Sera has a new CO2 reactor with a novel pinwheel design to break up the gas before it travels down the reaction body. CO2 and Ozone reactors are normally the type of device which is DIY’d or handmade into existence which is why it is so refreshing to see a different design for this often ignored segment of the aquarium market. The robust acrylic body is about two inches wide and ten inches long, near the top incoming water pushes the needle wheel to help break up the incoming gas into finer bubbles for quick and thorough dissolution. All of the connections of the Sera CO2 reactor are twist-off, the body, the intake and outflow and the gas inlet. Not sure when the Sera reactors will be hitting U.S. aquarium stores but when they land expect them to sell for $60 to $80.

Whether you want to dose carbon dioxide to your planted tank like the Sera CO2 reactor is intended, dissolve some CO2 before hitting the calcium reactor or dissolve some ozone before hitting the protein skimmer, the slim bottle design looks sleek and effective. We are currently using a hand made CO2 reactor on a Tonina Style plant tank that was cobbled from odd fittings and an old Aquarium Pharmaceuticals tap water purifier and we’d much rather see something this solid in it’s place. Amano loves to sell carbon dioxide diffusers for every small nature aquarium or planted tank out there but is planted tanks are strongly focused on aesthetic, why don’t more companies make external CO2 reactors? Better yet, we’d rather see a canister filter maker design a model with a built-in CO2 reactor, that would be the bomb.

Once upon a time, the Eheim 2011 was the shorty in the world famous line of Eheim canister filters. When power filters and larger tanks started to dwindle the market for small canisters, the 2011 was retired and the aquarium world was left to their own devices for filtering the 10-25 gallon range of aquariums. With the resurgence of small aquariums, nano tanks and lots and lots of planted tanks, Eheim saw the opportunity to bring back their petite canister filter and give it a makeover in the Eheim 2211. Rated at 80 gallons per hour with a power consumption of five watts, the Eheim 2211 is plenty of filtration for a whole host of small aquarium applications. Sure you could spend half of the estimated $80-90 msrp on internal and power filters but if space or aesthetics are a concern, the Eheim 2211 is a much better candidate. Furthermore, the much larger volume of the 2211 means that it can hold more mechanical and biological filter media, so you don’t have to get all up in your filter nearly as often. The Eheim 2211 should already be stocked at finer Eheim dealers everywhere.

The green eye tetra, Moenkhausia chlorophthalma, and the lead tetra, Moenkhausia plumbea, are two new species of characins that have recently been described from the Tapajos river drainage system. In the most recent issue of Neotropical Ichthyology, Sousa et al formally described these two new species which are related to perennial aquarium favorites the red eye tetra and the diamond tetra. Like the red eye tetra, the green eye tetra, Moenkhausia chlorophthalma, is so named by the color of it’s eye, which is a brilliant green in living specimens, and somewhat visible in the specimen pictured in the image above. The green eye tetra originates from the tributaries of the Rio Xingu river drainage system. The lead tetra, Moenkhausia plumbea, was collected in the areas of the Tapajos River system and it superficially resembles the green eye tetra with a gold line on it’s side with a broader, darker stripe below it. Unlike the green eye tetra, the lead tetra does not have much coloration to the eye and it has a series of dark splotches on the upper part of the body. Both of the newly described species are closely related and similar in appearance to Moenkhausia petymbuaba, a species which was described in 2006 from the Rio Xingu river system. We don’t expect to see either the lead or green eye tetra for sale in aquarium shops any time soon but we guess that the green eye tetra could make for a striking ornamental aquarium fish.

[via PFK]

The floating gardens of Benjamin Graindorge & Duende is an interesting proof of concept installation which is part aquarium and part planter. For the life of us we cannot figure out if this is a fish tank with a planter for a filter or a planter with an attached aquarium for the fish to provide a source of natural nutrition. Judging by the sparse (read: nonexistent) aquascape in the aqueous portion of the tank, we’d guess the designers conceived this project first as a planter. The Floating Garden was designed to instill some introspection as to how the world is a balanced ecosystem. Don’t expect the BG&D Floating Garden to show up at your local fish store as this project was really more of an art exhibit than a prototype aquarium product. Even though the concept of using vegetative biology to absorb nutrients from aquarium water, we still think that these guys pulled off it in a very stylish way and that the Floating Garden could be an inspiration for aesthetic continuum from the aquarium to the external vegetative filter.

