Harlequinmania

Click through to see the images. Congratulations to Todd Gardner of the Long Island Aquarium for his success in rearing the first ever basslet (Liopropoma sp.) in captivity. Today it will be 77 days post-hatch! Sea Save has called for a boycott of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel over ethical issues seen on the show TANKED. It's Shark Week over at ReefThreads.com. Download the podcast to hear about Alex Rose's trip aboard the Nautilus Explorer. Squid mystery in Mexican waters unraveled by Stanford biologist and a class of students. The squid migrated north looking for better food sources due to El Niño. Need an inexpensive water leak detector? Spend the weekend whipping this one up from Make:Projects and some supplies from Radio Shack. Those sneaky carpet sharks. One snuck into a desalination plant at least six months ago and has been hanging out there ever since. A helicopter pilot operating in the Pacific . The video is pretty gruesome showing whales, marlin, and rays dying as bycatch by industrial tuna fishers. Jacques Cousteau's youngest son creates online platform for divers to report on marine life. The website is called Cousteau Divers, and is an online site that allows drivers and snorkelers to connect and help monitor the life underwater. Mantis shrimps use rap to get the ladies. The rumblings are hypothesized to warn off intruders and to charm females. Dolphins need wingmen too. Research has shown that they're more successful with the ladies when they've got a buddy or two that's got their back. Florida protects tiger and hammerhead sharks. "The new rules go into effect January 1, 2012 and prohibit the commercial harvest, possession and landing of tiger and hammerhead sharks (scalloped, smooth and great hammerheads) in state waters" Over 1,500 lionfish were taken in the 2011 lionfish harvesting derbies. That's quite a few but there's plenty more where those came from unfortunately. Roomba maker is making undersea robots that can perform underwater missions for up to 9 months on a single battery charge. Looking for a biological filtration media that works under heavy bioload? MBI site member "Midnight Mariculture" is experimenting with Kaldness Media that's typically used for Discus breeding. Octopuses and squid can switch camouflage methods to remain unseen in the twilight zone. No cloaking device required. Both species of manta ray have now been added to the IUCN Red List. The giant manta Manta birostris and the reef manta Manta alfredi) are declared "Vulnerable" to extinction per IUCN's guidelines. The effects of artificial reefs on fish counts are called into question. The artificial reefs might be congregating fish and fishermen in the same place. What one hour of deep-sea vent life looks like in two minutes . Sea spiders, tubeworms, scaleworms, limpets and snails are featured in the two minute YouTube video. Researchers find life in the Dead Sea . Up until now it has been believed that the Dead Sea is too saline to support life. The sargassum fish and uses its natural looks to sneak up on its prey . View the full article

Scientists have now discovered how bacteria collectively gather information to learn about their environment and find an optimal path to growth. This research will allow scientists to design a new generation of "smart robots" that can form intelligent swarms and aid in the development of medical micro-robots used to treat diseases in the human body. View the full article

Through the analysis of various types of dating techniques on well-preserved sedimentary sections from South China to Tibet, researchers determined that the mass extinction peaked about 252.28 million years ago and lasted less than 200,000 years, with most of the extinction lasting about 20,000 years. The conclusion of this study says extinctions of most marine and terrestrial life took place at the same time. View the full article

Atlantic salmon face new challenges in the Gulf of Maine, where changing spring wind patterns, warming ocean temperatures and new predators along migration routes are affecting their survival. Maine is now the only state in the region with wild Atlantic salmon populations. While increasing numbers of smolts are entering the ocean via the Gulf of Maine, few are returning, raising questions as to where these fish are going and what is happening to them at sea. View the full article

Marine biologists are studying Humboldt squid in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, where the creatures have been spawning at a much younger age and a far smaller size than normal. El Niño is apparently to blame. View the full article

Atlantic salmon face new challenges in the Gulf of Maine, where changing spring wind patterns, warming ocean temperatures and new predators along migration routes are affecting their survival. Maine is now the only state in the region with wild Atlantic salmon populations. While increasing numbers of smolts are entering the ocean via the Gulf of Maine, few are returning, raising questions as to where these fish are going and what is happening to them at sea. View the full article

Marine biologists are studying Humboldt squid in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, where the creatures have been spawning at a much younger age and a far smaller size than normal. El Niño is apparently to blame. View the full article

Coral Farm should have alot of those

For a fish only system, if you have a good skimmer and biological filtration system, i feel you can leave the water change to once a month instead of weekly. Fishes has a higher torrance of N03 and P04 so it is ok . Just monitor on the ammonia and PH of your system. You need not do a 3 part dosing anymore, maybe only trace elements , vitamin C to maintain the health and coloration of your fish.

