We reefers have long considered Xenia species to be a particularly weedy species in our aquariums. There once was a time when any Xenia was worth its weight in gold but now you’d be lucky to get $10 a pound, and…
Coral
Disc and plate coral olympics captured on time lapse
We tend to think of corals as almost exclusively benthic, non motile creatures, so its fascinating when we are reminded that corals are animals too. While 99% of the corals we like to play with and culture are colonial and…
Pacific Acropora hybrid intentionally crossed and a wild colony identified
Acropora prolifera is a confirmed ‘hybrid species’ of stony coral living in the Caribbean which is a direct F1 hybrid between the actual species, A. cervicornis and A. palmata. This precedent for Acropora hybridization where two species occur has led scientists to…
Euphyllia ancora, the wall hammer is the coral of the year
Some years of the reef keeping hobby bring us new varieties and new species of corals for us to enjoy, but in 2013, the wall hammer was incredibly well represented across the globe. Euphyllia ancora, the wall hammer coral with the…
The weeping willow leather coral has impossibly long polyps
The “Weeping Willow” leather coral is an example of how unique and cool a Sarcophyton toadstool coral has to be for me to specifically grow it for more than a dozen years. I still remember the first time we saw the…
Online coral shopping: is What-You-See really What-You-Get?
Many die-hard hobbyists know exactly where and when the new cool stuff comes in. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to be present physically when a new shipment is unpacked. In these cases, the internet is a great thing: lots…
The Hammer Coral Cube is a Euphyllia-dominated masterpiece
The Hammer Cube is a masterpiece created by a reefer named Andrew who is located down below in Australia. He decided that with this new 60 gallon (24″) cube, he wanted to take his love affair with Euphyllia ancora to…
Favia camranensis, a new species of moon coral with corallites like shingles
Favia camranensis is a new species of moon brain coral recently described by Yuri Latypov from colonies discovered in Vietnam. Found living in monospecific aggregations of five to twenty colonies at Hon Nai Reef in Cam Ranh Bay, Favia camaranensis differs…
Acclimating corals, how most home hobbyists should do it (video)
Imagine that you are just stepping off a long inter-continental flight. As you step off you are walked through a long hallway with air that has a smooth gradient of temperature and pressure to carefully acclimate you to your new…
Archohelia rediviva resurfaces after a long absence from the hobby
If you were wondering wether the magical Archohelia redeviva would ever be seen in aquariums again, we can assure you that tales of this coral’s demise have been greatly exxagerated. By us. In private conversations with fellow NPS/Azoox reefers. It’d been…