by Austin Lefevre | Dec 18, 2013 | Corals, Eye Candy, Fish, Invertebrates, Photography
These days it seems most aquarium hobbyists take inspiration for aquascaping and coral placement from fellow hobbyists’ aquariums. This is a great starting point to get some ideas churning, particularly for people new to aquariums, however I find some of my best... by AquaNerd | Dec 18, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
Believe it or not, but Oceans Reefs & Aquariums (ORA) has released around half a dozen new captive bred fish onto the aquarium keeping world so far this year, not including corals, and they’re gearing up to add at least one more before 2013 draws to a close. Announced late afternoon yesterday on their blog, the ORA Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma) is the latest offering from the Florida-based aquaculture specialists and the second one in less than a week. The fish isn’t new to the trade, and some hobbyists have bred them in captivity in the past, but this is the first time that captive bred individuals will be available on any sort of scale. ORA states in their announcement that only a small batch of these cardinalfish will be available, so if you want to get your hands on some, now is the time to act. As for the yellowstripe cardinal’s behavior and breeding characteristics, it operates a lot like most other cardinalfish. It is a peaceful fish that hails from various locales within the Indo-Pacific region and it does well in just about any community environment, though it might go after some small shrimp from time to time. by AquaNerd | Dec 17, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
Here’s a brand new food for coral lovers. Coral Frenzy, the very popular powdered coral food, will soon be available in pellet form. The pellet will have roughly a 1mm length and will be negatively buoyant to sink for to all of your hungry LPS corals and the fish or inverts lucky enough to steal themselves a bite. The food will be available soon (free samples have already been circulating) and it will come in packages of 76 grams. For nutritional information, see below. We first encountered the Coral Frenzy brand many years ago at one of the trade shows. The powdered food was often given away in the bags of the various shows, and we’ve been using it off and on ever since. We always get a good response from the corals and inverts, in particular our hungry hungry starfish. We are quite happy to see the food being offered in a pellet format, as we have grown quite fond of that type of food as well. The official word from Coral Frenzy: PARTICLE SIZE: 1mm Pellet by AquaNerd | Dec 15, 2013 | Corals, Science
Blue Tridacna Maxima Clam I still vividly remember my first Tridacnid clam. It was a very nerve-racking time in my journey through the hobby, as I was just starting to dabble in the realm of corals and, like most hobbyists, I wanted to do things the right way the first time around. As I became a little more comfortable with corals, I was strangely drawn to the “giant” clams, prompting me to research the available species for a significant amount of time. From everything I read, clams appeared to present a unique challenge; animals that had all of the same requirements as SPS corals, but with a whole slew of diseases and parasites that could cause some mysterious and untimely death. Being a new coral keeper at the time, this was very scary for me, as thoughts of dosing and light requirements flooded my thought process. My fascination eventually overcame my fears and concerns, however, leading to my first clam purchase and a complete shattering of the notion that clams are difficult to care for. In fact, my experience was so positive that I filled my growing mixed reef with several species clam, oftentimes with each species being represented multiple times. Over the years, I continued to grow my clam collection, hoping to, at some point, house one of each species readily and even not-so-readily available in the aquarium trade. by Francis Yupangco | Dec 13, 2013 | Conservation, Corals, Science
Coral jewelry has been in high demand in Asia since the 8th century AD. The global market for corals used in jewelry is worth between 50 to 60 million dollars a year. The deep red variety, known as “oxblood” coral, now mostly purchased from Japan, is the most coveted,... by AquaNerd | Dec 13, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
If you’re as into Tridacnid clams as much as we are, then you might want to pay attention. For the first time in 15 long years, T. maxima clams originating out of the Red Sea are being imported into the US. That’s been far too long in our book. Thankfully, the crew at Golden Coast for Fishing Sea Products, a company associated with RVS Fishworld, obtained all of the CITES permitting required to legally access and export the beautiful clams. They have already shipped 36 boxes of fish and clams to ACI Aquaculture, a Florida-based wholesaler, which we are told landed yesterday. The clams are downright beautiful, to say the least
