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Reef Builders | The Reef and Marine Aquarium Blog

Marineland’s countdown timer hints at new products to be unveiled at Global Pet Expo

Posted: February 17th, 2012, 1:09am CST by Jake Adams
Beginning earlier this week, visitors to the Marineland homepage have been greeted by a glaring red countdown timer with two weeks left on the clock. The time remaining on Marineland’s timer corresponds with the beginning of the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Florida where the aquatics industry giant has historically unveiled major new products. It’s been over a year and half since we saw a new LED light from Marineland, not counting the limited edition Reef Capable LED, and we suspect that the new product(s) Marineland has in store will have something to do with light emitting diodes, and maybe that timer is a hint too.
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African Flameback Angelfish successfully captive bred by Reef Culture Technologies

Posted: February 17th, 2012, 9:16pm CST by Matt Pedersen
African flameback angelfish, Centropyge acanthops. Photo by Sabine Penisson

Centropyge acanthops, the African Flameback Angelfish, is the latest species of captive bred angelfish to be announced by Reef Culture Technologies. Yes…Frank has been extremely busy in 2011, so much so that he’s nailing the “species firsts” left and right. The aspiring home Angelfish breeder is looking at a rapidly shrinking pool from which to attempt a “species first” of their own, especially in the Centropyge subgenus Xiphypops. Officially, Reef Culture Technologies has nailed down two thirds of the species, first C. fisheri, then C. resplendens, followed by C. argi and now C. acanthops.

This leaves only the golden and whitetailed pygmy angelfishes, Centropyge aurantonotus and Centropyge flavicauda out there, but frankly we wouldn’t be surprised if Frank Baensch beats you to them since both species have been occasionally available. All of the Angelfish in the subgenus Xyphipops are among the smallest Centropyge species, and are generally thought to be among the most “reef-safe” angelfish owing to their largely herbivorous diets. Given that viable spawns can be had in downright small tanks, these angelfish still represent the best chances for a home breeder to emulate Frank Baensch’s success in the future.

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Amazing high definition video of Tuamotu is reason enough to visit the French Polynesia

Posted: February 17th, 2012, 8:08pm CST by Tea Yi Kai
Click here to view the embedded video.

If the amazing video above of Tuamotu isn’t reason enough to make you wanna visit the French Polynesia, then perhaps the diversity of fish and island atolls will. The French Polynesia is made of six major island groups, with Tahiti in the Society islands being the most populated. The other five being Marquesas, Tuamotu, Gambier, Austral and Bass islands.

While popular with divers and holiday goers, the French Polynesia also holds many unique and rare species of fish such as Chaetodon smithi, Pseudanthias regalis, Pseudanthias privitera, Coris marquesensis, Coris hewetti and other species. Since most of these fishes are not regularly collected for food or the aquarium trade, the numbers in the wild are healthy and booming. That said however, the limited range of some of these species have put them on the vulnerable list.

Unique species found in the French Polynesia. A,B: Pseudanthias regalis (Marquesas) C: Coris hewetti (Marquesas) D,E: Centropyge loricula (Marquesas) F: Coris marquesensis (Marquesas) G: Pseudojuloides atavai (Society is.) H,I: Chaetodon smithi (Bass, Rapa, Pitcairn). Picture credits - A: Rudie Kuiter's Basslets & Hamlets, B: Luiz Rocha, C,E,F: John P Hoover, D: Robert Fenner, G: Yukata niino, H: Tahiti presse and I: John Randall.

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$5 LED light bulb shows there is always a need for mid-range lighting

Posted: February 17th, 2012, 6:16pm CST by Brian Blank
We might like writing about LED lights and when we saw this article about a $5 LED light bulb we got pretty excited — until we read the fine print. Less power, no mercury and a longer lifespan are HUGE selling points for LED technology all across the board but the price tag has kept many people away from adopting the technology in the home but the Pharox 200 Blu is a start in the right direction even though it only produces as much light at a traditional 20W light bulb.

The 240 lumens is pretty meager making it an option for accent lighting but not for most conventional uses. So why does this get us excited? This at least gets consumers on board with the LED train and as the technology progresses, soon enough the $4.95 bulb with be 40W, then 60W then 100W, etc. Plus it can add some heat to the other main bulb makers to produce a higher output light at a lower cost. The manufacturer also has the larger Pharox 300 Blu that pushes out 360 lumens, about what you see in a 40W bulb, for $6.95.

In the aquarium side of things, we see affordable LEDs that don’t hit the major performance numbers as the larger, more powerful fixtures but do play a role in getting the average hobbyist exploring LEDs. Whether it’s putting an affordable spotlight over a nano tank or a supplemental strip adding another color to your system, affordable and lower performing LEDs do have a place in the market. We’ll probably grab one of these and drop it into a desk lamp and wish it had more power but at least it will only cost $5.

[Lemnis Lighting via Cnet, Gizmodo]
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