by AquaNerd | Aug 5, 2014 | Corals, Science
Recently, Exotic Reef Creations shared a nice batch of fresh Aussie Mini Scolys over on their Reef2Reef page, and for us it served as a beautiful reminder about just how cute these little corals are. About the size of a quarter, the mini Scolymia is packed full of colors that are right on par with their larger cousins. But the fact that they’re essentially miniatures means there is so my more appeal. Seriously, outside of the current trends in smartphones, everyone loves making normal things smaller. The Mini Scolys are priced at $90 a pop, which is pretty much their normal going rate for colors and quality such as this. The tiny corals, like the larger Scolymia, benefit from regular feeding, which is always fun to watch since they extend their feeding tentacles and gobble up all they can within reach. Pictured below is our very own mini scoly, which we picked up months ago at the local Reef Currents event by AquaNerd | Aug 4, 2014 | Corals, Science
We have been saying this over and over again, but our point keeps getting proven. Mushroom corals are really coming into their own, and with corals like this Pantsdropper Discosoma from Legendary Corals, it’s hard to focus on other coral types. The ‘shrooms are showing up in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and we’ve grown quite fond of the latest the hobby has to offer. The Pantsdropper, which was shared by Legendary on their Reef2Reef page, was hilariously named because its colors are enough to knock your trousers right off. This approach was taken because apparently when the Jawbreaker mushrooms were first gazed upon, the person’s jaw fell right to the floor. For the Pantsdropper, the situation goes like this…”our pants dropped after changing them when we first laid on this phenomenal shroom.” The colors are astounding to say the least, and any mushroom collector would be in heaven if their got their hands on one. Speaking of that, there will only be one of the PD mushrooms available, but Legendary Corals hasn’t put a price tag on it. Instead, they are fielding offers, accepting the highest one after one week’s time. This approach hasn’t sat well with many Reef2Reefers, but that’s just how the market works by AquaNerd | Jul 30, 2014 | Fish, Science
Apparently, there’s such a thing as fish shaming. In this interesting act of internet virality, an aquarium owner posts conceivably embarrassing messages about their fish. While the comedy of humiliating fish on the internet may be lost on some (or likely most) people out there, believe me when I say that it’s the perfect message for an aquarium keeper. In the images shown above and below, which were taken from the Tumblr page Distinct Memory, the fish were apparently overly aggressive toward tankmates, inflicting some sort of damage or death that the aquarist was tired of. The hobbyist then used the power of social media to let the world know of the fish’s bad behavior. And while the fish obviously aren’t really even aware of what’s going on, we got quite a chuckle from this fish shaming and would love to see it expanded towared more of our salty pets as well. Just image, shaming that “reef safe” angelfish for nipping at all the clams or humiliating a clownfish for trying to host a water pump. The possibilities are endless. by AquaNerd | Jul 29, 2014 | Science, Seahorses
There is something that is just so alluring about sea dragons. Although they aren’t too different from seahorses, usually moving in the same slow and methodical fashion while they cruise around the aquarium, they are far more elaborate in their appearance. Looking like an ultra modified versions of their close seahorse relatives, sea dragons are often adorned with elaborate fins that resemble marine vegetation like Sargassum, kelp, and whatever else is readily available in their habitat. And like seahorses, the sea dragons are just so cute and are super easy to photograph. They can get quite camera shy, but after warming up to us, we are usually able to get good pictures of them, such as the one shown above. The image was taken at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. by AquaNerd | Jul 25, 2014 | Corals, Science
The popularity of mushroom corals is on the rise, and thanks to corals like this, we can certainly see why. There has been an influx of rather brightly colored, fluffy looking mushrooms into the hobby over the last couple of years or so, and hobbyists are falling all over themselves to get them, often paying a premium for the best and brightest of the bunch (no real surprise there). At MACNA last year in Miami, we happened across some of these very shrooms, which had retail prices soaring well over $1000 a pop. Always on the cutting edge of the coral trends, Jason Fox shared these images of his Bounce Mushroom Coral over on Reef2Reef, which was sourced from World Wide Corals…hence the WWC portion of the coral’s name. WWC was the group who had these on display at MACNA 2013, but this particular coral is a standout from those that we came across at the show and even the ones we continue to see online. According to Jason’s post, this frag is the biggest he’s ever sold, tipping the scales at 2″x2″ with huge, orange “plumage”. The price is set at $1450 shipped.
