Harlequinmania

Click through to see the images. The Global Reef Expedition is a well-funded, well-equipped international scientific venture for the purpose of researching the state of today's coral reefs. At their disposal is the 220 foot Golden Shadow - a science and logistical support vessel designed and dedicated specifically for this expedition. The expedition will begin its research in the Caribbean for 2011 to 2012, followed by the Pacific for 2012 to 2014, and concluding in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea in 2015. Scheduled research sites include the Bahamas, Great Barrier Reef, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Johnston Islands, Palau, the Maldives, and the Red Sea. For more information about this expedition, visit http://www.globalreefexpedition.org/ NEWS RELEASE NASSAU, Bahamas, April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Living Oceans Foundation has chosen The Bahamas for the opening of its Global Reef Expedition, a five year, world–wide study of the health of the coral reef environments. In making the announcement, Captain Philip Renaud, USN (ret), the Foundation's Executive Director, noted that up to 80 percent of all life on the earth is found in the oceans, and that the health of the coral reefs is critical to the health of many species that inhabit the oceans. Under the banner of Science Without Borders®, the ambitious Global Reef Expedition will be outfitted, equipped and financed by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, which is headquartered in the Washington DC suburb of Landover, Maryland. The Global Reef Expedition will begin with six months of research in strategic parts of The Bahamas, beginning with the Cay Sal Bank April 26 to May 18. It will then travel to the southernmost district to study the Hogsty Reef and other areas off the Inagua Islands in August, and then on to Andros and Abaco in October. The Expedition will spend 10 days studying coral reefs in St. Kitts and Nevis in June in-between coral reef research in The Bahamas. Bahamian scientists will be part of the Bahamas research. They will be joined by 13 other scientists from the United Kingdom, the United States and Colombia aboard Golden Shadow. The Expedition will spend 10 days studying coral reefs in St. Kitts and Nevis in June in-between coral reef research in The Bahamas. With the support from governments of sovereign countries around the world, future legs of the Expedition will bring its teams of scientists and professionals to Jamaica, Colombia, the Galapagos Islands and then on to French Polynesia and the Great Barrier Reef. The highly equipped, specially outfitted 220 foot research vessel, Golden Shadow, will be operating headquarters for the Expedition. The ship will be in port Nassau from April 4-9, 2011 before it begins coral reef studies in remote areas of The Bahamas. The founder of the Living Oceans Foundation, Saudi Arabia Prince Khaled bin Sultan, said, "It is not always clear to the casual observer that ocean health is in serious trouble. But it is. If we do not take aggressive steps to care for our ocean now, our inaction will have dire consequences for the future. Our children and grandchildren will certainly suffer the consequences. Over the past 50 years, 20 per cent of coral reefs worldwide have died. It is conceivable that over the course of one human lifetime more than half of coral reefs worldwide will no longer exist." The good news, Prince Khaled said, is that it is not too late to reverse the decline in ocean health. He stressed that "we must raise public awareness about the coral reef crisis and educate people about the solutions." The primary scientific goals of the Expedition are to map and characterize coral reef ecosystems, evaluate their current status and major threats, and identify factors that enhance their capacity to resist, survive and rapidly recover from major disturbance events. This information is critical for developing sound management strategies for coral reefs. The resulting scientific information will be shared freely with involved parties and the scientific and regulatory communities. Coral reefs are highly valued for their biological, cultural and economic resources, as well as their aesthetic qualities. Although coral reef ecosystems occupy less than one quarter of one percent of the marine environment, they provide essential habitat to more than 25% of all known marine fish species. They are often referred to as the rainforests of the marine world because of the vast number of species found here and because coral reef ecosystems are highly important to mankind. They provide food, employment, recreation, coastal protection and medicines, and sustain livelihoods and economic development. According to one estimate, coral reef ecosystems provide approximately US $375 billion per year in goods and services. About Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, founded by HRH Prince General Khaled bin Sultan, was incorporated in California as a 501©(3), public benefit, Private Operating Foundation in September 2000. Headquartered in Washington DC, the Living Oceans Foundation is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of living oceans and pledges to champion their preservation through research, education, and a commitment to Science Without Borders ®. Science Without Borders ® is the overarching theme of the Foundation, where scientists come together from different countries to solve a common problem – the threats to the world's coral reefs. Science Without Borders ® is registered to the Foundation for financial sponsorship of marine conservation programs and scientific research and to promote public awareness of the need to preserve, protect and restore the world's oceans and aquatic resources. For more information, visit http://livingoceansfoundation.org, or http://globalreefexpedition.com Media Contact: CAPT Philip G. Renaud, USN (ret) Executive Director Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation 8181 Professional Place, Suite 215 Landover, MD 20785 (301) 577-1288 prenaud@livingoceansfoundation.org www.livingoceansfoundation.org View the full article

