Mike Senske here with Aquarium Design Group out of Houston, Texas. Today I’m visiting Current-USA based here in San Diego, California. They’ve recently remodeled their facility here and have invited me out to design a beautiful African Cichlid aquarium.

Right now, I’m visualizing perspective. You know, how the aquarium is going to be viewed. Where there’s kind of some depth here. I’m probably gonna set out and do something I feel flows well with the space. Sort of a two-thirds and a third separated proportion, so it should come out really nice.

My father had an aquarium store growing up, so since I was five years old aquariums were always in the house. You know, I think since it’s creative expression. There’s a personal element to it. Really the only thing that matters is what you think. It’s your creative work. And if you like it, that’s all that’s important. And if you inspire some other people then that’s a bonus.

I’m going to want to look at the rock, too, and see which side has the most character. So I’ll be spinning it around, like so, and getting it where we get more of the character, and again, more of the depth. So when looking at it right here, I’m liking how this a little bit longer. This heavier rock where we’ve picked up some weight here and balanced that. So what I’m gonna want to do is texture this down in front, this area here, again, to give it some depth. Also, making use of the negative space. So, it’s the old “less is more” sometimes for me personally.

So, I’ve had comments before that Aquarium Design Group, or myself, or my brother, Jeff, who’s co-owner, have developed our own styles. Obviously inspiration from the master, Takashi Amano, and being inspired by nature. The only thing that’s perfect is nature.

I think we’ve got it. I think we’re now we’re ready to get the background on and get it filled with water and start working on getting some fish in here. One thing I find interesting whenever we stock aquariums with African Cichlids is it’ll always display this behavior. Everybody’s schooling around exploring the glass. Eventually, everybody will settle down into the aquarium and start establishing their territories.

A nice thing about this aquascape is there are crevices or small areas for smaller fish and fry to hide in and to escape from other fish in the aquarium. So, I say it’s been a successful day here at Current-USA in San Diego, California

Hi everyone, I’m Ike from Current-USA and thanks for joining us. If you’re an avid fish keeper we’re going to show you five things you never want to do while keeping your aquarium. There are a lot of videos on the web that give you tips on keeping a successful aquarium but there’s not a lot of videos that tell you what not to do while keeping your aquarium and often times it’s hard to show you what not to do without showing you what could happen if you actually do it. So we thought it would be fun to show you our top five things you never want to do while keeping an aquarium. And be sure to stick around for the last one because it’s a doozy.

Hi everyone, I’m Ike from Current-USA. Today we’re setting up a 36-inch Red Sea Reefer 250 with one of our 36-inch all-in-one LOOP Bundle Kits. We’re setting this tank up with a minimal aquascape.

We’ve had a lot of comments on our Youtube channel regarding the idea of hiding your wave pumps in the back of the tank. So with a minimum aquascape, you get a lot of water flow and it really allows you to focus on the animals. Biota has been kind enough to give us some really unique fish to put in the tank, as well as, some colorful corals. Some of which are brand new and are really hard for hobbyists to find, so you want to stick around and look for them.

So for the aquascape, we chose the Real Reef Branch Rock. We really like this rock. It’s pre-colored. It gave us some great locations for the coral. And, most importantly, it’s sustainable. Setting up a new reef aquarium is always a fun experience and when we set up this tank, we wanted to aquascape it with sustainability in mind. So we used a lot of real reef rock and branch rock, and it did provide some challenges but we’re really happy with how this aquarium turned out.

The Red Sea Reefer is obviously a very polished aquarium and the LOOP Marine Bundle was really easy to install and has us covered in the lighting and wave pumps. We were lucky enough to get some captive raised fish from Biota Aquaria and we got some captive bred Mandarin fish. They’re one of the most popular fish in the industry and the branch rock they actually use like a little jungle gym. Two of the other really popular fish we got are the new Rainfordi Gobies and Coral Beauty. Our little Coral Beauty is just the boss in this tank.

So we’ve got all of our corals in place, we’ve glued them where we like them. We finished the aquascape off with some gorgonians and we’ve got the fish stocked and we’re really happy with the results. The color difference between the purple rock and the green corals really make this aquarium stand out. We’ve got some really cool aquarium builds coming up, so be sure to click that subscribe button. And, thanks for watching!

Hi everyone, I’m Ike from Current-USA and today we’re going to go over our top 5 recommended sustainable soft corals for any nano-reef aquarium. Many entry-level aquarists keep marine fish and live rock in their aquarium and they want to keep corals but they’re a little concerned about the tough learning curve they may have ahead of them.

