Peter Kirwan won the large tank category with this aquascape

The Aquatic Gardeners Association has announced the winners of its 2008 aquascaping contest. Needless to say, with hundreds of tropical tanks from around the world entered the results are spectacular.

You can browse all the entries from 2008 over on the AGA competition results page, or head over to the Aquatic Eden blog, which has pulled out all the four main winners.

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Leather corals, also popularly known as toadstool corals, are among the easiest of all corals to keep.

These corals were also amongst the first to be fragged (i.e. propagated).

Simply cut an inch-square piece off any healthy leather coral, secure the cutting in a low flow area of a reasonably well-lit reef tank, and soon you’ll have two leather corals where before you had one.

The hardest bit for most first-time fraggers is chopping into what looks like such a delicate animal. But leather corals are incredibly tough, and fragmentation is a natural process. As aquarists, we just speed it up a bit.

How to frag a leather coral

Probably because leather corals are so easy to propagate, a lot of different techniques have been popularized as the ideal way to frag them. Some people cut off the corners, while others used the ‘doughnut’ technique.

Both methods shown in the three fragging videos below. They all use different ways to secure the frags, too.

[click to continue…]

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With nano reef tanks, small is ridiculously beautiful

Nano-Reef.com is the best site for small marine tank fans on the web. Besides its funky, friendly forums, the site picks a nano reef tank to showcase every month.

These nano reefs are always stunning examples of what can be done on a small-scale by committed aquarists. December’s winner, from member DeMartini, features gorgeous colours and a range of mushroom and ricordea corals after my own heart.

This lovely nano reef tank might only be 14-gallons, but size never stops a good nano reefer:

Eventually I removed the hood and upgraded the lighting to a 70w HQI SunPod, which made my corals pop and allowed me to keep a clam…YAY! About half a year ago I added a refugium to keep nitrates down; I drilled holes in an old 6-gallon eclipse and placed it on a little stand right above my main display.

There’s a few more tidbits on the tank and a whole lot more pictures of the tank in December’s Nano Reef Tank of the Month writeup.

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Nature aquariums put plants on a level with fish

Like so many aquariums, the weblogs of fish fans tend to begin with lots of enthusiasm but eventually get neglected.

I’m always on the lookout for these lost gems here at AquaDaily, and today I came across a lovely, abandoned aquascaping blog by Samit Roy. The blog features numerous nature aquarium set-ups, and tells you how to put together the tank pictured above, step-by-step.

Go check it out, but be sure to subscribe for free to AquaDaily to enjoy a steady stream of similar discoveries!

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Legislation is on the table in Florida that may further limit the collection of marine life from state waters:

The proposed draft rule would establish a vessel maximum limit for dwarf seahorses and emerald crabs, and establish a personal possession and a vessel possession limit for zooanthid polyps, corallimorph polyps, and scarlet hermit crabs.

The proposed rule would also decrease the vessel maximum limit on condylactis aneomones and add the snail Lithopoma tectum to the current star snail personal and vessel maximums. The proposal would also decrease the personal possession and vessel possession limits on angelfish and establish a personal possession and vessel possession limit for butterflyfish instead of the current vessel maximum.

Tools for the taking of corallimorph and zooanthid polyps will also be specified. Updates will also be made to existing harvest restriction wording to make it more consistent with the endorsement program.

Reef keeping (as opposed to fish-only aquariums) have exploded since Florida last looked at the issue, so it’s understandable they’re reconsidering catch limits and the like.

We just hope that Florida state legislators are also being as tough when it comes to seaside property development and agricultural run-off, which are far bigger dangers to most marine life.

Sensible collection rules can only be a good thing - few aquarium keepers would like to see the reef destroyed so they can have a prettier fish tank. A few species are at risk from collection for aquariums (such as the ridiculous trade in wild-caught Banggai Cardinals, which can be captive-bred anyway) but in general reef keeping comes well down the bottom of the list of dangers to wild reefs.

Indeed, aquarium collection can be part of the solution, as is now being seen with the cardinal tetra harvest in the Amazon.

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A skimmer that’s “as plug-and-play as they come”, according to Eric over on Glassbox Design, the Warner Marine RX150 is a $549 recirculating skimmer. Here are the basic specs:

Warner Marine RX150 Protein Skimmer specs
Model: RX150
Manufacturer Max Rating: 250 gallons
Height: 26″
Diameter: 6″
Pump: Sedra 7000

It’s a new skimmer to me, but GlassBox Design has been testing one on its reef for some time now, and today Eric delivered his verdict:

The RX 150 protein skimmer is a great addition to the hobby. There are few options when it comes to recirculating models in the sub 100g range and the RX 150 fits that niche nicely. While there are some improvements that can be made, the overall design works well. I will say, if powered by an Eheim 1250 instead of the Sedra 7000 this skimmer would be tough to beat.

Skip over to the full RX150 review for a great review full of juicy details.

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Handy with a camera? A marine blog called Aquarium Life is about to open its month long 2009 photo contest:

Submission opens : December 1st 2008
Submission Deadline : December 23rd 2008

Visitors can vote for the best picture from January 1st to January 31st.
Results will be announced on February 7th

How to win:
Our readers will judge by voting for best picture. The three highest scores will get one of the following prize:
1st Winner - $75 USD Cash Prize
2nd Winner - $50 USD Cash Prize
3rd Winner - $25 USD Cash Prize

Full details of how to enter are available from Aquarium Life. Good luck!

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Small pots are used to reduce aggression in captured reef fishes

Rather like city kids who don’t know milk comes from cows, few marine fish keepers ever get to see how marine fish make it to their home.

I’m not talking about coral reefs, which most of us will have drooled over on the BBC or the Discovery channel. I mean fish exporters.

A recent post on the Coral Adventures blog is interesting reading for reef aquarists therefore, as it includes some behind-the-scenes pics from a coral exporter that is up for sale ($2.8million, since you asked).

Apparently, Bali Blue has been in business for 13 years:

The pleasant and fish guru owner of BB is a French gentleman by the name of Bernard Bruguier. Bernard started out in Indonesia back in the days as a consultant for one of the founding pioneer companies in this business, called Banyu Biru of Jakarta. Bernard eventually took over the Bali operation and really made a huge positive impact on Indonesian ornamental fish trade.

Mr. Bruguier also ran a Vanuatu station for years. All the many cool Vanuatu fish that we have seen in the past years were coming out of Bernard’s operation. There’s even a beautiful new wrasse species that was named after him.

I found the picture above, which shows small fish being kept separated prior to shipping, pretty interesting. There are several other shots of the exporter, as well as lot of carved Indonesian art, over on Coral Adventures.

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