Click through to see the images. Our friend at 3reef.com has posted a report about the ReefBrite Aquaviewer LED magnifying glass, exhibited at the Marine Aquarium Expo 2011. Following the rave reception of the IVS Portal at 2010's Reef-A-Palooza, magnifying optics may be the next popular trend. The Aquaviewer was introduced earlier this year, with MAX 2011 being the first big convention to showcase this product. Read Matt's report at http://www.3reef.com/forums/3reef-radar/reefbrite-led-magnifying-glass-108166.html I would like to see ReefBrite add a red LED option. Few reef organisms can view red light because the upper spectrum is filtered out quickly by seawater; Thus, sea life has evolved to exclude red light sensitivity. Red LEDs would allow for night-time viewing without disturbing the animals you are trying to observe. The ReefBrite Aquaviewer is available now at any ReefBrite authorized dealers such as Premium Aquatics. ReefBrite is a manufacturer of metal halide, fluorescent, and LED lighting products, including the unique twin-arc metal halide bulbs. View the full article

Click through to see the images. This video is part of a 2010-2011 series of videos titled "Changing Planet," produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation. NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News. More NBC Learn videos can be viewed at: http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn View the full article

Click through to see the images. This video is part of a 2010-2011 series of videos titled "Changing Planet," produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation. NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News. More NBC Learn videos can be viewed at: http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn View the full article

Click through to see the images. This video is part of a 2010-2011 series of videos titled "Changing Planet," produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation. NBC Learn is the educational arm of NBC News. More NBC Learn videos can be viewed at: http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn View the full article

Climate change is already widely recognized to be negatively affecting coral reef ecosystems around the world, yet the long-term effects are difficult to predict. Scientists are now using the geologic record of Caribbean corals to understand how reef ecosystems might respond to climate change expected for this century. View the full article

Climate change is already widely recognized to be negatively affecting coral reef ecosystems around the world, yet the long-term effects are difficult to predict. Scientists are now using the geologic record of Caribbean corals to understand how reef ecosystems might respond to climate change expected for this century. View the full article

Cave life is known to favor the evolution of a variety of traits, including blindness and loss of eyes, loss of pigmentation, and changes in metabolism and feeding behavior. Now researchers have added sleeplessness to that list. Cave fish sleep significantly less than their surface counterparts, a finding by biologists that reveals the genes involved in sleep patterns and disorders. Their study may shed light on how genetic makeup contributes to sleep variation and disruption in humans. View the full article

Cave life is known to favor the evolution of a variety of traits, including blindness and loss of eyes, loss of pigmentation, and changes in metabolism and feeding behavior. Now researchers have added sleeplessness to that list. Cave fish sleep significantly less than their surface counterparts, a finding by biologists that reveals the genes involved in sleep patterns and disorders. Their study may shed light on how genetic makeup contributes to sleep variation and disruption in humans. View the full article

Two new studies add scientific evidence that hunters' lead ammunition often finds its way into carrion-eating birds, such as eagles and turkey vultures. View the full article

Concentrated waste plumes from fish farms could travel significant distances to reach coastlines, according to a new study. Researchers found that relatively high concentrations of dissolved waste from fish pens do not consistently dilute immediately. View the full article

