New Zoanthid Species Recruited to Fight Cancer

New species of zoanthids aren’t described all that often, but it turns out that we should be paying more attention to this understudied group of reef animals. One of the four new zoanthid species described from southern Florida, a Palythoa species, has…

Marine Aquarium Acronyms: PE Defined

The marine aquarium hobby is second only to the US military when it comes to the number of acronyms its members throw around. (Quite fittingly, this past Monday was the 27th anniversary of my DOE. Shortly after that date, I…

Black tiger maxima clam in the wild

In case you had forgotten what a stellar black tiger maxima clam is supposed to look like  . . . here’s some great shots of this clam to jog your memory. It’s been a long time since giant clams have…

The Tyson Reef tank looks incredible after 15 years

The Tyson Reef tank is an old school 110 gallon reef tank that is going on 15 years old. Upscale marine aquarium service company Premier Fish & Reef took over the maintenance of this aquarium about three years ago and…

Special Considerations for Soft Coral Placement

In discussions of coral placement in reef aquaria, topics such as spacing between colonies, distance from the light source, level of water flow, sweeper tentacles, and coral chemical warfare (allelopathy) often predominate. But there are special considerations beyond these that…

What is new and improved in the aquarium hobby?

For as long as I have been watching television or reading magazines and newspapers, the phrase “New and Improved” has been employed for just about every product on the market at one time or another. Whether it touted how it…

Reefbuilders Indonesia Travelogue – Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat is a true underwater paradise, and this past week we had the privilege of diving some of the best reefs the Park had to offer. For those of you that are not familiar, the Raja Ampat Marine Park…

Mimic anemone discovered immitating boulder porites

The mimic anemone, Phyllodiscus semoni, is the ultimate master of deception on the reef. Not only is this anemone a near-perfect copy of various soft corals, stony corals, and even algae, these anemones will mimic a specific type of coral, down to…

O Christmas Tree Coral, how lovely are thy branches

The Christmas Tree Coral is a very unusual species of Studeriotes soft coral which, due to its superficial resemblance to a christmas tree, used to show up quite more often at the Local Fish Store around the holidays. Since the…

Reef Builders Indonesia Travelogue: Tulamben, Bali

Indonesia is the heart of coral reef diversity and an important source for marine aquarium animals. Reefbuilders is on location in Bali, central Indonesia, and over the next two months we will be saturating ourselves with coral, fish, and reef knowledge to share with all of you.