Adam Mullins to Speak at IEMAS meeting 4/2

Adam Mullins, Co-owner of The Mystic Reef, will be speaking at the April Inland Empire Marine Aquarium Society meeting Friday, April 2, at 7:00 pm.

The meetings are held at the IHOP next to Ontario Mills Mall off of Milliken.

Adam will be speaking and presenting photos on the subject of "Hitchhikers; the good, the bad, and the Ugly." the focus will be on desirable animals that sometimes hitch a ride with live rock or corals. In the case of some corals, hitchhikers offer a way to find and culture animals not commonly collected for the aquarium trade.

The Mystic Reef will also be donating several farm raised corals for the club raffle, including a fragment of the "Mystic Green Tubipora," which has been farmed from a tiny hitch-hiking mother colony.

If your in the Riverside area, I encourage you to make it out and support your local club, as well get current on the latest "reef talk"

Happy 2010! New Corals From Malaysia and West Africa now at The Mystic Reef

Red Malaysian Micro

Happy New Year!!! 2009 was a long year for many people, and everyone seemed to feel the effects of the economy at one point. Lots of interesting things happened in the hobby; new skimmers and lighting, new livestock availability, and, unfortunately, the closing of many businesses, in and outside the pet industry.

The pet industry, which is the broad umbrella that the aquarium industry falls under, is essentially an industry based on luxury. No one needs an aquarium, or parrot, or reptile, or whatever, we just live in a world where we are lucky enough to accommodate our wants. Sadly though, when things turn sour, ( which happens in a cyclical economy), luxury spending is the first to be put on hold, with good reason.

Its been sad to see the closing of many stores, less competition is nice, but it also means a lot less business at the wholesale level, driving costs up. Many people are amazed to find stores, of nearly any kind, surviving or doing well in these times. Not all is bad though, there are still plenty of people with steady jobs that are still deeply interested in their hobbies, which is great news as there has been plenty to keep them coming back for more, so to speak.

Another Malaysian Micro

One of the ways we have been able to stay afloat this long, despite people telling us from day one that we entered the business in the WORST possible time, is by being deeply involved in all facets of the hobby and trying to stay current with whats going on. We listen to what people want, what's new, what people need, and generally this is how we purchase things for our store.

If you've been to our store, you've probably noticed we are saltwater only, and nearly Reef tank only. We have a huge emphasis on corals and invertebrates, as its one of the most diverse "product lines" we can carry. This business started out as a passion, and therefore I still am very interested in everything I buy, I often say I started my store because I couldn't fit all of the various creatures, corals, and fish in the 7 tanks at my house.

So, to that end, it is one of my great interests to search out the best livestock I can come across for my store, whether it be tank raised from O.R.A, Vanuatu, Australia, Florida, or anywhere else. We work very hard to establish these connections, and we're happy to start 2010 with a few more.

Late 2009 saw some premium corals being imported from Malaysia and Borneo, which lies inside the infamous "Coral Triangle" which inlcudes Bali and the Solomon Islands, which is where much of our corals have been coming from in the past. This is exciting and there are sure to be plenty of new corals, along with unique color morphs and growth forms of well known corals. LPS corals will for sure be huge, and we've already seen amazing Blastomussa, Micromussa, and various other LPS including a large amount of Fungiids.

Once I heard about this, I had to get my hands on some, unfortunately I caught the tail end of the availability, as flight cancellations into and out of Malaysia have been making shipping difficult. Things should ease up as 2010 progresses and you can expect to see more of these great Malaysian corals in the next few weeks at The Mystic Reef.

Schizoculina africana

We also heard about some corals being shipped out of West Africa and worked hard to track down some for ourselves. While not exactly the most brightly colored coral to look at, African Schizoculina species are certainly unique, which is similar to a galaxy coral (galaxea) though we are still unsure of how aggressive they are towards other corals, and their exact environmental needs. I like this unique little brown coral, the fuzzy appearance of the translucent tentacles and large corallites make these coral a cool piece for sure.

They do appear photosynthetic, and will catch small foods, and thus far appear to be quite hearty. This should be just the beginning of new and interesting corals to hit the market from West Africa, we'll continue to keep you updated with more photos as we continue to receive new livestock from these and other great new locations.

Top Down of the Schizo

We are working hard to bring in new stock from new locations all over the world, 2010 is looking bright!

Great Barrier Reef, Batman!!

I can remember when Aussie livestock was about as hard to come by as the new "hybrid ultra awesome reverse disco chalice," or whatever the current obsession happens to be.

