, busy fish set up ‘stations’…
Chevron tang also turns up in the Philippines
The chevron tang, Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, has long been a popular aquarium tang, and for good reason. Juveniles are brilliantly colored and, like many tangs, does an admiral job of eating nuisance algae. Nearly all chevron tangs make their way to…