Fauna Marin deserves an award for most products introduced at MACNA 2018 in Las Vegas. The German manufacturer had a staggering amount of upcoming and recently introduced items on display on the show’s floor- a new coral food, an algae treatment, a whole set of test kits and additives, and more. I had a chance to catch Georg Kotlin, Fauna Marin’s Sales & Marketing Manager, to ask him about the company’s latest developments. Let’s dissect them one by one, shall we?

RED X

Red X is one of the newest products in Fauna Marin catalog, and was announced only two weeks before MACNA. I previously reported about that product, so let’s just recap what it does and how can it help with your reef. In essence, Red X is an algae and cyanobacteria treatment that can be safely used in a reef tank environment as it does not contain any antibiotics or chemicals in its content. Quoting Georg directly:

“Red X’s main benefit is that it can be used safely in almost any reef tank without risking any extensive damage to the tank’s bacteria or invertebrates. Most treatments available in the market contain very strong ingredients, which is dangerous to the reef’s inhabitants. Nothing like that is in Red X. It’s fully organic and targets only the type of algae, as well as cyanobacteria, that are harmful to the overall health of the reef. We recommend using Red X at the first phase of algae outbreak when it is starting to appear in your tank. It is not designed to be used in a situation where your tank is completely wrecked. For those instances, we have another product we’ve developed…”

Which brings us to the second new product for algae treatment Fauna Marin offers…

DINO X

Georg continues:

“It’s called Dino X and it is recommended when you have massive problems with algae in the tank. It is a much more aggressive treatment than Red X and therefore needs more attention on the part of the reefer.”

“Can you still use Dino X in a reef tank?” I asked.

“Yes, it is suitable for a reef tank, in fact, we only develop products that can be used in a reef tank. It just targets algae and cyanobacteria more aggressively, therefore, after treatment, we recommend using another of our new products…”

REBIOTIC

Georg:

“Rebiotic is a freeze-dried bacteria mix. As you can see, it is in a dry form, so it’s much more saturated than if we made it into a liquid. This is a perfect product to restart your tank after treatment such as Dino X or whenever the natural bacteria in the tank gets damaged. You mix it with saltwater and add directly into the water column.”

From the pamphlet I picked up at the Fauna Marin booth, I read that Rebiotic is a 100% natural product and that it not only helps in restarting one’s tank but also helps in preventing the so-called “old tank” syndrome, where established reefs suddenly crash for no apparent reason.  The recommended dosing is as follows:

Dose 2x per week: Add 1 heaping teaspoon (approx. 5g) per 400 Liters for 4-6 weeks.

After week 4-6: Add a maintenance dose every 4 weeks.

MIN S

Min S is Fauna Marin’s latest product, introduced to the market only a day before MACNA started.  It is the company’s premium liquid coral food for broadcast feeding of hard corals in the tank. Georg explains:

“Min S is our brand new coral food. 20 years ago, we developed our first coral product called Ultra Min S. However, due to changes in reefkeeping- when you compare what people kept in their tanks 20 years ago to what they manage to grow now, plus because of the knowledge we gathered regarding coral needs, we re-designed our formula and came up with this new coral food. When you feed with Min S, you can see an immediate reaction in your corals- they extend their polyps right away to catch this food. Our main goal when making this food was to provide for the kind of reef tanks people tend to keep nowadays. As you know, there is this trend now where a hobbyist tries to lower his/her nitrate and phosphate levels to the absolute minimum. It has its benefits, there is simply no other way to push enhanced coloration in corals than to lower nutrient levels. On the other hand, you need to make sure corals are still getting the energy they need. This is what Min S was designed for. You can really run a zero nutrition type of reef tank and cover the lack of nutrients available for corals by using Min S”

AQUAHOMETEST

Fauna Marin completely re-designed their water test kits, which are backed by the company’s own Seawater Research Lab and the ICP equipment their technicians and chemists use. Most new test kits come in a sealed container and include a reference vial for better readout of test results. In addition, Fauna Marin now sells refills for their test kits so you don’t have to buy the entire set when you run out of the reagent(s).

ELEMENTALS/ ELEMENTALS TRACE

It’s worth mentioning another line of products Fauna Marin launched not so long ago, their ICP Lab Tested liquid supplements for use with liquid dosing regimes. Elementals covers the basics: Calcium+ Stronium, Alkalinity, Potassium, and Magnesium, while Elementals Trace helps to maintain various trace elements.

Check out Fauna Marin’s latest offerings by visiting www.faunamarin.de/en/ and stay tuned for more news from MACNA.

GALLERY