by AquaNerd | Apr 11, 2014 | Equipment, Industry, Opinion
Many marine aquarists illuminate their refugia with the most basic of lighting systems. These usually consist of an aluminum shop light and a compact fluorescent bulb, which isn’t exactly the most visually appealing arrangement. Eshopps is looking to change all that, however, with the upcoming release of their yet to be named LED refugium light. This sleek little fixture sports a razor thin design that sports the signature blue coloration that permeates thought the entire Eshopps lineup. It has a footprint of 5″ x 4″, with a thickness of just 5/16th of an inch. Helping the light to jut out over the water is a mounting bracket that blends right into the fixture and can affix to acrylic or glass of varying thickness thanks to nylon thumbscrews. Getting back to the fact that the refugium light is without a name, Eshopps is looking for a little help in the creativity department. by Reef To Rainforest | Jan 15, 2014 | Equipment, Events, Fish, Industry, Science
via AquaXplorer Newsletter: Puratek is committed to introducing new and innovative products to the aquarium industry. With the latest release of our Aquarium Management software, AquaXplorer Live, you’ll see for yourself how our feature-rich platform will help you simplify and enhance your aquarium maintenance. New Aquarium Dashboard Comprehensive and intuitive overview on a single page for simple monitoring and control New Extended Feature Set Calendar – Synchronize Insight Controller events and alarms to calendar or link calendar events to your personal Google Calendar and set schedules. Manual Chemistry Tracking – Configure any chemistry parameter you want to measure and trend. Set valid threshold limits and perform graphical trending to see history. Scheduler – Set up schedules to perform maintenance on daily, weekly, monthly or yearly intervals. Equipment Tracking – Keep an accurate list of all equipment in your system including manufacture, serial and model numbers, warranty period, attach receipts and user guides for safe keeping and more. Expense Tracking – Customize exactly how you want to track your expenses by setting up categories to log where and when you purchased things. by AquaNerd | Dec 24, 2013 | Corals, Equipment, Fish, Science
This year is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and as we creep forward to 2014, we couldn’t help but stop and reflect on all of the stories that made 2013 so memorable. While we have a handful of recap articles on the way, we wanted to first take a look at the top 10 most visited articles that hit your computer screens and mobile devices from the AquaNerd Blog. The list has a few shockers on it, at least from our standpoint, and they weren’t all good news for the aquarium hobby. So, check out the list and let us know what aquarium related stories had the biggest impact on you and your hobby. Continue below for the full list… Mindstream Aquarium Monitoring System Measures Twelve Parameters with One UnitThe Mindstream aquarium monitor came out of nowhere and news of its abilities took the hobby by storm. Able to monitor twelve different water paraters using fluorescent technology, this tiny device looked like it would be the perfect solution for hobbyists looking to get away from test kits. The Mindstream is set to debut sometime next year, as beta testing is still underway, and we can’t wait to see how well it performs. There is a ton of excitement around this product, so it’s no surprise to see it on our list…we just didn’t expect it to shoot to the top only because it wasn’t published until November. Newer, Bigger Maxspect R420R 200W Displayed at MACNAAlso making its debut in 2013 was a much larger version of the R420r from Maxspect. by AquaNerd | Dec 23, 2013 | Equipment, Science
When they’re not dabbling in LED and T5HO lighting, apparently the guys from Pacific Sun also spend their spare time tinkering with other high end aquarium equipment…namely this 5-channel “intelligent” dosing pump. In February 2014, Pacific Sun will unleash this beast onto the aquarium marketplace, making it the largest dosing pump on the market as far as we know. Most dosing pumps come in three and four channel flavors, with the four pump systems usually being a slave unit with no on-board controller. Pacific Sun’s dosing pump, on the other hand, sports five independent channels AND a built-in controller. According to the teaser info, this new dosing system is said to be “super-accurate” with dosages ranging from 0.1ml to 1500ml and the unit cranking out up to 24 doses per day per channel. The Pacific Sun intelligent doser up the bar even further by incorporating a built-in top off with water level sensors and a computer controlled DC pump for topping off up to 300 liters per hour. Stepping up the game even further, the on-board controller allows the unit to be controlled wirelessly using an iOS or Android app, along with both PC and Mac versions of the software. Available in version with silicone tube / Viton tube – provides great accuracy and configure using the wireless controller – using an application on the PC / Mac / Android by AquaNerd | Dec 9, 2013 | Equipment, Fish, Science
After what seems like an eternity since their last new product, Bubble Magus is making their presence felt once again as they dive into the world of DC pump powered gear. Besides a nifty new DC powered protein skimmer line, which we’ll touch on later, the budget friendly aquarium equipment manufacturer is releasing a set of DC Wave Pumps complete with their very own controller. The pumps will come in two models, a mid range W20 that cranks out 6000 liters per hour (around 1578 gph) at 20 watts of juice and a much more powerful W70, with a max flow of 16000 lph (4210 gallons per hour) at 70W. Each pump will be controlled by the new Bubble Magus C1 controller, which has outlets for up to four total pumps spread across two different channels. The pumps themselves are fairly straightforward. They have a typical design that includes a a large propeller sitting behind a plastic shroud. What’s interesting here is that it appears the pumps have two different shrouds, or at the very least an add-on for each pump to allow for a more focused water flow. On a side note, we assume these shrouds are interchangable, as the main portion of the shroud looks different between the same size pumps…meaning, the two shrouds on the W20 pumps look a little different from each other (besides the tip of course). Either way, the pumps will give plenty of options to aquarists seeking a greater flow variety.
