by AquaNerd | Jun 14, 2013 | Corals, Eye Candy, Industry, Photography
To say that we have an obsession with those big, beautiful Scolymia australis corals is a bit of an understatement. We just can’t get enough of them, whether its watching videos of them inhaling various food items or just gazing at vivid pictures. In our constant perusal of Scoly web content, we always randomly find one or two that put all of the others to shame, but this latest beauty from Unique Corals has really raised the bar for this coral species altogether. Appropriately dubbed the Supernova Scolymia, this amazing piece has out of this world coloration. In fact, it is the best coloration of any Scoly that we’ve laid eyes on, even surpassing the beauty of those legendary ‘Master Scolys’. The 2.5″ WYSIWYG specimen is currently listed at $498, but we don’t expect it to stay on the Unique Corals site much longer, assuming it is still there when this article publishes. by AquaNerd | Jun 11, 2013 | Fish, Industry
Paracentropyge multifasciata x venustus Hybrid Angelfish We have a special place in our hearts for hybrid fish of all varieties, but this amazing hybrid angelfish featured on the LSS Laboratory blog really just makes us smile. The 6cm long angelfish looks amazing with its vibrant coloration and insane patterns, as it takes the best features from both of its parents and blends them together in a such a way that it elevates the look altogether. For the hybrid offspring to be significantly more beautiful than either of the parents isn’t exactly common. This Philippine beauty is cross between a multibar angelfish (Paracentropyge multifasciata ) and the Venustus pygmy angelfish (Paracentropyge venustus), and if you think that it’s a one of a kind angel, you’d only partially be right. To date, at least three individuals have surfaced in the aquarium trade, all of which have gone to the Asian market. According to a post on Glassbox Design, this hybrid was first seen more than 20 years ago, and in none other than Japan. At the time, nobody knew what it was, and because there wasn’t near as much hype around fish back then, it sold for an insanely cheap price. The industry saw its second specimen about 5 years ago, again through the Japanese aquarium industry, and it looked just as gorgeous as the one we feature today. This current specimen is also headed to the Japanese aquarium marketplace, to no surprise, and we hope it will join the tank of some serious collector who really tanks his hobby seriously. This is a seriously beautiful and rare fish, and although we’d never see it in person, barring some major miracle of course, we sure would love to see more photos and a video if the fish gods were so kind enough. by AquaNerd | May 13, 2013 | Corals, Eye Candy, Industry, Photography
For this week’s AquaNerd POTW, we’re getting an extreme up close look at the ORA Sprung’s Stunner from our friend Daniel Leija’s 40-gallon reef aquarium. In Daniel’s aquarium, this coral has a broadly plating growth form and sports a deep purple base with neon green polyps. Depending on the lighting, the coral can take on a tan base color, while the corallites usually remain that glowing green regardless. As far as the details for this shot go, we used a 100mm macro lens with a couple of lens extenders that really let us get ultra close shots. « Previous post
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by AquaNerd | Apr 10, 2013 | Corals, Eye Candy, Photography, Science
embedded content This video may have already been making the rounds for the past couple of months, but it’s certainly worth mentioning here considering its focus. Put together by the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, the clip features up close footage of a popular aquarium specimen, the Pocillopora damincornis coral. As the video progresses, we get to dive deeper into the coral’s tissues, starting on the surface with some amazing fluorescing coral tissue and moving into individual polyps for a look at their internal structures and symbionts. Wrapping up the up close look at Pocillopora, we actually get a great view of its messentarial tissue expelling symbiont algae and even live coral larvae moving about on their hunt for an appropriate settlement area. Following the Pocillopora, the video gives us a microscopic look at other coral species, including Leptastrea, a couple Porites species, and Fungia. And no coral video would be complete without touching on the danger they face in the wild, most notably bleaching. The video avoids mentioning the often politically divisive topics like global warming and ocean acidification, instead keeping the message much simpler by stating that we need to have a better understanding of corals and their endosymbiotes, and how those two react/interact with their environment. Truly, this is one of the coolest videos we have every seen or posted here on the AquaNerd Blog, and it’s a great science lesson for coral keepers.
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by AquaNerd | Apr 9, 2013 | Conservation, Fish
The Disney Pixar smash hit about a clownfish seeking out his lost son was undoubtedly a welcomed family movie that warmed the hearts of millions. Obviously we’re talking about ‘Finding Nemo’ here, and for the aquarium hobby and ocean conservationists, the movie presented a unique dichotomy. On one hand, it got people, especially children, excited about marine life. That sounds like a very positive message coming from a seemingly harmless movie. The other side of that coin, however, isn’t quite so nice. Families flocked to fish stores in hopes to purchase their very own Nemo to appease their screaming children, but with the very busy life of a school and kids’ sports, the aquariums didn’t fare too well long term. Water quality suffered, as did the health of ‘Nemo’ and whatever other tankmates he had, eventually leading to massive fish losses across the board. With that in mind, we’re wondering if the recently announced ‘Finding Nemo’ sequel, ‘Finding Dory’, will have a similar affect on blue hippo tangs. If it does, the results may be far more detrimental. When ‘Finding Nemo’ came out and clownfish popularity skyrocketed, the marine aquarium trade responded with captive-bred clownfish for the masses. Wild-caught clowns were still imported in great numbers, but the movie’s impact on wild fish was curtailed by commercially available tank bred fish. Unfortunately for the sequel, commercially available blue hippo tangs, aka Dory, just aren’t available. These fish are pelagic spawners that releases eggs and sperm into the water for a really broad dispersal. Clownfish, on the other hand, form pairs and regularly lay and tend to egg clutches. Because of these differences, marine ornamental breeders just haven’t been successful with blue hippo tangs, or virtually any other tang for that matter. And our concern is that ‘Finding Dory’ will create a huge demand for blue hippo tangs that the aquarium hobby just can’t respond to, at least in a sustainable way. Yahoo weighed in on the potential impact of ‘Finding Dory’ in a recent MOVIEtalk blog post, with their message swaying back and forth betweeen how bad it could be to how PETA thinks it will help ocean conservation. According to the article, PETA has full faith in Ellen Degeneres (voice of Dory) since she is an animal-friendly vegan. They feel her message will “serve as a positive message for children and families”. PETA also praised the messages coming out of the original ‘Findind Nemo’. While it’s hard to pin the blame on movies like this, we’re a bit surprised at PETA’s stance given the long-term impact that the first movie had, and the impact that the sequel will likely have. Either way, we hope movie goers will use their better judgement and won’t give into the hype of owning a Dory, or a Nemo, or whatever. Instead, we recommend that they buy a plush toy or some other movie memorabilia.
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