When the television show “Tanked” first aired on Animal Planet, many aquarium hobbyists immediately cringed. The pilot episode, and every episode following for that matter, showed bad aquarium husbandry, massive tanks filled to the brim with fish, and the cut-up antics typical of any reality tv show. Now, we do understand that Animal Planet has full creative control over the show and that it takes more than a week’s worth of shooting to get a one hour episode, so we don’t entirely blame the crew of Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM) for the terrible message being put out with the help of extensive editing. However, aquarium stores are starting to feel the “Tanked” effect and it’s an issue that needs to be adressed.

Severel years ago, a popular Disney Pixar movie came out and immediately had an extensive impact on the the environments of local fish stores nationwide. “Finding Nemo” caused countless parents to run out and attempt to recreate what they saw in theaters for their children, and to this day store owners and employees can still hear the screeching children yelling out for the popular clownfish in their nightmares. A few years and a ton if dead clownfish later, the “Finding Nemo” effect wore off for the most part, and fish stores could actually go a few weeks or even months without hearing that dreadful name.

Fast forward to a few months ago, and we are starting to see a new trend in the aquarium hobby, and unfortunately one with similar results. The “Tanked” trend has taken hold, and people are pouring into fish stores looking to recreate what they see the “experts” doing on tv. And having no educational value in that show, these brand new tank owners are making severe mistakes and even attempting to mix fresh and saltwater fish together. Fortunately, some of this behavior will be curtailed by vigilant fish store employees, but sadly not every one of the “sheeple” will be stopped.

I was chatting with an employee at a local fish store, who happened to tell me the phone had been ringing off the hook with people who had been inspired by the “Tanked” tv show and had to have an aquarium. He kept trying to explain the concept of saltwater aquariums to each of them, but the questions and explanations became overwhelming at some point. This alone is just one indicator of the show’s impact on the hobby, and with a second season already being planned, we are positivie it will have a long lasting effect.

Our contact in the Marshall Islands has been very busy since his last update, and the latest set of images that he sent our way shines a little light as to why. Chuck has naturally taken to SCUBA diving, after all there’s not a whole lot to do when your stuck on an atoll in the middle of the Pacific and sitting at the water’s edge kicking his feet around in the tidepools could never be enough. With each trip into the ocean, our Kwajalein-locked friend has really been honing his underwater photography skills, as the images keep getting better and better. Chuck’s latest offering includes my single most coveted piece of marine life, the black and white Tridacna maxima clam (seen above), along with tons of pictures of huge Acropora colonies and other clams. Chuck also revealed that he’s been making frequent dive trips with a renowned fish collector, who has apparently been showing him the ropes of that side of the hobby. I doubt Chuck will be ditching his day job to catch fish for a living, but who in this great hobby gets to claim they been collecting fish in the wild?

Thanks again Chuck for sharing these wonderful images with us. We look forward to more contributions in the future. Until then, we’ll just have to “settle” with the handful of images below.

Our aquariums are full of a huge variety of organisms that include exotic fish, stunning corals, and unusual invertebrates. Hobbyists tend to focus on the larger animals, after all we do pay for them, and the tiny creatures that roam our tanks are often overlooked. These animals can be nearly microscopic in many cases, usually hitch hike into an aquarium on live rock or coral frags, and can be both beneficial and detrimental to a reef aquarium depending on what they like to chew on. Fortunately, all of the organisms in the video above are those of the beneficial kind, or at the very least harmless to the aquarium livestock we purposefully put into the aquarium. Despite their beneficial nature, a lot of these invertebrates are widely misunderstood and most people fear them.

Below is a brief description of each of the inverts seen in the video above.

Dorvellid Bristleworm (Parougia sp.)
This bristleworm certainly looks menacing with its sharp mandibles and bristles covering its body. Fortunately, these worms are harmless, as the individual in the video above can obviously be seen grazing on the film algae that covers the glass. Dorvellid bristlworms are often extremely small, measuring only a few millimeters in length, and they usually go unnoticed in the typical aquarium. Very little information is known about this family of worms, but it appears to be a welcome hitch hiker.

