For this episode, we had a very special guest come over to Afishionado land. Copegod, Chad Clayton of Reef Nutrition came by to talk tanks, fish, copepod and everything else. I used this opportunity to sit down and talk about Chad and his work at Reef Nutrition. This will be divided into 2 parts and for the first part, we will be focusing on the pellet feed that has been exploding in the reefing world last few years. TDO. Sit down and learn about this amazing feed and see why you need to incorporate this into your system! Check it out. Special thanks to my wonderful and amazing friend, Chad Vossen of Vossen Aquatics for allowing me to use his awesome aquaculture footages. Another thanks to insanely talented Marcin Smok for allowing me to use his TDO images.  

Chad Clayton visits Afishionado land to talk about Reef Nutrition! Part 1 : TDO

For this episode, we had a very special guest come over to Afishionado land. Copegod, Chad Clayton of Reef Nutrition came by to talk tanks, fish, copepod and everything else. I used this opportunity to sit down and talk about Chad and his work at Reef Nutrition.

Afishionado : a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity. (In this case, fish, corals and reef keeping). We are group of passionate hobbyists who are all about educating, creating innovative contents and providing eye popping visuals for hobbyists of all levels.

How to Install a Calcium Reactor Injection Assembly on a Pax Bellum ARID Algae Reactor

In this video, Tristan Wilson, owner of Pax Bellum, provides a tutorial on how to install a Calcium Reactor Injection Assembly on an ARID algae reactor.

 A number of folks who own Pax Bellum ARID algae reactors have been asking for a how to video on installing a calcium reactor injection assembly, which sends excess C02 from a calcium reactor to the ARID. A process which further benefits the growth of macro algae. Here is Tristan Wilson, owner of Pax Bellum, to go over the install. MORE

During ReefAPaloozaNY, Reefs.com’s booth was a sight to behold. Not only did they have the amazing captive bred Flame Angelfish (which will come later), they allowed one of the finest companies in this hobby to release a new product for this show. Who is this company? Curious yet? It was MarineDepot.com and they made a HUGE splash by unveiling an amazing product that I think many of us will appreciate. The product was customizeable mounting box for your controller(s), modules, tablet, and other accessories. Not only does it give you different options to mount, manage your wires, and place your equipment, it gives you a way to keep things neat and looking amazing like the professional tanks you see on youtube and in magazines. Check out the video and tell me what you think.  

Reef A Palooza NY 2018 : MarineDepot Product Unveiling

During ReefAPaloozaNY, Reefs.com booth site to behold. Not only they had the amazing captivebred Flame Angelfish (which will come later), they allowed one of the finest company in this hobby to release a new product for this show. Whos’ this company? Curious yet?

Here is the link to the pre-order.

Afishionado : a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity. (In this case, fish, corals and reef keeping). We are group of passionate hobbyists who are all about educating, creating innovative contents and providing eye popping visuals for hobbyists of all levels.

Want to keep up with all things MACNA 2018? The conference is being held September 7-9 in Las Vegas, and new news about show is being released constantly. To help everyone stay in the loop, MACNA organizers have just launched the #MACNA2018 app – one place right at your fingertips to meet attendees, check the schedule, find your favorite speakers, and connect with your favorite exhibitors. The app is available for Android or iOS; you can find it in your app store, or follow the links below MACNA app for iOSMACNA app for Android For more information about MACNA, including tickets, lodging, and more, visit the MACNA 2018 official site

Reef A Palooza is not just a place for people to come and buy corals. Show organizers work tirelessly to bring various different types of speakers of national level to engage and to educate hobbyists so that they can either integrate what they learn into their own personal system(s) or in this case, make us aware and conscious of what is going on around the world and how our hobby is in potential danger. Chris Turnier is a inspiration to me personally as he’s an extremely creative, positive person that oozes with knowledge and passion as well as experience of this hobby. To clarify, he’s someone who’s been in the industry for several decades and he has practically seen it all. In his talk during ReefAPaloozaNY, he took us on the journey that he’s been he’s been on throughout the years from sustainably mariculturing and harvesting corals in Fiji to running a wholesale facility in California to his current position of managing the internet sales at coral farm of World Wide Corals, and he shared his passion for and experience of this hobby. He also shared his observation of trends that started from a colony-dominated hobby to the frag-dominated hobby of today and offers his insights. Check it out.   

Reef A Palooza NY 2018 : Chris Turnier

Reef A Palooza is not just a place for people to come and buy corals. Show organizers work tirelessly to bring various different types of speakers of national level to engage and to educate hobbyists so that they can either integrate what they learn into their own personal system(s) or in this case, make us aware and conscious of what is going on around the world and how our hobby is in potential danger.

Afishionado : a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity. (In this case, fish, corals and reef keeping). We are group of passionate hobbyists who are all about educating, creating innovative contents and providing eye popping visuals for hobbyists of all levels.

 As we have come to expect from them, Tunze‘s booth in Pavillion 4 this year was impressively large. They had a lot of news to share, and we’ll present it all to you here. Claude Hug, Tunze’s director, welcomed us to the booth, and shared with us all the latest news from the German company. 

