Nature Still Grows The Best Acropora Colonies

The reef aquarium hobby as a whole has become very good at growing all kinds of reef corals, especially the shallow water species that grow the reef. Over the decades we’ve learned to grow, frag, and micro-propagate coral strains to…

Acropora for Beginners

With the introduction of more aquaculture and mariculture facilities, there has been a boom in specimens available at the local fish stores these days. But I will say for certain that if you can get a frag from a successful…

A parade of Bali deepwater acropora

Deepwater acropora are a category of SPS and staghorn corals unto themselves, in some parts of Europe they are called ‘naked’ acros for the smooth tissue between their widely spaced corallites. Nowhere in the world does the species diversity of these…

Coelacanth at risk of extinction

Of all the species that deserve to protected by all the Endangered Species Acts of the world, the Coelacanth is definitely high on the list. While the so-called “Center for Biological Diversity” is busy litigating to get stony coral species…

The mature reef tank of Bachir Daas

This video of the reef tank of Daas Bachir may not be the highest quality but hot dog does it show some expansive and luxurious coral growth. We had the opportunity to visit and check out Bachir’s impressive coal tanks…

National Marine Fisheries Service requests Comments from public to ascertain a potential 4(d) ruling on threatened corals

Uh oh. It looks like someone is doing their job at the National Marine Fisheries Service. Do you remember the 20 species of corals that were listed as threatened in 2014? The agency stated today: “We are now considering whether…

Unique observations of the natural habitat of Acropora suharsonoi

As far as cool “mythical” acros go, for us Acropora suharsonoi has always been one of the be-all unique and beautiful small polyp stony corals for the home aquarium. As an SPS lover, getting our hands on this species for the…

Meet 6 of the corals that are in danger of becoming illegal

The petition to list over 80 species of stony corals as endangered led to a ruling that 20 of the proposed corals were deemed threatened, and warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. Of those 20 corals, five are Caribbean…

USFWS Los Angeles: We are now advising the trade of coming ESA listings

We have confirmed the USFWS was incorrectly restricting some wholesalers regarding the 20 species of corals recently listed as threatened as illegal to import. Apparently the local offices in Los Angeles were interpreting things different than the folks back at the…

USFWS Los Angeles: It is now illegal to import frogspawn & certain deepwater acro species

Update:  9/16/14 4:15PM CT Waiting on a call back from the Office of External Affairs regarding the validity of it being an honest mistake. Update 2: USFWS Los Angeles: We are now advising the trade of coming ESA listings We…