Amphipod (Grammarus sp.)
Almost every aquarium keeper knows about Amphipods. These small crustaceans make up the staple diet of many fish and their presence is often an indicator of aquarium health. The bug-like amphipods are usually seen scurrying around the aquarium, often darting for a hiding place once the lights turn on. They are omnivorous, eating virtually anything they can get their claws on. Amphipods usually hitch hike into an aquarium in macroalgae and live rocks, but they can come in on frags and larger animals like clams.

Flatworm (Convolutriloba sp.)
The Convolutriloba flatworm, while virtually harmless, really represents more of an annoyance than anything else. Identifying these worms down to the species level is quite difficult, but the common theme surrounding this genus is their ability to rapidly multiply. If their numbers aren’t kept in check, either through manual removal or nutrient control, the flatworm population can absolutely explode. Much like our corals, the flatworms have symbiotic algae that lives in their tissue. Because of this, they get their nutrition primarily from photosynthesis, but they have also been known to eat algae and tiny crustaceans (depending on the species). The type seen in the video above is quite common, as I’ve seen them in multiple aquariums. They don’t seem to be as aggressive as their larger cousins, and from what I’ve seen, they don’t appear to stray too far from the aquarium’s glass.

Asterina Starfish (Asterina sp.)
Asterina starfish are just another hitch hiker that show up in marine aquariums. They eat a wide variety of things in the aquarium, and are usually found on the glass and rocks grazing on algae. Like other starfish, the Asterina expel their entire stomachs out of their mouths in order to digest food items and suck them back in. These starfish reproduce by fission, or splitting, which often leaves individuals with a lack of legs, which can look quite unusual.

Feather Duster Tube Worm
Aquarium-bound tube worms come in a huge variety, ranging from tiny hitch hikers to huge coco worms. The particular worm in the video above is just a tiny one, but full of bright colors. It came into the aquarium attached to the underside of a chalice frag, eventually growing out into the open where it could better filter food particles from the water. This worm, and a lot of those found in and out of the hobby, form a hard skeleton for protection. Other tube worms may use a soft sheath instead of the tube.

Spaghetti Worm
The spaghetti worms are a very unusual looking creature. They have a typical worm-like body, but their anterior portion is adorned with feeding tentacles. Depending on the species, these tentacles can be clear and limited to just a couple, or they can be yellow and numerous. Either way, the worms typically encountered in the home saltwater aquarium are harmless and feed on particles in the sand or floating by on the current. The worms can be quite unsightly and will reproduce quickly provided there is enough food to sustain a population. The yellow tentacled spaghetti worms are free-living and will either take up residence in the sand or rocks, but will also make snail shells their home (as seen in the video). The hard tube forming species typically live in the sand and glue grains of sand and rock onto their bodies to form a tube for protection. They often send out long feeding tentacles from this tube and drag in any captured food particles.

I also wanted thank Keith from Super Pet World for letting me film the spaghetti worms that abound in the store’s coral tanks.

Pictured in this week’s AquaNerd Picture of the Week is a Yellow Eye Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) seen virtually floating in place. This fish has a deep purple body with bright yellow eyes and hints of darker yellow lining each of its fins. The fish also possesses blue dots on it face that gradually turn into horizontal lines that run the entire length of its body. As far as tangs go, the Kole Tang is an excellent algae grazer for aquariums about 75-gallons or more, the target here being at least a four foot long tank. They reach a maximum length of roughly 7″ and will devour various types of algae from just about every surface in the tank, including the glass, rocks, and equipment. I personally feel the Kole Tang is one of the most underrated tangs in the hobby, as it is obviously very attractive and very useful in the aquarium. I’ve even seen this fish eat dinoflagellates without any of the typical repercussions seen when other animals eat the algae, such as snails dying. This tang is quite hardy, but sometimes shy and a bit too passive for tanks with more aggressive inhabitants.

