by Admin | Feb 21, 2015 | Conservation, Fish, Science
Figure 1. Halichoeres melanurus egg on a 1 mm SedgewickRafter cell. Here at the Tropical Aquaculture Lab we’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a field we’re truly passionate about. That passion inspires me to not only work on captive breeding of marine species here at work, but to also explore other fish by working from home. I’m pleased to announce that the first project I’ve taken on as an at-home aquaculturist resulted in the successful captive rearing of the melanurus wrasse, Halichoeres melanurus, using only cultured prey items. Although only a few fish were brought through metamorphosis, survival should be higher when larvae are raised in the controlled environment of a dedicated facility as opposed to the chaos of a household living room. I strongly believe this fish, and others in this genus, will have significant commercial potential. We now have broodstock at the Tropical Aquaculture Lab because of this early success. The work done so far will stand as strong supportive evidence to move forward with other wrasses as well. by AquaNerd | Sep 12, 2014 | Equipment
Neptune Systems has been feverishly adding new accessories to their Apex controller over the last couple of years, and they’ve finally debuted their very own water pump. Called the WAV, this new system offers extreme water flow and it comes with a mountain of features and interesting selling points that could give some of the long established pumps a good run for their money. The pump is smaller than numerous other powerheads on the market, yet it cranks out over 3200 gallons per hour, all of which is under full Apex control. But we will hit more on that below. Like most pumps, the WAV attaches the wall of the aquarium via strong magnets, though these are are capable of handling tanks with glass or acrylic up to 3/4″ thick. The magnet mount also allows the WAV to vertically pivot +/- 20 degrees and rotate a full 360, letting the flow hit specific areas within the tank.In terms of controllability, the pump is built and designed to be used seamlessly with the Apex controller, and Neptune Systems even gave the WAV its own module, called the 1LINK. There are numerous flow settings through the controller, and the flow rates can be monitored through the Apex Fusion dashboard just like you would water temperature or pH. All in all, there are 8 pre-built flow programs (Constant, Mavericks, Lagoon, Pulse, Huntington, Rincon, Trestles, and Doheny), and users can program the pump to operate under any one of these modes at any time of the day. Neptune Systems WAV ModesIn addition to controlling the pumps, users will also be able to monitor each and every one that is plugged into the system. by danireef | May 6, 2014 | Equipment
Teco has just unveiled a new series of chillers; Teco Tank. The new chillers have been completely redesigned, have a highly improved efficiency compared to older models and contain many new interesting... by AquaNerd | Apr 21, 2014 | Corals, Industry, Tanks
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: by Matthew Stansbery | Mar 18, 2014 | Funny, Industry, Tanks
Well it’s happened again. The T-Rex Cafe (part of Downtown Disney) in Buena Vista Florida had its dinner guests surprised as a massive saltwater tank burst Monday afternoon sending thousands of gallons of water onto the floor, leaving its fish high and...
