Ever wonder how your wild-caught fish, corals, and invertebrates are collected from the reef? Well, landlocked hobbyists are in for a treat, as Talking Fish gives us all a little more insight as to how one of the larger aquarium collectors operates. This episode follows the family owned and operated aquarium collecting group, Cairns Marine, on their way to collect aquatic life off the Great Barrier Reef. Besides showing us all how they collect and house their fish, we also get a brief explanation of the harmful practices used in aquarium collection even to this day. Obviously these practices, which include cyanide and dynamite fishing, aren’t being used by Cairns Marine divers, but is merely showing viewers just how much more sophisticated their own operations are and how they achieve such a healthy catch.

Climbing aboard a pair of vessels that each surpasses 70 feet in length, the collectors hand catch every single fish and take every precaution to make their trip back to the Cairns Marine holding facility as smooth as possible. Once the fish are collected, they are placed in a collection bucket and allowed to slowly decompressed. This process is intended to prevent any expansion of the swim bladder and is accomplished by suspending buckets at various depths for a certain amount of time. The buckets are suspended from a long rope and are hauled to the surface one after the other, simulating a conveyor belt. Once on the boat, each fish is placed into its own containers, which are then placed into a very large drum full of water. Upon the boat’s arrival back at the docks, the barrel of fish (there’s a firearm related joke in there somewhere) is unloaded, with each fish being grouped not by species, but by the diver that caught them.

This process of grouping fish to the collectors is unique in the industry, and allows for a very in-depth paper trail that helps clear up a confusing and convoluted supply chain. The methods used by Cairns Marine not only allow us to find out what part of the world the fish came from, but also who caught it. Sort of reminds us of a restaurant in Hawaii called Mama’s Fish House, where individual names are tied to the meal you eating, provided its fish that’s on your dinner plate.

Finishing off the clip is a brief view of how the fish are bagged and tagged. Each animal is individually packaged in a suitably sized plastic bag, and newspaper is placed in the outermost (or dry) bag to keep it as dark as possible to reduce stress. From there, the bags are placed in large styrofoam containers, permits are filled out, and everything is shipped to their destination, whether it be a final destination or just another point in the supply chain.

All in all, I would have to say this video is very informative, though not every aquarium collector goes to these same lengths.

We’ve already introduced this petition to stop the ban on Hawaiian aquarium collection once before, but given its recent resurgence in popularity on social media websites like Facebook, we decided to write about it again to help keep the momentum going in any way we could. The petition is a simple one. It asks for nothing more than the State of Hawaii to not ban any form of fishing within its legally recognized waters. It further goes on to say that “we”, the aquarium community collective, support fisheries that have been deemed sustainable by scientific data.

We highly suggest that you read the petition (link in the above text) and sign it if you are in support of the aquarium industry. The aquarium industry is under constant attack from activists in Hawaii and other parts of the world, and anything we can do to help will help preserve our hobby for future generations.

A refugium with macroalgae is almost a must in our controlled and complex marine biological systems. Along with skimmers and various types of media reactors, refugiums help pull unused nutrients out of the water column as the desirable algae grows. These nutrients are known to break down into ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate, which can all cause fish and coral health issues or fuel algae growth. Refugiums also allow different types of microorganisms to grow and reproduce. This safe habitat is required because in the tank many of these tiny invertebrates are constantly being consumed by fish or other inverts. The refugium helps isolate the perfect environment for these organisms to thrive and grow in numbers. Eventually, the benficial inverts will find their way into our display tanks, creating and ongoing cycle of a natural source of food; not to mention these critters make up a rather valuable portion of our clean up crews. With all of the different types of algae available to aquarium keepers for refugium purposes, it’s not always easy to pick out with will have the most benefits to your system. This article will not cover all the types of macroalgae, but we will discuss a few of the common choices, along with a couple characteristics of each. And just for one we’ll cover one type that doesn’t fit the criteria of the rest, but it is a very interesting species.

Chaetomorpha, or commonly known as “Chaeto”, is probably the choice of most reefers. This algae is almost spaghetti like and it grows in a ball-like shape that expands fairly quickly. One of the most importantly quality of Chaeto is that it does not “go sexual” like other macro algae. When an algae goes sexual it releases spores into the aquarium and then dies, essentially releasing most of the nutrients it pulled out the water column back into the water. This is obviously extremely harmful to tank inhabitants. Even though Chaetomorpha is probably the perfect choice for any reefer, I would not recommend using it directly in the aquarium. This algae floats around and can get caught on rock, power-heads, and corals. This macro algae is actually quite inexpensive, running roughly ten dollars for a reasonable handful or even free from generous aquarists.