Damselfish may be the bane of many saltwater aquarium keepers across the globe, but despite their attitude and typical aggressive natures, they can be quite beautiful. The “striking” blue damsel (Chrysiptera cymatilis) seen above, is a gorgeous fish that is a also a recently described new species that was found in Papua New Guinea by scientists performing a massive ten-year survey of the Coral Triangle. Found in 1999, this damsel is just one of approximately 1,060 new species discovered by the survey. The massive joint effort by scientists in the Pacific region was headed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and resulted in an average of two new species discovered per week over the ten-year span. This amount of discovery is mind blowing considering how much effort and attention has been focused onto ocean life in recent years.

The Coral Triangle, for those unaware of just what that consists of, is a large area that encompasses the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is home to a countless number of species, and is recognized as the global hotspot of marine biodiversity. This region is said to contain more than half of the world’s coral reefs, almost 75 percent of all known coral species, and 40 percent of the world’s coral reef fish species.

Image and story originally seen on National Geographic.

Corals and reef invertebrates are so extremely intricate and beautiful that sometimes the best way to view them is in extreme closeup. The swaying of individual polyps and the details of an animal’s tissue brings a whole new perspective to the aquarium hobby, one that many unfortunately go their entire lives without experiencing. And seeing as how we are obsessed with anything and everything reef related, we never pass up the opportunity to shoot and share some detailed video footage of livestock, which happens to be corals and clams in this case. In the video above, we see a Pink Sandollar Montipora, an ORA Tridacna derasa clam mantle, a “Grapes of Wrath” Platygrya brain coral, a shot of a different clam’s inhalant opening, and finally a Sunset Montipora…all in that order and all in closeup.

The video was shot with my trusty Canon T2i and with the stock 18-55mm lens. I bet you never thought you’d see detail this up close with a stock lens. Honestly, I didn’t either. Fortunately, we discovered a setting on the camera that crops and zooms in on everything in the viewfinder. Some resolution is lost in the process, but the extreme closeup is really neat to see. And it goes to show that you don’t need a macro lens to get really close shots. There’s really nothing left to say about the reef life shown in this video, other than enjoy the show. If you have any questions or comments about aquarium photography and videography, feel free to drop us a line through our Contact Form or simply post in the comments below.

Pictured in this week’s AquaNerd POTW is a large flame hawkfish, seen here perching on a piece of rock with an attached chalice coral. These fish are known invertebrate predators, but their unique personality and perching behavior really attract reef keepers to keep them. Fortunately, large shrimp will probably no be bothered too much, though they will draw quite a bit of interest from the hawkfish if they’re kept together. Any shrimp added to the tank after the hawkfish has established itself will be likely be eaten or terrorized. The hawkfish may even go after smaller fish depending on how well it is fed. Fat and happy fish are far less likely to hunt for prey or even become aggressive with tankmates, so it’s wise to keep your fish fed.

The flame hawk is probably one of the larger and more aggressive of the hawkfish. Despite this, their vibrant red color with sharply contrasting black marks really make these fish attractive to aquarium keepers. The price for this particular species usually hovers around $50-60, depending on the fish store of course, and they’re actually pretty hardy fish. They will readily take prepared foods, and prefer to be fed large, meaty items.

The stunning Earl’s Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus earlei) is a very rare species of wrasse that has been wowing reef hobbyists as of late. Despite their rarity, a select few aquarium owners have gotten their hands on these fish, along with a very short list of retailers. One of these fish retailers, Pacific Island Aquatics, has a pair of male Earl’s wrasse, and they have been getting all sorts of offers for these fish from hobbyists and retailers from different parts of the globe. But it seems Pacific Island Aquatics wants to keep these fish in the states to some extent, as they are making one last ditch effort (with price discounts) to get them into the aquariums of hobbyists. Unfortunately, today is the last day to purchase these fish from their site.  If the fish are not sold by tonight, they will get shipped off to Hong Kong. Whether the purchaser in Hong Kong is an individual or a company is unknown at this point, but they will no longer be available to the US market.

More information and images after the page break.

