Harlequinmania

Click through to see the images. What is fluorescence? Adam Blundell, M.S. writes about 'The Seen and Unseen World of Coral Fluorescence' in Advanced Aquarist's June, 2005 issue: Fluorescence is a process whereby a matter of energy is absorbed by a substance, and then released by that substance with less energy. In this case a light source of high energy (lets say blue light) is absorbed by a substance (a coral) and then released with less energy (i.e. green light or red light). Dana Riddle writes what may be the most comprehensive series of articles on coral coloration & fluorescence: Coral Coloration: Fluorescence: Part 1 Coral Coloration, Part 2: Fluorescence: Pigments 510 - 565 and Notes on Green Fluorescent Proteins Coral Coloration, Part 3: Pigments Responsible for Coral Coloration, Part 4: Red Fluorescent Pigments, a Preliminary Report of Effects of Various Environmental Factors and Color Mixing Coral Coloration, Part 5: Non-fluorescent Chromoproteins (CP-480 to CP-562) Coral Coloration, Part 6: Non-fluorescent Chromoproteins (CP-568 – CP-610) And A Newly Discovered Colorant Coral Coloration - Part 7: Coral Reflectance, Chromoproteins and Environmental Factors Affecting Non-fluorescent Pigmentation Coral Coloration, Part 8: Blue and Green Coral Fluorescence: Environmental Factors Affecting Fluorescent Pigmentation Coral Coloration, Part 9: Tridacna and Other Photosynthetic Clam Coloration, With Observations on Possible Functions Fluorescence in Fiji This summer, a team of scientists set out to Fiji to capture the amazing fluorescence of marine life in the wild using blue lights and special filters. Here are some of the photos they reported back via National Geographic. Special underwater photography equipment is used to capture fluorescence. © Keith Ellenbogen We all know Acropora can fluorescence ... © Keith Ellenbogen ... but did you know fish can as well?! © Keith Ellenbogen Chitons too! (this time in red) © Keith Ellenbogen The sea is teeming with fluorescence! © Tali Treibitz View the full article

Click through to see the images. (1920x1200 pixels) Click the download button to view the wallpaper. Right-click the wallpaper and "set as desktop background" or save the file on your computer. photo by Nico Tao PREVIEW View the full article

A new study shows that jellyfish are more than a nuisance to bathers and boaters, drastically altering marine food webs by shunting food energy from fish toward bacteria. An apparent increase in the size and frequency of jellyfish blooms in coastal and estuarine waters around the world during the last few decades means that jellies' impact on marine food webs is likely to increase into the future. View the full article

A new study shows that jellyfish are more than a nuisance to bathers and boaters, drastically altering marine food webs by shunting food energy from fish toward bacteria. An apparent increase in the size and frequency of jellyfish blooms in coastal and estuarine waters around the world during the last few decades means that jellies' impact on marine food webs is likely to increase into the future. View the full article

Hope to see your new tank soon Upz for my CR and UV light.

In parts of the northern Arctic region, the delicate balance of the food chain depends heavily on the the diminutive copepod Calanus glacialis. This herbivorous Arctic zooplankton species is specially adapted to melting sea ice and the blooming of a few small algal species. Researchers in Norway have made new discoveries about the relationship between sunlight, phytoplankton and zooplankton, and about the critical role that sea ice plays for plankton. View the full article

Upgrading to a compressor chiller, selling my 2 year + Artica 1/3 HP titanium chiller . Looking at $ 700.00 , collection / viewing at CCK ave 3 after this saturday. sms me at 9231 6904 for fast deal thanks

More aggressive angel like blueface and asfur angel should be added last into your tank. Also buying a smaller size of blueface will also prevent such aggression toward other larger fish inside your tank.

