The Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Florida is looking to collaborate with The National Aquarium of Havana to come together to help protect coral reefs. The Florida Aquarium has delivered a memorandum of understanding for joint research to the National Aquarium of Havana. This would be the first partnership between Cuban and American Aquariums. The Aquarium’s goals are purely environmental, specifically to help stop decay of coral reefs. The National Aquarium of Havana has conducted extensive research on species of coral health which are not available in the U.S, and the combined research can aid to help save our coral reefs. The decline of coral reefs is a World wide problem, and it is great to see World wide initiative to try and combat it. The Florida Aquarium hopes to send representatives to Cuba in November. MORE… More:

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Even when broadband access began expanding, the thought of having a router that controlled something for your reef aquarium hadn’t entered the minds of most aquarists. Reefers were oohing and awing over wireless thermometers that placed a probe in your tank and allowed you to track temperature changes from another room. While communication technology hasn’t evolved solely for purposes related to reef aquariums, advances have opened up almost limitless possibilities for aquarists. Online monitoring equipment, controllers, webcams; all of it ushers in an exciting new era of reef keeping. LED lighting, with its ability to ramp up and down, creating a host of different profiles allows marine aquariums to be more beautiful than ever. When deciding on technology to implement for your reef aquarium, what options are the most useful and how much technical knowledge do you need?    Achieving a fully connected reef: All of my aquariums (one reef and two fish only) are very connected. Since I studied computer science for a while during college (with my first real job being a programming internship), and have always had a profound love of technology, having a high tech reef tank comes naturally for me. In adopting a variety of technology for my reef, I’ve had the chance to key in on a few things I’ve found immensely helpful. Have your tanks near your modem and router:This is sometimes possible and sometimes not. If your tank is close enough to a router, than it’s possible to plug devices directly into the router. For most, the idea of mixing saltwater and electronics makes them queasy. LED lights are usually wireless capable, so they connect to an existing network, offering control from any computer on the network and often extending it to any internet connected device. Depending on where the tanks are, in relation to a router, a wireless signal may need boosted. This is easily accomplished in most cases with simple wireless extenders. Upgrading to an AC router can increase speed and range on compatible devices, although there isn’t any aquarium technology that I’m aware of that makes use of AC technology. Overall, having a reliable G/N router that provides good signal throughout the home will satisfy your aquarium needs. If you find yourself in a situation where a device requires a hard-wire network connection, such as the Neptune Aquatics Apex and you are simply way too far from a router to make it happen, look at home plug devices.… More:

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A funny thing sometimes happens to marine aquarium hobbyists who have a few years’ experience under their briny belts—they have a tendency to become complacent in their methods and attitudes. Once they’ve mastered the basics of aquarium keeping, it can become all too tempting for some to kick back, switch to “autopilot,” and say, “Hey, I got this!”But this mentality can be detrimental on the road to long-term aquarium success. At the very least, it can lead to some unnecessary—and very avoidable—bumps in that road. Here are a few common symptoms of marine aquarium complacency to watch for: Signs of benign neglect Complacent hobbyists aren’t typically guilty of gross negligence when it comes to their tanks, but they often lapse into a somewhat lackadaisical approach that could best be described as “benign neglect.” That is, they get so comfortable and absentminded in their methods that problems sometimes arise very slowly and almost imperceptibly. For instance, they may perform water changes of the same frequency and volume for many years without accounting for the increasing bioload in the tank as fish and invertebrates grow. As a result, nitrate and phosphate levels can gradually rise, leading to “unexplained” algae outbreaks and other issues related to declining water quality.

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A paper in the Royal Society Open Science has announced the discovery of a new species of seadragon. The Ruby Seadragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea) is named for its incredible bright-red coloring and was first noticed after a male was caught during a biodiversity trawling survey in 2007. At first, scientists thought it was a weedy seadragon, but DNA analysis revealed it to be a completely new species. In addition to DNA research, the team also took a CT scan of one of the specimens. “[The] scan gave us 5,000 X-ray slices that we were able to assemble into a rotating 3-D model of the new seadragon,” said lead author Josefin Stiller. “We could then see several features of the skeleton that were distinct from the other two species, corroborating the genetic evidence.” The scientists believe the new seadragon has gone un-noticed for so long because it is found in deeper waters off the coast. The deeper water habitat may also explain its darker, red color

