An Aquatic Retailer who once appeared in an Aquarium Co-Op podcast has been found out as a well-known Pro-Russia Propagandist called Donbas Devushka. 37-year-old Sarah Bils from New Jersey ran a store named Cascade Aquatics, selling tropical fish and imported…
FAQs on Dwarf Angelfish
Dwarf angels are some of the most sought-after saltwater fish for reef aquariums, but are they reef-safe, can you mix them, and what size tank do they need? Here we answer all your most frequently asked questions via our email.…
Beginners: Frequently Asked Questions on Wavemakers
It’s that time again when we answer all of the questions that get fired at us on a particular subject, even the most basic ones. Here are our answers to all the most basic questions we’re asked each week on…
Reef Builders celebrates International Women’s Day
Today is international women’s day and that makes us think about all the amazing women in reefing, all the female reefers we met at ReefStock, as well as those in our own team. Marissa Francis is Reef Builders’ Event Coordinator…
Reef Tank Basics: What you need to know before you start
Brand new to the reef aquarium hobby? Well don’t fear as you’re in safe hands here at Reef Builders, and it’s the best hobby in the world. Let’s start with some of your frequently asked questions on the absolute basics…
Observations on a “new” soft coral in the hobby, Paraminabea rubeusa, by Julian Sprung
After so many years enjoying and looking forward to the coral feature articles that Jake Adams wrote and Vincent Chalias still writes for Reef Builders, I came across a coral that inspired me to want to compose a gushing, over…
The New Octocorallia: Scleralcyonacea (And A Few Remaining Mysteries)
Having now fully explored the Malacalcyonacea Part 1 and Part 2, it’s time to turn our attention to its sister group, the order Scleralcyonacea. These clades are roughly equivalent in terms of species-level diversity, but whereas the malacalcyonaceans included many…
The New Octocorallia: Malacalcyonacea Part 2
In our previous installment of this series, we met with a diverse array of Soft Corals and Gorgonians, including most of the species familiar to aquarists. Amongst these were a hodgepodge of ex-Scleraxonia, ex-Stolonifera, and ex-Alcyonacea genera, now all lumped…
The New Octocorallia: Malacalcyonacea Part 1
In our previous review of octocoral classification, we saw that anywhere from 3–8 orders have traditionally been used to organize this group’s bewildering biodiversity, based on morphological assumptions of increasing complexity within the evolutionary history of these corals. It was…
The New Octocorallia: A Brief Review of Taxonomic Chaos
Soft Corals, Gorgonians, and Sea Pens comprise the Octocorallia, a major branch in the coral tree of life whose 3000+ species come in nearly every shape imaginable. Not surprisingly, this biodiversity has confounded taxonomists for centuries, resulting in no shortage…