Orphek has long been a player in the LED lighting game and with their new Atlantik Compact fixture, they plan to compete in the top tier of high performance reef LED lights. Priced at $749, the Atlantik Compact is aiming to exceed…
Antique coral reef illustrations will tickle your fancy
Antique coral reef illustrations In centuries past—an era absent the wonders of Google’s image search—curious naturalists were reliant on published reports for knowledge on the obscure creatures living in the far corners of the world. The scientists of this period…
Oldest Known Sponge Fossil Found In China
A newly published article documenting the discovery of a tiny fossil from Southern China is helping to expand our understanding of the very earliest stages of the evolution of multicellular animal life. (image above is Eocyathispongia. Image from Yin et al…
So Much to Dig about Montipora digitata!
As I grew to love SPS corals, one in particular stood out and caught my eye: Montipora digitata. I have found M. digitata to be a fast-growing, hardy SPS coral that, once established in a well-balanced reef tank, can really…
Top 7 rainbow SPS and Acropora corals
As stated in a previous post on rainbow corals, a plethora of colors are not too difficult to find in the LPS corals of today. It is evident that this is an exciting time to be in the marine aquarium hobby. What…
Prognathodes: more than meets the Aya
The following is a guest contribution from Joe Oliver, a resident Marine Biologist for the Curacao Sea Aquarium and Substation Curacao. The Banks Butterflyfish (Prognathodes aya) and its relative the French or Three-Banded Butterflyfish (Prognathodes guyanensis), are both striking deepwater butterflyfish that…
Tridacna Clams in Reef Aquariums
Giant clams of the genus Tridacna are popular mollusks for reef aquariums. Oftentimes, people unfamiliar with the ocean are familiar only with the shells of clams. Their true beauty, however, can only be realized when they are living and healthy,…
The Reefer’s Code formally explained by Mike Paletta
The following article is a contribution from Mike Paletta to bring attention to an unspoken yet very important rule of reefing and sharing corals among friends, the Reefers Code. I was lucky this year to be invited to give a talk…
Decompressing marine fish from the deep reefs of Curacao
The following is a guest contribution from Joe Oliver, a resident Marine Biologist for the Curacao Sea Aquarium and Substation Curacao. As an aquarist (hobbyist or professional) there is a huge array of fishes available as possible options when it comes…
Reef Aquarium Carbon Dosing Clarified
Carbon dosing is a relatively new phenomenon in the reef aquarium hobby. The first I heard about it was around two years ago, and I hadn’t given it a whole lot of thought until recently. The goal of carbon dosing…