Places

A fly/spy on the wall at Cairns Marine – Part 2

The caliber and quality of sustainably collected animals from Cairns Marine are some of the best anywhere in the world today. From miniature shrimps to magnificent sharks, stinging anemones to demanding Acropora, every animal that pass through these doors are exposed…

Partly xanthic undulated triggerfish collected by RVS FIshworld

Another xanthic undulated triggerfish has appeared on the marine aquarium scene, and we couldn’t be any more thrilled about it. Once again coming from the RVS Fishworld in the Philippines, this xanthic triggerfish in that it actually supports a very…

An early start to the 2015 Caribbean coral spawn

Corals are known for their synchronistic spawning, typically a week after the last full moon in August. This year with a late blue moon in July the spawning happened earlier than normal. Teams from the Steinhart Aquarium, Seaworld, Akron Zoo, Georgia…

The Peppermint Angelfish that won the world over

Despite the Peppermint Angelfish’s (Paracentropyge boylei) recent meteoric debut in the mainstream aquarium trade, it’s status as an iconic book fish has hardly been relinquished. Familiarity has not made us jaded with the clinquant beauty of this incredible species. In fact, it’s a…

A fly/spy on the wall at Cairns Marine – Part 1

The heaven and earth contrast between home aquarists and public aquarists have succeeded in fissuring the marine aquarium paradigm in more ways than one. While both industrial scenes are unified by the prevailing love of marine life, the industrial aspects and technical rigmarole…

We tracked down the Purple Monster Acro to its original source

The Purple Monster Acropora is arguably one of the most infamous stony coral strains in the marine aquarium hobby, of all time. This particular strain of deep purple acro is the coral that kickstarted the whole idea of even having some corals that…

An ode to purple Montipora digitata in the aquarium, and in nature

Purple Montipora digitata is hands down, one of the most beautiful and colorful small polyp stony corals available for aquariums, bar none. There, we’ve said it, professed our love for a coral that no matter how many times you’ve seen…

The deep sea is on display in Curacao

To most people the Mesophotic Zone is an entirely unknown part of the ocean that very few study and even fewer have physically visited. Yet these areas are more diverse than anticipated and contain a cornicopia of life from the…

Japanese coral video is in “supernatural” high definition

We share a lot of rare fish and exotic coral eye candy here on Reef Builders, and Japan has its fair share. There is coral “porn”, and then there are superbly close and exquisite corals that look so surreal and perfect,…

Reef Building soft coral has the thickest stony “branches”

Soft corals are called “soft corals” because they are kind of like corals, and they are primarily soft. We know that there are always exceptions to every rule in the animal kingdom, and the most notable of these in the Octocorallia soft…