Click through to see the images. Reef fish come up with ingenious methods to safely sleep in the wild: Cirrhilabrus sp. Fairy Wrasses, Parrotfish, et al. form mucus cocoons each night when they tuck themselves into their favorite crevices, masking them from predators and parasites. Macropharyngodon sp. Leopard Wrasses burrow deep into sandy substrates for protection. We now learn about a Filefish in the Red Sea who sleeps by anchoring itself to branching corals with its teeth! A team of divers observed an Amanses scopas Filefish chomping down on the tips of Acropora sp. during the middle of the night on two separate occasions. While this species is a known corallivore, the divers concluded the fish was sleeping because it was in a tonic state - unresponsive to light, noise, or even gentle touch. A. scopas' "splotchy" nighttime pigmentation is also different than its daytime appearance (Tang/Surgeonfish owners are familiar with this nighttime pigment shift). The researchers go on to say: "We suggest that this sleeping behavior may prevent A. scopas from being swept away by strong currents, provide shelter from predators, keep the fish away from contact with the substratum (i.e., avoiding abrasion), and possibly prevent attack by ectoparasites (gnathiid isopods) known to attack fishes while sleeping on the substrate." Nature finds amazing solutions to life's problems! (via Coral Reefs) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Ornate Ghost Pipefish Larvae. The Ornate Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus) is a distant relative of seahorses and pipefishes that sports some of the finest camouflage in the animal kingdom. These fish hover motionless among crinoids, sea fans, and soft corals and perfectly mimic the appearance of their hosts. In true syngnathids (seahorses and pipefishes) the male has the burden of carrying the eggs until they are ready to hatch, but in Ghost Pipefishes the females carries the eggs in a special pouch between her greatly enlarged pelvic fins. Inside this pouch she tirelessly fans the eggs to keep them well aerated. As part of the California Academy of Sciences' recent Philippine Biodiversity Expedition, a pair of Ornate Ghost Pipefish were carefully collected and shipped by Academy Staff to the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco to give the public the unique opportunity to see these extraordinary fish firsthand. Egg brooding was observed in the female and she was sequestered until releasing the larvae. The larvae are approximately 6-7mm long and may be large enough to take rotifers or copepod larvae as a first food. The days to come will be very exciting as Academy staff work tirelessly to raise what may be the world's first captive reared Ghost Pipefish. The pair: Female fanning eggs: Hatched larvae: Female eating live mysid: Larval videos: View the full article

Are you using a Internal overflow system ? I think the aquazonic LED is not bright enough for your corals , i had a friend whom has been using it for his 2ft tank with coral and it only last 6 month before the light start to become dimmer and dimmer.

The one which SL bought one is a False Personifer. The "True" one will cost much much more..

Wow ah siang, glad to see you start your own tank thread here Will be camping here for your update.. Please share with us what "Rojak" you put in your system LOL ?

Tanglin Mall waterfall today More information on yahoo news; http://sg.news.yahoo...-040951911.html

Looks good This is another DIY i saw on youtube.

Click through to see the images. For those of you that are using the Reefkeeper Elite and Reefkeeper Lite controllers, you will want to update to the latest firmware version. According to the release announcement the upgrade takes care of a number of software bugs that users have reported and it also adds new functionality to the controllers. Some highlights of the new features include: Improved Advanced Light function Improved Advanced Pump function Added the ability to remove ghost modules without a factory reset Added the ability to program, edit and save functions via the NET module Updated the SDO output to support the latest Aqua Illuminations firmware Improved lunar cycle For the full release announcement, head over to the following forum post: http://www.forum.digitalaquatics.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9079&p=37753 (via Digital Aquatics) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Practiced for thousands of years as a direct result of the domestication of animals, “husbandry” is now a modern term new and seasoned hobbyists hear when considering a marine aquarium. The proper selection of your fish, invertebrates, and coral can vastly increase the overall health and appearance of your tank as well as significantly influence the well being of each specimen it contains. This in turn can improve the capacity of vital aspects of your aquarium like the lifespan of each inhabitant, fish and invertebrate interaction, coral growth, coral color and reproduction. There are quite a few published references concerning this term and its meaning within the marine and reef aquarium hobby so I will limit my definition simply to a compatible selection of your living and amalgamated inhabitants. So what does the term “husbandry” mean when a new hobbyist is deliberating between fish, invertebrate and coral selection? One can easily be distracted at the local fish store by the amazing colors and potentially inaccurate displays of activity, so the beginning article of this multi-part series has been written to assist the new hobbyist in their selection of fish in order to help maximize the proper interaction among species, reduced levels of stress, and overall health of your tank. Joe Peck's inspiration 240 gallon reef: a beautiful, harmonious balance of fish, coral, and invertebrate. Fish Selection and Companionability Almost every website that sells marine fish will provide general descriptions of the origin, diet, and other environmental requirements, but it is hard to find one that will tell you how compatible a species is with another. The vast levels of color, sizes and shapes of saltwater fish will captivate most new hobbyists when they first start visiting their local fish store. This scenario can make it very easy to introduce incompatible species of marine fish, coral and invertebrate to the tank so it is necessary to do a little research beforehand. For a general compatibility reference between families of marine fish, I recommend the use of the term “Marine Compatibly Chart” in your internet search. This term can simply be plugged into your search bar to produce numerous links and images of a chart that lists the family (and in some cases the subfamily names) of marine aquarium fish. This chart will tell you whether or not a particular species of fish is suitable to be housed with another species of fish and it is great reference point to use at anytime during your selection process. It is important to learn that some species of marine fish are extremely sociable and companionable so the proper fish husbandry can lead to interesting day to day interactions and an overall reduced level of stress for each fish. Now hopefully your local fish store can aid in your selection of fish, but if you find that source of information to be questionable or lacking in any way, something as simple as using key terms and phrases in your internet research can vastly improve your chances of selecting the right kind of inhabitants for your tank. Most of the species of fish found at your local fish store have a common reference name; for example, the “clown fish” is actually from the subfamily Amphiprioninae and in the family Pomacentridae. Now you don’t have to know this, nor use a scientific family name when doing your research, but it can help when getting really specific and alleviate apprehensions about differing descriptions or recommendations from various sources. Chromis viridis. Photo by S. Baltzer, Flickr A great example of natural interaction between fish and its environment would be the very common Blue/Green Reef Chromis (Chromis Viridis). These shoaling fish are found in the wild, swimming between the branches of small polyp stony corals. Not only does the colony of coral provide shelter for the fish from predators but the presence of the fish between the coral branches also helps to clean detritus that would otherwise, if settled for too long, cause necrosis on the coral. So here we see a scenario where both fish and coral benefit from being in close proximity to each other. It is this natural interaction that we are trying to achieve; one where your fish, coral and invertebrates exhibit biologically normal behaviors. Next week we will talk more about this concept of housing coral and fish together in a mixed reef environment to discover how the interactions between your fish and coral can be either advantageous or destructive. View the full article