Concentrated waste plumes from fish farms could travel significant distances to reach coastlines, according to a new study. Researchers found that relatively high concentrations of dissolved waste from fish pens do not consistently dilute immediately. View the full article

Click through to see the images. This post is by Adrienne Longo-White, a reefkeeper since 1992. At the time of this incident, Adrienne was working for Marine Depot Live. I was preparing to do a Sunday evening water change on my aquarium and was contemplating some overdue maintenance. When non-hobbyists are nearby, I am often asked questions about the aquarium as I go about my routine with it. I had been telling my boyfriend at the time about the toxic animals that people keep in their reef tanks. I pointed out my brown zoanthids and explained Palythoa toxin. He frowned and told me to be careful around them. I told him I pull them off the rocks all the time and that I was in no danger. He left that evening as I was just about to start the water change. I was clearly busy and this looked like I was about to ask him to do work so off he went – out of the way of physical labor! I decided on impulse that it was time to remove some ugly plain brown button polyps from my tank. They were encroaching the base of my prized nano-sized cup coral so I decided that they had to go. I removed the rock and used my fingers as well as a steak knife and fingernail (fingernail brush and knife are dedicated to use in the reef only). After popping the polyps off, I rinsed the rock off in the water that I had just performed a water change with to ensure that none of the mucus from the polyps would transfer into the water when it was placed back into the tank. As a precautionary measure I placed a bag of carbon next to the power head. When I was finished I washed my hands in the sink with soap and hot water, then took a shower shortly after. All done, right? Around 9 pm I was feeling a little tired, nauseated and constricted in the chest when I’d try to breathe in deep. I figured I was getting my first cold of the season. By the time I went to bed at 10 pm I was feeling downright awful. I tossed and turned and woke at 1 am because I felt like I was freezing but I was bundled under several blankets. I felt like I was radiating heat and I’d melt at any moment and was trembling so hard I was having a difficult time maintaining balance when I stood up. My pulse was very rapid and was feeling dizzy and nauseous and went stumbling for a thermometer. As I rustled through the bathroom looking for a thermometer I woke my room mate who poked her head out of her room and asked what was up. I told her something was wrong and one look at me in the light and she agreed. We checked my temperature and it was normal. That was NOT what my body was telling me. By all rights and symptoms I had the flu – but without the fever. Methodically she went down a list of what I had eaten and done that day. When I got to telling her about the last thing I did; removing the button polyps in the tank I stopped suddenly. It was at that moment I became aware of a horrible throbbing pain emitting from my left thumb and looked at it. The previous day I was at work moving a chiller and broke a nail. Apparently it left a small open cut as it broke off at the base. I was unaware of this when I started on my button polyp eradication. The area was swollen, red and throbbing horribly. My room mate asked what coral it was and what she needed to look for to find the symptoms in case I was having an allergic reaction. I told her I pulled zoanthids and to look up ‘palythoa toxica’. I knew it was a bad one to have issues with and I hoped that this wasn’t it. As she looked up info on her computer I sat at mine and tried to locate info. A few people were around in the reef related chat rooms and were helpful in getting information to my roommate. At this point I was having a hard time typing clearly and my vision was blurring. My roommate came flying out of her room muttering something about a guy named ‘Anthony’ and said I was showing all the signs of a reaction to Palythoa Toxica and that it could be fatal. She was talking about Anthony Calfo, of course. I’ve heard his great zoanthid palythoa story several times. Her new found panic made me feel so much better. She grabbed my keys and my arm and dragged me out of the house and headed for the hospital. Upon my arrival at the hospital the admitting nurse was sure I had the flu and was hinting that I should just go home and go to bed. I tried to explain to her that I should have a fever if it was indeed the flu and this felt like no flu I’d ever dealt with. Breathing was becoming more difficult yet there was no sign of congestion or any blockage I could feel – just pain when I tried to use my full lung capacity. I told her my fingers and face were fuzzy feeling and numb feeling and that my thumb