Soft corals are a fantastic coral for beginners to start with. They’re easy to keep water quality tolerant and will get you through that learning curve of keeping corals. They come in a wide variety of shapes, dazzling colors and they’re going to add amazing movement to any aquarium. One of the great things about softies is most all of them are aquacultured, either on a farm or maybe even in your local aquarium store. In today’s video, we’re going to show you our top five, easiest soft corals to keep in your nano-reef aquarium.

Xenia Polyps are one of the easiest corals for anyone to start with. They do well in almost any aquarium, including a nano-reef aquarium. Available in a few different species, Xenia Polyps will add movement to any nano-reef aquarium. Pom Pom, or pulsing Xenia Polyps are one of the most favorite aquacultured species, as the heads of the coral continually rise and pulse and they can be absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Requiring only minimal light levels and water current, Xenia do well if fed microplankton or other filter feeding diets and they also like a little bit of iodine and trace elements added to the water. Xenia Polyps easily multiply in any aquarium and they’re one of the first soft corals recommended for hobbyists who want to learn how to frag through cutting.

Aquacultured Zoanthid Polyps are another easy to keep, hardy, colorful coral that we recommend for anyone’s nano-reef. Available in a multitude of colors, they will also easily reproduce in an aquarium and often cover your substrate and rocks very quickly. Like Xenia Polyps, Zoanthid Polyps require minimal light levels and water current and will do best if fed microplankton and have a little bit of iodine and trace elements added to the water.

Green Star Polyps or Sunburst Polyps are an encrusting soft coral that will grow over not only your rocks and substrate, but oftentimes on the wall of your aquarium. Most species of Starbursts have a brilliant electric green colored polyp with a purple matte base. It’s an extremely easy species to cultivate, as the encrusting purple base can simply be cut and glued to other rocks or hard substrates. It can grow extremely fast and eventually will overtake and grow over almost any type of hard surface in your aquarium. This is one of the best choices for an entry-level aquarist as it’s extremely hardy and grows extremely quickly in virtually any aquarium.

Toadstool and Leather Corals grow in the shape of a mushroom and they are a great indicator for any nano-reef aquarium. The Toadstool variety has a brown base with whiter colored polyps, where many of the Leather Corals might feature bright green polyps that look absolutely amazing under actinic blue lighting. When Toadstools and Leather Corals are happy, the long, thin polyps will extend out from their surface and it’s a good indicator that things are going well in your aquarium. They can grow extremely large in a short amount of time and they do well in virtually any location in your nano-reef.

Clove Polyps are fast-growing, easy to keep, aquacultured soft coral. For what Clove Polyps lack in color, they make up for in movement. Their long beautiful tentacles wave in the water current and will easily grow and encrust on other rocks. Because of their long polyps they can easily get stung by other corals, so it’s important to give them a little bit of space. Like Xenia Polyps and Zoanthid Polyps, these corals do really well in aquariums where you’re routinely feeding them microplankton diets and dosing your tank with iodine and other trace elements.

Thanks so much for joining us and we hope this video inspires you to take the plunge into soft corals with your nano reef aquarium. For more aquarium tips like this, don’t forget to click that subscribe button.

Hi everyone. I’m Ike from Current-USA and today we’re going to show you five amazing clownfish that you’ve likely never seen at your local aquarium store.

Clownfish are by far one of the most popular species of fish for marine aquarist. Not only will they add color to your aquarium, they’re extremely hardy, they live a long time, and most of them have a very distinct personality and will host with an an anemone or a soft coral in your aquarium, showing us that magical symbiotic relationship we all want to watch.

Clownfish are one of the few marine species of fish that are actively bred within our industry. A few of the aquaculture facilities like ORA, Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums, have crossbred many of these different species of fish bringing us a variety of patterns and colors. These unique fish are called designer Clownfish and they’re now readily available to almost every aquarist in the industry. We’re going to show you five of our favorite designer Clownfish you likely have never seen at your local aquarium store. And if you have already seen them, you’ll likely want to stick around as we have an incredible story to tell you of one of these designer Clownfish.

Just a few years ago, Lightning Maroon Clownfish were one of the most sought after Clownfish and we’re extremely rare to find within the industry. Originally from Papua New Guinea, this amazing fish is now being captive bred and it’s quickly becoming one of the more popular species of Clownfish for aquarist. Each Clownfish has a one-of-a-kind lightning-bolt like pattern and no two fish look the same. As they get older the patterns begin to intensify and the coloration can even get darker and more vibrant. Lightning Maroon Clowns have a pretty confident disposition in aquariums and they’re not likely to be bullied by other fish. If you want to keep these fish, they do get pretty big and will grow up to six inches in length and if you want to keep them you’ll want to keep either one or keep them as a pair. If you breed them, you’ll want to make sure that one fish is smaller and one is larger.

