by AquaNerd | Jul 19, 2016 | Equipment, Fish, Reef, Science
This fish, in the little-known family Aphyonidae, was found by a team aboard the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer at a depth of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) in the Marianas Trench.NOAA OKEANOS EXPLORER On July 10th, NOAA Scientists completed an exploration expedition into the deepest U.S. territorial waters in an area known as the Marianas Trench. The trench is about 1,580 miles (2,550 kilometers) in length with an average width of 43 miles (69 kilometers). The maximum verified depth is 6.831 miles at a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep, at its southern end. To explore these great depths under extreme atmospheric pressure requires special equipment and considerable funding. The expedition was performed with a vessel owned by the National Oceanic and by AquaNerd | Jul 17, 2016 | Fish, Reef, Science
Scopas Tangs, also known as the Brown Scopas Tangs are typically yellowish in the dorsal area while more brown ventrally as the colors gradually get darker towards the tail. The body is covered with fine, intricate, light blue markings and the tail is a solid brown color with a highlighted blue edge as seen above courtesy of Live Aquaria. Scopas Tangs are typically collected in size from 1 1/2″ – 3 1/4″ to as large 5 1/4″ to 6 1/4″. Juveniles are a little more attractive than adult specimens as they display larger dorsal and posterior fins and a slightly purplish body color. Scopas tangs prefer larger aquariums and it is recommended that they be kept in 110 gallon aquariums or larger. Like many tangs, they are aggressive towards their own by ReefBum | Jul 17, 2016 | Corals, Fish, Reef, Science
SPS Deep Dive – Tyree Lime in The Sky If you are a stag collector then you will want a Tyree Lime in The Sky, an electric lime green staghorn that is much sought after by SPS collectors. I do favor stags since they can be fast growers, have far reaching branches and remind me of what you would see in a natural reef with fish swimming in and out of coral. Stags can also attract non-swimming fish. I used to have a HUGE Green Bali Slimmer (not uncommon for this coral) in my old 225 gallon tank and my Flame Hawkfish used to just plant itself up high and observe its domain below. According to the Reeffarmers website, Greg Carroll of Southern California originally acquired this by AquaNerd | Jul 16, 2016 | Fish, Industry, Reef, Science
In early May 2016, an algae bloom on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee grew to cover 33 square miles. Nearby farm and residential runoff created conditions that caused the bloom in the lake and have been blamed for impacting water quality downstream to the Atlantic Ocean. The blue-green algae bloom is visible in this image of Lake Okeechobee, acquired on July 2, 2016, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. The natural-color image combines red light, green light, and coastal aerosol (blue) light (bands 4, 3 and 1). Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria often appears red in most of our aquariums when nutrient levels are too high but no matter the color it’s all cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria reproduces rapidly when nutrients like phosphates and nitrogen are abundant in by AquaNerd | Jul 14, 2016 | Conservation, Fish, Science
[embedded content] The Army Corps of Engineers released nutrient-heavy water into the St. Lucie Estuary as part of their flood control measures, Corps spokesman John Campbell told CNN. The algae outbreak eventually reached the beaches. To make matters worse, a massive algae bloom was already covering the lake. Following the emergency declaration, the Corps announced it would cut discharges by about a third beginning Friday. “The algae outbreaks are triggered by fertilizer sewage and manure pollution that the state has failed to properly regulate. It’s like adding miracle grow to the water and it triggers massive algae outbreaks,” Earthjustice spokeswoman Alisa Coe told CNN. Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, has been fighting for tougher pollution limits in the state. “We’ve seen this for