Another popular choice is Caulerpa. There are many different kinds of this macroalgae, such as fern, grape, and flat blade varieties to name just a few. However, due to the overabundance of certain types in the hobby, we will focus mainly on grape and fern. Caulerpa is widely used because of its extremely fast growth. It grows on the rock work and serves as a great place to harbor beneficial inverts. The big downside though is that this algae does go sexual from time to time, and the results are not pretty. Further adding to the negative, this algae is also grows aggressively, taking over other algae very quickly. If any small clipping of this algae finds its way into your aquarium it will attach itself to the rock and quickly grow with help from the intense lighting in our aquarium. While Caulerpa is a popular choice among reefers, I would recommend caution with this algae. If you plan on making your refugium a “display refugium”, I would stay away from this particular species, it’s aggressive growth does not allow other algae to grow and flourish at their fullest. As far as prices go, they pretty much mimic those of Chaetomorpha. If you can’t get it for free, the going price is roughly $10 per reasonable amount.

Halymenia sp., also known as “Dragon’s Tongue”, is becoming a popular choice not only for refugiums but for aquariums with algae in the displays. This algae is delicate, looks like gelatin, and portrays a mostly red blade with bright orange edges. It is very appealing to the eye, but it is a slow grower. It does export nutrients but because of its slow growth. We have spotted this algae priced at roughly twenty dollars an inch.

Halimeda opuntia, also known as “Money plant”, is your oddball of algae. This is a calcerous type of algae, meaning that this specific species benefits from calcium in the water. In return, when Halimeda dies it releases calcium back into the water. This algae is an encrusting algae, it encrust both horizontally and laterally. It is not good for nutrient export because it is a slow grower but it is benificial to an extent. Many algae display aquariums do use this algae because its growth is relatively slow it is easily controlled. Halimeda isn’t an algae that most aquarium keepers have, and because of this it’s hard to get your hands on a free batch of it. It is sold by the cluster and has been spotted for about $10 for a six inch cluster.

When deciding what macroalge to utilize in our refugiums, it is important to keep in mind what our goals are. In a mainly SPS dominated aquarium, a mixture of Chaetomorpha and Halimeda might be benifical but if you are attempting to put together an algae display,  the brightly colored Halymenia would be a better choice. Don’t forget that some types of macroalgae are more likely to go asexual than others, and some grow faster than others. Reserach is key to any succesfull to any marine or reef aquarium.

We recently discovered a little video dialogue from C Harding Productions showing both supporters and opponents of aquarium collection in Hawaii. The arguments are fairly well represented from both sides, as experts from different viewpoints chime in as to why each issue is important. We get to hear the typical points, but one individual struck a nerve with us. While one of the pro-aquarium industry arguments against the ban is centered around preserving the livelihood of aquarium collectors since they need to put food on their families’ plates, one individual counter-points by saying aquarium collectors can pick up employment elsewhere. Around the 50-second mark, Mel Malinowski, who happens to be both the publisher and author of “Snorkel Hawaii”, explains that Hawaiian species are more valuable if left in the ocean. But the argument doesn’t stop there. He further explains that aquarium collectors should drop their nets and pick up their snorkel gear to parade tourists all over the reef. We have a huge issue with this because the anti-aquarium establishment is completely hypocritical. They are in bed with the tourism industry and only want to ban the aquarium trade because it competes for the same resources. They don’t care at all about protecting fish and saving the reefs. Just look at their complete lack of arguments against the recreational and commercial fishing industries that are also very active in Hawaii. There aren’t any bills proposing a ban on recreational fishermen. There’s nobody complaining about anything else really, just aquarium collection.

Pictured in the latest installment of the AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a rose bubble tip anemone, but not just the regular old run of the mill RBTA. This anemone has bright red tentacles and a deep green color on its oral disc. This anemone isn’t a rare color morph by any means, but it certainly makes for an interesting specimen with it’s watermelon-like colors. Adding to the coloration are white specks that dot the tentacles and disc of the anemone.

We first spied the stunning Cuban Gramma dejongi basslet almost two full years ago. And even though we’ve seen plenty of images and videos of these amazing and virtually unattainable fish since then, we still can’t seem to get enough. Unfortunately for our addiction, the story doesn’t stop with just this species, as it gets a little more interesting with a bit of hybridization. As if the rarity of the G. dejongi wasn’t already enough, Japan-based B-Box Aquarium showed off a brief video of a G. dejongi x G. loreto hybrid. That’s right, a hybrid basslet of an already extremely rare fish! The amazing Royal Gramma Dejongi, as we’re calling it, sports a predominantly yellow body but borrows quite a bit of purple facial coloration from its Royal Gramma cousin. The De Jong’s basslet does naturally have some purple coloration on its pelvic and dorsal fins, but every individual we’ve seen has had an entirely yellow face instead of the purple splotches we see on the individual in the video above.