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Great news! The latest issue of Reefs Magazine is available for your perusing online, and this is one you don’t want to miss. Randy, once again, congregates the hobby’s usual heavy-hitting suspects, as well as some fresh faces, to deliver another fantastical slab of reef keeping goodness. Rich Ross and Chris Maupin step into their finest “Mad Scientist” attire for a healthy dose of skepticism and a bit of “muhahah”ing as they break down ICP-OES aquarium water testing by Triton Lab. Ret Talbot gives us a thorough look at the Endangered Species Act in an enlightening feature that not only takes you step-by-step through the listing process, but clarifies some of the abundantly seen misinterpretations circling the environmental law. Lemon Tea Yi Kai makes his piscine-laden debut, painting a painstakingly detailed picture of the whimsical and engaging Halichoeres genus (along with some arresting original images).  Also featured are the cephalo-ventures of Austin LeFevre and some S.bandensis, a look at coral growth with Charles Delbeek, Kenneth Wingerter gets vivid as he explores the science behind the spectrum, “The Ecology of Coloration”, Randy Donowitz reviews Jay Hemdals collaborative book with Saltwater Smarts on Diseases of Marine Fishes and Felicia McCaulley gives us a cringe-worthy peek into the world of the LFS and some heinous and bizarre behavior in “Fish Tales: Customers Behaving Badly”. I reiterate – you do not want to miss this one!… More:

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Red Sea are inviting you to take advantage of a fantastic offer to purchase their Coral Pro Salt for a special price of only £55 and get Reef Energy A&B Coral Foods FREE (mrrp £16.95).The offer is available from selected Red Sea Dealers, and only while stocks last. Click the graphic for further detail.

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Stonefish are some of the most venomous fish in the worldPeople are naturally fascinated by venomous animals and often very curious about the effects their venom might have on people they bite or sting. Any marine aquarium hobbyist who’s kept a lionfish, rabbitfish, saltwater catfish, or other fish species equipped with venomous spines, can attest to this curiosity, as they’ve probably been asked time and again by people observing their tank to describe how painful the fish’s sting might be or whether its venom is potentially deadly. The trouble with these questions is that there isn’t always a straightforward answer to them. Besides, it’s generally not a good idea to make assumptions about how someone’s body might react to being envenomated by a given species. Let’s explore why this is true a bit further:The pain comparison How painful is a lionfish sting? Is it the same as a bee sting? Which sting hurts more: a foxface’s or a leaf scorpionfish’s?

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In our second Reef Threads Plus podcast we welcome Richard Ross and Kathy Leahy to address the difficult question: Is the hobby cruel to animals? We hope you enjoy the discussion and that it gets you to think and share with your fellow hobbyists. As always, you can download the podcast here, or subscribe to our podcasts at iTunes. Also, follow us on Twitter @reefthreads. We hope you enjoy our new series, find it thought provoking, and will share it with others.—Gary and Christine

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Fincasters Episode 58 Professional Coral Fragging Fincasters visits coral wholesaler and importer Carolina Aquatics to gawk at all the corals and to learn how professional Chris Klein frags his corals for re-sale. Learn more about Carolina... From: fincasters Views: 2 0 ratingsTime: 06:54 More in Pets & Animals

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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.

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In this CoralFish12g video I feature Clownfish Depot's rare clownfish. They have mocha frostbites, picasso breeding pairs, helmet head picassos, and other rare clownfish! Go to their facebook page to contact them about purchasing: https://www.facebook.com/ClownfishDepot

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Cirrhilabrus laboutei

It’s podcastin’ time once again. This week we talk about our most-recent Reef Threads Plus podcast, replacing lamps and heaters, the impact of LEDs, hobby accessibility, and the Triton system and tank data. Download the podcast here, or subscribe to our podcasts at iTunes. Also, follow us on Twitter at reefthreads.—Gary and Christine

Sponsor: Rod’s Food
Rod’s Food website

Being skeptical
Skeptical Reefkeeping XII: Triton Lab ICP-OES Testing of a Certified Artificial Saltwater Standard,Rich Ross and Dr. Chris Maupin

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Caribbean redspotted hawkfish (Amblycirrhitus pinos)Regular Saltwater Smarts visitors know that “Caribbean Chris” has an irrational (bordering on pathological) hatred of all marine life not connected in some way to the Caribbean Sea or tropical western Atlantic. By logical extension, most of the hawkfishes, being predominantly Indo-Pacific or Pacific species, are unwelcome in his aquarium. (He may even have a sign posted next to his tank that reads “Hawkfishes need not apply,” or some such. I could be wrong.) This manifestation of CC’s shameless “saltwater segregation” is unfortunate because many of the hawkfishes make outstanding aquarium candidates, being very hardy, interesting, easy to feed, and, with some exceptions, well suited to modest-sized systems.However, notwithstanding CC’s unabashed regional biases, there is at least one hawkfish species that even he can’t deny fits right in with his Caribbean-centric theme—the redspotted, aka Caribbean, hawkfish (Amblycirrhitus pinos). Physical traits A. pinos perching next to some spongesA. pinos has a squat, vaguely (American) football-shaped body; high-set eyes that closely follow activity inside and outside the tank; oversized pectoral fins on which it props itself; and short, hair-like cirri forming a tassel that resembles a coral polyp atop each dorsal spine. Maximum length for this species is between 3 and 4 inches.