The Deluxe Clarkii is one of the new designer Clownfish that’s now being captive bred and readily available to hobbyists. Originally from the Solomon Islands, these designer Clownfish are becoming very popular due to the striking deep colors they express compared to other Clarkii Clownfish. The deep yellow body color combined with the darker black outlines make it a very vibrant and as they get older the fins actually stay a yellow while the body gets darker. The contrasting colors in outlines mixed with the long fins make this a truly stunning aquarium fish. This was one fish ORA highly recommended to us and it’s done extremely well getting along with other Clownfish in our aquarium. While many aquarists think they have seen this Clownfish, they haven’t.

Cinnamon Clownfish are very similar looking to Tomato Clownfish. They have a darker black saddle on a red body with a bright white stripe behind the head. They are also often called Black Anemone Clownfish and for good reason. They will often host into an anemone or coral almost immediately and ours didn’t disappoint. The Cinnamon Clown immediately made friends with our Clove Polyp Coral and it just loves hanging out in its long tentacles. This particular species is perfect for beginners and advanced to reef hobbyist. They are very hardy, they get along with most other species of Clownfish, and they get more colorful as they get older. The white stripe behind their head will turn a vibrant iridescent color in many of these fish. And again, if you’re looking for a Clownfish to host in you’re an anemone or your soft coral, this is one species we would highly recommend for you.

Gold Nugget Maroon Clowns are one designer clown you will not confuse with any other type of Clownfish. Originally, ORA began breeding the Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns and one popular variety of offspring was called the Gold Flake Maroon. As they began breeding the Gold flakes, a unique Clownfish showed up in their larval tanks with a white genetic their larval tanks with a white genetic mutation. It was a pure white colored Clownfish they now call the Gold Nugget Maroon. The body is mostly white but changes to a shimmering gold as they mature. Some even have an icy blue iridescent on their edges of the body. ORA has only recently gotten production levels up to where these fish are now more widely available for hobbyists. Like most Maroon Clowns, they rarely get along with each other so it’s best to just keep one per tank. This is also one of the largest species of clownfish and can grow up to six inches in length. They have a very, very long life span and some have been known to live in reef aquariums for over 20 years. We’ve honestly never seen these in an aquarium store but you can find them online through specialty livestock suppliers like LiveAquaria.com.

Picasso Clownfish are a rare variant of Percula Clownfish that actually have a little bit of extra white color on their stripe. They are very rare in nature and many of the Picasso Clowns available to hobbyists today can be traced back to a single wild male from the Solomon Islands which was paired with a typical Onyx female for Percula. These fish are so rare and so unique that when juveniles, they are hand selected and graded as each one exhibits a different color variation. The more colorful and vibrant the fish, the more the fish gets the designation Premium Picasso Clownfish. Like most Percula Clownfish, Picasso Clowns have a great personality and they get along well with other fish making them a fantastic fish for any reef aquarium. As we mentioned earlier, Clownfish are one species of fish that almost anyone can learn how to breed. For those future fish breeders out there, we have a little inspirational story to tell you.

Black Photon Clownfish are a variety of designer Clownfish that were successfully bred and raised by Dr. Sanjay Joshi, the lighting expert. Also known as the Photon Man. While visiting an aquarium store in Colorado, Dr. Joshi noticed two different types of clowns that had been paired together. He purchased a pair and a few years later they spawned in his reef tank and he was able to raise them and eventually they were offered for sale. Having the nickname Photon Man, Dr. Joshi now has a variety of designer Clownfish named after him.

Thank you for watching the video and we hope we’ve inspired you to keep one of these fantastic designer species of Clownfish in your reef aquarium.

Hey everyone, I’m Ike from Current-USA and today we’re going to separate some of the myths from facts on captive raised clownfish.

There is no question that breeding and successfully raising clownfish in captivity has been one of the major success stories of our industry. Clownfish have been bred now for over 20 years and they are still one of the most popular fish for the aquarium industry. However, their popularity has also come with some controversy. Unfortunately, there’s been some misinformation spread about captive raised clownfish in our industry in general. So today we’re going to go over five of the most common myths with captive raised clownfish and if you stick around we’re going to show you one myth we dispelled in a single day.

