by AquaNerd | Oct 21, 2013 | Equipment, Invertebrates, Tanks
In recent months, I’ve been toiling away at the nano aquarium, following a rigorous water change and maintenance schedule, and stocking it mostly with a few high end Zoanthids. The goal for this aquarium has been simplicity, since my work and personal schedules are both so hectic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t resist adding a rose bubble tip anemone, which isn’t exactly a difficult invertebrate even for a nano aquarium, but coupled with the type of equipment in the tank, housing the RBTA could (and did) lead to disaster. From the anemone’s introduction, I knew that it could wander all over the tank at will. I was also very aware that it could crawl into my VorTech MP10w water pump. Still, I pressed on. As a precaution, I did reduce the speed of the pump to just a fraction of what it normally operates at. I waited a few days, let the anemone settle in, then ramped up the speed of the pump. Of course, I monitored the anemone’s actions, mostly looking for any sort of movement. The anemone stayed in place, not moving an inch…until one random evening by AquaNerd | Oct 14, 2013 | Corals, Equipment, Opinion, Tanks
If you truly value any of your corals, especially the rare and expensive ones, you should give them away for free. What?!? Does that really make sense? Sure it does, if you follow this reasoning. If you have some rare coral and don’t spread it around to your closest friends, then you run the risk of never seeing it again if you encounter some catastrophic aquarium wipeout. By giving out free frags, you ensure that the coral strain will continue on despite your success with your own aquarium. While it may not make a whole lot of sense to give away something you could make a little cash on, you ensure that you don’t lose out on a coral entirely. So many times, we’ve heard of stunning tanks taking a quick nose dive with one of a kind livestock going with them. For big, mature tanks that have been around for a while, chances are there are frags of each of those corals somewhere in the local community. And chances are, if a tank like that goes down, the locals would be more than willing to help restock that setup by AquaNerd | Oct 1, 2013 | Corals, Equipment, Fish, Invertebrates
During our recent trip to MACNA 2013, we spent a great deal of time at the Aqua Medic booth combing over their latest and greatest products. Despite several new additions to their line this past year, it wasn’t necessarily their hardware that the sales reps were so chatty about. Instead, they spoke at great length about their newest project, the Aqua Medic Live wholesale livestock facility. Always intrigued by new things, we took note of every detail thrown our way, especially since the Aqua Medic guys were just so excited about it. After seeing just what this new high end operation has to offer, we can certainly share in their enthusiasm. So, come join us for a virtual tour of this neat facility and read all about the details below. Located in Loveland, Colorado, Aqua Medic Live officially opened on August 17th of this year and its conception was driven purely by a fish store demand of a wholesale distributor in the mid-west. Aqua Medic Live currently only services local stores and companies willing to pick up their corals, though they plan to start shipping orders within the next couple of months pending logistical planning. The operation is small, but rapidly expanding as demand increases. Currently, the facility houses six coral tables measuring 6′x3′, alongside three 220-gallon show tanks that corals can also be purchased from. by AquaNerd | Sep 30, 2013 | Equipment, Tanks
Have you ever had a piece of equipment that you thought just looked too darned pretty to be in that nasty saltwater with fish poop and gross algae? Well, such is the case for the Omega 150 protein skimmer, which Vertex so kindly sent our way. Unfortunately for the skimmer, we don’t plan on letting it stay eye candy for long, as we’ll put it through the ringer as we review it in an everyday aquarium environment. To start our review, we’ll first dive into a little product history. The Omega line of skimmers was first introduced at MACNA 2012 in Dallas, and we were told that it was meant to completely replace the Vertex IN skimmers. To keep its price down around that of the IN series and to better distinguish itself from the Vertex Alpha skimmers, the Omega used a Sicce pump instead of the Red Dragon. Additionally, the straight cone shape was ditched for the more elegant “whine glass” cone body. by AquaNerd | Sep 23, 2013 | Equipment, Industry, MACNA
MACNA is always a playground for new products, and the high end aquarium equipment manufacturers from Elos didn’t disappoint. Although their typical vehicle for new product releases has traditionally been the internationally renowned aquarium show, Interzoo, they treated MACNA attendees to their latest developments in the LED world. Elos unveiled their Plant PRO while shacking up with CoralVue in one sprawling booth. CoralVue recently took over exclusive distributorship of the entire Elos line for North America, hence the announcement at this year’s show, but I digress. The new Planet PRO is absolutely packed with features, including impressive modularity of the LED components, programmable NFC tags (a first for the aquarium industry as far as we are aware), an on-board timer, WiFi connectivity, and Bluetooth. It’s basically got all of the most popular methods of wireless control, and the fixture looks oh so sexy to boot. The new Elos Planet PRO comes packed with 24 LEDs, but that number can be tripled (up to 72 LEDs total) by swapping out the LED strips. With this option, users can not only customize the intensity of the fixture, but they can also pick and choose which colors to use to give you the most control over how the aquarium looks. The color options include white, red, blue, green and UV. The fixture comes stock with 120 degree lenses, but they can be easily exchanged with a variety of available lenses that include 15, 25, or 80 degree optics
