Calling all Floridians, or anyone who engages in fishing, diving or boating in the Atlantic Ocean, from Miami Dade to Martin County, to take the Our Florida Reefs Survey. The survey focuses on coastal and ocean recreation on the Southeast coast of Florida. After giving your email, you receive a link to take the quiz. When you fill in your date and recreational sport, a interactive Florida map allows you to map where you have had recent activity. The surveys data will be used to determine the areas of visitors to each area, and develop management strategies to effectively balance resource use with protection of the area. Currently there is no management plan for the Southeast Florida reefs. These seems like a great first step to determine what can be and needs to be done to protect Florida’s reefs.MORE… More:
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It is a very sad reality that shark fin poaching is still a very real problem in today’s world. It is estimated that over 10 million sharks die per year due to this barbaric practice. The fins are brutally chopped off the sharks, and then they are either left to die on the boat, or thrown back into the water and left to die slowly or by other animals. The Coast Guard in Costa Rica recently apprehended a fishing boat in the Bay of Queopos, very early in the morning, that was loaded with shark fins. Shark fin poaching has been illegal in Costa Rica since 2001. In this case, the illegal poaching was taking place very late at night and in the early morning hours, so as to avoid anyone noticing. The shark fins were concealed using swordfish. Over 70 shark fins had been cruelly cut off the sharks, and were scattered in the boat. The captain of the boat was placed under arrest. We can only hope justice will be served and this practice will continue no longer. 
Hydor are a company who’s products we’ve used before and we have to say, we really like their approach. They are certainly always looking to bring new products to the aquarium market and strive to make reef-keeping easy. In terms of their flow pump range, although already offering some of the most compact and efficient models available, they continue to make their products smaller, reduce electricity consumption and increase water flow output. Just announced, their new Koralia Nano 2200 achieves all this and is the smallest flow pump in the market to boot. This pump really is something special at just 6cm length while pumping up to 2200lph and consuming just 4 watts! Click the graphics for more detail. More: 
Widely regarded as market leaders in LED lighting technology for reef aquaria, EcoTech’s products are some of the most advanced and desirable available to today’s hobbyist. With a line-up that is constantly evolving to incorporate the very latest technology, we use this review to take a preliminary look at their latest and most compact LED light to date – the Radion XR15w Pro. So, getting hands-on with this unit, we are immediately impressed with the quality of presentation. The slick packaging presents the tile with beautiful simplicity and the supporting materials included reflect this. To be honest we feel like we are excitedly unpacking the latest tablet or computer peripheral rather than an aquarium item! Anyway, the light is literally More: 
Good morning friends, I had another nice dive yesterday morning but failed in bringing back any new “fish face shots” which I am trying so hard to get at the moment. When I first went out I parked myself at another cleaning station but as hard as I tried could not get the shot I wanted and after 10 minutes gave up! I then moved on slowly down the reef staying at around 45 feet looking for anything new to post on the blog. I then came across this small Goldentail Moray eel, Gymnothorax miliaris that you see above poking his head out from behind a blade of fire coral and of course I had to stop. These beautiful eels are one of the most curious and easiest to photograph of all the morays in the Caribbean, it’s like they love the camera! This one here may have seen his reflection in my dome or just wanted to come out and say hi, he was so cool
When we consider the term “acclimation” as it relates to marine aquarium fish, we usually think of the relatively brief period during which—with the hobbyist’s help—they gradually adjust to the temperature, pH, and other water parameters in a new system. But in actuality, it takes several days to weeks after introduction for a fish to become fully acclimated to the conditions and other livestock in a new aquarium environment. It’s during this period that certain health and compatibility problems are most likely to arise, so hobbyists must be especially vigilant and take precautions to ensure their new aquatic charges adjust to their new digs successfully. Here are a few issues to watch for in those first crucial weeks: #1 The fatal leap Frightened fish have the potential to leap from an uncovered tank to their death at any time, but never are they more skittish and prone to jumping than during the first few days in a new tank—especially after lights out on that first night. Stands to reason, doesn’t it? After all, how would you feel if you were shoved unceremoniously into a room full of strangers, some of whom appear to resent your arrival, and before you could even get your bearings, someone suddenly shut off all the lights? You’d probably be pretty jumpy, too! Keeping the tank well covered is the most obvious solution to this problem, but it’s also helpful to arrange the rockwork so there are plenty of hiding places not already claimed by established residents, minimize human activity outside the tank, and provide a gradual change in the lighting scheme from daylight to dusk to dark. More: 
The reefkeeping hobby today is full of colorful trade names for corals, and it appears that, for better or for worse, the trend is here to stay. Tidal Gardens has plenty of corals with goofy names, so we are the last folks in the world who should be judgmental about the practice. As a seller, it is clear that named corals sell better than corals with a descriptive name such as “red and blue” coral. Higher prices and greater overall demand are incentive enough for sellers to continue naming corals. The other reason that coral naming continues is that it’s literally the number one most asked question we get. When customers ask, “What is that coral called?” they aren’t asking about the genus or species; they want to know “what it’s called.” Even if the vendor were to draw a line in the sand and say no more stupid names, the market is like the mafia. It will draw you right back in More: 
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