by AquaNerd | Oct 8, 2016 | Corals, Reef, Science
The weekend before last, we attended the annual Columbia Marine Aquarium Conference (CMAC). Several coral vendors were at the show and we were able to pickup some really cool corals, including one from Joey Nichols at Joe Knows Reefs. Incrusting Monti corals have always impressed me and I was lucky enough to find this little gem at the show. The ASD Rainbow Phoenix’s lineage goes back about 2 years ago when it was first introduced by Aqua SD in San Diego, CA. One of the qualities I have always appreciated about Joey at Joes Knows Reefs, is that he is good about informing people on how to care for the corals he is selling them. At the show, Joey made sure to let us know that by AquaNerd | Sep 7, 2016 | Fish, MACNA, Reef
Monsoon Fairy Wrasse hits the U.S. Market Monsoon Fairy Wrasse, Cirrhilabrus hygroxerus, arrives in the United States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbJAVg9c5k8 Kernersville, NC, August 29, 2016) — Carolina Aquatics has acquired the exclusive rights to distribute the newly discovered and described Monsoon Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus hygroxerus). The fish will be displayed publicly for the first time at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America in San Diego September 9-11, 2016, in the Carolina Aquatics booth #334. Carolina Aquatics will be taking wholesale orders at the conference. “We are excited to be able to bring this beautiful, rare aquarium fish to the hobby,” said Kris Cline, owner of Carolina Aquatics, which has exclusive rights to distribute the fish in the United States. “This is by ReefBum | Sep 2, 2016 | Corals, Reef, Science
SPS Deep Dive – ORA Red Planet The ORA Red Planet is one of my favorite SPS for a number of reasons. Number one, it is red and who doesn’t love a splash of red in their reef to color things up. Number two, it is a tabling acropora so it looks like it is a natural part of a reef and number three is its fast growth rate. The last one I had was about a foot and a half wide and it didn’t take too long to get there! The ORA Red Planet was acquired by ORA in May of 2006 and quickly became a popular coral among SPS enthusiasts once it became available for sale. There was certainly an excitement when ORA released it and by AquaNerd | Aug 28, 2016 | Corals, Reef, Science
The Montipora Family contains about 19 different species but our featured coral of the week focuses on the encrusting purple Montipora nodosa. This unique Montipora will easily encrust on rock work or frag mounts. It is a relatively fast growing coral and it is considered to be easy – moderately-easy to care for in a reef aquarium. Encrusting Montipora Coral is classified by aquarists as a small polyp stony (SPS) coral often referred to as Cabbage, Lettuce or Velvet Rock Coral. It’s a relatively fast growing coral, and under the right conditions will spread and encrust on just about any substrate in the aquarium including the aquarium glass, given the chance. The coral polyps are very small and the calices are less than 2mm in diameter by ReefBum | Aug 25, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science
In a captive reef aquarium both LPS and SPS corals require nutrition to thrive. In my SPS dominated reefs I have always had a lot of fish and relied on fish poop as a source of nutrition to improve SPS growth and coloration. To further supplement the diets of my corals, I have also used certain feeds such as Oyster-Feast from Reef Nutrition. According to Chad Clayton, Reef Nutrition’s Live Feeds Supervisor, Oyster-Feast is their best all-around base feed for the majority of invertebrates in a reef tank. The positives associated with this food are as follows: It’s a natural food source. It’s sized appropriately for SPS corals (the smallest particles are in the 1 micron range). There are a wide range of particle sizes
