One of the largest aquariums in the world, the Dubai Mall Aquarium has sprung a torrential leak that threatened the safety mall visitors. Eyewitnesses say they first saw a crack in the glass with a little bit of water leaking and some water on the floor. At some point turned that crack must have grown to produce the fire hydrant stream of water coming out from the front panel. The Aquarium staff must have been aware of the problem before it turned into a geyser as when the police arrived to evacuate mall visitors there already were some divers in the tank apearing to coordinate some kind of repair. Let’s hope that the problem can get resolved before there is any loss of human or fish life. Thanks Paul!

via [DailyMail]

The Hobby branded multi box has as the product name suggest multiple uses. However one of the biggest complaints we hear is how to thaw frozen food for your tank mates. Most of us use some sort of dish in reverse osmosis water and wait for it to thaw and then pour it into the tank.  That might work well, but as many of us know, food is usually high in phosphates (fish need them to survive you know), so by dumping the thawed “juice” into the tank you are increasing your chances of having a phosphate spike. The Hobby multi box is what we like to call a professional thawing system. It has a fine mesh screen which allows you use whatever water source to thaw the food and then using the strainer system, keep the food in the box and all that left over juice out. These can be picked up for about $11.

The issue is with the glass tube for certain batches of 300w and 400w Theos.  The bad tubes may crack during normal operation.  If this occurs the heater should simply shut off and stop working.  The specific affected batches are outlined in the attached letter.  A copy of this letter as when ass additional information for customers will be available on our website.  If they have any additional questions they can contact us by email or phone.  That information is also available on our website.  We have already stopped sales of the affected batches and new heaters with properly manufactured tubes are now available to replace the stock.  The majority of the heaters did not make it to the retail customer, but we want to get those that did out of circulation.  Most customer returns will be handled thru the store they purchased it from.

CORONA, Calif.—North American Pet Products has acquired the assets of Cerritos, Calif.-based CASCO Group Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of retail acrylic aquariums and commercial pet systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Teams from the two companies reacted immediately to ensure a seamless customer experience. The combined company now operates a 24/7 customer service support line for all commercial equipment. The expanded arrangement will continue to deliver enhanced habitat solutions to large and small companies that accelerate profitable growth through ingenuity, superior environments, and veterinarian approved designs.

The combined company will have 200 employees and will consolidate the Cerritos operations under the North American Pet Products world headquarters in Corona. CASCO Group Inc will operate as a division of North American Pet Products. Existing CASCO Group facilities in Utah, Illinois, and Mexico will continue operations as usual.

“We are so excited about the vast new resources available to us. This opportunity unites two great companies into one provider of point of sale display systems. We now have immediate access to 27 years of aquatic technology that is unsurpassed. CASCO Group fixtures can be found at public aquariums, museums, and amusement parks,” says Ron Bonner, president of North American Pet Products.

North American Pet Products now has more than 300 Commercial Habitat customers including leaders such as PETSMART, Petco, Wal-Mart, Petland, and Pet Supplies Plus. The combined companies will maintain a strong global presence across Europe with the product deployed and supported in over 20 countries and in 16 languages.

via [North American Pet]

Sera has had their line of air pumps for some time now and 2 of the 3 models received a nice performance boost. The models getting more efficient are the 275 plus air, and the 550 R. The 275 plus air wattage has been reduced from 6 watts down to 4 watts and the 550 R has been reduced from 12 watts down to 8 watts. These new models also have been retrofited with a filter drawer allowing you to clean the intake area further increasing the efficiency of your pump. The price on the 550 R tops out at €35 ($48.69) and models below that including the 275 plus at €22 ($30). Expect to see these pumps arriving in Europe and the UK.

Waste-Away is a beneficial bacteria will naturally dissolve the sludge and dirt that accumulates in an aquarium and prevent the build-up of debris when used on a regular basis. Waste-Away is fast acting and specially formulated to remove aquarium gunk, unclog gravel/coral beds, and keep filter pads freely flowing longer.  This results in better water flow, more oxygen and a healthier aquarium environment. Waste-Away should be used on a regular (weekly) basis to keep sludge from acculmulating which can negatively affect fish and corals. Contains no phosphates.

The Samurai gourami, Sphaerichthys vaillanti, is a close relative of the chocolate gourami which has recently started becoming more readily available in the U.S aquarium trade. First discovered in Indonesian Borneo, this exciting new fish is considerably more colorful than it’s cousin S. osphronemoides. The samurai gourami grows a little bit larger than chocolates, reaching a length of just over 3″ (8cm) and they also have a slightly more angular snout. This exciting species is just now starting t show up with some regularity and you can expect to pay around $25 for immatures pairs and up to $30 for large single adults. Although these fish may require special conditions like reduced lighting, very soft water and much more docile tankmates than your typical freshies, if these fish are well conditioned they will readily breed and they are mouthbrooders to boot! The male S. vaillanti incubates the eggs in his mouth until the young are ready to hatch at which time tiny well formed young gouramis are released. Image of male above from FlickR user Fontok and image of the female below from Otsuka-Nettaigyo. Follow the break for the full video of spawning and courting of this species and let us know in the comments if you have any experiences with this exceptional new anabantoid.

The freshwater planted aquarium hobby has never experienced a greater influx of new aquatic plants than it does today. Two of the very latest newcomers include this new Limnophila from Guinea and a Staurogyne species from “Rio Cristalino”. ALthough many Limnophila show a great deal of detail on theedges of their leaves, none can match the deep, elongated grooves that make Limno Guinea such a unique looking plant. There are enough people who have this plant that if you ask around the usual spots, you’ll see some around. We know very little about the new Staurogyne species besides the name of the Rio Cristalino from which it originates. Big thanks go to Daniel^~^ for sharing these pictures with us.

If you’ve been wondering about the real difference between ADA tanks and Do!aqua which are also made by ADA, the above image should make it clear what the major difference is; it’s clarity. The labeled Do!aqua tank on the right has greener glass which is slightly less clear than the homologous ADA tank next to it. The Do!aqua tank on the left was $50 for a Mini-M and the ADA tank on the right was $75 for the same size. If you just get one of these tanks you probably won’t notice the difference in clarity but seeing them side by side it was easy to see what set these two aquarium lines apart. Either of these tanks are finely crafted and excellent choices for any stylish type of aquaria but if you really want to wow, clearly you’ll want to be considering the ADA as a first choice. If you are in the Bay Area of California, looking for ADA and planted products but you don’t want to take the hike into San Francisco’s to visit ADA importer Aqua Forest, consider stopping by the Aquarium Showroom in San Jose as they also stock ADA.