Reef Builders - The Source for Reef Keeping Information

Do fish actually use their ears? They must, because coral reef fish spend weeks scouting out a new neighborhood before they move in - just like human house buyers do. The fish use their acute sense of hearing to eavesdrop on locations before deciding where to live. The researches studied fish near the Great Barrier reef off Australia. Damsels, cardnials, emperors and blennies liked spots where “reef noise” was higher. What is reef noise? “Reef noise includes the sounds of invertebrates and fish feeding, and so provides other fish with direct information about the residents on the reef” says Dr Steve Simpson of the university. What did the fish do next? The fish narrowed it down based on their needs, the same way humans do. Dr Steve Simpson, of Edinburgh University’s school of biological sciences, said: “These findings show that hearing is crucial for the survival of fish.

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Three islands of Bikini Atoll were vapourised by the Bravo hydrogen bomb in 1954, which shook islands 200 kilometres away. Instead of finding a bare underwater moonscape, ecologists who have dived there have given it a clean bill of health.  “Apart from occasional forays of illegal shark, tuna and Napoleon Wrasse fishing, the reef is almost completely undisturbed to this day,” says Maria Beger of the University of Queensland in Australia. “There are very few local inhabitants and the divers who visit dive on shipwrecks, like the USS Saratoga, and not on the reef.”

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Ecosystem got into the all in one nano aquarium game by releasing a all in one reef nano unit. The base models come in two sizes, 14 Gallon and 24 Gallon. Metal Halide and T5 lighting options are available, although it looks like the main unit will come without a lighting option and if you opt for the T5 lighting or Metal Halide then you’ll need to lay down a few more dollars. Other options include: Refugium only model, Protein skimmer only model, Hybrid - skimmer/refugium model, UV Filter option (internal). The Metal Halide and T5 lightings systems are made in Italy, most likely an OEM. No word on availability yet, but we guess to say less than 2 months and you should start to see these at your local fish store or online.

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Digital Aqutatics did an update on their status of taking pre-orders for their popular reefkeeper elite with the following comment: ” We’ve been getting a lot of emails about the pending pre-orders. Know that we’re working hard to get things in place so that we can start taking pre-orders; however there are a number of critical parts that are out of our hands. Once we get them in place we will be able to commit to a shipping date and release the final post on pre-orders. Also, we should have manuals up soon for several of the modules. Note that the RK Elite system guide is still being worked on and will follow shortly after (at least in a draft version.)”

Great, so not word yet on pre-orders. It is April 2nd, and if you wanted to pre-order your going to have to wait who knows how long to just be able to pre-order, let alone receive the actual product.

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Before you rush out and buy Seachem’s new line of “things you must have for your reef”. Be warned. Most if not all of their products are just a re-hash of similiar products they already sell, with one or two things added that make them “must have”. Fancy labeling and “mac” stylized graphics abound on the Aqua-vitro. Along with fancy names called “alpha, eight.four” (what the heck?) This is Seachem’s premium line, which means you be paying a premium price for things you don’t need added to your water that you can’t already get cheaper elsewhere.

For example, they are offering a product called “fuel,” which is a carbon source and amino acid source, which includes some vitamins. Now, with vitamins you could add Selcon to your food feeding, finely minced garlic and vitamin C (lime juice) are great ways to do this. With Seachem’s line, you are enriching your tank water with all the vitamins, not the food. Sorry Seachem, we are not convinced that you need to enrich the tank water.

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H&S has jumped on the needle-wheel bandwagon, or should we say, new needle-wheel bandwagon. If you happen to have an external H&S unit then your in luck, this upgrade should be available starting April 15th at most H&S dealers. We are seeing so many needle wheel designs that most are starting to look very similar, or identical.

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Who would have thought there would actually be life in Antarctica waters? Scientists have found giant Macroptychaster sea stars  in Antarctic waters. They also found jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles and those sea stars pictured above are about 2 feet wide. We are thinking that to keep those new jumbo sea stars in an aquarium at home you would need a mighty powerful chiller, along with a massive tank to go along with it. Researches also found a new sea cucumber they have nick-named “sea pig”. Nice.  Robertson, a scientist with NIWA said that of the 30,000 specimens collected, hundreds might turn out to be new species.

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We thought that Digital Aquatics, the guy’s that bring you the ReefKeeper 2 and the new Reefkeeper Elite were to start taking pre-orders in March. They have only 11 days to make good on their offer. Time is a tickin’ guys.

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Running a low nutrient system? You might consider testing for Potassium (k). As Logan over at stony reef suggests, your potassium levels could run low. Water changes may not be enough. Be sure to check it out.

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GreenFuel Technologies, the Cambridge, MA, alternative energy company has reached an agreement—worth up to some $92 million—to build an algae-based fuel plant in Europe, according to sources close to the firm. GreenFuel is developing algae bioreactor systems to convert carbon dioxide emissions into renewable, clean-burning biofuels. Perhaps we can all send our excess algae in our tanks over there way? If they provided us a box and a prepaid postage label we would be all set!

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