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“If you’re looking for someone to blame, you need only look in the mirror.” It’s a common slogan, used to illustrate the reality that we all take part in many of the problems that exist in the world today. Our gluttonous consumption of fossil fuels, seemingly insatiable appetite for seafood and use of petrol products such as plastic, have pushed the environment into a state of fast decline. Here in Maryland many home owners stand in stark opposition to hydraulic fracking, but like an addict seeking a fix, we continue to fill massive tanks full of liquid propane, natural gas and oil – so that our homes can remain a comfortable 70 degrees during winter, without the extended effort of maintaining a fire (which would also release hydrocarbons into the atmosphere). Some become offended at the thought that they play a role in environmental decline, others accept this reality and hope that small changes may contribute to a sea change of thought and practice. In many ways, simply being a human being in the modern world, guarantees that a footprint of some form will be left upon the Earth. Many of us try to balance that scale by contributing more good to the world around us, than bad. As we face ESA regulations, a reality that has sent the marine aquarium industry into an uproar, how does the statement above factor into the events that have led here. There are many factors leading up to possible no-take, no-keep regulations. One being that the endangered species act is being used as a tool to combat climate change. Without adequate measures to curb and control climate change, organizations like the Center for Biodiversity are pointing at individual species to be preserved, when a changing climate is the primary stressor placed upon them. Are individual aquarists in some way responsible for our current predicament?    Shouldering the blame:I got involved in the marine aquarium hobby at the age of 15, a long time ago in a not so-far away galaxy. I began writing for various publications surrounding the aquarium world not long after, when I was around 18 or 19 and just starting college. Since then the growth of the reef aquarium hobby has been tremendous. Methodology changed, equipment changed, the production of corals by private aquarists skyrocketed. The demand for rare and unique corals grew and grew. Coral life forms that you couldn’t give to someone were suddenly worth hundreds of dollars.… More:

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Gall crab outside its burrow in Cyphastrea serailia (Photo credit: Van der Meij)We have all heard the oft-repeated warning to “dip before you trip.” We are told by many sources online to dip any corals we receive in order to eliminate pests. Most of the time, pests come in the form of hitchhiking nudibranchs that can mow down zoas and other soft coral colonies. Then you have the flatworm family, which is so broad that it’s hard to single out a species unless you have a microscope. There are also larger hitchhiking pests we can see without the use of a scientific lab. For example, there are the beautiful Aiptasia and majano anemones that will sting your newfound friends to no end. But I’d like to talk about an interesting group of hitchhikers in the crab family, and one nasty one in particular: the gall crab.Gall crabs are largely unknown to many an untrained eye and reefer, as they are not as abundant in reef systems as other hitchhiking crabs, such as gorillas, emeralds, or decorator crabs. The problem with these crabs is they are parasitic to corals, especially hard corals like Trachyphyllia (brain coral) and members of the Faviidae family, such as Platygyra daedalea

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 Eugenie Clark passed away at 92 in Sarasota, Florida on Wednesday. Clark’s extensive research on sharks earned her the nickname ‘shark lady’. From 1950 onward, she worked to dispel the public’s fear and the myths surrounding sharks. Her achievements to the marine world were outstanding. She wrote dozens of articles for National Geographic. She discovered sleeping sharks in Mexico, which changed science view at the time that Sharks need to keep moving to stay alive. She wrote a best selling autobiography called ‘Lady With A Spear’, which chronicled her time in the South Pacific. She also served as a strong female role-model in the often male dominated world of Marine Biology. It is humbling to take a moment and honor this amazing womans life and contributions to the field. MORE… More:

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Good morning from Curacao, how was your weekend out there?? We finally got a few little rain showers but to be honest it didn’t do much!! On my three hour mountain bike ride Sunday morning I was pretty shocked at how dry the island is looking, I hate the thought of another year of drought conditions! We found yet another bird (big pigeon) in need last night over at our neighbors house, it was just sitting on the steps and not moving very much. I watched for awhile from a distance and then towards dark went to check on him again and he was still there. I calmly walked up the steps, he didn’t move so I picked him up and took him home, he seems to have a bad foot or something, will take him to the vet on Wednesday