You need more fish in your tank !

Click through to see the images. Ongoing research is discovering how coral reefs respond to dramatic environmental disruptions (such as after hurricanes/cyclones or bleaching events). Earlier this year, Kenneth Wingerter wrote an article for Advanced Aquarist about how environmental disruption can increase biological diversity. The "ecological disturbance theory" is validated by a recent study which shows fragmented reefs attract more fish than undisturbed reefs. Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University built 30 identical small coral reefs in Papua New Guinea and transplanted Acropora sp. and 20 Yellowtail Damselfish (Chrysiptera parasema) onto each reef. After allowing these reefs to settle in, they began their experiment: The first group of reefs had 75% of their corals removed to mimic habitat loss. The second group of reefs had the same amount of corals as the control reefs (none removed) but were rearranged into three smaller patch reefs. The third group of reefs had 75% of their corals removed, and the reefs were rearranged into three smaller patch reefs. Two Reefs Are Better Than One Over four months, the scientists studied the impact of the habitat loss and fragmentation on both the survival of stock fish as well as the recruitment of new fish to these reefs. They discovered that the first group of reefs (75% coral removal and no fragmentation) had the lowest population and diversity of fish. In contrast, the second group (no corals removed but rearranged into smaller patch reefs) had the highest biodiversity and population, having recruited many new settlers. The third group (75% removal and rearranged) fell in the middle of the other two groups. Habitat loss (i.e. removal of corals) results in reef decline, but habitat disturbance (i.e the rearranging of rocks) actually promotes biodiversity and populations. Aquarists know that rearranging rocks can help reduce fish's territorial aggression. But perhaps rearranging rocks on a regular basis can also help our tanks maintain higher diversity levels. We can also conclude multiple patchy reefs can attract more varieties of life than a single large reef of the same mass. This is something to keep in mind when it comes time for your next reef aquascape. The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Ecology. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Squid mystery in Mexican waters unraveled by Stanford biologist and a class of students. The squid migrated north looking for better food sources due to El Niño. Need an inexpensive water leak detector? Spend the weekend whipping this one up from Make:Projects and some supplies from Radio Shack. Those sneaky carpet sharks. One snuck into a desalination plant at least six months ago and has been hanging out there ever since. A helicopter pilot operating in the Pacific . The video is pretty gruesome showing whales, marlin, and rays dying as bycatch by industrial tuna fishers. Jacques Cousteau's youngest son creates online platform for divers to report on marine life. The website is called Cousteau Divers, and is an online site that allows drivers and snorkelers to connect and help monitor the life underwater. Mantis shrimps use rap to get the ladies. The rumblings are hypothesized to warn off intruders and to charm females. Dolphins need wingmen too. Research has shown that they're more successful with the ladies when they've got a buddy or two that's got their back. Florida protects tiger and hammerhead sharks. "The new rules go into effect January 1, 2012 and prohibit the commercial harvest, possession and landing of tiger and hammerhead sharks (scalloped, smooth and great hammerheads) in state waters" Over 1,500 lionfish were taken in the 2011 lionfish harvesting derbies. That's quite a few but there's plenty more where those came from unfortunately. Roomba maker is making undersea robots that can perform underwater missions for up to 9 months on a single battery charge. Looking for a biological filtration media that works under heavy bioload? MBI site member "Midnight Mariculture" is experimenting with Kaldness Media that's typically used for Discus breeding. Octopuses and squid can switch camouflage methods to remain unseen in the twilight zone. No cloaking device required. Both species of manta ray have now been added to the IUCN Red List. The giant manta Manta birostris and the reef manta Manta alfredi) are declared "Vulnerable" to extinction per IUCN's guidelines. The effects of artificial reefs on fish counts are called into question. The artificial reefs might be congregating fish and fishermen in the same place. What one hour of deep-sea vent life looks like in two minutes . Sea spiders, tubeworms, scaleworms, limpets and snails are featured in the two minute YouTube video. Sea Save has called for a boycott of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel over ethical issues seen on the show TANKED. Researchers find life in the Dead Sea . Up until now it has been believed that the Dead Sea is too saline to support life. The sargassum fish and uses its natural looks to sneak up on its prey . View the full article

