Saltwater Fish

Plectranthias yamakawai debuts in the market at Remix Japan

Besides having a knack for creative LFS names, the Japanese are also highly skilled in obtaining crazy fish, many of which are unlikely to register in the minds of the day to day hobbyist. Japanese fish store Remix has just obtained…

Undescribed Plectranthias from Papua shows up in Bangkok, Thailand

If there’s a genus we love more than or equal to Liopropoma here at Reef Builders, it’s got to be Plectranthias. Unfortunately, Plectranthias is poorly reviewed and the genus is riddled with numerous undescribed members which leads to confusion in identifying various species. To make…

Venomous Marine Fish: It’s Hard to Define the Effects of Their Stings

People are naturally fascinated by venomous animals and often very curious about the effects their venom might have on people they bite or sting. Any marine aquarium hobbyist who’s kept a lionfish, rabbitfish, saltwater catfish, or other fish species equipped…

Awesome Fish Spotlight: Prismatic Tosanoides flavofasciatus

A throwback to our final Osaka review saw us mentioning briefly the incredible prismatic beauty of Tosanoides flavofasciatus. Like Liopropoma aurora, this species, especially this particular specimen is deserving of a full and separate post to really showcase its beauty and…

Opulent Osaka Part 4: A BlueHarbor tribute, and the man behind the brand

We’ve come to our last and final installation of our four part Osaka travelogue. If you’ve been following parts 1, 2 and 3, we hope you’ve enjoyed it, and thank you for exploring some of Osaka’s most opulent reef keepers…

Xcalibur clowns are the newest strain of Amphiprion sandaracinos from Bali Aquarich

Following the news of Bali Aquarich’s latest stellar accomplishment on successfully raising Holacanthus passer, here’s something more subdued but nonetheless interesting. Mr. Su has just revealed a “new” strain of Amphiprion sandaracinos that he’s been working on, and gave us…

Melanurus Wrasse Bred In Captivity

In a short updated published by Rising Tide Conservation last night, Kevin Barden laid claim to the first captive-breeding of the Melanurus Wrasse, Halicheores melanurus. This now brings the total of tropical wrasses bred in captivity to two (the first being…

Panther Grouper: The Tankbuster “Poster Fish”

Every time I need to make a point about marine fish that are sold as small, cute juveniles but grow into real behemoths, the panther grouper (Cromileptes altivelis according to Fishbase/Chromileptes altivelis according to ITIS) is one of several species…

The elusive and illusory Synchiropus circularis shows up at Bali Aquarium

Synchiropus is an immaculate genus famed for the unorthodox juxtaposition between cute and freaky. Their martian like faces with huge bulging eyes and pursed lips coupled with their undulating fin movements make for a highly peculiar animal. In the aquarium context,…

Bali Aquarich adds another feather to its cap with captive bred Holacanthus passer

Su Wen-Ping is a real dark horse in the industry that really deserves tremendous applaud and accolades for the work that he is doing. Owner and founder of Bali Aquarich, Mr. Su and his company are well known for supplying high…