was throbbing horribly. The last time I had a flu my fingers didn’t throb. She rolled her eyes at me and took my temperature and vitals and sent me to wait in the front office. Informing me I was likely to wait 4 or 5 hours before I’d get to see the doctor because the flu was not an emergency. She made me feel like I was being such a baby. At this point I was fairly sure my roommate was right … I was in deep doo-doo. After about a 30 minute wait things progressed. Let me tell you that feeling your lungs shutting down is NOT a happy feeling at all. I was fighting to breathe. My fingers were very tingly now and I was dizzy. I could hardly breathe though there was still no clear sign of congestion. My speech got strange like I was drunk. I was unable to focus or speak coherently. Absolutely desperate my roommate jumped up and pounded on the nurses desk and went over my new increased symptoms. She raised all sorts of racket (Go Kym) and eventually caught the attention of a security guard and luckily a doctor who was passing by. Seems the doctor owns a reef tank and knew what “Patient claims she has ingested Palythoa toxin” meant when he reviewed the admitting paperwork and read my patient notes. After taking a few minutes to talk to me and agree that is what the problem was (and finding out he had a really nice 90 gallon SPS reef with a Euro reef skimmer, 40 gallon sump and a 20 gallon refugium and his tank has been up for 2 years. He pulled me into the back on a gurney and immediately went to work on me getting an IV in and some saline thru me (Ok actually not him, but the attendant did it. I’ve been told that if a doctor tries to put an IV in you to not let them do it). He instructed me to be injected with some steroids, Benedryl and five other things that I was too fuzzy to ask details on or disagree with. I was incredibly drowsy and dizzy at this point but I recall that I got the ‘wear gloves’ lecture from the doctor – along with my very own box of latex gloves and a threat from the doctor and my room mate that I better wear them. The doctor also took the time to read my admitting paperwork enough to notice I worked in the industry and asked me about an algae problem he had been having. I guess one good turn deserves another so I gave him some algae trouble shooting advice and aimed him at the online message boards. Gosh I hope it made sense because I wasn’t feeling very coherent. The doctor told me it was a very good thing that we didn’t hesitate too much longer to go in or that I didn’t roll over and force myself back to sleep because I had reacted pretty bad. I was out of there by 5:30 am and went home and slept most of the day and that night too. Fastest emergency room treatment I’ve ever had! The next day I was back at work, was mostly functional with only occasional nausea. My face was still swollen, prickly, red and I was a little on the disconnected side. I didn’t take the Benedryl while I was at work or I would have been worse but I did take my other meds. Palythoa toxin can build up in your system over time. The years I spent handling zoanthids at the wholesalers and online retailer probably didn’t help my situation much. I recall 2 or 3 times in the past where I called in sick to work from having milder cases of these symptoms assuming it was a mild case of the flu. I know that I handled zoanthids on a daily basis. While one employer freely offered gloves for us to wear whenever we wanted to – the other place did not (not to their fault. Had I said something I’m sure they’d have provided them willingly). The moral to this story is to wear gloves if you are dealing with things you know are toxic in your system. I knew those button polyps were toxic but what I didn’t know was I had that cut on my thumb. I am forbidden by friends, family members and the significant other to even touch zoanthids. From now on when I deal with button polyps, zoanthids or anything from the Palythoa family you can be sure I’ll be wearing protection – cut fingers or not! Learn more about palytoxins: Palytoxin, The World's Second Deadliest Poison, Possibly Available at Your LFS. If you have a palytoxin story you'd like to share with Advanced Aquarist readers, let us know. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Atlantis Marine World and their curator/co-founder, Joe Yauillo, are no strangers to Advanced Aquarist readers. In 2007, Joe shared Atlantis' amazing 20,000 gallon reef aquarium in our magazine (read the Feature Aquarium article). The expansion will include an exhibition, banquet, and conference center, as well as a 100 room Hyatt Place Hotel. We can't wait to visit the new expansion, and we hope to see future reefkeeping events hosted at Atlantis Marine World's new facilities. Congrats to Atlantis on all the progress they've made in the past decade! Read their full press release (PDF) Atlantis Marine World's website View the full article

