Saltwater Aquarium Blog

A look back at 2011 and the aquarium hobby

A look back at 2011 and the aquarium hobby

2011 was an interesting year for the saltwater aquarium hobby, and for me personally.  How about you? Even though LED lights have been around for a very long time, 2011 felt like the tipping point for them, as they gained popularity.  Comparisons between LED and MH were popping up on the web and more and more aquarium hobbyists converted. In fact, I regret NOT converting.

My recollections of the beginning of the year are of the countless threads that popped up about having some early difficulty feeding the captive-bred mandarinfish.  The official news and release of captive-bred mandarins was a 2010 occasion, but as more and more reef hobbyists got access to the fish, message boards in 2011 sprang to life with questions about feeding/nutrition.  Hobbyists were hoping for bulletproof fish, which was perhaps an unrealistic expectation of these first generation offspring.

Earlier in the year, ORA released captive-bred variegated sea urchins which had spawned and settled in their tanks, and just a few weeks ago, ORA released some of the first captive bred McCulloch’s clownfish, a species known for its rarity and difficulty to raise in captivity.  

On a personal note, I had some significant gains and losses.  I built, and stocked two four-foot racks of tanks in my basement—the biggest DIY project I have undertaken to date. I raised my first-ever batch of clownfish larvae all the way through the juvenile stage.  I switched my display tank to a 92 gallon corner tank, but I also lost my original spawning pair of clownfish from my display tank—fish who have kept me company for several years now.

Looking forward to 2012, we have to hope for more breakthroughs. Perhaps competition will lower the price of LED lights for the average consumer.  My greatest hope is that aquaculture production of the Banggai Cardinalfish will scale up so that captive-bred Banggais are more common than the less expensive wild-caught specimens. I also hope to see fish, already known to breed in captivity, like the Royal Gramma, become readily available from one of the big aquaculture houses.  Finally, I look towards hobbyist experts like Matthew Wittenrich and Martin Moe to keep blazing the trail to raise new aquarium species in captivity. I can’t wait to read about their successes in 2012. No pressure, guys, and thanks for what you do.

So thanks for looking back with me at 2011 and looking forward to further advancements in 2012. What do you think were the most significant advancements in 2011? What do you look forward to in 2012?