With the 4th of July squarely behind us, summer, and the oft rumored “hobby downtime” has taken firm hold. As all dedicated aquarists know, there really is no possibility of downtime as regardless of what you might do or where you may go, your tank needs attention. So as you prepare emergency checklists and train tank sitters and foolproof your systems for travel, Reefs Magazine offers up some Summer reading to help keep your head in the game. Our new issue is both challenging and practical and speaks to our commitment to make you a better hobbyist by making you more thoughtful and informed.

Our feature this issue is from Joe Rowlett who lays out an exhaustive examination of the variety, morphology and taxonomy of Tubastrea –the beautiful and at times, challenging Sun Corals. Sanjay Joshi adds to his authoritative data base of lighting options for hobbyists with the addition of a quantitative analysis of six new LED fixtures, and Rich Ross continues his epic Skeptical Reefkeeping series with a lengthy, difficult and provocative philosophical conversation with British hobby counterpart Nathan Hill that searches for a sound ethical basis for the existence of the hobby. For the fish focused among you Ken Wingerter continues his excellent discussion of the phenomenon of color in fishes, this time focusing on the physiological basis of coloration. Richard Aspinall takes a loving and longing view of vivid coloration as expressed by the magnificent Goldflake Angelfish. Dana Riddle reports from Hawai’i about witnessing the first recorded spawning of the coral Leptastrea belwickensis and Felicia McCaulley returns with another Fish Tales commentary about an irritating aspect of reefing on the Internet. If that isn’t enough for you, please remember that all of the back issues of Reefs Magazine are available for free simply by clicking on the either the issues or article index tabs on the left of your screen. There is several years’ worth of quality information at your fingertips.

Have a safe summer everyone and we’ll see you again right before MACNA.

Happy Reefing,

Randy