ReefStock 2014 review in pictures

ReefStock 2014 was a great success for the Central Colorado region and it should give the local community a nice springboard from which to gain momentum leading up to the big conference at the end of the summer. It was…

DIY Rock for the Marine Aquarium

What is the most expensive part of starting a marine aquarium? No, it’s not the tank itself or the pumps, water, or creatures. It is the rock. Live rock can cost upwards of $7.00 per pound, and a pound of…

Fluid Designers makes a big splash with a suite of novel acrylic designs

Fluid Designers is a brand new aquarium company started by some old school veterans of the aquarium industry. Founder Dave Marriott has been around the block at every level of the aquarium business chain, as front man for wholesale, retail,…

Half and Half flower anemone is quite the showstopper

Flower anemones, Epicystis crucifer, is one of the hottest sea animals in the reef aquarium hobby right now and these beautiful creatures are impressing us in a crazy assortment of colors. We’ve seen every eye-melting shade of red, orange, green, and combinations…

The coral tree of life is being rewritten one LPS at a time

Warning: the following is a nerdgasm of coral taxonomy, guest-written by Joe Rowlett, one of the many talented fish geeks working the fish tanks at Old Town Aquarium in Chicago.  Historically, corals have often been grouped at the genus and family level based…

Why would Ecotech Marine and AquaIllumination join forces?

The news that Ecotech Marine and AquaIllumination had completed a formal merger came as quite a shock to the marine aquarium world. The reasons for AI and EM joining forces might come across as a monopolistic move to the shortsighted,…

Taking the Rossmont Mover pump for a spin

The Rossmont Mover is very interesting  propeller water pump from the new Italian aquarium product company, Rossmont. Built from a tried and true two-bladed propeller design, the Rossmont Mover was built from the ground up with no legacy influences, and…

Yellow tang ‘Breeding Barrier’ is under attack

It has been well over a decade since Yellow Tang breeding research began at the Oceanic Institute in Hawaii (OI), with many folks along the way making progress on tang breeding in general. When it comes to Yellow Tangs, the…

How Do We Measure Success with Hard-to-Keep Marine Species?

“What do you mean the bluestreak cleaner wrasse is hard to keep? I once had one in my half-gallon pico tank for a year and a half, feeding it nothing but frozen brine shrimp and flake food, and it was…

Zia Reefer’s gorgonian and soft coral tank is truly one of a kind

The reef aquarium world seems to be so oversaturated with stony coral madness, besides zoanthid polyps and ricordea, the soft coral truly don’t get their fair share of the spotlight. That is why Zia’s soft coral paradise of gorgonians and…