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Brishen Bowles

Meet the Bushynoses

Meet the Bushynoses By Jules Portnoy Male Super Red Bushynose Pleco If you are searching for the perfect Pleco for your freshwater aquarium, you have come to the right place. Ancistrus cirrhosus, commonly known as the Bristlenose or Bushynose Plecos, are unique in appearance, great algae eaters, and come in a variety of color morphs. Unlike many other suckermouth catfish which can reach 12+ inches and outgrow your tank, adult Bushynose only reach about 5 inches. While both males and females have gill spikes, males can grow large fleshy bristles from their faces, a characteristic which truly sets this species...

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Brishen Bowles

Amphipods - Live Food with a Purpose

Amphipods: Microcrustacean Biodiversity in Saltwater Aquaria  Amphipods (Gammarus sp.) are an awesome small crustacean to have in both reef and fish-only aquaria! We just started culturing our own amphipods at our aquaculture facility, to hopefully bring this live superfood into your home aquaria! Amphipods are in the subphylum Crustacea, class Malacostraca, and order Amphipoda. They share many physical characteristics with other crustaceans and may look like mini-shrimps. In the wild, there are thousands of different species of amphipods that live in both freshwater and saltwater. There are even some terrestrial species! Most species are ten millimeters or less; and even...

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Brishen Bowles

Reef Aquarium Tips

Reefing 101 By: Patrick Egan I’ve always wondered how someone could have so much success with a reef aquarium. Corals growing so tightly to one another they spiral around each other in a dance to the surface. I have had my fair share of success keeping corals, but there’s always that one coral that’s just never happy. In a panic, adjustments are made and the next thing you know another coral is unhappy. You couldn’t just leave well enough alone and now everything is stressed. Sometimes you just have to let the aquarium decide the fate of your corals. If...

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Brishen Bowles

Best Dwarf Cichlid for Sale

A couple of years ago we brought in a dwarf cichlid that I had never seen before, Nannacara anomala also known as the Golden Eye Cichlid. They were still pretty small and colorless, but when I looked them up I saw the stunning coloration that they got,. Their small max size prompted me to buy a few. I took home two females and a male to go into my 40 gallon community tank. They quickly became my favorite of all the dwarf cichlids. Not only do they get fantastic coloration; they stay relatively small, and are one of the most...

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