Click through to see the images. A few days ago, we reported that researchers observed no bleaching events at the Gulf of Mannar this year. Now, NOAA is forecasting no major coral bleaching event in 2011 anywhere in the world. The thermal-stress computer models for 2011 show significantly lower ocean temperatures, giving the world's reefs a much needed respite. Corals will also have the opportunity to heal from past bleaching events. (via VOA) View the full article

Click through to see the images. Octopus hatchlings at the Steinhart Aquarium Mothers day reminds us of the incredible job of mothering that visitors to the Steinhart Aquarium were treated to earlier this year: 1000's of hatching Octopus 'vulgaris'. Read more... Activated carbon indicted in inducing head and lateral line erosion In an upcoming article in this month's Coral Magazine, Jay Hemdal reports on his latest work on tracking down the culprit of head and lateral line erosion in certain species of fish. Read more... Deep Blue announces lineup of shallow look-down aquariums Deep Blue Aquarium Professional (USA) have been busy creating aquariums and aquatic accessories (lighting, filtration, pumps, heaters, etc.) Deep Blue has announced a new line of shallow look-down style aquariums, coming soon to a store near you. Read more... AquaDom - the world's largest cylindrical aquarium Located in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin, Germay, the AquaDom is the world's largest cylindrical aquarium and to top it off it also has an elevator that goes through the center of it! Read more... Hydra Aquatics Retina I LED fixture turns up at Marine Depot The choices for compact and affordable LED fixtures keeps growing! The Hydra Aquatics Retina I is the latest compact LED fixture to hit the US market. The Retina I boasts 12 white and 8 blue Samsung LEDs with a CCT of 9500K-10,000K in a slim, 'all-in-one' metal housing. Read more... AquaTouch offers two of the most rare and expensive fishes for sale If you have $8999.00 and $7999.00 to spare, you can be the proud owner of an ultra rare Liopropoma aberrans and Jeboehlkia gladifer (respectively). No, the prices aren't typos. These fishes are so rare that not only have they never been available for sale in the aquarium trade, but until recently, no photographs of these species even existed! Read more... The alluring reef aquarium of Stuart Bertram This month Practical Fishkeeping is featuring Stuart Bertram's aquarium in their June 2011 issue. Read more... New T5 / T8 LED tubes debut from Orphek If you are interested in getting into the LED scene and already have a T5 or T8 fixture, check out these new LED bulbs from Orphek. The new LED bulbs are designed to fit directly into standard T5/T8 fluorescent fixtures with no additional equipment required. Read more... Advanced Aquarist wallpaper #5 Short and sweet: Our fifth high-resolution wallpaper. Read more... Pictorial Showcase: Blastomussa wellsi (Not for the bandwidth-challenged!) Here are photos of spectacular Blastomussa wellsi corals from members of Reef2Reef.com. I think it's safe to say: B.wellsi rivals any coral species for exotic colors and patterns. Read more... View the full article

A good read for those who wanted to know more ... Quite lengthly though lol.. http://journals.tums.ac.ir/upload_files/pdf/17046.pdf

If you check out this video below from Kaldnes which is the manufacturer of the K1 media and the design / logic behind the technology, it should work well. I am using it in my sump compartment with a two air stone running in it to move the media. Too bad there isn;t any test kit to test it;s effectiveness LOL... I remember seeing it as well in the AVA booth in Aquarama which they are promoting using it to promote their water filtration system for aqua-farming. So since even our government agency themselves is using it , it should be good? Just my own view on it though