Fish of The Week

Foxface AKA Rabbit Fish:

This is one of my favorite fish and was one of the first fish that I added to my reef tank. Now one thing to think about is that they aren't 100% reef safe so take caution if you want to add this fish to your reef tank. So far for me I have had no issues with him in my reef but i also make sure to keep him well feed with seaweed and other meaty foods as well. This fish is a completely peaceful fish that can be housed in both in peaceful tanks and aggressive tanks because he has poisonous spikes on his back and stomach that keeps fish away from him. One of the cool things about this fish is that when it feels threaten or scared it will change its color to a camo color and place himself next to a rock or coral and stick its spikes out.  They should be housed in a 75 gallon tank minimum and only keep one unless housed in a bigger tank so they can establish their own territories.

What are LPS corals

So to start off LPS corals stand for Large Polyp Stony. They are similar to the SPS corals in the fact that they also have polyps only difference is that as the name says they are a lot larger then the SPS corals. Their polyps look a lot like tentacles called sweeper tentacles that wave around bringing in a lot of life to your tank. They also use these tentacles to sting other corals that might be harmful to them, they use them to catch food that passes by, and they also use them to keep things a safe distance from them. These corals range from a lot of different shapes and colors and its really fascinating how much variety there is in the ocean that most people never get a chance to see. I guess that is one of the main reasons that I love my reef tank so much, I get to see everyday the beauty that most people don't ever get to see for themselves.

 Torch Coral

  Like SPS corals they absorb calcium to build and maintain there skeleton they house in. A cool thing you see with these is when they feel threatened or when the lights go out they hide themselves in their skeletons. A must do with these corals is target feeding, I will be making a post about how to target feed corals later on but the main point is to feed that coral specifically so that they don't starve to death. For lighting they need medium to high lighting.
  Here are some pictures of my LPS corals and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. Happy reefing.

Duncan Coral

Frog Spawn

Trumpet Coral

Bubble Wall Coral

Goniopora Coral

Fish of The Week

Green Mandarin Goby:

Since this fish is my newest addition to my tank he gets to be fish of the week.  I guess you can say I'm being a little bias.  I truly love everything about this fish from the way that he eats to the way that he swims. The most noticeable aspect of this fish is its stunning colors and design it has quite the artistic feel to it. The colors just pop at you with the electric blue, turquoise green, and bright orange.  They can really captivate the true beauty right in nature. You can always tell the differences between the male and female mandarins because the male will always have bigger dorsal fin with the spike right at the front compared to the female. Now the way that they swim through the water can be captivating, it has a set of fins that it uses to walk on the rock and the sand and has two separate wing like fins that it uses to hover its self  around moving in almost insect wing type motion.

Things to Know: So these little guys are not for the beginner reef aquarist just for the fact that they can be a little hard to take care of in a starter tank. They usually thrive best in a more established tank because of there eating habits. They like to eat whats called copepods, they are little insect type plankton that house in marine tanks and wonder through out the tank.  They naturally start growing in your tank after a year, but thanks to your LFS (local fish store) you can buy these guys in a bag to jump start the copepod's growing rate recommended to add the bag about two weeks before mandarin so they have time to multiply.