Minute by minute, we grow with anticipation during the acclimation process. Maybe immediately after releasing the fish to its new home—or for the truly patient, the next day—we add prepared food in hopes that the new animal eats with vigor. We expect hope the fish takes to the offered food, but step back for a moment and realize how large of an expectation that is.

These animals have evolved over million of years and so have their diets and feeding behavior. We can’t then expect them to go after mysis floating in the water column when they may not even be open water feeders.

Angelfish and Butterflyfish often get a bad rep for being difficult to adapt or to wean onto prepared foods. We can offer a variety of fare: mysis, live brine, blackworms, copepods, pellets, you name it,  only for the fish to completely ignore it. Why is this?

There are generally two issues or a combination there of. The fish is:

• …stressed or physically not well
• …does not recognized water column offerings as food

If its stressed, clean water, ample hiding spaces, and solitary confinement in a quarantine system can usually take care of this. If needed, treat for disease, but be cognizant of the fish’s metabolism and of medications like Copper that can reduce appetite.

To address the second point, how can we train fish to recognize our offerings as a meal? For grazers and opportunistic feeders like Pomacanthids and Chaetodonts, a simple fish food paste can do the trick. [I wrote a piece in 2010 for PFK outlining this technique in more detail, which can be found here.]

The goal here is to take smelly, prepared foods, and present them in a manner that is more natural to the fish. Smear it on liverock, or in this case inside a snail shell. The shell or rock is then put in the freezer to harden the food. Once placed in the aquarium the food will thaw and is hopefully consumed–it will soften and begin to float in the water column.

Next thing you know, your prized new acquisition is eating mysis mid-tank.

If you get a fish that is not eating, first eliminate any stressors. Then think like a fish and try offering foods as they may appear in the wild.

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Manhattan Aquariums’ Holiday Extravaganza
December 18-19 // 10am – 7pm
522 W 37th St. New York, NY 10018

As part of the event, Manhattan Aquariums will be offering 35% all livestock and 20 to 50% off all dry goods. Additionally raffle prizes will be up for grabs from the likes of Reef Geek, Tunze, PE Mysis, and Ecoxotic. If you’re in the area–check it out!

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Reader, and owner of Atlantic Reef Aquaculture, Dave Lackland recently caught a marine species he had hoped to never see in his own backyard. This little guy was found in Summerland Key, Florida; approximately 20 miles east of Key West.

The species if of course Pterois volitans, the now invasive Lionfish. This juvenile was just at 1″ and scooped up under Dave’s dock. For locals this is a surreal sight, but unfortunately one they will slowly be seeing more of.

Just as Lionfish have found a way to survive, some other species have found a few new menu items:

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The development of “designer fish” (that is to selectively breed fish to develop or enhance specific traits) is frowned upon by some, but clearly cherished by others. Where is the line in the sand? When have we gone too far? For some of our readers, the neon fish below are that line.

GloFish via LiveAquaria

GloFish is a ‘brand’ of genetically modified freshwater Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Scientists inject a fluorescent protein gene to the embryo before the fish hatches. The protein gene then integrates in the fish’s own DNA creating a genetically modified fish. From that point on the neon color is as much a part of the fish as the shape of their fins; it will stay with them the rest of their life and can be passed down to their kin. While commercially these neon creatures are limited to freshwater species, Danios are not the only ones. Barbs, Guppies and even Cichlids are receiving the same treatment.

Considering how unnatural our hobby is, these fish raise some difficult ethical questions. Would you buy a genetically modified fish for your personal aquarium?

h/t Dave L

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New World Transparent Specimens is the latest work from Japanese artist Iori Tomita. Using a method that dissolves an animals natural proteins, Tomita is able to preserve these deceased animals with striking detail–highlighting the finest and most delicate skeleton structures.

To further enhance the visual appeal of these ornate skeletons, Tomita selectively injects different colored dies into hard bones and soft bones to create a 3-d effect. Without the addition of the dye, the animals remain translucent.

Tomita once worked as a Fisherman. Thankfully for us, his ties to that industry and his fondness of marine creatures are ubiquitous through the collection.

New World Transparent Specimens are available for purchase through Tokyu Hands in Japan at price ranging from ¥2,000 – ¥20,000. Additionally, if you can stomach the price, specific animals can be  commissioned.

If you’re in Japan and would rather look than buy, Iori Tomita will be displaying these amazing works at the Tokyo Mineral Show from December 10-13 at Sunshine City.

