by AquaNerd | Dec 20, 2013 | Fish, Science, Tanks
By: Carrie Shamo Apparently, it all comes down to luck when keeping Blue-Green Chromis. First-time saltwater tank owners want an easy-to-care-for fish to start their collection. So, when I asked my local fish store guy which type of fish he would recommend for a beginner with a 90 gallon tank, I was immediately directed to the Blue-Green Chromis (Chromis viridis). These fish are inexpensive (I paid $4.00 each) and have remarkable coloration where the blue blends into the green, creating a shimmer effect. This really stands out, especially when you buy a school of them. They are pretty hardy and can tolerate fluctuations in water quality that commonly occur in beginner tanks. Blue-Green Chromis are listed as peaceful, community fish that will swim openly around the tank. I purchased five. For the first month, everything was peachy in my tank. The Chromis investigated the entire aquascape as a group by Reef To Rainforest | Dec 19, 2013 | Fish, Science
Butterflyfishes on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii where aquarium collectors are active. Image by Eric Sorensen, WSU. An Aquarist’s Notes: Turbulence in Hawaii I first went to Hawaii on assignment for CORAL Magazine in 2010, and for the better part of four years I have covered that state’s aquarium fishery. I expected to find a fishery full of complicated regulations and even more complicated conflict. I found the latter in spades, but the former, to my surprise, didn’t really exist. Regulations were relatively few and far between—no total allowable catches (TACs), no quotas, no bag limits, no limited entry. I was, quite frankly, shocked that a commercial fishery in U.S. waters would be so unregulated. The fishers I interviewed, especially on Big Island, didn’t view it that way. Many felt they were being unfairly targeted and that veils of regulation were being drawn around them like the barrier nets they use to catch aquarium fishes. Some felt they had consistently given ground, made concessions in the face of anti-trade activism. Some were ready to make a stand, saying they couldn’t—wouldn’t—give any more. Some of these fishers opposed the rules package just signed by the governor. A few of them still oppose it, although they are not willing to say so on the record. Those fishers who stand in opposition to the new rules have some strange bedfellows. There are the anti-trade activists who say the rules don’t go far enough; the most extreme will not be satisfied with anything short of a fishery closure. Then there are mainland aquarists who are lukewarm on the new rules. They worry that a White List will make it more difficult to acquire some species with which they want to work in the short term. They anticipate a slippery slope that will lead to fewer and fewer species remaining available to trade in the long run. Personally, I was pleased to see the governor sign the rules package. I’m pleased because I see it as a step forward for aquarium fisheries in general. I see an opportunity to manage the fishery based on real data. The data really does matter, and rather than less, we need more. This rules package takes a relatively small swath of ocean—a shoreline of less than 150 miles—and says we’re going to manage it based on something more than anecdote and emotion. I look forward to reporting on the progress and talking about how this may be a model viable for export to other aquarium fisheries in far worse shape than Hawaii’s. Hawaii is on a path of good, data-based, adaptive management of its aquarium fishery. This type of management can protect the fishery in terms of both environmental sustainability and economic value. It replaces a messy form of conflict resolution with a multi-stakeholder, community-based approach, and now that the new rules are law, I think we all owe it to the people, the process, and the potential to get behind them. by AquaNerd | Dec 18, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
Believe it or not, but Oceans Reefs & Aquariums (ORA) has released around half a dozen new captive bred fish onto the aquarium keeping world so far this year, not including corals, and they’re gearing up to add at least one more before 2013 draws to a close. Announced late afternoon yesterday on their blog, the ORA Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma) is the latest offering from the Florida-based aquaculture specialists and the second one in less than a week. The fish isn’t new to the trade, and some hobbyists have bred them in captivity in the past, but this is the first time that captive bred individuals will be available on any sort of scale. ORA states in their announcement that only a small batch of these cardinalfish will be available, so if you want to get your hands on some, now is the time to act. As for the yellowstripe cardinal’s behavior and breeding characteristics, it operates a lot like most other cardinalfish. It is a peaceful fish that hails from various locales within the Indo-Pacific region and it does well in just about any community environment, though it might go after some small shrimp from time to time. by Reef To Rainforest | Dec 18, 2013 | Fish, Science
West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area WHITE LIST The following are the only marine fishes that may be legally collected for sale in the marine aquarium trade 1. Yellow Tang, Zebrasoma flavescens 2. Chevron Tang, Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis 3. Goldring Surgeonfish, Ctenochaetus strigosus 4. Achilles Tang, Acanthurus achilles 5. Tinker’s Butterflyfish, Chaetodon tinkeri 6. Clown Tang Naso lituratus 7. Forcepsfish Forcipiger flavissimus 8. Goldrim Surgeonfish Acanthurus nigricans 9. Potter’s Angelfish Centropyge potteri 10. Fourspot Butterflyfish Chaetodon quadrimaculatus 11. Yellowtail Coris Coris gaimard 12. Ornate Wrasse Halichoeres ornatissimus 13. Orangeband Surgeonfish Acanthurus olivaceus 14. Bird Wrasse Gomphosus varius 15. Eyestripe Surgeonfish Acanthurus dussumieri 16. Multiband Butterflyfish Chaetodon multicinctus 17. Saddle Wrasse Thalassoma duperrey 18. Brown Surgeonfish Acanthurus nigrofuscus 19. Flame Wrasse Cirrhilabrus jordani 20. Thompson’s Surgeonfish Acanthurus thompsoni 21. Peacock Grouper Cephalopholis argus 22. Bluestripe Snapper Lutjanus kasmira 23. Redbarred Hawkfish Cirrhitops fasciatus 24. Psychedelic Wrasse Anampses chrysocephalus 25. Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby Canthigaster jactator 26. Fisher’s Angelfish Centropyge fisheri 27. Hawaiian Dascyllus Dascyllus albisella 28. Milletseed Butterflyfish Chaetodon miliaris 29. Blacklip Butterflyfish Chaetodon kleinii 30. Pyramid Butterflyfish Hemitaurichthys polylepis 31. Shortnose Wrasse Macropharyngodon geoffroy 32. Black Durgon Melichthys niger 33. Spotted Boxfish Ostracion meleagris 34. Blackside Hawkfish Paracirrhites forsteri 35. Hawaiian Longfin Anthias Pseudanthias hawaiiensis 36. Eightstripe Wrasse Pseudocheilinus octotaenia 37. Fourstripe Wrasse Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia 38. Smalltail Wrasse Pseudojuloides cerasinus 39. Lei Triggerfish Sufflamen bursa 40. Gilded Triggerfish Xanthichthys auromarginatus  by AquaNerd | Dec 17, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
Here’s a brand new food for coral lovers. Coral Frenzy, the very popular powdered coral food, will soon be available in pellet form. The pellet will have roughly a 1mm length and will be negatively buoyant to sink for to all of your hungry LPS corals and the fish or inverts lucky enough to steal themselves a bite. The food will be available soon (free samples have already been circulating) and it will come in packages of 76 grams. For nutritional information, see below. We first encountered the Coral Frenzy brand many years ago at one of the trade shows. The powdered food was often given away in the bags of the various shows, and we’ve been using it off and on ever since. We always get a good response from the corals and inverts, in particular our hungry hungry starfish. We are quite happy to see the food being offered in a pellet format, as we have grown quite fond of that type of food as well. The official word from Coral Frenzy: PARTICLE SIZE: 1mm Pellet