A new pathway has been discovered that links a common dietary lipid and intestinal microflora with an increased risk of heart disease. The study shows that people who eat a diet containing a common nutrient found in animal products (such as eggs, liver and other meats, cheese and other dairy products, fish, shellfish) are not predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely on their genetic make-up, but rather, how the micro-organisms that live in our digestive tracts metabolize a specific lipid -- phosphatidyl choline (also called lecithin). Lecithin and its metabolite, choline, are also found in many commercial baked goods, dietary supplements, and even children's vitamins. View the full article

Click through to see the images. The Deep Blue Star 20,000K metal halide lamp will be available for 250W SE, 250W DE, and 400w SE (mogul) base. This lamp is designed to fire on any electronic ballast and will fire on most magnetic ballasts, although Neuco recommends the use of electronic ballasts to insure color temperature and operating life span. The timing of this announcement is particularly interesting for 20,000K MH users because recent reports suggest Radiums may be in short supply due to recent enforcement of import regulations pertaining to mercury content within HID lamps. CoralVue is the exclusive North America dealer of Neuco Germany, makers of the AquaConnect metal halide lamps. source: http://coralvue.com/20k-deep-blue-star-neuco-lamps/ and http://coralvue.com/radium-lamps-out-of-stock/ View the full article

Click through to see the images. The Deep Blue Star 20,000K metal halide lamp will be available for 250W SE, 250W DE, and 400w SE (mogul) base. This lamp is designed to fire on any electronic ballast and will fire on most magnetic ballasts, although Neuco recommends the use of electronic ballasts to insure color temperature and operating life span. The timing of this announcement is particularly interesting for 20,000K MH users because recent reports suggest Radiums may be in short supply due to recent enforcement of import regulations pertaining to mercury content within HID lamps. CoralVue is the exclusive North America dealer of Neuco Germany, makers of the AquaConnect metal halide lamps. source: http://coralvue.com/20k-deep-blue-star-neuco-lamps/ and http://coralvue.com/radium-lamps-out-of-stock/ View the full article

Click through to see the images. As a long-time reefkeeper, I've understood that it was known that certain zoanthid species available in the aquarium trade could potentially harbor palytoxin and I've read posts on a variety of reefkeeping forums on the subject in the last couple of years. Apparently scientists from the US FDA didn't realize this and after investigating two incidents of palytoxin exposure subsequently published a paper yesterday in PLoS ONE with their findings along with an example of an unfortunate reefkeeper that found out the hard way. To give you a bit of background on palytoxin: palytoxin is produced by certain zoanthid species and has a LD50 in mice of just 300 ng/kg -- meaning that 50% of mice dosed with just 300 nanograms of palytoxin per kilogram of body weight will die within a specified testing time. To give you a bit of scale on its potency: 1 gram of palytoxin can kill approximately 170 million mice - that's a lot of mice! This toxin is second only to maitotoxin in its lethality which has an LD50 in mice of 50 ng/kg. Palytoxin targets the sodium-potassium pump proteins in cells and effectively shuts down the ion gradient that is essential for cell function. Symptoms of palytoxin poisoning include "angina-like chest pains, asthma-like breathing difficulties, tachycardia, unstable blood pressure, hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells), and an electrocardiogram showing an exaggerated T wave. The onset of symptoms is rapid, and death usually follows just minutes after." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palytoxin) It's nasty stuff. As mentioned in this paper, the scientists documented a reefkeeper that encountered palytoxin in his home aquarium in 2007. Apparently this unfortunate reefkeeper was attempting to remove some offending zoanthid species from rockwork in his aquarium and read someplace that boiling water would do the trick. During the removal process, he apparently inhaled some of the aerosolized palytoxin (in the steam) and encountered a severe respiratory reaction shortly thereafter. Scientists from the US FDA were working on a similar case of dermal contact with palytoxin and learned about this event and they subsequently contacted this reefkeeper and obtained samples of the zoanthids from his aquarium. After positively identifying palytoxin in this reefkeeper's zoanthids and narrowing down the species to Palythoa sp., they decided to investigate its general availability in the aquarium trade and traveled to three different aquarium stores within the Washington D.C. area. In all, they purchased 15 different colonies of zoanthids that were readily available for sale that were consistent with the visual description of Palythoa sp.. Using analytical techniques, they identified the zoanthid species and palytoxin responsible for this reefkeeper's poisoning and also isolated palytoxin from four of the colonies of the 15 purchased zoanthid specimens. According to the authors: "This is the first report to our knowledge that documents both high PLTX [palytoxin] presence and phylogenetic identity for commercially available zoanthids from aquarium stores. ... During this investigation, we found that many of the zoanthids commonly sold in the home aquarium trade are non-toxic or weakly-toxic, but a highly toxic variety of Palythoa (possibly P. heliodiscus or P. toxica) is indeed available. It often occurs as a tank contaminant and can be unintentionally introduced with more desirable species or on live rock. ... Regardless, we have shown that a Palythoa sp. just as toxic as the legendary limu can not only be found outside of the tidepools at Mu'olea, it is available in retail commerce and present in home aquaria, with the owners often unaware of the deadly poisons they are being exposed to." Deeds JR, Handy SM, White KD, Reimer JD (2011) Palytoxin Found in Palythoa sp. zoanthids (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) Sold in the Home AquariumTrade. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18235. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018235, http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018235 View the full article