With the De Jong Gramma already being so pricey and difficult to get here in the states, we don’t even want to know what kind of price tag the hybrid will fetch.

Want a quick and easy way to maintain calcium levels in your aquarium? Try adding a canister filled with aragonite-based media to your RO/DI filter. The water will pick up a little bit of calcium as it passes through the media, which will therefore also add calcium to the aquarium every time you top-off water or do a water change. The calcium-filled media chamber should be placed after all of the stages in the RO unit, as you don’t want to exhaust any of the filters prematurely. Also, you might get a little extra phosphate in your aquarium if you go this route, so you might have to incorporate a reactor with some type of phosphate removing media (e.g. GFO, biopellets, etc).

Orange Peel Angelfish from Pacific Island Aquatics

We can never get enough of those oddball fish that seem to permeate our hobby on an increasingly regular basis, and the latest unique gem comes to us from Kevin at Pacific Island Aquatics. The particular individual that caught our eye this time around is an orange colored lemonpeel angelfish (Centropyge flavissima var.) taken from somewhere in the Marshall Islands. So what’s so unique about this fish? Well, the big glaring detail is that it’s supposed to be yellow, not orange. The aptly renamed Orange Peel angelfish sports a distinctly orange hue that gently fades into a dark yellow toward the fish’s pelvic fins. To show just how deep this orange is in comparison to the norm, a yellow tang has been placed into the tank. Obviously the tang is going to look slightly different than a lemonpeel angel, but it serves as a good analog for the comparison. In addition to the orange coloration, this unique angel also has more elaborate blue markings on its operculum (gill cover). Run of the mill lemonpeel angelfish also sport the blue eye ring and some blue markings on their gill plates, but they are far less pronounced and often limited, even in juveniles. This angelfish has those blue marks all over its face, with hints on its mouth and even on the underside of its head. Perhaps this is just an elaborate aberrant pattern on an already unique fish, but it’s definitely an awesome combination of colors. And if you think this fish is only attainable by the well-funded rare fish connoisseurs, think again. The orange peel angel comes with the insanely low price tag of just $45. A plain old normal looking C. flavissima can fetch up to $30 from most vendors.

Juvenile Xanthic Scopas Tang from RVS Fish World

Scopas tangs (Zebrasoma scopas) seem to come in an unending variety of colors and patterns. Whether they be hybrids between two similar species, multicolor mutatants, or just different enough to catch our eye, the fish continue to be walk that thin line between what is considered uniquely beautiful and grotesquely bizarre. The latest Scopas weirdos, which come to us from Barnett Shutman from CV Neptune Marine, are actually entirely yellow, or xanthic, scopas tangs. The two fish, a juvenile and an adult, look almost identical to their yellow tang cousins (Z. flavescens), and their coloration is either further evidence of hybridization between the two species or gives more credence to the idea that the two species are actually one in the same instead of being two distinct species…just depends on how you look at it. For the record, there is some DNA evidence that Z. scopas and Z. flavescens are actually the same species, but that’s for another time. Regardless of all that chatter, these fish are still pretty cool looking. Both individuals, which have received the moniker Banana Yellow Scopus Tang, were collected in the Katakian Islands in Quezon Province, which is located in the northeastern part of the Philippines. There’s no details on where these fish are going and how much they will cost, but other Scopas hybrids and similar offcolor tangs have gone for over $100 at the retail level.

A few more images can be seen after the break.

Xanthic Scopas Tang

Adult and Juvenile Xanthic Scopas Tangs

Yellow Zebrasoma scopas Tang

Please note that we slightly increased the contrast of the images as they were bright and cloudy looking due to microbubbles in the water.

This week’s AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a reader submitted photo from our friend Louis-Pierre Rich. In the image, an elaborately camouflaged Marble Mouth Anglerfish (Lophiocharon lithinostomus), which faces the camera in case you can’t tell, is laying in wait for an unsuspecting prey fish to swim by so that it can be snatched out of the water column and into that very expandable mouth. This fish obviously blends in well with its surroundings, as it looks like a piece of the live rock covered in purple and green algae. Heck, even the fish’s nares (scientific jargon for nostrils) look like tiny sponges. This anglerfish, and most others, use their dorsal fish to lure in prey close to its mouth so that it can rapidly suck up anything big enough to fit.