Sealife still have ; - Many cortez angelfish ( Adult ) - one golden angel ( not feeding) - plenty of yellow tang - emperor angel - a few 3 - 4" blue angel - one false personifer angel - cream angelfish - one gold flake angelfish - Koran angelfish - One AT and some other common fish from their bali shipment today.

FOWLR tank is definitely more easier to maintain since the water parameter requirement is lesser as compare to a Reef tank. However for a Fish only system, you need to take note not to overstock and a diseases outbreak may just wipe off all your fish at one go.

Extinct animals hide their secrets well, but an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of an aquatic reptile, with traces of soft tissue present, is providing scientists a new window into the behavior of these ancient swimmers. View the full article

Extinct animals hide their secrets well, but an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of an aquatic reptile, with traces of soft tissue present, is providing scientists a new window into the behavior of these ancient swimmers. View the full article

Its a good read.. Thanks for sharing

Click through to see the images. In my 50 years as a marine biologist and culturist of marine fish (and a few invertebrates), I have written a number of books, articles, and scientific papers. Some of these are both historically interesting and still have descriptive value for the culture of various species. I plan to revisit a few of these in Advanced Aquarist from time to time in a series titled "The Way We Were". This is an article from the dawn of marine fish culture. It appeared in the February 1975 issue of The Marine Aquarist. It was titled "Propagating the Atlantic Neon Goby" and it described the first successful efforts at mass culture of the neon goby, Elacatinus oceanops formerly Gobiosoma oceanops. The photos are in black and white, the only color for small magazines back in those days, when color was very expensive, was on the cover. An inside color photo was very rare. The photos in my original article were good for the time but are now only of historical interest. There is a new thing called the internet, I believe, that has amazing and wonderful photos of gobies and the entire process of breeding them that I could not even imagine back in the 70s, so now the information on breeding this goby is available at the click of a mouse (a phrase which would have a very different meaning back in the 70s). The male neon goby guards the eggs and aerates the developing embryos. I selected the neon goby as the second species to breed after the false clownfish, Amprhipion ocellaris, because of its great popularity, importance and value as a parasite picker in nature and in captivity, and its interesting and easily observable behavior in aquariums. It turned out to be relatively easy to breed, its small size, compatibility of mated pairs, frequency of spawning, and the ability of the larvae to begin feeding on rotifers made it a very good species for culture. The only drawback, especially back in the mid 70s, was the low price. Times have changed but popularity of the neon goby, an excellent species for reefs tanks and fish only tanks, is still very strong. We spawned and reared several other species of gobies and were most successful with the sharknose goby, Elacatinus evelynae, and the Christmas or Greenbanded goby, Gobiosoma multifasciatum. At that time only the neon goby was popular enough to support commercial production. The greenbanded goby was also a bit more difficult to rear because the larvae required a bit smaller rotifer than was available at that time and so early feeding depended on providing only the smallest of rotifers, which was a bit problematic. Even now, as then, the popularity of a species with consideration of availability and price of wild caught specimens, determines whether or not commercial production at any level is worth the effort and expense of breeding. But fortunately, these gobys and a number of others are now captive bred and available to aquarists. Published February 1975 issue of The Marine Aquarist Propagating the Atlantic Neon Goby The neon goby, Gobiosoma oceanops, is one of the largest species of the genus and probably the most common go by in marine aquariums. It is a cleaner species and even though of small size (2 to 3 inches as adults) the neon goby does well in a community tank. It will engage in cleaning behavior with Pacific as well as Atlantic marine fishes. We often keep them with large clownfish and frequently observe symbiotic cleaning behavior. The clownfish assumes a head up position and slowly flutters its fins while the neon goby swims with rapid, jerky movements over the clownfish's sides and fins looking for parasites. A quick shake and resumption of normal swimming posture by the clownfish breaks the cleaning pattern and sends the goby on its way. The neon and its close relative, the shark-nosed or gold lined goby, Gobiosoma evelynae, make an interesting and colorful addition to any marine tank and even benefit the occupants through their parasite cleaning behavior. A close up of neon goby eggs after 7 days of incubation. The eggs hatched soon after the photograph was taken . A newly hatched neon goby larvae. The larvae is only 4 mm long and still retains a noticable yolk sac. As the neon gobies mature, they begin to pair for mating and can cause great problems In the close confines of an aquarium. Once a pair is established they forcibly reject any others of their species and even a 100-gallon tank is not big enough for three neon gobies. However, if six to eight or more gobies are present in a tank, pairing and aggressive behavior is muted, and aside from a few minor squabbles, the fish can co-exist. Once a pair is identified, they can be easily induced to spawn by providing a suitable spawning habitat. The neons, like other gobies we have