by AquaNerd | Jul 10, 2014 | Equipment
When Innovative Marine launched their NUVO Shallow Reef and Fusion series aquariums, they thought out the designs through eyes of aquarium keepers, adding specific accessories that would yield massive benefits. One of these features was the mesh screen that covered the tops of these aquariums, keeping jumpy fish from doing a little carpet surfing. While this screen comes stock with the two higher end systems, IM has decided to release a line of screens to fit many of their popular NUVO Nano aquariums. This upgrade consists of a lightweight mesh screen with a durable powder coated aluminum frame and will fit nicely over the NUVO Nano16, Micro30, and Mini38 aquariums. There are no tools required for the install, and since the screen comes preassembled, all you have to do is tear open the box and set it on your tank, simple as that. Here is a full model breakdown, which includes dimensions and suggested retail prices. -16 Gallon Screen Dims: 22.85” x 8” x 0.35” ($40 MSRP) -30 Gallon Screen Dims: 19” x 13.25” x 0.35” ($50 MSRP) -38 Gallon Screen Dims: 22.75” x 13.25” x 0.35” ($60 MSRP) by AquaNerd | Jul 8, 2014 | Fish, Science
Have you ever watched one of those shows on one of the “science” channels that shows how the Earth would look if humans vanished? More often than not, the shows dictate how nature would take back the concrete jungles, with buildings becoming overgrown with plant life and eventually disappearing into the ever growing greenery. Most of these programs are sensationalized beyond belief, but if you want a glimpse at a real life example, there’s a mall in Thailand that has become flooded and is now home to thousands of fish. According to The Verge, the New World shopping mall in Bangkok was abandoned in 1999 after a fire tore through its facilities. It flooded with several feet if water, inviting all sorts of aquatic wildlife into its domain. Since the fire, and subsequent floods, thousands of koi and catfish have taken up residence in the mall, making for some gaining sights. According to rumor, the fish were intentionally introduced, which comes as no surprise seeing as how people seem to do that quite often. by AquaNerd | Jul 2, 2014 | Fish, Science
When it comes to deadly creatures, Australia seems to be the destination for the biggest, nastiest, venom-iest animals on Earth. These dangerous critters are both land and ocean based, and people wandering all over the continent have to literally watch every step they take. As further explained in this latest video from SmarterEveryDay the stonefish is one of those ultra deadly creatures that kills by injecting venom into people who aren’t paying attention to each step, obviously stinging divers and beachgoers who are unfortunate enough to just step in the wrong place. But considering how well these fish blend into their backgrounds, we could certainly see how so many people are stung. The video, which we pulled off of Gizmodo, shows just how the stonefish does its damage. When folks step on any of the fish’s 13 venomous dorsal spines, the skin pulls back to reveal some nasty hypodermic style spines each with its own set of venom sacks. As pressure from the foot pushes down on the spine, obviously causing a puncture, the venom is expelled upward into the foot. Unfortunately, the sting isn’t like that of a lionfish, which has been described as nothing more than a bad bee sting. The sting of the stonefish is deadly by AquaNerd | Jul 1, 2014 | Corals, Fish, Science
Hobbyists have have enjoyed performing numerous growth experiments on Monitpora corals, both encrusting and plating alike. While most of the tinkering has resulted in the blending two or more different colored individuals into one coral, which usually reverts back to a single colored coral, every once in a while something truly special pops up on our radars. Such is the case for The Digital Fishroom, who recently shared their Starburst Grafted Monti. According to the article, this is a naturally occurring pigment graft that has been isolated and successfully reproduced over and over again the last couple of years. What we like so much about this particular graft isn’t just the fact that the base color is two different colors, but that the polyps exhibit some random color morphing as well. If you take a look at both images (one above, one below), you’ll notice that the polyps in the red/orange portion of the coral stay that orangish color for the most part, but randomly show neon green highlights. Similarly, the polyps on the green portion of the coral show those interruptions of orange. And this blending doesn’t just occur where the orange and green base colors meet, but randomly throughout the frags. There are currently only four WYSIWYG frags available for the initial release. They are priced at $200 per frag (includes shipping) and all frags have were made about a month ago…meaning they’re all healed up from the fragging process by AquaNerd | Jun 25, 2014 | Fish, Science
Oceans Reefs and Aquariums is known mostly for their aquacultured fish and frags, but they’ve also got some awesome Tridacnid clams, and they’re reminding us all of this fact in a huge way. Announced yesterday on the their Facebook page, ORA has just made their highly prized ORA Turquoise Squamosa clams available to stores nationwide. These clams are breathtaking, sporting the typical “squammie” patterns but draped in a vibrant turquoise color with a bright blue rim around the mantle. There’s only one catch though. The clams will be extremely limited in a one-time special offer, and so rare in fact that there are only four individuals available. This extremely limited availability will definitely lead to a super high price tag, which will most likely come from the vendors selling the clams and not so much ORA themselves. We’ve heard rumors of $300 price tags, but who knows if that is anywhere close to being an accurate number.