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. Being exposed to estrogen over a long period of time is one factor that can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease. One way a woman can combat this risk factor is by taking the breast cancer drug tamoxifen. Now, researchers have found that omega-3 fatty acids could be a safe and beneficial booster for tamoxifen therapy. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Rainbowfishes: Their Care and Keeping in Captivity by Adrian R. Tappin is a 493 page ebook that details all aspects of keeping these colorful freshwater species. The goal of this book according to the author is to be a comprehensive and illustrated guide to the extraordinary rainbowfishes found in New Guinea and australia. The book covers all aspects of keeping these colorful freshwater fish: History (3 pages) Distribution and Habitat (22 pages) Collection and Shipping (12 pages) Keeping and Caring (38 pages) Breeding and Raising (18 pages) Food and Feeding (53 pages) Rainbowfish Species (267 pages) Disease Prevention and Control (49 pages) It's comprehensive and is a must for any serious rainbowfish keeper. The live food section alone makes it worth the download (covers microalgae, copepods, rotifers, microworms, vinegar eels, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, drosophila, and more). The ebook can be downloaded from either Mediafire (53 MB file size) or from Peter Unmack's website (170 MB file size). The latter download is larger due to being more of a print-quality PDF. I'm currently thinking about getting back into breeding rainbowfishes and I'll definitely be taking the time to read over this ebook. (via Practical Fishkeeping) View the full article

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Click through to see the images. CRASE is a great way to meet some new people, learn some new and interesting things about our marine aquariums, and get some great frags and other items for our tanks so be sure to make plans to check out this years event. And don't forget that all of our vendors will have an item available for raffle and there will also be items from some of our sponsors. Last year we had items like RO/DI units, nano cubes, buckets of salt, and tons of frags! Tickets are only $15 and each ticket purchase comes with two free raffle tickets for the grand prize drawing at the end of the conference.Children under 12 are welcome free of charge. Check back often as we will be adding much more information to the site as it comes available. View the full article