[cool hunting, nwts]

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Looks it’s GHL’s Fauna Marin’s new Dosing Pump. Yes this looks to be just rebranded, the original being the robust GHL Standalone Doser. What this really achieves, we’re not sure. GHL’s presence across the globe is arguably larger, but we suppose this will allow Fauna Marin to better package these dosers with their salts.

There’s nothing wrong with rebranded products, and in this case we’re appreciative of the fact that Fauna is being forthright on the manufacturer of their product. It is after all, a solid product.  However, I find it odd how GHL/FM will be handling warranty issues if parts between the dosers are interchanged.

“Even if the products were made from the same manufacturer these products are not interchangeable or compatible! In particular this means: Spare parts or accessories can’t be used for the other brand, we don’t give support or accept warranties if items of several brands have been mixed!”

Are the dosing pumps different? Potentially, but the roller heads are the same Thomas SR peristaltics that we see everywhere. If they are truly different, we’d like to know in what way. If not, what gives?

[via]

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2011 is quickly approaching and the Poland reefing scene is planning to shows its aquarium goods in the new year. Krzysztof Tryc, Andrzej Niewiarowski, and band of aquarists will be featuring 12 stunning aquariums in a “Best of Polish” reefs calendar. Interestingly, 6 of the 12 aquariums featured use NP BioPellets to maintain low nitrate and phosphate levels.

Postage is cheap. Accordingly the calendar will be available for purchase internationally. We look forward to seeing the collection.

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Vertex is having their very first ‘Vertex Me’, a video contest in which customers have the chance to win $2,000 in Vertex equipment.  Not bad.

The deadline for video submission is December 26th, at which point we would not be surprised to see the new Vertex Libra dosing pump or Lumilux LED aquarium light.

Check out additional details below. Full information can be found at: vertexaquaristik.com/contest

How would you like to win a $2000 Gift Certificate just for showing off your Vertex products?

If that sounds good to you, grab your video camera or camera phone and show the world what makes your Vertex Aquaristik purchase so special.  Submit to us your YouTube video links, and the best submission will receive a $2000 Gift Certificate towards the purchase of Vertex products from any Vertex dealer!

Don’t worry if your clip isn’t a Hollywood video editing production – videos don’t need to be professional, just make them fun, creative and informative!  Contest entries will be judged by the Vertex Aquaristik Employees, but earn extra judge-influencing points for YouTube hit counts and getting your friends to “like” your Facebook submission.

Links to your video submissions should be emailed to us at Contest@Vertexaquaristik.com.
Videos will be judged by the following five criteria:

• Creativity
• Showcasing of your Vertex Aquaristik product
• Memorable Content and Delivery
• Production Quality
• Overall number of Facebook “Likes” and YouTube hits during the submission period

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Piscine Energetics Mysis Shrimp is one of the best frozen aquarium feeds available. Our only real complaint stemmed from their frozen flat packs. For your average home sized aquarium they are a messy pain in the wrasse. By comparison, blister packs are easier and give us better portion control.

Blister packs make it easy for aquarists to monitor their reef tank’s diet and nutrients. By feeding relatively the same amount each day, reef tank owners can better isolate nutrient spikes and also keep an eye on fish obesity… and mindful of fat liver disease.

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Making the rounds this week is a GE press release on a new LED downlight that uses “jet engine technology” to enhance cooling and overall efficiency. GE engineers were able to leverage thermal management tech and knowledge gained from their Jet Engine research and apply it to LEDs.

To achieve this efficiency GE is using small bellows within the heatsink that increase heat transfer “more than ten times that of natural convection”. Better heat transfer means less heat to the LEDs, which equals higher performance and fewer LEDs required. GE has called the bellows “dual cool jets”.

As effective as the design may be, it’s much more simple than some writers have described. There are no moving parts or mini jet engine fans. We reached out to GE, who were quick to respond back to us and engage in dialogue on the design.

Todd Arhart with GE Global Research described the dual cool jets as “active cooling without any rotating parts such as a fan”. He went on to say, “It’s technology we have patented in our labs, which leverages what we have learned from other cooling technologies that have been developed and applied to other GE products such as an aircraft engine.”

The 1500 lumen light shown here is aimed to replace PAR38 halogens; in terms out luminous output, it’s already there. Using the dual cool jet bellows, GE was able to make this downlight half the size and weight of 600 lumen downlights that are currently available.

[treehugger]

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