2013 Marine Breeder’s Year in Review

It’s the 4th annual installment of the Marine Breeder’s Year in Review (see past installments at 2010, 2011a, 2011b, and 2012) and frankly, it’s been an interesting if not arguably “slow” year for a change, and yet I’ll probably write more…

Reef-Friendly Resolutions for 2014

Happy New Year to all our salty friends around the world! Chris and I wish you and your loved ones the very best in 2014. We’d also like to express our sincere gratitude for the support you’ve given us since…

A Look at Shane Graber’s 3D-Printed Frag Plugs

Last month Shane Graber, on a whim, threw up a batch of 25 3D-printed frag plugs on eBay. At $9 shipped to my door, I snagged them up immediately just so I could see what they’re all about. Turns out…

Two days left to jump on $99 full MACNA 2014 conference pass

MACNA 2014 is continuing to set records for ticket and booth sales, as well as hotel bookings.  We’ve got over 100,000 sq ft in the Colorado Convention Center, conveniently located in Downtown Denver, Colorado.  The show floor is over 90%…

Jake and Mark talk about reefs over beers

Writing short and brief blog posts and occasionally articles about the state of the marine aquarium hobby, is both liberating and limiting. On the one hand we are not hamstrung to recount an entire story about a single topic, just…

Digiman revisits BlueHarbor and closes 2013 with a spectacular bang

We are closing this year with one last travel story and it’s contributed again by rare fish expert Digiman from Singapore. Following up on his Hong Kong trip, Digiman visited Japan as a final pit stop to his year end…

Behold Serranus aliceae, the newly described cardinal basslet from Brazil

The newly described Serranus aliceae is a species of dwarf basslet from relatively deep waters of subtropical Brazilian reefs. First discovered living at 30m (100ft), the specimens collected for the description of this crimson red basslet were also collected at 70m…

HW42 controller interface is a novel twist for the small HydroWizard

The HydroWizard Small is just around the corner and for their third water pump release, Panta Rhei decided to go for a change up in the controller side of the pump. Upon release the HydroWizard Small will be officially referred…

Our top six smashing aquarium debuts of 2013

Here’s another 2013 recap, but this time, we’re featuring smashing aquarium debuts of 2013. Yes that’s right, 2013 is a year of first times, and these five fishes have had their moment in the spotlight in the past months. While…

End the Toil and Trouble of Bubble Algae

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” could be the lament of any marine aquarium hobbyist battling a stubborn outbreak of green bubble algae. (Okay, “Double, double toil and trouble,” is the actual incantation from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but I digress.) Green bubble…