ReefGen Superduperman Zoanthid
The AquaNerd featured coral of the week originated from a zoa colony collected by ReefGen, called the Superduperman Zoanthid. These beautiful zoas are brightly colored, very hardy, and grow rapidly...
View ArticleReef Threads Podcast #257
Thanks to all for listening in 2015. It’s our last podcast of the year and weird gifts are on our minds. Thanks to everyone for being such loyal listeners. We hope we’ve entertained you and, on...
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Newly described damselfishes expand our understanding of Coral Triangle...
A: C. ellenae, from Raja Ampats B: C. maurinae, from Cenderawasih Bay C: C. oxycephala, from Bali & Palawan Credit: Allen et al 2015 Earlier this year I wrote a review for a popular group of...
View ArticleMy Reef Creations Releases New Line of Media Reactors
Xseries Media Reactors We’ve known for some time now that MRC has been working on a new product series and today My Reef Creations has made it official with the release of their new xSeries media...
View ArticleSalty Q&A: Highly Rated LFS Falls Short
Caribbean Chris and I get lots of excellent, thought-provoking questions from Saltwater Smarts visitors that we believe might be of general interest to other salties out there. So we thought it would...
View ArticleReef Tank Tip – Resist The Urge to Submerge
Reef Tank Tip – Resist The Urge to Submerge There are a number of best practices for reefkeeping and one of the bigger ones in my book is to try and minimize the amount of time I put my hands in the...
View ArticleOur Holiday Sale Is Happening Now
As a thank you to our readers for another great year, Jeff and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to offer a holiday sale to the Saltwater Smarts community. From now until the end of the year,...
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National Geographic’s 2015 Photo Roundup
National Geographic Magazine has just released its “Photo of the Day” roundup for 2015. The stunning images were captured by the magazine’s “Your Shot” online photo community and by staff...
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The long-nosed butterflies part 1: Chelmon and Chelmonops
Biogeography of Chelmon and its sister genus Chelmonops. The two genera display a distirbution encompassing the four biogeographic regions of Australia, namely the Dampierian, Solanderian, Peronian...
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The ocean moon Europa
In 2014 Russian cosmonauts discovered sea plankton living on the International Space Station (ISS). While there isn’t an official consensus on how they got there, most scientists believe that uplifting...
View ArticleRicordea florida: an Underappreciated Caribbean Beauty
A group of Ricordea floridaAs an American reefkeeper, it’s all too easy for me to forget that some truly gorgeous invertebrate livestock originates relatively close to home in the tropical western...
View ArticleDivers and Giant Sea Fan
Good morning one and all, how was your Christmas??? Ours was fantastic! Aimee had to work Christmas day but I took our guests on a morning and night dive plus we did all kinds of other fun activities...
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Slime: an aquarist’s best friend
Our fish are slimy. If you’ve ever bumped one of your aquatic charges with your hand, or picked one up, you’ve noticed that layer of slime coating. Many additives that are intended to reduce stress in...
View ArticleSalty Q&A: Are Fish in Nanos More Likely to Leap?
This question, recently posted on our website by Eric B, got me thinking about some of the assumptions we tend to make about nano aquariums. So, in addition to my original answer to Eric’s inquiry,...
View ArticleMaxSpect Responds to News of Suspected Gyre “knockoff”
MaxSpect and their US Distributor Coral Vue have asked AquaNerd to assist them in getting the word out regarding a possible attempt to introduce an unauthorized “knockoff” of their MaxSpect Gyre...
View ArticleGiant Barrel Sponges, Xestospongia muta
Good morning from rainy overcast Curacao! Check out these monster sized Giant Barrel Sponges, Xestospongia muta that we found at 70 feet on our drift dive from the Sea Aquarium house reef to the...
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The Long-nosed butterflies part 2: Forcipiger
Biogeography of Forcipiger. This genus is remarkable for the dichotomizing distributions of two species. F. flavissimus is the most widespread butterflyfish in its genus and family, adopting a nearly...
View ArticleWhitespotted Filefish, Cantherhines macrocerus
ABOUT Avid outdoorsman and underwater photographer, Barry Brown has spent the last ten years documenting life above and below water in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. He is currently working with the...
View ArticleSaltwater Smarts’ Top 10 Posts for 2015
“Top 10” lists are always popular features around the New Year, and with good reason. They offer an idea of what resonated with people or had an impact on our culture over the preceding year—and, by...
View ArticleGiant French Angelfish, Pomacanthus paru
Good morning friends, I’m trying to recover this morning from a long day of diving yesterday, we had three sub runs mixed with cold water and current making for a long day. While I photographed the...
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