Algae reactors Tunze MAR 3181 and MAR 3182

  The acronym MAR stands for Macro Algae Reactor; they are reactors for macroalgae. The two reactors seem very well-built and extremely functional. And, dulcis in fundo, they’re also beautiful to look at. It has a classic style: A cylindrical reactor where the user inserts they macroalga they want to use (usually Chaetomorpha), an LED lamp, and a pump in to bring water into the reactor from outside.  The pipes are made of silicone. The LED lamp is 10 watts in each of the reactors. 

Technical characteristics of the MAR 3181 and  MAR 3182

  Let’s see the technical characteristics and the main differences between the two systems: 

	MAR 3181	MAR 3182
Aquarium dimensions	100-600 liters	500-1,600 liters
Pump flow	400-900 l/h	1,000-2,400 l/h
Dimensions	200 x 160 x 400 mm	310 x 250 x430 mm
Consumption (lamp + pump)	15 watt	40 watt

 There’s something different from the usual reactors: the Chaetomorpha inside the reactor is not fixed, as we expected, but it is able to move and rotate, depending on the flow rate. All other reactors that we’ve seen have always had a central lighting, while the Tunze product’s is placed laterally, leaving the inside free. Unfortunately is not possible to appreciate this in pictures, you need to see it in person.  From this picture you can appreciate the dimensions of the two reactors in comparison with the human figures.  This reactor really impressed us, and we’d love to have one ourselves! 

Tunze Stream 3 and the new deflector for laminar flow

Tunze, we already know, never stops improving its products. And the deflector for laminar flow is no exception.  The deflector has to be mounted on the protection grill and gives the anterior exit of the water a concentrated laminar flow.  The difference between the flow with and without the deflector was obvious – the flow is more concentrated and it can go (much) further. The deflector at the fair was free for anyone who asked, and in the catalog it should cost 10 euro ($11.50 USD). 

Tunze Automatic Doc Skimmer 9460

 Another object that captured our attention was the monstre skimmer. This is the first time Tunze has produced a skimmer of this size, and they did it at a more moderate cost compared with the competition. We’re referring to the Automatic Doc Skimmer 9460.  It can treat 5,000 l/h of air with just 58 watt of consumption. An enormous beast that should cost around 2,000 euro ($2,330 USD). It is definitely a more affordable price compared to the solutions proposed by other producers. It would be interesting to have an aquarium in which the skimmer could be tested and compared to other models, in order to analyze its performance.  The characteristics are similar to the Tunze Doc Skimmer 9415we reviewed about a year ago: the automatic calibration, the overflow blocked by the particular construction, the filtering of the water, and so on.  The enormous glass can be taken out easily, but it sure is heavy. Notice the double drain. We really liked the Automatic Doc Skimmer 9460 but, considering that we don’t have an aquarium large enough to test it, it will probably remain just a dream. 

The new incredible bacteria “Care Bacter”

Tunze emerges in the bacteria market with a product that seems to be incredibly revolutionary. Care Bacter in fact seems to have an amount of bacteria 10 times higher than the competition.  The product was visible through a bell of glass, and we’re looking forward to using it in our aquariums. And thankfully, as opposed to the enormous 9460 just seen, you don’t need an aquarium with gigantic dimensions. 

And finally, Tunze Care Panes

 This is a product in a bottle with a nebulizer for cleaning the glass of the aquarium, but it can also be used for acrylic, metal, or any other material our system is made of. Tunze Care Panes contains a very powerful organic surfactant, 500 times as powerful as chemical surfactants, that can massively act on materials. The product isn’t toxic, as you can see from the absence of the symbol on the package. It’s good to know that the materials used for both the package and the product are completely eco friendly, that is, they don’t harm the environment. 

References

  For other informations on Tunze‘s products we send you to the official site. We invite you to read our Editorial on the fair, which outlines our point of view about this 36th edition of Interzoo 2018: 

 Reefapalooza is a one of a kind show. Besides being a conference featuring world-class speakers, a marketplace of ideas, and an exposition where numerous vendors showcase their latest products, at its core, RAP is one giant frag swap. Coral vendors occupy every nook, cranny, and corner of available space on the show’s floor, offering exotic corals and other reef-dwelling animals. In a seemingly endless stream of colors and shapes, new and exciting species entering the market always find their way to Reefapalooza. For that very reason, at this year’s event I set myself the goal to photograph as many coral vendors’ tanks as possible to present it to you in this multi-part segment I call “The eye candies”. Enjoy the gallery: 

  Dr Mac and his team brought an array of beautiful corals, some priced well below the competition. Plus they had, as always, a tank full of clams:)  

 

  Some good old frags plus a special treat for Star Wars fans 🙂 

  I’m an Elegance coral fanatic and these guys had the most beautiful specimen I’ve seen in a long time… 

  These euphyllias… 

  And yet another group of corals I really enjoy – zoanthids! 

Over the many years I have been keeping reef tanks I have learned that it is critically important to have stable, rock solid parameters, especially alkalinity. Like other reefers, I had no other choice but to use a hobby grade test kit to measure alkalinity. I tested weekly using a Salifert test kit and every now and then I would see a decent swing in results from one week to another. Was it due to my calcium reactor not working properly, kalk in the kalk reactor expiring, a bad test kit, or was there another reason? The bottom line during those instances was that something happened in between my weekly tests to cause alkalinity to swing. And sometimes those swings impacted the health of my SPS. MORE