News

Will the real Springeri damselfish please swim up?

Chrysiptera springeri is an amazing species of damselfish which we’ve long admired. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen at least two color forms of damselfish being offered up as C. springeri: one all blue form with a clear…

Black Sun Coral, Tubastrea micrantha, found growing all over a gulf oil platform

Gulf Oil Platforms may get a little more crowded, and a little less colorful, with the discovery of non-native black sun coral, Tubastrea micrantha, in the Gulf of Mexico. Oddly enough, the only other major colonizer of gulf oil platforms…

Thinking “Negative”- an overlooked aquascaping aspect

If you read my blog posts and articles on aquascaping, you hear me blabber on and on about the virtues of great rockwork, avoiding the uninspired rock wall configurations, the Golden Ratio, etc.  Yet for all my talk about rockwork,…

Proaquatix Annouced as Worldwide Distributor for Albino Clownfish – Updated!

German marine fish breeder Marcel Triessl, currently residing in South Africa, quietly announced this week that Proaquatix is the sole world distributor for Albino Ocellaris Clownfish with the exception of distribution within South Africa.  No word yet on an official…

Reef Builders now available in the Spanish Language

Today it is my pleasure to announce that we are officially launching Reef Builders in Spanish. The site, Reef Builders in Spanish is as you might have guessed written entirely in the Spanish Language. Expect the same great content that…

Hydro Wizard from Panta Rhei is a carbon fiber reinforced water jet

The Panta Rhei Hydro Wizard is a new flow device which is more of a stealth water jet than an average propeller water pump. The Hydro Wizard is the first carbon fiber reinforced pump we’ve heard of for the aquarium…

We might have to kiss Florida Live Rock goodbye: Offshore live rock aquaculture in Federal waters threatened by HR 3534

A new proposed bill, H.R. 3534, that includes language repealing permits for aquaculture facilities (like live rock) in U.S. Federal waters, was recently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. HR 3534 is now moving to the U.S. Senate and…

Pacific Elkhorn Coral, possible new Acropora species discovered in the Marshall Islands

Some unusual elkhorn coral colonies of Acropora have been found growing at Arno Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Only about 200 of these huge, mega colonies were found growing on a small stretch where they greatly resemble the legendary but…

Summer Doldrums at the Local Fish Store

It’s early August; the 4th of July was a month ago and Labor Day is still a month away which means that the aquarium industry is experiencing the full onset of the summer doldrums. Whether you are a brick n’…

Corals are cool, mistakes happen, planning for the worst is awesome

In an effort to make Jake’s head explode, I like to write about all the mistakes I make with my home reef system. Even though they may seem embarrassing, everyone makes bone head mistakes, and I think we all learn…