Click through to see the images. The E.Shine Systems ES-60W-CA measures 15.8”L x 5.6”W x 3.0, and is packaged with a power supply, hanging mount, and digital timer. As far as Chinese LED systems go (and there are a whole slew of them), this is one of the better built units. According to their website, the the ES-60W-CA fixture features: 60 watt using CREE XR-E series 10 3watt 6000~9000k white and 10 3watt 455nm royal blue High PAR value. 200 PAR reading for each LED from 5" distance Two dimmers for white and blue, fan can be turned on/off Corrosion-proof finish/casing by special painted Optional 30-60 degree view angle, focus light to deep bottom Pure 450~460nm spectrums, No UV radiation harm Less heat, no chiller unit required, 20-30º C on water surface One fan on back runs against heat External power supply, detachable power cord Hanging kits included Five-year factory warranty No details are provided on where to purchase the ES-60W-CA, nor it's retail price. However, for the past few months, this fixture (or an indistinguishable clone) has been sold in the US by several companies and on eBay under various brand names such as SWC. The market price look to be just shy of $400. Whether E.Shine Systems is the manufacturer (seeking wider international distributorships) or another rebrander of this unit is unconfirmed (we suspect the former). Whatever the circumstance may be, this fixture offers high quality CREE LEDs at a cost-effective price. The bigger story here may be that, according to E.Shine's website, 90W and 120W CREE LED fixtures are forthcoming. View E.Shine's website for more details and photos of this unit. View the full article

Click through to see the images. The E.Shine Systems ES-60W-CA measures 15.8”L x 5.6”W x 3.0, and is packaged with a power supply, hanging mount, and digital timer. As far as Chinese LED systems go (and there is a whole slew of them), this unit is one of the better built. According to their website, the new LED fixture features: 60 watt using CREE XR-E series 10 3watt 6000~9000k white and 10 3watt 455nm royal blue High PAR value. 200 PAR reading for each LED from 5" distance Two dimmers for white and blue, fan can be turned on/off Corrosion-proof finish/casing by special painted Optional 30-60 degree view angle, focus light to deep bottom Pure 450~460nm spectrums, No UV radiation harm Less heat, no chiller unit required, 20-30º C on water surface One fan on back runs against heat External power supply, detachable power cord Hanging kits included Five-year factory warranty No details are provided on where to purchase the ES-60W-CA, nor it's retail price. However, for the past few months, this fixture (or an indistinguishable clone) has been sold in the US by several companies and on eBay under various brand names such as SWC. The market price appears to fall just below $400. Whether E.Shine Systems is the actual manufacturer (seeking wider international distributorships) or another rebrander of this unit is unconfirmed. Whatever the circumstance may be, this fixture uses high quality LEDs in a solid fixture at a cost effective price. The bigger story here may be that, according to E.Shine's website, 90W and 120W Cree-based fixtures are forthcoming. View E.Shine's website for more details and photos of this unit. View the full article

Click through to see the images. The E.Shine Systems ES-60W-CA measures 15.8”L x 5.6”W x 3.0, and is packaged with a power supply, hanging mount, and digital timer. The fixture is actively cooled, but the fan reportedly runs silent. According to their website, the new LED fixture features: 60 watt using CREE XR-E series 10 3watt 6000~9000k white and 10 3watt 455nm royal blue High PAR value. 200 PAR reading for each LED from 5" distance Two dimmers for white and blue, fan can be turned on/off Corrosion-proof finish/casing by special painted Optional 30-60 degree view angle, focus light to deep bottom Pure 450~460nm spectrums, No UV radiation harm Less heat, no chiller unit required, 20-30º C on water surface One fan on back runs against heat External power supply, detachable power cord Hanging kits included Five-year factory warranty No details are provided on where to purchase the ES-60W-CA, nor it's retail price. However, for the past few months, this fixture (or an indistinguishable clone) has been sold in the US by various companies and on eBay under various brand names such as SWC. The market price appears to fall just below $400. Whether E.Shine Systems is the actual manufacturer (seeking wider international distributorships) or another rebrander of this unit is uncertain. Whatever the circumstance may be, this fixture uses high quality LEDs in a solid fixture at a cost effective price. The bigger story here may be that, according to E.Shine's website, 90W and 120W Cree-based fixtures are forthcoming. View E.Shine's website for more details and photos of this unit. View the full article