Saltwater Smarts Headed to C-SEA Frag Swap!
The folks at the Cleveland Saltwater Enthusiasts Association (C-SEA) may be situated near Lake Erie—one of our freshwater Great Lakes—but on Saturday, October 22, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., they’ll be steeped in salt water as they host the 2016 C-SEA Frag Swap at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea, Ohio. This exciting event will feature a dizzying array of coral/invert vendors, awesome raffle prizes, great discounts on products, and much, much more.Included in the “much, much more” will be a talk by yours truly and Caribbean Chris from 12:00 to around 1:00 p.m. CC and I will be speaking (actually, I’ll do most of the talking and CC will provide the visuals) directly from our “wheelhouse” on the role content providers play in the marine aquarium hobby, as well as some of the challenges to effective communication we’ve encountered along the way. After our presentation concludes, Marc Levenson of the extremely popular Melev’s Reef and Reef Addicts will give a talk from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., followed by a meet-and-greet from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. The raffle will kick off at 3:00 and continue until all items are given away.SPS Deep Dive – Purple Bonsai Acropora
SPS Deep Dive – Purple Bonsai Acropora Bonsai! When I see that word all I can think about is John Belushi in a Saturday Night Live skit waving a sharp samurai sword perilously close to a nonchalant Buck Henry. Belushi actually hit Henry during one of these skits, going down as one of the more memorable moments in SNL history. But I digress. When a reef keeper sees the word Bonsai he or she typically thinks of a purple coral with green polyps. The most well-know morph is the GARF Purple Bonsai. GARF stands for Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation and was a pioneer in the reef keeping business, known for its research to help advance the reef keeping hobby. Nonetheless, their Bonasi was a must-haveReef Threads Podcast #294
We return once again for podcast #294 and talk about the Aquatic Experience event, Planet Earth 2, aquaculture fire shrimp, beginners and LFSs, and making a macro algae reactor. Download the podcast here, or subscribe to our podcasts at iTunes. Also, follow us on Twitter at reefthreads.—Gary and Christine
Sponsor: Rod’s Food
Rod’s Food website
Aquatic Experience
Aquatic Experience, Chicago website
Aquacultured Fire Shrimp
Quality Marine Receives Aquacultured Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius), Reefs.com
Beginners and the LFS
Salty Q&A: Can We Do Better for Beginners than Caveat Emptor? Jeff Kurtz, Saltwater Smarts
Macroalgae reactor
How to build an inexpensive Macroalgae Reactor to reduce Nitrate and Phosphate, Marine Depot
Featured Coral: WWC 4 Color Cyphastrea
Our featured color of the week comes to us originally from World Wide Corals (WWC) in Orlando, FL but the photos are from Richard Negret at Cornbred corals. As many of you know, Richard and the folks at WWC have a knack for finding both beautiful and unusual corals. The WWC 4 color Cyphastrea is no exception. About Over the years, several different color variations of Cyphastrea corals have appeared in the aquarium trade and there thought to be five known species of this Genus. Cyphastrea serialis (Forskål, 1775) Cyphastrea danai Milne Edwards, 1857 Cyphastrea brueggemanni Quelch, 1886 Cyphastrea suvadivae Gardiner, 1904 Cyphastrea conferta Nemenzo, 1959 History The meteor shower Cyphastrea (pronunciation) was probably the first named Cyphastrea to enter into the aquarium hobby in the US. With it’s teal-A Proven Method for Treating Bacterial Infection in Anemones
Recently I had an urge to get back into keeping anemones and planned on setting up an anemone-specific aquarium with the 90-gallon tank I resealed. I knew I wanted to start looking at what has been out in the market recently and understand in what state of health they have been received at the local fish stores.Based on the symptoms I saw—gaping mouths, deflated bodies, and some that looked okay but experienced inflate/deflate cycles—I researched what is needed to save these beautiful creatures and give them a fighting chance. Anemones in general are typically poor shippers, so it’s prudent to do our best to care for them as soon as possible. I stumbled upon an awesome old thread on one of the popular forums from 2014 by Minh (OrionN), which outlined his “Protocol for using antibiotics to treat infected anemones.” Working with other anemone enthusiasts, he documented a treatment method that utilizes one of the commonly available antibiotics named Ciprofloxacin (Cipro). Two other alternatives were mentioned, but I will focus on Cipro. Figure 1: Basic Hospital Tank Setup Materials needed 10-gallon tank Small powerhead 50w heater Plastic basket from the dollar store (I personalized this since it made it easier to transport the specimen in and out of the tank.) Small plastic container sized to hold the anemone basket temporarily with water High-output, full-spectrum lighting (I used my old metal halide fixture.) Ciprofloxacin tablets (Comes in 250 mg or 500 mg tablets and ordered online.) Basket secured by an old Hydor Koralia magnet mount.
