Cyphastrea is the perfect aquarium coral

Cyphastrea is a unique group of reef corals which are nearly ‘perfect’ residents of home reef aquariums. This primarily encrusting coral is colorful, incredibly hardy, and it grows unbelievably fast, even under a wide range of conditions. The meteor shower…

My musings from MACNA

As usual MACNA meant so many corals and friends and equipment but so little time. Due to family commitments I was only able to spend Saturday in DC at MACNA, but it was a well-spent 8 hours. As usual, the…

The Green Splash Astreopora is alive and well in captivity

When we first discovered the Green Splash Astreopora randalli growing in a turbid chalice coral reef in the Solomon Islands, we knew this coral was special. We’ve always had a special fascination for unusual corals, among them those that show…

Navigating MACNA – Tips & Tricks

September brings MACNA 2015 to Washington D.C. along with a couple of thousand of your reefing friends, speakers from all corners of the globe and exhibitors with cool new products.  It’s three fun filled days and nights of non-stop reef keeping…

The Fragging Phenomenon Part Deux

In 1992, I wrote my first article on the fragmenting of corals, fragging for short. At that time fragging corals was primarily done on soft corals and was done more out of the necessity to preserve the corals we had,…

The speciation, biogeography and hybridization of Zebrasoma

The family Acanthuridae boasts of charismatic, charming and iconic reef fishes that are immediately recognizable both in the field and in the trade. All eighty or so species spanning the six various genera have a single unifying trait, and that is…

Reefapalooza Orlando this weekend

Reef Aquarium shows and conferences have become a very big deal in the American marine aquarium hobby and if you haven’t been to one of the big three yet, MACNA, Reefapalooza or ReefStock, you are really missing something special. Reefapalooza…

Rainbow Stylocoeniella was THE diamond in the rough of MACNA 2013

Yesterday’s post on the master list of rainbow corals in aquariums was started in part by our visit to the World Wide Corals Farm. But that write up got us asking coral people if there is such a thing as a…

Saturday Morning Coffee with Mike Paletta

         Like many of you, as an avid reader of ReefBuilders, I feel a sense of withdrawal on the weekends when Jake and the crew typically do not post a whole lot of new material.  Granted like…

Casper the white tang has undergone a radical transformation

Casper the world-famous all-white yellow tang is quickly becoming the best documented specimen of a surgeonfish in aquariums, or in the wild. From humble beginnings in mid-2010, the little blanched Zebrasoma flavescens first gained notoriety as one of the crowning animals…