Reef Builders - The Source for Reef Keeping Information

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This says it all, I would love to keep one, but since they are very smart and escape artists, I am going to have to hold out until I get to run a Seaworld theme park. I got my fingers crossed.

Another diagram of Fish Only with Live rock aquarium, great visual aid for those people new to the saltwater hobby. Shawn Mackey is the illustrator. Perhaps he will do more for the saltwater hobby?

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Reef Builders is still growing strong thanks in part to our current members informing everyone they can about this site. We appreciate that very much, also it does help that we have had 100% uptime with no unscheduled downtime since the official launch back in December 2006. We have a lot more in store for our members, including some nifty and cool features planed for the months ahead. Stay tuned. Thanks for making us the preferred reef community online.

Maintaining good water quality is a foregone conclusion in fishkeeping, but it cannot be stressed long and hard enough when it comes to keeping corals. Perhaps it is not surprising then that some enthusiasts adopt almost clinical levels of cleanliness in their aquariums, with no detectable impurities in the water.

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Andy over at Elder Reef can’t seem to get his aquascaping right, or at least he thinks so. Aquascaping is by far one of the most challenging things in running a saltwater aquarium. We all want that perfect look, and depending on our live rock shipments we receive or our LFS collection that can vary. I just re did the rock work on my aquarium as well - and unlike Andy I am not too happy about it. This is of course knowing that we really shouldn’t be moving the rock around, we should set it and be done with it. It could be easier to have 600 gallons of aquarium landscaping to play with. Ha! We only wish! Who knew live rock was so tricky?

If you love tropical fish, then finding quality livestock for your aquarium is important. Most pet stores buy their fish from wholesalers, who get their fish and other animals from fish farms around the world. The world of a wholesale fish dealer is fascinating, and in very large scale.

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A lot has been written about reef aquariums and their cycling process, starting with “cured” live rock, how much live rock to purchase because it is needed in the tank, and what kind you should get. These methods certainly work and lead to tanks that will, in the long run, do just fine and will allow you to maintain corals and fishes using any one of the filtration methods now in vogue (trickle filter, Berlin, Live sand, plus combinations of any of these which, I find through personal communications with them, many, many hobbyists nowadays do). (more…)

Well we finally did it! Reef Builders is online once again, with the exception of member blogs and the photo gallery. (we are still working on that) Hopefully our new setup will be faster for our users. Thank you for making RB the preferred Reef community online!

Two large trucks with police escorts flashing their lights rumbled up to the world’s largest aquarium early Friday with its newest residents — two whale sharks that had made an 8,000-mile journey from Taiwan.

Veterinarians measured the new sharks and took blood samples before they were transferred by canvas harness from the trucks into their new home. The aquarium’s other whale sharks, Norton, Alice and Trixie, circled nearby, seemingly curious about the newcomers.

Their arrival comes just over four months after the death of Ralph, another whale shark that was a star of the Georgia Aquarium when it opened in 2005.

Ralph had stomach problems that led to an inflammation of a membrane in his abdomen, according to aquarium officials. But some animal rights groups have questioned whether his death involved a chemical used in the tank to treat parasites.

The aquarium officials agree the tank’s treatment routine — which has since been changed — likely contributed to Ralph’s loss of appetite, but they say it’s not clear that it had anything to do with the fatal peritonitis.

Taiwan fishery officials said they were satisfied that the aquarium provides high-quality care of the animals before sending the two new whale sharks.

The two new young males were given Asian names in honor of their origins: Yushan means “jade mountain,” and Taroko was named for a national park in Taiwan.

The five Georgia whale sharks are the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia. Georgia Aquarium scientists say the 6-million-gallon tank should be roomy enough for the massive sharks — which can grow up to 40 feet long.

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A new Oahu company soon will start tapping into one of Hawaii’s biggest exports — water. Deep Ocean Hawaii early this week will launch its first vessel, the Spirit of the North, to harvest deep-ocean water 3.4 miles off the Waianae coast. Honolulu-based Deep Ocean says it is the first company to use a mobile system to pump deep seawater, instead of piping it from shore.

It comes on the heels of a handful of deep-water harvesters already established in the state, including Big Island water bottler Koyo USA Corp., which operates the largest deep-sea water bottling plant in the world.

Deep Ocean, operated under the company’s larger umbrella, DSH International Inc., is marketing its water as an ingredient for everything from drinks such as beer and juice to beauty products including lotions and cosmetics.

“Clients see it as a way to differentiate,” Deep Ocean Vice President Rich Treadway said. “With deep-ocean water, nothing manmade has ever been in the water.”

The water, drawn from a hose lowered 2,000 feet below the surface from the moored boat, is free of most contaminants because it is pulled from below a deep thermocline layer, Treadway said.

The company tested the mobile harvesting process on a barge for three months this fall.

The water is put through a desalination process on the 144-foot Spirit, a former Alaska fishing vessel, and packaged into 5,200-gallon bladders, the same kind used to transport other foods, such as syrup, Treadway said. It is then put in 20-foot cargo containers on a barge that makes a daylong trek every week to Honolulu Harbor, where the water is offloaded and transported to clients around the world.