[via Duende Press]

Fluorescent Cichlids are really the last thing this hobby needed but that hasn’t stopped Taiwanese researchers from doing to cichlids what they’ve done to zebra danios. Fluorescent angelfish and fluorescent convict cichlids are the first unfortunate casualty of the Asian desire for freakish fish like flowerhorns and blood parrots. We’re actually kind of surprised that the freak show didnt start with those triploid and hybrid mutants but our guess is that their genetic makeup is already too corrupted to accept any more genetic errors. Although the Fluorescent cichlids began their existence by injection of the fluorescent gene(s) into fertilized eggs, the fluorescent angelfish and convicts now have bred several generations while successfully passing on the fluorescent traits. These genetically modified organisms will be regulated in some countries but like the Glofish before them, it will be a matter of time before fluorescent angelfish adn fluorescent convict cichlids are a mainstay in many aquarium shops around the world. Follow the break for another video of the Fluorescent Convict Cichlids

[via PFK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyHV3gPIGPY

Although we’ve never been much of a fan of the marimo moss balls, there is a certain quaintness to these new Nano Marimo balls from Hokkaido Japan. The Nano Marimo balls are little clumps of Cladophora algae which have somehow become tamed into growing extremely slowly. Originating from Lake Hokkaido in Japan, it is said that these Nano Marimo balls grow at a rate of 5mm per year, making each nano marimo ball about one year old. It would be interesting to see what could be done with these nano marimo balls in a nano aquascape, perhaps they’d tumble around like little Cladophora tumbleweeds or maybe someone could adapt them to grow on twigs and make them look like a tree out of a Dr. Seuss book. Freshwater aquatic moss and fern specialist Aquatic Magic is currently offering the Nano Marimo balls for sale, five pieces of Nano Marimo for about $5 before shipping or you can still get a “giant” marimo ball for $5 each.

The super white panda cory is not an albino strain, but another color morph which is more similar to the “blue eye” bristlenose plecos. Although the blue eye L144 bristle nose is more yellow in body color voerall, the super white panda is distinguished by a stark white body coloration and a black iris. There are no markings visible and if it weren’t for that well rounded nose and body shape, we’d be hard pressed to slap a definite ID on this fish even withing the frequently bred species. The fish were sold from Aquashop before we had a chance to glance the price but since only a pair was offered and this is the first time we’ve ever seen them, it is possible that they sold for a hefty sum. Albino fish really are not our thing but the starkness of coloration on the super white panda is something we could learn to appreciate in a darkly lit, blackwater tank. This guy knows what I’m talkin about!

L450 is the newest L number for the Hypancistrus genus which last year added one more known species. Hypancistrus L450 was previously known as Hypancistrus sp.”Santarem” because it was first reported from that vague area of Brazil although it is now known that L450 comes from the tapajos river which is not far from Santarem. The new L450 number was designated in a recent issue of DATZ, the German publication which originally started the L-number naming convention. Early reports of keeping this fish in aquarium pegs it to be a typical Hypancistrus species with preference for meaty foods and well oxygenated, warm water. A few lucky Europeans may have had sporadic access to this species but unfortunately we have yet to see Hypancistrus L450 offered in the U.S. Hopefully the increased usefullness of the new L-number will help collectors and fish slingers better identify this fish so we can see this species for sale, although Brazil is still reticent about shipping out Hypancistrus species.

Two new Hypostomus species have just been described from Brazil and they are H. weberi and H. kopeyaka. The two new Hypostomus species belong to the H. cochliodon group of species. Hypostomus weberi is covered with attractive large spots all over the body which are larger on the flank yet smaller and more numerous on the face. H. weberi comes from rapids and flooded forests of the middle Rio Negro river basin and it is named after pleco expert Claude Weber. Hypostomus kopeyaka is so named after the common name for this species by the local indians who call it “kope yaka” which means “pleco from holes”. H. kopeyaka has a unique color pattern consisting of dark dots and dashes which are more like dots on the face and fins but which align into attractive dashed lines along the flanks of the body. Hypostomus kopeyaka was collected from rapids to slow flowing waters of the upper Rio Negro river drainage. Both of the new Hypostomus species are described in the latest issue of Neotropical Ichthyology by Carvalho, Lima and Zawadzki. Follow the break for more shots of the dorsal and ventral sides of these two new species, Hypostomus weberi and Hypostomus kopeyaka.

[via Practical Fishkeeping]

Elatine hydropiper is a small leaved carpeting foreground plant that is widely distributed throughout Europe. Although Europeans have been one of the most progressive regions for freshwater planted aquaria, it is only recently that Elatine hydropiper has begun to be grown in freshwater aquascapes. Since Elatine hydropiper occurs throughout Europe from Spain and Italy to the British Isles and Scandinavia, perhaps it has just taken a long time to find a strain that could grow and prosper in warmer water temperatures and we believe the strain from Anubias.com is originally from Italy. What is particulalry exciting about E. hydropiper is that it’s leaves are small, as in tiny, like 1/10th the size of Glossostigma elatinoides and half the size of baby tears, Hemianthus micranthemoides. At the moment not much is known about the specific requirements of this exciting nano leaved carpeting plant but once it is more widely available, Elatine hydropiper is sure to become a favorite among nano and full size aquarium aquascapers. Photos from Anubias.com, more of which can be seen after the break.