A little about these fish according to Pacific Island Imports. These fish have been at their facility since May 28th. They are actively eating pellets, mysis shrimp, and even flake food. The Earl’s wrasse have a 14-day guarantee, which is comforting given their $1000+ price tag per fish. And just in case  you were wondering, or considering buying both, one of the fish is a 3″ male, while the other is a 2.5″ sub-male.

Over the weekend, my wife and I took a little getaway trip to San Antonio. We visited a couple of the local fish stores, enjoyed a little of the nightlife, and managed to spend quite a bit of time on the city’s famous River Walk. The river cuts through a mall, which is where I stumbled across a small kiosk full of horrors. The name of the kiosk was “Real Bugs”, and I was immediately drawn to it because at one point, insects were a great passion of mine. The closer I got, the more I got that sickening feeling. The insects were all encased in an acrylic form. Seeing these exotics bugs displayed like this was a bit disturbing to some extent, but what really made me sick was the sight of a juvenile red ear slider, which is a freshwater turtle if you’re not familiar. Then I looked a little more and saw starfish, crabs, and various sea shells. My heart continued to sink, so I walked away.

The more I thought about the little kiosk from hell, the more it angered me. Despite walking away originally, I had to return to get more information on the animals and how they were collected and killed. The kiosk attendant, not surprisingly, had no clue about the jewelry other than their prices. But I did manage to get a business name. Continuing on with my investigation, I did a Google search for the products and came across multiple websites where the jewelry was either sold or advertised. To my surprise, the sites had far more animals available, including frogs, bats, mice, snakes, and tons of invertebrates from both sea and land.

Each of the sites had their own set of frequently asked questions, which held very few answers. None of them said how the animals were killed, but one did say that some of the animals were farm raised, with another saying the animals are from China. Seeing as how there was a lack of info, I emailed each of the companies with a list of questions. To date, I have yet to receive a response, but it has only been short time since I sent the questions, so the lack of a response is somewhat understandable. However, these grotesque novelty dealers will not stop receiving emails from me until I get a response, and I encourage others to email them as well. I am purposefully leaving out their emails, but a simple Google search for “Real Bugs” will give you plenty of places to start.

To wrap this rant up, I will admit there is some knowledge to be gained from preserving animals in this fashion. For starters, the sites as a collective do offer skeletons, life cycles, and other life forms that have some place in the educational and scientific communities. Despite this, these companies are still a disgrace, and people should avoid doing business with them as much as possible.

Tridacna clams are commonly available in the aquarium hobby in six different species. Some of these clams live their entire lives in the sand, while others on the hard calcium substrates of the reef. The Tridacna gigas, T. squamosa, and T. derasa are all sand dwellers, and all have small byssal openings because of this. They do not rely on their feet or byssal threads to hold secure them to a particular surface, favoring instead to use their shear size. The T. maxima and T. crocea, on the other hand, can both be found living on hard surfaces, and often secrete enzymes out of their large byssal opening in order to burrow into the rock. This protects them from predators and pests, and also helps keep them from being blow around the reef.

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Despite the type of different substrates clams are found on in the reef, most hobbyists ignore these and choose to sit their clams in the sand. It’s very common to find both T. maxima and T. crocea down in the sand, or one of the other larger clam species up on the rocks somewhere. We all know real estate on the rockwork in our reef aquariums can be scarce, especially if the tank is well established. Fortunately, there’s a quick and easy solution to this, well at least for the smaller rock dwelling clams that are placed in the sand. Simply take a small piece of flat live rock and bury it under the sand. Then, place the clam on top of the rock. The clam will eventually dig into the sand and find the hard piece of rock. It will also attach to the rock after a short while, remaining there until you decided to move it or conditions in the reef cause the clam to move on its own.

Another added benefit to using these rocks is sort of a modularity with the clam. You can place the clam and rock wherever you want in your aquarium. If you decided to sell the clam, upgrade to a new tank, or remodel your aquarium, just pick the clam up and move it. No need to pry the clam off of existing rocks or the bottom glass in the tank.

And the final product, a T. maxima clam on a flat piece of live rock in the aquarium.