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Matt Pedersen
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Matt Pedersen is an interactive software developer and part-time fly fishing guide originally from Chicago, IL and current living in Duluth, MN, USA. Additionally, Matt has experience as a professional orchid breeder and certified fly rod builder. Matt has been a marine aquarist for 23 years, and an aquarist for 28+. After spending time on every side of the aquarium industry (retail, commercial and private maintenance & installation, wholesale, hatchery), he currently considers himself a "professional hobbyist". Most recently, Matt has currently spawned 22 species of marine fish, successfully raising 8 of them to date including one worldwide first (the Harlequin Filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris), as well as attempted another 6 invertebrate species to date. Most all of this was accomplished with less than 100 gallons of total working capacity, and all in closed culture. In 2010, Matt Pedersen was selected as the breeder of choice to work with the now famous "PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish" from the SEASMART program, and chronicles the efforts to propagate this one-of-a-kind fish online at The Lightning Project. Matt Pedersen is credited with starting MOFIB (Marine Ornamental Fish & Invertebrate Breeder's Association) and writing for multiple publications including Coral, Koralle, Practical Fish Keeping, Reef Hobbyist Magazine and Reef Builders. Matt has spoken at numerous aquarium clubs and events from coast to coast. He currently sits on the MBI (Marine Breeding Initiative) Council, a project dedicated to bringing the concept of a unified Marine Breeder's Award Program to hobbyist organizations across the country and around the globe. In 2009, Matt was awarded "Aquarist of the Year" honors by both IMAC West and MASNA in recognition of his accomplishments and contributions to the marine aquarium hobby. Last updated October, 2010.

ORA Answers Kamohara Fang Blenny Personal Ad

Technically, ORA succeeded in breeding the never-before-seen-in-the-trade Japanese Kamohara Fang Blenny in Fall, 2014, but other than a casual mention on their Facebook page of the success, they sat and waited to show off this stunning addition to the world…

Citron Clownfish—Bali Aquarich’s New Intergeneric Hybrid Anemonefish

A very interesting clownfish was recently brought to my attention by MJ Jones, who saw the fish labeled as “CF217X” at east coast wholesaler Carolina Aquatics, asking what I thought it was. Anyone who has become enthralled with the Anemonefish produced…

Wild Morse Code Maroon imported from Solomon Islands

Since 2010, in fish breeding circles the name ‘Morse Code’, which was first applied to a singular fish, has come to represent White Stripe Maroon Clownfish who display extra spots and bars, in some respects similar to the extra spots…

ORA’s Hector’s Goby – A Breeding First That Isn’t, But Is

Tuesday, ORA announced their latest in-house accomplishment, the successful spawning and rearing of the Hector’s Goby, Koumansetta hectori. Ask yourself, when was the last time you’ve seen a captive-bred Hector’s Goby? You haven’t. But is this a species first? ORA believes…

Fisheye Aquaculture’s Pearl Eye Gold Flake Maroon Clownfish

Designer clownfish enthusiasts will have yet another new twist in the Gold Stripe Maroon category with the latest introduction from Fisheye Aquaculture – Pearl Eye Gold Flake Maroon Clownfish. This form was found in their “Super Sexy Goldflake” Maroon Clownfish…

Lightning X Lightning Maroon Clownfish – Preliminary Results are IN!

We all were holding out hope that, just as the first matings of two Picasso Percula Clownfish yielded a 2nd new designer form of clownfish, so too people anticipated that  the mating of two Lightning Maroon Clownfish would hopefully create…

ORA’s Whitespotted Pymgy Filefish Makes A Third

Filefish are one of those forgotten groups in our hobby. Not generally thought of as reef safe, too timid for the typical fish-only setup (where their relatives, the Triggerfish, tend to be more obvious choices), the Filefish are relegated to…

ORA Thumps Chest With New Captive Bred Orbicularis Cardinalfish

ORA is certainly in the fast lane this fall bringing new species into captive culture. Their Halloween evening announcement of captive-bred Orbic Cardinalfish, arguably was timed perfectly to get lost in the end of the week, holiday madness. Trying to slide…

ORA commercializes the Rare White Bonnet Clownfish

ORA finally debuted a project that they’ve been working on for a year (well, actually a decade if you count the total time they’ve pursued this clownfish variety). We finally have commercially available captive-bred F1 Amphiprion leucokranos, the White Bonnet…

Sea & Reef keeps Playing with Matches – the Wide Bar Mocha Gladiator Clownfish debuts

Sea & Reef led the news on the designer clownfish front this month with a new genetic combination, their introduction of the Wide Bar Mocha Gladiator. Wide Bar Gladiator (a mouthful of a name perhaps) is a genetic trait found…