Pictured in this week’s AquaNerd Pic of the Week is a top down shot of an absolutely stunning rainbow colored Wellsophyllia brain coral, and it’s one that also has a sexy neighbor…another great Wellso. These open brain colors are the perfect match for the reef keeper looking to instantly add a healthy dose of color to their aquarium, all the while keeping things simple and fairly easy to care for. The Wellsos, and other open brains, are easy to care for and do great when placed down low in the aquarium and actually look more intense under subdued lighting with a decent dose of the blues. Making things even more interesting, at feeding time these corals open up, exposing their feeding tentacles and turning into an almost entirely different coral.

We wanted to thank Kevin Apsley for sending this, and other photos of his nice new Wellso collection. If you would like to send photos for the AquaNerd POTW, just hit the contact link at the top of the page.

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.

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.

Showing up in the latest AquaNerd POTW is a beautiful Copperband Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) during feeding time at the Kemah Aquarium restaurant. This fish is a crowd favorite among aquarium keepers due to its coloration, but many will find it especially useful for its appetite for Aiptasia anemones. Despite their popularity, the Copperband can be finicky and hard to care for. Additionally, these butterflies have been known to nibble at corals from time to time.

Gracing our pages in this week’s AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a red firefish goby (Nemateleotris magnifica) seen in the reef aquarium at the Aquarium Restaurant in Kemah. This particular fish is very common in the hobby, but its frequency in the trade doesn’t detract from its beauty even in the slightest bit. The dartfish sports a predominantly white anterior that gradually changes into a rich red posterior that eventually terminates into a deep crimson caudal fin. The fish’s beauty is also matched by it’s personality. The goby will hover around the rock structure and constantly flick its dorsal fin and small groups will usually hang out near each other. When frightened, the fish will dart into a hole in the rocks or may even jump out of the aquarium.

Pictured in this AquaNerd Picture of the Week is one of my favorite fish, the Lineatus Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus lineatus). This fish can be very beautiful, though the females of the species are nowhere near as pretty as the males, which is typical of just about all fish and wrasses especially. In terms of rarity, the Lineatus Fairy Wrasse has a limited distribution around the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, and tends to not be very common in the aquarium trade. They are seen on stock lists from wholesalers with some irregularity, and these are often only the females and there are usually only a couple to be had. This drives the price per fish to over $200 in most cases. This particular individual photographed is either a female or sub-dominant male. The super dominant males of this species is far more colorful and is quite a sight in a salty aquarium.

Pictured in this week’s installment of the AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a glowing rainbow Lobophyllia brain coral seen in one of the vendor aquariums at MACNA from earlier this year. The coral has at least four distinct colors, sporting a red ring that surrounds green, then purple, and finally a blue center. Rainbow colored corals are all the rage these days, and their coloration typically drives the price way up. Interestingly though, corals of this color have become increasingly available over the past year especially, showing up in aquarium stores all over the country.

Pictured in this installment of the AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a closeup of a white and red feather duster seen in the same nano aquarium that last week’s ORA Sprung Stunner was found in. The heavy blue lighting from the Kessil Ocean Blue A150W LED pendant really allows the feather duster to stand out and essentially glow along the live rock backdrop. Feather dusters come in a huge variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, with each individual depending heavily on plankton-based foods for long-term health.

Pictured in the latest installment of the AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a glowing ORA Sprung’s Stunner seen in a gorgeous Kessil powered nano aquarium at Fish Gallery. This piece is a relatively new addition to ORA’s growing lineup of aquacultured corals and takes its name from Two Little Fishies owner Julian Sprung. Julian originally got this coral several years ago from a store in German, and although it looks identical to the Hollywood Stunner, the two corals can’t be traced back to the same origin prompting ORA to come up with their own twist on the name. Regardless of the name, the coral truly is a stunner and looks great under intensely blue lighting.

You might also notice a slight change in the headline format of the AquaNerd POTW. We’ve been including the date in previous POTW entries, but felt those are a bit too sterile.

Over the weekend, I got to spend a good deal of time at Fish Gallery, a high end local fish store. After getting to speak to members of the local aquarium club about aquarium chemistry, I wandered around the store and came across a gorgeous Kessil LED illuminated nano aquarium that was full of interesting and unusual corals. In order to feed my addiction and maybe yours as well, I snapped off several photos of the corals and even a video (article will be published later today). The above photo was by far my favorite, as it shows off a nice cluster of feather dusters that call a glowing green Cyphastrea coral home. In their typical fashion, the feather dusters would dart into their holes almost every time I hovered over the aquarium to get a picture. Fortunately, this little cluster came back out rather quickly, and I was able to get a good shot of them.