Acropora palmata, the majestic and endangered elkhorn coral

Acropora palmata, the Elkhorn Coral, is the quintessential Caribbean Coral Reef species. This species was once so abundant that entire regions of the reef were called the ‘Palmata Zone’ and it was important to know where the palmata zones were,…

Under Water in Okinawa

Okinawa, Japan is known for its great diving and lush coral reefs. Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect with this dive. I’ve heard all sorts of cautionary tales about diving in Okinawa due to its strong currents,…

Unseen Corals: Acropora pinguis might be the thickest-branching staghorn coral

Acropora pinguis is a very special coral that we’ve never seen in the aquarium hobby, and there’s probably very good reason for that. If you discount staghorn corals of the Isopora genus, the big cat’s paw corals, then Acropora pinguis forms the…

Dreamy coral reef scape of the Denver Downtown Aquarium

It used to be that us reefers would visit zoos and public aquariums and have pity on the sorry excuses for a saltwater aquarium that passed as a reef tank. Those days are long since gone and nowadays public aquarists…

Up close with the beautiful corals of Lubang Island, Philippines

Around this time last year, we were invited to visit the budding coral farms that RVS 4-Star Mariculture is developing in the Philippines. Several sites are planned for future coral farming efforts in the Philippines, and we managed to visit the beautiful…

Insane purple Acropora suharsonoi with neon green ‘GFP infection’

This exceptionally stunning purple Acropora suharsonoi with swirls of green fluorescent protein has just been obtained by Bali Aquarium. Rare and aberrant reef fish pop up on our radar like everyday but one of a kind coral specimens such as this…

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…

An Ultra-Low-Nutrient System for Acropora and other SPS

Welcome to the next level of coral care. By now I am assuming you have at least understood all the key general practices to maintain some of the hardier corals, from soft corals to large-polyp stony (LPS) corals to some…

Aquaforest shows off a field of probiotic Acros

Aquaforest is a new company from Poland that makes an interesting line of reef aquarium additives. Aquaforest products seem to mirror many of the additives we’ve seen from Zeovit and Fauna Marin, but they are really emphasizing the probiotic functions of…

Pink Acropora jacquelineae discovered in Raja Ampat

Acropora jacquelineae is a very recognizable species of deepwater or smooth skinned Acro. It is relatively easy to keep, but until now if you wanted to try your hand at growing the unique shape of Acropora jacquelineae you had to…