worked with, are secretive spawners. They select an overturned shell, small pipe or inside of an aquarium ornament as a spawning site. Spawning has always occurred on the underside of a surface and the attached eggs extend downward into a restricted cavity. Spawning usually takes place in the early morning hours, although I have observed it to occur in afternoon and early evening hours as well. It is difficult to observe the actual deposition of eggs because of the secretive spawning site, but there seems to be several periods of egg deposition by the female followed by fertilization by the male. Both sexes twitch and wiggle side by side under the shell during the spawning process. The female leaves the site after spawning and only infrequently visits the eggs during the incubation period. The male spends much time caring for the eggs during incubation by moving his body and fins over the egg patch at frequent intervals. He readily leaves the eggs for short periods to feed and explore, but soon returns and rests upside down underneath the egg mass. The female often rests above the shell at the entrance to the nest cavity or cruises about the general vicinity. The shell containing the spawn can be removed for examination and replaced without any harm to the eggs or disruption of the male's incubation behavior. The male cares for the eggs throughout the incubation period, which, depending upon the temperature, may be between 6 to 8 days. A neon goby larvae at 16 days of age shortly before metamorphosis into the adult coloration. Tank reared neon gobies about 2 months old. These fish are the result of two separate spawns that were reared together. A large female at the height of reproductive activity may lay 500 to 600 eggs, but the usual spawn size is about 250 eggs. The egg capsule is about 2 mm long and 1 mm in diameter and is completely transparent. The entire development of the embryo can be observed through the chorion, or egg case. The attachment of the egg consists of a mass of fiberous threads extending from the base of the egg capsule to a sticky pad that adheres to the substrate. The eggs are placed very close to each other and the newly laid spawn has the appearance of-an undulating patch of clear globules. After the eyes become pigmented, the patch takes on a silvery appearance. The embryo begins development with the head pointed towards the base or attached end of the egg capsule. The embryo turns around in the egg capsule on about the third day of development and completes incubation with the head developing within the stelate, distal end of the capsule. Feddern (1967) and Valenti (1972) both describe embryonic development of neon goby larvae and these papers should be consulted for technical details on larval development. Valenti states that larvae that do not reverse in the egg capsule at 50 hours, but complete development with the head at the base of the capsule, do not hatch. Our experience has shown that hatching takes place regardless of the position of the larvae. At hatching, the capsule ruptures by the head of the larvae wherever it happens to be positioned, and the larvae forces itself out the opening. I have never observed a larvae fail to hatch because of a reversed position. In one instance that I was fortunate enough to observe through the microscope, a malformed goby larvae was completely encased in a normal egg capsule. The larvae appeared to be missing a portion of the notochord and the body wall about the gut was completely absent leaving the gut and yolk sac exposed within the egg capsule. This condition was observed shortly after hatching of the spawn and this larvae had eroded the egg capsule in the vicinity of the gut instead of at the head. These observations indicate that hatching occurs as a result of the release of some substance, probably a proteolytic enzyme, originating in the vicinity of the gut and released at the mouth that breaks down the egg capsule in the area of the head. The larvae are quite small (4 mm long) upon hatching and usually carry a residual yolk. Feeding usually begins about 12 hours after hatching, depending upon the state of development at the time of hatching. Small living organisms are required as a first food. The larval stage of the neon goby is rather prolonged. First metamorphosis into the adult coloration and behavior pattern occurs at about 18 to 20 days, although it may extend to 40 days under adverse conditions. The larvae are reared under a carefully simulated pelagic environment. The early juveniles take up a benthic mode of life shortly after the first color appears on the transparent larvae. A faint blackening of the sides quickly becomes a bright sliver of electric blue and the cupped pelvic fins attach the early juvenile to the tank substrate. Growth is rapid after this point in development is attained and sub-adult size is reached within 3 months. The young gobies can be paired at this time although first spawning is still 2 or 3 months in the future. We have spawned about ten pairs of tank reared gobies to date and have noted no obvious difference between wild and tank reared fish, either in morphology or reproductive success. Growth continues after spawning commences and when the fish are ten months to a year old, they are full adult size and are at the height of reproductive activity. Spawning takes place every 10 to 12 days depending on temperature, and we have had pairs spawning in every month of the year. The spawning period in nature is February to April (Feddern); however, we have been able to spawn the gobies every month of the year in the laboratory. References Feddern, H.A.1967. "Larval Development of the Neon Goby, Elacatinus oceanops, in Florida,' Bulletin of Marine Science, Vol. 17, No.2, pp. 367-375. Valenti, R.j .1972. "The Embryology of the Neon Goby, Gobiosoma oceanops," Copeia, 1972, No.3, pp. 477-482. View the full article

