by xeniaforever | Jan 15, 2017 | DIY, Funny, Too Cute
Winter is definitely upon us! Here in New England, it’s officially hat season – from now until mid-to-late April, mothers across the region will insist that their children cover their heads before going outside, which can either be a huge struggle or an... by xeniaforever | Nov 23, 2016 | Fish, Funny, Technology, Too Cute
Thanksgiving is a time for gathering together with family, which means many of us will be travelling at some point over this holiday weekend. The Automobile Association of America (AAA) projects that 48.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more between today... by Saltwater Smarts | May 25, 2016 | Corals, Funny, Reef, Science, Tanks
Recently, the folks in my area got enamored with the topic of “nano‐bubbles” for the reef tank. Being a curious engineer and avid tinkerer of tanks, I jumped right in to test it for myself.So what are nano‐bubbles and what is the concept being prescribed? Well, there are many sources online that talk about the benefits of nano‐bubbles in various applications, from water and food processing to cleaning applications such as wastewater treatment. But with respect to our hobby, one site, Elegant Corals LLC, had been promoting the benefits of running “micro‐scrubbing bubbles” in the reef tank for some time. You can check out their Facebook page for the claimed benefits. Process The basic process, in short, is to produce the smallest bubbles possible and inject them into the main tank via the return pump. Wooden airstones are placed just before the inlet of the sump return pump, and the amount of bubbles is controlled by adjusting the distance from the airstone to the inlet. by Marcin Smok | May 10, 2016 | Corals, DIY, Equipment, Eye Candy, Fish, Funny, Opinion, Photography, Reef, Tanks, Too Cute
All images by author It seems that everyone and everything on Earth follows the same principle- to survive, evolve, and finally morph into something better, more sophisticated, far superior. A cloud of galactic dust that aligned, through a nearly-impossible... by Barry Brown | Apr 7, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Funny, Reef, Science
Good morning all, I have a beautiful colony of Orange Cup Corals at the base of a giant sea fan for you viewing pleasure today that was taken on one of our numerous night dives. As you may or may not know, many corals feed at night. These cup corals collapse into a hard “button” during the day but at night they open and extend their tentacles to capture floating plankton. Many don’t know this but Tubastrea coccinea “Orange Cup coral” is an invasive species just like the lionfish. While lionfish get all the attention and are subjected to extraction derbies and are appropriately placed on a platter, orange cup coral silently keeps on growing. Fortunately it is much more selective than lionfish by Saltwater Smarts | Mar 28, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Funny, Invertebrates, Opinion, Reef, Science
The blue-throat triggerfish (X. auromarginatus) in my aquarium exhibited repetitive behavior prior to transitioning the system to a reefFor today’s post, I’d like to elicit your thoughts on an interesting phenomenon I’ve observed in my aquarium, specifically involving an aggravating repetitive behavior exhibited until fairly recently by my pair of blue-throat triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus). Allow me to set the stage: I introduced the blue-throats to my 125-gallon about a year and a half ago when it was still a FOWLR system. Their tankmates at the time included a one-spot foxface (Siganus unimaculatus), yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens), tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus), and sixline wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia).The repetitive behavior I’m referring to—and both the male and female exhibited it—was repeatedly swimming around the base of a powerhead mounted at the far left end of the tank (as I usually face it—you can actually view the tank from either side and one end) about 5 inches below the surface. They would swim in a circle 10, 15, even 20 times or more, briefly break away and swim about half the length of the tank, and then come right back to the powerhead to swim another set of “laps.” Both triggers fed with gusto and would swim up to greet me whenever I approached the tank, no doubt assuming more food was forthcoming, and sometimes they would stop the lap swimming and explore more of the tank for brief periods. But they would always revert to that same maddening behavior. I tried moving the powerhead next to my overflow box and closer to the surface so it would be harder to swim in a loop around it, but the triggers just wiggled their way through the narrowed pathway anyway. Afraid they’d get injured or flip out of the tank, I moved the powerhead back to its original location.