It was not that long ago really, I remember being at my first coral farmers market in 2008 and hobbyist's searching out the next hot acanthastrea. Back then nearly any color acan was desirable and they were all flying off the few farmer's frag racks who had them.This was the same CFM where 2 inch pieces of Sunset monti were going for upwards of two or three hundred, o how times change..

It was very difficult to get a hold of any Acan Lords, even from some of the better know wholesaler/importers in Los Angeles. Even when they did begin to trickle in, they commanded steep prices, and still do, though not as much during the "Acan' Rush of 2007/2008." It was not uncommon for small 4 inch colonies to be selling for four to seven hundred dollars and up, WHOLESALE!!

Any how, Australian livestock has always been a hot commodity, with good reason. The quality and coloration of Australian corals and fish is second to none. Now is a better time than ever for Aussie livestock, with great fish, SPS, scolymias, and of course mid blowing acans showing up more frequently, through the right sources.

I've heard some hobbyists complain that acans are old news, apparently a bygone trend like your dad's leisure suit. If your into this hobby to follow the fads and trends, then we are in it for seperate reasons. I love all coral, especially colorful ones, from "common" fungias, zoas, mushrooms, acros, favias, you name it. Acans come in some of the most beautiful color patterns of any coral, but to each his own and some people truly arn't interested.

It's interesting, I talk with various suppliers of mine, and they tell me in some parts of the country theyre saying "no more acans, we cant sell them" whereas in others, people like me are saying "send me acans, acans, acans, got any rainbows?" Thus is the dilema for the livestock dealer, its not what we like, its what the customer likes. It can be hard to predict sometimes, which is why we try to collect the best variety of the best pieces every coral we find.
Here are some Acans we have at the store right now that I thought I'd share.

One of my favorites
Interesting Bicolor morph, next to a "dragon soul" type Prism favia
This Piece is stunning, all colors arn't revealed until it deflates some




Gorgeous Rainbow Frag
This two (above and below) have got to be among the
LARGEST colonies I've seen, taking up nearly an entire lg.
box between the two.

Here's a nice little frag of an aussie chalice

Well that's it for now, I should be getting another shipment Friday full of surprises, and I will do my best to keep you posted!

-Adam Mullins

Sunlight Supply Announces Tek Light "Elite"!!

Hot on the heels of their recent announcement of the new 60" Tek light, Sunlight Supply has graced us all with the early annoucement of the Tek Light Elite series of self cooled lights. Sunlight has been deluged with calls concerning the new lamp and its release date, as of right now it will be a few months.
This is great news and makes a great lamp even better. Many people have understood that keeping T5 bulbs cools helps them run more efficiently, increasing lamp life. In fact, it may seem like somewhat of a surprise its taken S.S. this long to add fans in the first place. Especially considering many other T5 units come with fans, like those from current or aquatic life.
We can't to get our hands on the new units, we've got some new displays being set up and were going T5 for lighting. Cheers to Sunlight Supply

New Products at The Mystic Reef, CAD lights!

CAD lighting is probably best known on the east coast for their rimless All-in-One nano systems and customs aquariums. The Mystic Reef is proud to bring in their line of protein skimmers, all in one nanos, faux coral inserts, sumps, and lighting systems.

CAD has earned a good reputation on the east coast, and were one of the first stores to bring it over to the west coast, however they are getting their warehouse set up and you should start to see their products hitting other stores shelves in the next few months.

CAD manufactures stock rimless tanks from 12 to 50 gallons, with starphire options available. The nanos have some unique feature compared to other "all-n-one" tanks on the market, such as a built in refugium chamber. These tanks are definitely in a class of their own visually. The rimless design is very elegant, especially when the light is suspended rather than mounted on legs. The bullnosed bottom glass is also a very higher end feature. There definetly is a niceThey are available with either power compact or 4 lamp T5HO fixtures.

Their line of BubbleMagus skimmers appear to be well built, and the NAC 66 seems to be a strong competitor in the midrange skimmer game, and is rated for 250-350 gallons, depending on bioload.

Rimless 22 gallon All-in-One Nano

Back of the Nano Tank, with built in refugium chamber,

12 gallon Nanos

Typical top-down, typical green slimer?

