by Admin | Jan 5, 2015 | Corals, Fish, Science
You set up your tank, buy some shiny new lights, plug them into timers and then wait... how long should they be on? What will match your routine? What about the health of your reef? Fish and corals in nature are very aware of the daily cycle, so much so that if you purchase a wrasse from another part of the earth, it will still be on that schedule. I've purchased wrasses in the past that stayed in the sandbed way longer than expected, emerging hours after the lights came on because their internal clock was still calibrated to the previous time zone. After a couple of weeks, it would reset so precisely that it would circle and hover over the perfect spot mere seconds before the lights shut off. Pretty fascinating to watch, I have to tell you.If you have a simple system with T5 bulbs, your options may be limited to how many bulbs you can turn on at a time by Francis Yupangco | Jan 1, 2015 | Corals, Fish, Science
Happy New Year!! Here’s to a 2015 filled with health, happiness and fish!! Silverside minnows spawn just once a year, in the coral reefs off the coast of Key Large, Florida. Every year the minnows gather in shoals around the aptly named ‘minnow... by AquaNerd | Dec 29, 2014 | Corals, Science
Ok, last awesome coral of the day. This one, called the Cookie Monster Acropora, comes to us via Gonzo Corals, and given its colors, we can certainly see how this name is somewhat appropriate. We say somewhat only for the fact that the polyps are red, but that’s really neither here nor there, especially since this coral is just so gorgeous. Getting back to the coral’s beautiful colors, we see a deep blue, almost purple base color that lightens a tad at the tip of the corallite, obviously being punctuated with that red polyp by AquaNerd | Dec 24, 2014 | Corals, Equipment, Science, Technology
Being that it is Friday and Christmas is so so close, we decided to relax a bit and enjoy the view. So, we are going to make today all about some awesome corals we recently spotted on the web. First up is the Rainbow Incinerator paly from Love The Reef. This awesome polyp symbolizes all that is awesome with these corals, sporting intense colors that would make any hobbyist stop and drool for a moment or two. They sport long skirts that have a striped pattern, along with a vibrant swathe of colors on its oral disc. by AquaNerd | Dec 21, 2014 | Corals, Fish, Industry, Invertebrates, MACNA, Science, Tanks, Technology
With Christmas about three weeks away and closing in fast, we’ve decided to compile our annual list of aquarium goodies that you can get the aquarium nerd in your life. This is a diverse list that represents different price points and different types of gear. Of course, this list isn’t all inclusive, but we tried to represent the most popular and most useful products available. by AquaNerd | Dec 19, 2014 | Corals, Opinion, Science
Here is part two of hopefully a three part montage of awesome corals with which to fill your Friday. It is one sick monti from Aqua SD called the ASD Phoenix Suns Montipora. If you follow professional basketball at all, then you’d instantly be able to associated this lovely coral with the rather bright logo and team colors of the Phoenix Suns. Where the basketball team has more of a purple and yellow, the monti counterpart sports more of a vibrant pink and yellow, with blue polyps that dot the landscape. What is most catching about this piece, at least in our opinions, is the utter intensity of the colors. These are really bright colors that would make this coral a showstopper in any tank