The first myth we’re going to dispel is that captive raised clownfish are not as active as wild caught clownfish. Unfortunately this myth is spread by a handful of aquarium stores who are trying to sell you wild caught fish over a captive raised fish. Don’t be fooled, this is obviously a myth as tank-raised clownfish are usually quite the opposite. Since hatching from an egg these fish have been associated with being fed by humans and they become excited when they see people approaching an aquarium. Many aquarists actually become attached to their tank-raised clownfish as they are always happy to see them. Unlike wild caught clowns, tank-raised clowns are already used to being in an aquarium, they’re used to being fed artificial diets and they’re used to being around people so they’d show absolutely no shyness at all.

The second myth we’re going to dispel is that tank-raised clownfish don’t live very long in an aquarium. This is absolutely not true and some people have kept clownfish for over 20 years in their aquarium. In fact, hobbyists will actually have better success at keeping captive bred clownfish over wild-caught clownfish. Think about it, captive bred clownfish have been raised in an aquarium tank. They’re already used to humans, they’re already used to eating artificial diets and frozen foods and they’ve been acclimated to being around other fish. So overall, they are less stressed. Just like humans, less stress leads to a longer lifespan and if you keep your fish in a healthy environment, they’re going to live a long time.

Myth number three: that captive bred clownfish will not breed with each other. This is absolutely not true and captive bred clownfish will absolutely breed with each other. Mother nature does not change how clownfish sexually mature in an aquarium and most captive bred clownfish are easy to breed in a home aquarium. You can even find bonded pairs available for purchase with a larger female and a smaller male at aquarium stores. And while breeding clownfish and having the female lay eggs may be easy, if you want to successfully hatch the eggs and rear the juveniles, you need to be well prepared. Luckily, there’s a lot of information and videos on this subject especially on the feeding requirements. But many, many hobbyists have a great success breeding clownfish in their home aquarium and with the many colors they’re available in now, some of them have actually named these designer clowns themselves.

Myth number four on our list is you cannot keep captive bred clownfish together in an aquarium. Clownfish are one of the most popular species to film in the wild especially when they’re hosting inside in an anemone. When they have their small territory, they’re always on the offensive or defensive and will often attack other fish that may be getting into their territory. Tank-raised clownfish are not nearly as aggressive as wild-caught clownfish. They’ve been raised with many other fish and without a host anemone, so they’re often not nearly as territorial. They are much less likely to be aggressive towards other fish in an aquarium. And if you want to keep multiple clownfish or try and mix species, add them to the aquarium all at one time when they’re younger fish. This allows them to familiarize themselves with the other fish in the aquarium and as they grow up together, they’re usually very peaceful with each other.

Our last myth is also the most common myth about captive bred clownfish: that they will not host in an anemone in your aquarium. This myth is absolutely not true and we’re going to show you why in just a minute. But before you get excited about keeping an anemone with your clownfish, you need to be prepared for what you’re in store for. While captive raised clownfish will absolutely host in an anemone, they don’t need one to survive. But having a clownfish hosting with an anemone in your aquarium is not what all aquarists think and will absolutely change the dynamics of your aquarium completely. Anemones are movers and they will often move around the aquarium until they find their spot. While moving around, they can also sting and damage other coral and invertebrates. Once a clownfish has hosted within an anemone or coral, they are often going to become a bit territorial and might become aggressive. This may change the entire dynamic of how your fish get along with each other and some anemones have very special needs in terms of light, water movement and feeding, so it’s best to check with your aquarium store and cover any of these special requirements before purchasing an anemone.

This myth was really easy for us to dispel and here’s a perfect example of why. After 24 hours of adding some captive bred clownfish to our reef tank, this Cinnamon Clown found it’s home and hosted in a large polyp coral that we have. Right next to it, a Clarkii Clown hosted with our Elegance Coral. While the Cinnamon Clown is not aggressive towards any other fish, the Clarkii did become a bit territorial with its elegance towards the other clowns, except for the Cinnamon Clown. While this is a great dynamic to watch, we’re also going to have to keep an eye on how these two interact with each other and with the other fish in their aquarium. Thanks so much for watching our video and we hope this dispels some of the myths often associated with captive bred clownfish. They are truly a spectacular fish to keep in your aquarium and we’d like to give a shout out to Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums. The ORA farm has made tremendous strides at aqua-culturing fish and coral, especially clownfish. If you’re interested in more aquarium tips like we’ve gone over today, don’t forget to click that subscribe button.