by AquaNerd | Aug 5, 2013 | Equipment, MACNA, Opinion, Tanks
When a wholesale company acquires exclusive rights to distribute a popular product, there’s generally a great deal of excitement to be had. Such is the case for CoralVue, who recently struck a deal with the high end aquarium equipment company, Elos. But CoralVue isn’t just sending out newsletters to celebrate their new relationship. Instead, they are rolling out the red carpet and sinking a bunch of money into their booth at the quickly approaching MACNA. From what we’ve been told, CoralVue has already spent in upwards of $30K on their booth, and the event is still a month away. The booth itself is actually a “quad” booth, meaing it essentially takes up the space of four smaller booths. On top of that, tons of Elos equipment will be flown in to be put on display, and if the tanks are set up even half as well as those from last year’s show, we are all going to be in for a huge treat. Additionally, an Elos rep has been flown in from Italy to hang out at the booth for the duration of the event. We’ve spoken to the guys at CoralVue a time or two over the phone regarding their new partnership with Elos, and we can safely tell you that they are ecstatic about it. Not to mention, they hinted at possible better prices and availability on the entire line thanks to their purchasing power. by AquaNerd | Jun 20, 2013 | Contest, MACNA
The aquarium conference season, like this summer weather, is starting to heat up for 2013. MACNA is just around the corner, and with it comes the vote for the Aquarist of the Year presented by the Marine Aquarium Societies of North America. The peer nominated candidates are each considered write-ins on the ballot, and after all the votes have been tallied, the winner will be selected and later announced at MACNA 2013. Only MASNA members get the opportunity to vote, and the voting process will be open until July 6th. A complete list of past Aquarist of the Year winners can be found in the MASNA site as well. by AquaNerd | Jun 5, 2013 | MACNA
If you’ve been stalling on buying your full conference passes to the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, then you may have just missed your window of opportunity, and for good. Announced just last night on the MACNA 2013 Facebook page, the full passes have officially sold out. That’s right, almost three full months prior to the show, its all access passes have all been scooped up. But if you still want to get into the show, don’t worry too much, as the single and 3-day passes are still available for now. You won’t have access to the guest speakers or the Friday night reception dinner and Saturday banquet, but it beats staying at home and hearing all about it from all of your aquarium nerd friends who went. Another thing to consider, besides the passes to the conference, is the fact that the hotel rooms are going quick. They are almost all sold out, and probably will be within the next week or two. Of course, other hotels in the surrounding area will gladly accept MACNA attendees, but who wants to have to travel to the venue when you could just hop an elevator to the conference? by AquaNerd | May 22, 2013 | Equipment
AI Vega pictured here from MACNA 2011 Over the past few years, AquaIllumination has usually waited until the big trade shows like MACNA to unveil their latest and greatest products and company related news. This year, however, they let the cat slip out of the bag a little early…and what a big cat it is. Instead of making some minor alterations to their current lineup or releasing updates for their AI Controller or Director software, they have an entirely new fixture called the AI Hydra that will be hitting store shelves in a very short time. AquaIllumination has yet to release the information on their new Hydra on their website as of yet, but interestingly, the product showed up on the Salty Supply website with all sorts of those juicy details. Unfortunately, because there hasn’t been an official announcement from AI, we’re left with nothing but digital renderings of the new module…but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it at length. So, what’s the Hydra got to offer? For one, this new module sports seven distinct LED colors that include Cree XT-E Cool White, Osram Oslon Deep Red, Cree XP-E Green, Cree XT-E Royal Blue, Osram Oslon Very Deep Blue, SemiLED 415nm Violet, and Edison Opto 400nm UV. These LEDs are spread across four clusters, each containing five LEDs. The total power consumption is 95w. Comparatively, the AI Vega has around 20 color choices that are strictly made up of Cree and Osram Oslon emitters. The LEDs for the Vega are also spread across four clusters at the same power consumption. Focusing the light from the Hydra into the aquarium are the standard issue 80 degree lenses, though 50 degree lenses are an option for deeper aquaria. The clusters themselves are a tad different from those of the Vega, as they are slightly rotated. We’re not sure what effect, if any, this has on the light output of the Hydra, but it does make distinguishing between it and the Vega a bit easier. With all of these similarities to the Vega, you’re probably asking how the Hydra is different. Well, it all boils down to color choices and channels of control. The Hydra has fewer of both, which is also why it comes in $100 cheaper at retail price of $399. Obviously this puts it in the same price point as the AI Sol, but we fully expect the Sol prices to drop to some extent. AI hasn’t hinted at a price drop, but we feel it inevitable, even if only slight. by Josh Saul | Apr 3, 2013 | Eye Candy, Industry, MACNA, Reefs in Art
Our friend Karen Talbot received some much deserved recognition in her new home state of Maine at the recent Sportsman Show, which caters to fishermen, hunters, and outdoor activity lovers. Karen is known for her contributions to the PNG Banggai project, her...
