“Refugium” is a hobby term that resists easy definition. This is probably so because, unlike most aquarium accoutrements—heaters, powerheads, protein skimmers, lights, etc.—there’s no single, readily identifiable purpose for a refugium. Ask 10 different hobbyists what a refugium is for,…
Harmless or Helpful Live Rock Hitchhikers: “Pods”
Regular Saltwater Smarts readers often see references to them in Paul B’s posts. They arrive in our aquaria unbidden aboard chunks of live rock, in live sand, or on coral specimens attached to rocks. At a glance, they look like…
Marine Fish Propagation System at the Toledo Zoo
Guest post by Laurie Dixon, Toledo Zoo Aquarium lead keeper You’ve heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it can take thousands of copepods to raise one larval fish. Our curator of fishes, Jay Hemdal,…
Good Reasons to Use a Refugium in Your Reef System
A refugium is a safe haven for algae and invertebrates in a separate tank from the main display aquarium. These organisms provide some distinct advantages to the overall health of a reef aquarium. First off, the critters breeding in the…
Green Mandarinfish: Gorgeous, Good-Natured, and a Very Finicky Feeder
Many coral reef fishes are renowned for their spectacular coloration and patterning, but there’s one particular species, commonly available in the marine aquarium hobby, that arguably surpasses them all in this regard. I’m talking about the green mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus).…
Sicce HyperKoral and Sicce Calanus, a tag team approach to feeding your reef
Sicce USA has just announced a new two-part complete reef feeding program with its Sicce HyerKoral and Sicce Calcanus products. The system was designed to feed LPS and SPS corals, soft corals and other marine filter feeders. While we brought…
Planctonics range of live reef aquarium foods hits UK via Reef Eden
Simon Garratt’s Reef Eden International has just launched a new range of live aquarium foods that includes a spectrum of live phytoplankton and zooplankton. Reef Eden Planctonics Live Copepod Rotifer mix includes both popular live zooplankton fares, rotifers and copepods,…
Todd Gardner is breeding success with AlgaGen Copepods & 20,000 Gallons
Earler today, Todd Gardner (the man to first breed Liopropoma basslets) announced a new breeding success at the Long Island Aquarium where two damselfish species were specifically mentioned. Neoglyphidodon melas, the Bowtie Damsel, was reared from larvae collected in the…
Reef aquarium copepod, will it blend?
The turbulence we have put into our reef aquariums with propeller pumps and random flow created by wavemakers is an efficient way to create water flow, yet a recent bit of research finding boat turbulence killing zooplankton in channels and…
AlgaGen’s four new copepods from a Breeder’s Perspective
ReefPods™ are a new line of live calanoid copepods from AlgaGen which we first wrote on about two weeks ago. These new species of ReefPods copepods include Acartia tonsa, Pseudodiamptomus pelagicus, Parvocalanus crassirostris. and an unidentified species AlgaGen is labeling Tangerine…
