Tag Archive
Coralscience.org is building a mesophotic reef system
Tim Wijgerde et al. are starting a very interesting project at Coralscience.org: they are building a low light reef tank (modelling “mesophotic” reef system) using equipment and foods available to all aquarists. I’m sure we “hobbyists” can learn and benefit from this work by marine scientists. Read all about it here. »
Get a free copy of “Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow water genera of the central-west Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea”
Get a free copy of this excellent book! This was posted on coral-list today: “The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is giving away the remaining copies of the book ‘Soft Corals and Sea Fans: A comprehensive guide to the tropical shallow water genera of the central-west Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea’ by... »
Special Diseases of Aquatic Organisms journal issue: The Role of Environment and Microorganisms in Diseases of Corals
A special issue of Diseases of Aquatic Organisms titled “The Role of Environment and Microorganisms in Diseases of Corals” has been published online. And the best part is that all articles are Open Access! From the title page: “This DAO Special contains papers based on presentations made at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (2008, Fort Lauderdale,... »
ULNS is not really L and far from UL
I’m annoyed when I see people boasting about their “ULNS” reef aquarium. Typically the “ULNS” crowd seem to think that their aquariums are at the very edge of complete dissolved inorganic nutrient elimination and that the corals they keep can barely cope with the underwater desert they’ve managed to create. All kinds of pseudoscientific... »
Charted waters
Sometimes we hobbyists can’t see the forest from the trees when we discuss and worry about the fine details about reef aquariums. It might be useful to remember why we spend so much time trying to find that optimal protein skimmer or argue about the merits of different additives: the ultimate goal of almost... »
Spongeguide.org
Sponges are one of the more beneficial invertebrates for reef aquariums due to their great ability to filter DOM and bacteria out of the water. Plus they are colorful, have interesting shapes and many have modest husbandry requirements if properly fed. A new guide for Caribbean sponges is available at spongeguide.org. They have more than... »
I hate Papers
I use a program called Papers to keep my library of scientific papers organized. The problem is that even though it’s a wonderful application in many ways it is also much too buggy! It completely messed up my library for the third time last week and I have ever since been restoring it by... »
Fantastic example how complicated our aquariums can be
I just found this paper while searching for something completely different but what a gem it was! Selden et al. Waterborne cues from crabs induce thicker skeletons, smaller gonads and size-specific changes in growth rate in sea urchins. Marine biology (2009) vol. 156 (5) pp. 1057-1071 Indirect predator-induced effects on growth, morphology and reproduction have been... »
More reading
This one is essential book for a serious hobbyist: Coral Reef Ecology (Ecological Studies, V. 102) by Yuri I. Sorokin Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: Springer (December 1995) ISBN: 978-3540605324 Unfortunately this one seems to be very hard to find, even Amazon doesn’t have used copies available. So if you are lucky enough to find one, buy it! »
Advances in Coral Husbandry in Public Aquariums
Here’s a book no advanced reef aquarist should skip! “Advances in Coral Husbandry in Public Aquariums, Volume 2 in the Public Aquarium Husbandry Series” Edited by Rob Leewis and Max Janse is an excellent collection of scientific (and other) papers concerning captive care of corals. Some of the material presented is likely familiar to the... »