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Photo by Ryan Griffis. CC by

 Aquaponics is pretty simple in concept. Imagine an aquarium that is plumbed into a hydroponic system; fish wastes are mineralized by microbes and ultimately utilized by the plants as nutrients. Technically speaking, even a mangrove propagule stuck in the back of an overflow box is aquaponic. The benefits of this type of cultivation are significant. A major attraction for some growers is the ease with which the highly intensive method can be practiced organically. The taste of aquaponic foods (unlike that of hydroponicially grown foods) is said to be as good as its soil grown counterpart. Because there is no soil, pests are far easier to prevent and control. Aquaponics also dramatically reduces water usage and maintenance. While water exchanges tend to be necessarily massive in some aquaculture systems, in aquaponics they are generally minimal; in some cases, water is only added as top-off. This is, of course, because compounds like nitrate and phosphate are taken up by the growing plants. This method of fertilization is superior to the use of nutrient mixes as in hydroponics, which not only can “burn” plants but also requires re-fertilization and (as in aquaculture) frequent water exchanges. Although aquaponic operations can have a larger start-up cost and require more expertise to operate, they are a highly efficient means of production over time and consistently produce high quality product. In the near future, cannabis may be one such product.  On account of its its minimal water usage, aquaponics has already gained favor with farmers in drought-prone Colorado. It has been practiced there by many hobby farmers, but has increasingly been used on a commercial scale to produce a variety of cash crops. Then, the state implemented Amendment 64, which permitted the regulated use and manufacture of marijuana. With the state’s farmers’ eyes on the newest and most lucrative crop, cannabis, there is now a great interest in aquaponic cannabis cultivation–so much so that last year a Longmont-based aquaponic supply store began hosting workshops on the subject. Enthusiasts see the most potential for aquaponics in the production of medical marijuana, where organic production and superior taste (it is reported to lack the “chemical” taste characteristic of much hydroponically grown marijuana) is especially valued. Like most plants, cannabis exhibits a very high rate of vegetative growth in an aquaponic system. However, the all-important process of flowering is more complicated here; aquaponic systems are pretty much incapable of independently supplying the high amounts of phosphorus and potassium needed at this stage.… More:

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Fincasters Episode 59 Keeping Rock Anemones Rock Anemones come from the Florida Keys in a huge variety of colors. They are easy to keep, fun to feed and add a lot of color at relatively low cost. In this Fincast John interviews an... From: fincasters Views: 1 0 ratingsTime: 03:29 More in Pets & Animals

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Climate change and warming of sea surface temperatures are among the most oft-cited threats to coral reef ecosystems as they currently exist.

Despite the preponderance of scientific work on the issue, many, including even perhaps some in this hobby, deny most if not all of our current understanding of human contributions to global warming. That human contribution is primarily through an increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Since carbon dioxide absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation that would otherwise be lost from Earth to space, in order to maintain a radiative “balance”, or equilibrium, the surface temperature of the Earth must increase. Now, in principle this is not in the least bit controversial. Humans emit carbon dioxide, which has an extremely long residence time in the atmosphere, and the Earth is radiatively imbalanced until a corresponding increase in global mean temperature occurs.

However, reminiscent of tetra-ethyl lead and smoking-cancer linkage discussions of times past, many folks remain hard at work to maintain a public perception that correlation is not causation: essentially many  attempts at a “death by a thousand cuts” of logical fallacy. Unfortunately, the momentum of this misinformation lobby has gotten to the point where, to paraphrase Prof. Andrew Dessler’s reaction to the new findings discussed below, it has become necessary to provide something analogous to dropping a rock and watching it fall in order to demonstrate to audiences that gravity is real.

That rock dropped in a monumental way this week in the journal Nature.

Feldman et al. have used Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometry in both the Southern Great Plains and the Northern Slope of Alaska to explicitly detect the impact of rising carbon dioxide on the amount of longwave, infrared radiation that is returned to the Earth’s surface, instead of being lost into space. The instrument utilized is capable of measuring returning infrared radiation that is emitted by individual types of greenhouses gases. In other words, it is capable of distinguishing returning radiation of carbon dioxide from other well known greenhouse gas molecules such as methane and water vapor.

What was found is that from between 2000-2010, a highly significant trend of increasing carbon dioxide-emitted infrared radiation returned to Earth’s surface, from a 22 ppm increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Additionally, the energy changes documented are highly consistent with previous work estimating the radiative forcing of carbon dioxide. At the end of the day, this should all but silence any skepticism regarding our knowledge that an increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere also directly increases the amount of infrared, heat energy being returned to Earth’s surface.… More:

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