From National Geographic
The Census of Marine Life has released the most comprehensive inventory of life in the ocean to date.
It’s an unprecedented database of marine species living in 25 key ocean areas around the world.
The findings, published in the open-access scientific journal PLoS ONE describe species found in oceanic regions ranging from icy Antarctic waters…
To the Tropics
To temperate waters throughout the world.
And the Arctic.
Pascal Fletcher
Source: MSNBC
July 28, 2010
Miami, FL – As thousands of Floridians take to the sea to hunt for spiny lobster in the state’s two-day mini-season, they are being warned by authorities not to catch under-size specimens or exceed strict catch quotas.
But no such limits exist for the equally prickly – but dangerous – lionfish, which wildlife authorities are encouraging local divers to capture or kill at will to try to stamp out the voracious invading species from Florida waters.
The gaudy white and reddish brown-striped lionfish are equipped with an array of flaring venomous spines like a lion’s mane, hence their name. They are native to Indo-Pacific seas, but have been rapidly expanding in Caribbean and Atlantic waters, where they have few natural predators.
To read the full text of the article, click here.
Are You Going to MACNA 2010?
If you register for MACNA 2010 by July 31st you will be entered into a drawing to win 2 tickets to SeaWorld or 2 tickets to Aquatica!
http://www.macna2010.com/
“September 3-5, 2010 The Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, (MACNA) is the largest and oldest marine aquarium conference held in the US and Canada. Hobbyists at all skill levels have been enjoying MACNA for over twenty years.
Aquarium enthusiasts and avid reef keepers will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with peers and professionals. Learn from leading researchers in the fields of aquaculture, marine biology, diving and oceanography.
Discover new technologies and purchase cutting edge equipment. Conference attendees will have an opportunity to purchase some of finest handpicked corals from over 100 vendors. More Information on Registration.”
I recently ran across this great article by local reefer Scott Fellman.
“If you’ve been “around the block” a few times in this hobby, you’ll often hear fellow hobbyists dispensing words of aquatic wisdom to anyone who needs it. You know, the usual stuff, like “you need to quarantine new animal purchases”, “Use common sense when stocking tanks”, Perform regular water changes”, etc. This stuff forms the “religion of our hobby: Core beliefs -or unshakable truths- which we pass on to all those who join our ranks. Fundamental, knowledge which we all feel that you need to have at least a working knowledge of to attain success in the hobby. It’s beautiful that most hobbyists are so willing to help out their fellow reef geeks by sharing this acquired wisdom- a true testimony to the quality of people in the aquatic world.
Interestingly enough, you’ll also see a large number of people out on the hobbyist message boards, websites, hobby conferences, and blogs, passing on “wisdom” that might be of dubious accuracy and origin- or, at the very least, information that may be generalized and passed on without experience in the given area. Classic examples are things like “You can’t keep that fish alive”, or “If you use that product, you’ll have this problem in your tank”. Often, the advice is dispensed with such authority and confidence that a typical hobbyist will not even question it.”
The entire article is available here: reefbuilders.com/2010/06/12/danger-regurgitation/
For those of you who are to lazy to test your own water, but are not lazy enough to send of a package every week then this service is for you.
Send your water off to AquariumWaterTesting.com and they will analyze the Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate , Phosphate, Silica, Alkalinity, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Strontium, Molybdenum, Iodine, Copper and Boron. Once the tests are complete they will email you a pdf with your results!
Sorry, they don’t do pH, it changes to much during shipping. You’ll have to do something yourself.