AlgaGen’s New Live Feeds Program

Healthy reefs depend on plankton, and fresh is always best. AlgaGen recently launched its Live Feeds Program, which aims to set up culture holding systems in local fish stores across the country. Stores that offer the new program will have live phytoplankton, rotifers, brine and/or copepods available to customers to feed their reefs or breed marine livestock with. Reef aquarists will now be ale to provide reef nutrition found in nature and elicit the natural feeding responses from all of the tank’s inhabitants. Don’t be afraid to ask your local fish store if this is something they will be carrying. Heres a video all about it:

Reef Suds Donates to the Coral Restoration Foundation

The Coral Restoration Foundation has been rockin’ and rollin’ in 2014, receiving generous donations from all sorts of organizations. Another company that’s making good on their promise to contribute is Reef Suds, the first reef safe soap product to be introduced to the aquarium hobby. When Reef Suds first launched in November 2013, they promised to donate $1 from every bar sold to the CRF. Well, a few months into their campaign, the soap makers are making their initial donation of $400, with planned contributions every quarter from here on out. The goal is to gradually increase these donations as the company continues to grow, and we’re glad to see such a commitment from yet another company in the aquarium industry.

Eshopps Adding Some Style to Refugium Lighting

Many marine aquarists illuminate their refugia with the most basic of lighting systems. These usually consist of an aluminum shop light and a compact fluorescent bulb, which isn’t exactly the most visually appealing arrangement. Eshopps is looking to change all that, however, with the upcoming release of their yet to be named LED refugium light. This sleek little fixture sports a razor thin design that sports the signature blue coloration that permeates thought the entire Eshopps lineup. It has a footprint of 5″ x 4″, with a thickness of just 5/16th of an inch. Helping the light to jut out over the water is a mounting bracket that blends right into the fixture and can affix to acrylic or glass of varying thickness thanks to nylon thumbscrews. Getting back to the fact that the refugium light is without a name, Eshopps is looking for a little help in the creativity department.

CORAL Video: Frag Swap Set Up with HighDefCorals

Twin coral displays with LED lighting and video Displays are a trademark of High Def Corals, photographed at Reef Currents in late February 2014 – image by Paul Whitby It’s safe to say that HighDefCorals has taken the act of being a “Frag Swap Vendor” to a true art-form; they often have the swankest setup in the room. Gone are the days when vendors at frag swaps were simply hobbyists with a 20 gallon long and a metal halide light; these days frag swapping is serious business. Based in Oklahoma City, OK, Ed and Denise Brookshire, and partner Paul Whitby, dedicate their time to traveling the country to offer “[imported] livestock not found in your LFS.” For companies like HighDefCorals, perhaps we are better off thinking of their mobile setups as the gourmet food trucks of the aquarium industry. Last weekend at the inaugural Reef Currents conference and coral farmers market put on by MARSH, HighDefCorals took the time to film frag swap setup Friday night before the event on Saturday. What resulted is a 2-minute condensed look at the setup of the HighDefCorals display you see may see around your local frag swap or convention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbvNGfR_s4c They make it look easy, but having been there myself to see the tear down (and to get drenched when a hose came off a high volume water pump that was draining a bucket) there’s a lot to be done even with such a well-thought out and engineered setup.

Paul Walker, a Friend of the Ocean

Photo Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder We tend to shy away from Hollywood news, both in our personal lives and here on the blog, as it usually is nothing but garbage that has zero influence on our daily lives. But this story is significantly different. We’ve all heard about the recent death of actor Paul Walker, best known for his roles in the Fast and Furious franchise. What he wasn’t so widely known for was his passion for the ocean. Recently posted on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Tumblr page, Walker originally went to school to study marine biology and was a self described “ocean addict”. Although he was eventually drawn away from his degree as he pursued acting, Paul used his influence to continually follow his original passion and even found a charitable organization, Reach Our Worldwide, which helped in disaster relief for events that occurred all over our globe. When not starring in popular car racing movies and spreading humanitarianism, Paul also served on the board of the Billfish Foundation and took part in scientific tagging expeditions of great white sharks. It truly is sad when an actor with such a heart and passion for man and animal kind loses his life so tragically.