Nope, new Faux coral insert. While we'd much rather see Living corals in fish tanks, these new inserts are perfect for fish only tanks in need of some color, and they are almost half the price of some competing fake corals. The flexible faux-gorgonian would be a great hitching post for seahorse tanks

Now for some shots of the Skimmers:

Bubble Plate on dual pump NAC-66Easy Adjustment Dial

The Nano Tanks have been so popular over the last week, that we have decided to set up the Rimless 55 gallon cube with Starphire glass as an in store display. We're open to suggestions for aquascaping and livestock, e-mail us your ideas. Heres some photos

55 Gallon Cube with 150whalide/ T5/LED moonlight Combo light

Under Cabinet with sump, and skimmer

Another strong seller for us lately has been the entire line of Eco-plus submersible pumps from Sunlight Supply. These pumps are said to run cooler than competing Rios and are much cheaper. So if your looking for an inexpensive submersible pump, Eco Plus may be a good option




Just a reminder, we also stock a full assortment of hard to find plumbing parts like, bulkheads, loc-lines, unions, tru-union valves.

In other news, we have been brining in more corals than ever, with more exciting rarities on the horizon from secret locations just now beginning to ship out corals, hot new tank raised nano fish, and LEDs rumored from various manufacturers, 2010 is definitely looking BRIGHT!!

IceCap LED LunarLite Retrofit to be Released mid DecembeR

IceCap has carved out a strong niche in the aquarium lighting industry. Their ballasts are widely used by many reefers, with good reason. Long known for their ballasts and retrofits, IceCap continues to innovate with new light fixtures and some inspiring new technology. Could this new LED techology translate into a full blown LED fixture from IceCap? No word yet, but ere's what IceCap had to say about their new fixtures and exciting new products:

"Introduced at MACNA, the Reef Illuminations fixtures created quite a buzz, in part because of the unique LED supplemental lighting system. We received so many inquires on the LunarLites that we have decided to make them available as a retrofit product.

Available Mid December LunarLite Retrofit

The LunarLite LED tubes have the same look of a standard T5 tube, but they are powered by a low voltage transformer, not a fluorescent ballast. The T5 form provides better spread of the light over the entire aquarium. Encasing the LED's inside a T5-style tube protects them and their circuit boards from the harsh, salty, humid environment that is your normal saltwater aquarium. The IceCap LunarLites have an aluminum heat sink on the back side of the tube to dissipate what little heat they generate.

Wait till you see what they do for your corals!

LunarLites are highly efficient and very reliable but we know the reason you'll want them is what they will do to the appearance of the corals. They are designed to excite the green fluorescing proteins in corals. They particularly bring out yellows, oranges, and greens. If you think your corals look good under actinics, you haven't seen anything yet! Mushrooms, zoanthids, Ricordea, and most any fleshly large polyp stony corals look amazing under the LED's.

The LunarLite retrofits ship with mounting clips to secure the LED Tubes to a canopy, commercial hood or existing fixture. The weight should not be an issue because the 2-foot unit is only 4 oz. Power connection to the LunarLite is a power tail with a quick connect to a low voltage power supply, no hand wiring required."

LunarLite Blue LEDs 470nm - 4ft LunarLite has 75 individual emitters

We can't wait to try out these new LED retrofits, the colors produced by LEDs are truly amazing. The shimmer effect will be a nice addition to flourescent powered tanks, as many detractors claim normal T5 light looks like "garbage" without the shimmer of a halide, despite the insane colors many corals attain.

Here's a Photo I snapped of some Ricordea using Hydor's Blue LED Spotlight.

ORA: New Releases Could pave the Way for Future Diversity

Anyone who has happened to read my Hot Nano Fish Series in Reef Hobbyist Magazine should be able to tell that I have an obsession for the small. It seems my progression in the hobby as taken me from the Macro to the Micro. I have found in my experience that large, aggressive fish like tangs can spoil the tranquility of a reef tank, and are certainly not suitable for smaller reef systems.

However, these tiny little creatures are very hard to catch in the wild, so aquaculture is the only avenue for sustainable collection and trade in some of these species. ORA continues to lead the aquaculture industry, and they announced last month that they have been working on approximately 12-16 new species of fish would could enter the market next year, 2010. Most of the fish they are currently working on are gobies, and of course dottybacks and clownfish, including some anticipated new "Designer" morphs.

Red Head Goby

The first ones to hit the line up have been announced, and should be filtering to stores in the first weeks of December. ORA Re-released the popular Red Head Nano Goby, which doesn't get much larger than 1 -2 inches. Making them perfect for many nano and pico tanks.

ORA Elongate Dottyback

Another smaller fish perfect for nano tanks is the Elongate Dottyback. This is one of the smallest members of the dottyback family, offering a unique addition to any tank.

ORA is also offering Grade B Snowflake Clowns, with some unique markings, alongside the rest of their great lineup, including their new smaller sizes.