Dealing With Red Bugs and AEFW

When I first started keeping reef tanks a long time ago there seemed to be much less awareness of certain pests that can infiltrate and harm a reef tank. “Back in the day” wild colonies were all the rage and reef keepers were not as diligent about checking for pests. Dealing with Red Bugs and AEFW (Acro Eating Flatworms) wasn’t even on my radar when I had my first 90 gallon reef and it took a while before it crept into my conscience when I had my 120 gallon reef. The 120 gallon reef was my best tank to date and it was dominated with large and colorful SPS that grew from small frags and colonies My 120 Gallon Reef Tank However, over time, a few acros didn’t look as colorful as others so I tried certain remedies like changing my lighting setup or doing more water changes but nothing seemed to help.

Coral Letters

Two years ago, Barry and Aimee Brown began photographing “hidden” letters in the brain coral colonies around Curacao, the Caribbean island where they live. Their hunt, which sometimes took them as deep as 100 feet, gave them an even better understanding of...

Bringing the Lab to the Reef

Technology is ever-present in the lab as well as the hobby of reef keeping but scientists from Europe are now going to be taking their instruments directly into the field, or reef I should say.…

Aging Bony Fish

When conducting studies, many ecologists are posed with the question: How old is this fish? Because size is rarely a fair indication of age, the use of a more precise method is often required. The most prevalent method of aging bony fish is known as Otolith...