I have also been using this for some time now, and although the reading may not be as accurate as compare to test kit, but i am mainly using it as an indicator for any significant increase in salinity or PH especially for those doing commercial addictive like me.

It will be a fun and interesting toy for the kids.

All your corals is opening up very well

Click through to see the images. When fish are in need of cleaning, they head over to cleaning stations where cleaner wrasses pick off parasites from their bodies. During the cleaning process, sometimes these wrasses will also straddle the backs of their "clients" and rub them with their pectoral and pelvic fins. Why wrasses perform this action has remained a mystery. Research published yesterday in Nature Communications by Marta Soares and others as shown for the first time that this fin "massaging", at least in surgeonfishes, reduces the stress hormone cortisole. A mechanical moving model of a cleaner fish. In order to discount factors such as parasite removal and social interactions on the lowering of cortisole levels in the fish (in this case the striated surgeonfish, Ctenochaetus striatus), the researchers used a model cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (seen at right) for their experiments. In one scenario the model moved back and forth and massaged its client with a soft-bristled brush on its underside. In the other scenario, the model remained stationary. Each fish was exposed to one of these two scenarios for two hours a day for ten days. Blood samples were then taken on the eleventh day and tested for cortisole levels. The researchers found that under these conditions, the fish that were subjected to the moving model (the one that was able to give massages) had lower cortisole levels than the fish that were subjected to the stationary models. A second part to this experiment was to stress the fish by placing them into a bucket and then again measuring their cortisole levels. Again, all fish that were subjected to the moving model had lower levels in their blood. Soares concludes: "Our results show that physical contact alone, without a social aspect, is enough to produce fitness-enhancing benefits, a situation so far only demonstrated in humans." (via LiveScience) View the full article

Seagrass populations thrive in the shallow coastal regions and offer an ideal habitat for many fish, crustacean and microbes. The worldwide decline of seagrass populations in recent years is therefore of major concern. Researchers believe that climate change plays an important role as the increase in extreme events such as heat waves is a major challenge for the seagrass. How exactly the seagrass species are impacted by extreme events is examined in a new study. View the full article

Seagrass populations thrive in the shallow coastal regions and offer an ideal habitat for many fish, crustacean and microbes. The worldwide decline of seagrass populations in recent years is therefore of major concern. Researchers believe that climate change plays an important role as the increase in extreme events such as heat waves is a major challenge for the seagrass. How exactly the seagrass species are impacted by extreme events is examined in a new study. View the full article

Click through to see the images. Below are a few examples of what we're talking about, and check out our last pictorial showcase of these beautiful corals. View the full article