Deep Ocean plans to produce 80,000 gallons of fresh water a day, although the processing equipment can be adjusted to generate 500,000 gallons if demand grows.

Treadway declined to name buyers or give price estimates for the water, but said initial interest has been in the bottled water industry. Next month’s production already has been sold, he said.

“The interest is enormous,” he said. “The potential clients we are talking to are very, very big, and they are international.”

Koyo’s MaHaLo Hawaii Deep Sea water retails for $67.50 a case, each containing 15 1.5-liter bottles.

Koyo, which has three plants and the capability to produce more than 900,000 bottles of water a day, ships 200,000 bottles of water daily to Japan, its primary market, said Yutaka Ishiyama, Koyo’s sales and marketing manager.

It is one of four deep-sea water companies operating on Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority land in Kailua-Kona, where two other companies are planning to build production facilities.

Koyo, opened in 2003, is the state’s top exporter across all industries, according to NELHA. The company declined to disclose financial information because it is privately held.

Deep Ocean, developed over the past four years by Chief Executive Rudy Ahrens and director Wilfried Dreyfuss, is focused on the food, beverage, health and beauty markets, as well as emergency uses for its mobile-water processing technology, which is in patent-pending status, Treadway said.

The company has 12 employees and is looking to expand quickly, he said, without providing specific hiring estimates.

Belizeans are upset with Miss Universe Pageant organizers and NBC for misinforming viewers about the location of Belize’s famous Barrier Reef - the second largest in the world. During the pageant watched by over one billion people around the world, Cozumel, Mexico was positioned as having the second largest barrier reef in the world. As reality would have it, the Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest barrier reef in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere, running 185 miles long and hugging the entire coast of this English speaking country in Central America.

In 1996 the Belize Barrier Reef was officially declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Environmental Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Belize Barrier Reef shelters over 400 species of fish and 70 different types of coral. The tropical reef encloses an immense area of protected water, and is a famous with world-class divers, sports fishermen
and snorkelers.

Commenting on the snafu, Belize Director of Tourism Tracy Panton stated in a press release that “We, the people of Belize were aghast to hear such blatant misrepresentation of the facts, which is considered general knowledge by locals and international guests and visitors.

“We would have expected that a proper fact check be done to avoid airing inaccurate information to such a large, world- wide audience. Belize takes great pride in its natural resources, which includes the Belize Barrier Reef, and our people expressed great disappointment and disapproval at the gross distortion and manipulation of the facts,” she concluded.

Belize is located between Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and south. A relaxed, English-speaking country, Belize is only a two-hour plane ride from the continental United States. It is famous for its diving, fishing, pristine beaches, ancient Mayan Ruins and tropical rain forest and wildlife.

For more information on Belize and its second largest barrier reef in the world, visit http://www.belize.com

The Ice Aquarium in the port city of Kessennuma in Miyagi prefecture looks like an interesting place to chill out. The frosty cold aquarium houses an arrangement of 40 large ice blocks containing 450 specimens (80 varieties) of local marine life — including squid, crab, bonito and saury — which are frozen in perpetual mid-swim.

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The whale shark now has more friends in Taiwan and fewer enemies.

January 1st, 2008 will be the day the Taiwanese will put into effect a total ban on the hunting and selling of whale sharks, and whale shark meat. The ban also includes the export of whale sharks to aquariums around the world.

The Georgia Aquarium is negotiating with the Taiwanese government to acquire two more whale sharks before the ban takes effect. Taiwanese officials are reluctant to approve the sale of the two whale sharks until they learn more about the death of Ralph, a male whale shark which died in January at the hands of the Georgia Aquarium staff.

The ban recognizes “world opinion” as well as domestic concerns about the world’s largest fish, said Chu Yung-cheng, another fisheries department spokesman.
“Many Taiwanese have developed a sense of environmental protection,” Chu said.
The ban means no more whale shark meat will be on Taiwanese grocery store shelves, or on restaurant menus. This, according to restaurant owners isn’t going to hurt their business, as dishes containing whale shark meat aren’t as popular as they once were.
“Now, more Taiwanese want to protect the environment,” said restaurant manager Kuo Yaoming.
This is good news from Taiwan! Hopefully because of Taiwan’s close proximity, China will get the message and follow suit.

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Divers off Palm Beach caught a rare glimpse of an underwater spectacle not often seen on tape. Susan Gardner shot video of barrel sponges spawning on the Breakers Reefs just off the coast of Palm Beach.

The cloudy water is the male sponge; and the thick matter is the female producing eggs. The barrel spawning typically happens only once a year and rarely is it caught on tape.

“The sponges start spawning after the full moon in may and they stimulate other sponges downstream so it’s an all or nothing every sponge that gets hit with a water column with sperm and eggs in it starts producing.”

Angel and butterfly fish were among the other species that can be seen swimming near the sponges.

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