There is a widely held belief (based on common observation and experience) that after several years of success with growing corals, a reef aquarium may slowly or suddenly no longer support the healthy coral growth it once did.…
Julian Sprung
Recent Content
Aquarium Invertebrates: Caribbean Gorgonians: Beauty in Motion
Anyone who has been diving extensively in the Caribbean has surely encountered the special reef habitats unique to the region: hardbottoms and reefs populated by conspicuous, highly diverse species of zooxanthellate gorgonians.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Doughnut, Cat’s Eye, Knob, Beaker, Flat Brain, Or Modern Meat? A Review Of What Are Scolymia And Cynarina, With Comments On Their Relatives And Taxonomical Status
Mussid corals are high on my list of favorite corals for many reasons. Most are easy to care for, they have large fleshy polyps, commonly with fluorescent colors, they respond dramatically to food additions, and they are relatively slow growing so they don’t require frequent pruning.…
Nerites: Bleeding Tooth, Zebras, Checkers And More
Nerites are small rounded snails belonging to the family Neritidae, and most are ideally suited to aquariums because of their small size, herbivorous diet, and long life. Some nerites are not suitable for aquariums, however, because they live just above the tide line, venturing below the water surface only briefly to feed on various types of algae.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: A Creature From Outer Space Or A Hydroid For Liberace’s Piano?
A few months back (February, 2003) I was in Atlanta Georgia with Two Little Fishies, Inc. exhibiting our products at the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association’s annual trade show.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Heliofungia: Husbandry Considerations And Taxonomical Relationships
The free-living stony coral Heliofungia actiniformis is one of the largest solitary polyp corals, and it has been popular with reef keeping aquarists since the early days of the reef aquarium hobby.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Zoanthids: Polyps As Cute As A Button
Reef keeping aquarists develop an aesthetic judgment about what’s “cool” to keep in their aquariums, and they are often influenced by the rarity of a particular type of creature. While I too admire a rare specimen, I have always been and will always be impressed by such common things as “button polyps,” the many-hued and mostly simple to care for zoanthids.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Captive Husbandry Of Goniopora, Spp. With Remarks About The Similar Genus Alveopora
The Goniopora spp. “daisy” or “flowerpot” corals have been common imports from Indonesia and other coral collecting regions since the early years of the reef-keeping hobby.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Mushrooms, Elephants Ears, And False Corals: A Review Of The Corallimorpharia
The order corallimorpharia, in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, includes anemone-like and coral-like creatures that are very popular in the aquarium hobby due to their hardiness and fantastic range of color and form.…
Aquarium Invertebrates: Featherdusters In The Aquarium
One of my favorite things to show someone new to the marine environment is the beautiful crown of a feather duster worm. This “flower,” I explain, is the crown of a worm that lives in a tube, and it is both a feeding apparatus and a breathing gill.…