The hot new lighting technology is LED. But are Laser Diodes in our future? BMW announced in a press release, that it intends to replace LED headlights with Laser diode headlights in the future. The reason for the future switch…
Raja Ampat Indonesia is a non-photosynthetic coral heaven
This video of Raja Ampat is pure NPS Heaven. . . if you can ignore the soundtrack. Cirque du Soleil music isn’t the ideal tribute to this great video of Eastern Indonesian aposymbiotic corals. But taste aside, thanks to the…
Papercuts and Stray Voltage in the marine aquarium
A few days ago, I gave myself a small papercut on one of my fingers. I don’t think there are many positive attributes with a paper cut. But yesterday, that same paper cut clued me into some stray voltage in…
The problem with romanticizing the reef hobby and idolizing demagogues
After reading Scott Fellman’s post about bad reefing ideas, I started to think about where a lot crazy shifts in reefkeeping have originated. Usually it’s from some reefkeeping “expert”. More often than not, I have had to ask myself what…
Natural reef bommies are the ultimate aquascaping inspiration
Some of our favorite dives are shallow sandy areas with isolated patches of corals, nicknamed bommies. These natural settings are perfect inspirations for a reef tank aquascape. We found this lovely youtube video depicting some nice bommies, and wanted to…
Local Fish Stores: Separating the great from the mediocre
I tend to travel a lot and I’ve also moved quite a bit. In every town I called home, I’ve had my favorite local fish store (LFS) and I tended to be loyal to my favorites. Whenever travelling abroad, I…
Reef Aquariums and Babies Make a Perfect Pair
[youtube width=”670″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUBLC3LCnHw[/youtube] I recently contributed an article to reefbuilders about carefully neglecting your tank during busy times. In my case, it was the birth of our daughter Elise. The article was geared towards maintaining a reef tank, despite the extra…
Cirrhilabrus earlei trio arrives in US, along with some delectable Angelfish
Nebraska Reef Club President, Jim Gryczanowski, is a self professed wrasse nut. Recently, he acquired a trio of Cirrhilabrus earlei. The C. earlei wrasse is a deepwater species, only recently discovered in 2001. They are extremely rare in the trade…
The Maggie Muffler, an easy alternative to a Durso or Stockman modification
For the past decade, I have used either a Stockman or Durso standpipe in my overflows to silence the dreaded gurgle. Recently, I found the need to build a new stand pipe. But before heading to my local hardware store…