Cool new stuff from Max

I was at Max this weekend and in addition to seeing some great corals with no way of bringing them home, I thought I would also mention a couple of things that are on the horizon from a couple of manufacturers that I think are pretty sweet.

First, Ecotech Marine has a new Vortech powerhead coming out. Up until now, I have been one of those people that could not stomach dropping that kind of coin on a powerhead. Now I will be. The have a new "nano" version of their controller which really is not just for nano tanks if you ask me. It is super small compared to any other like-flow powerhead out there at about 1500 gph. Like the other vortechs, it connects magnetically with no electricity in the tank and it is very small in the tank. It also comes with the same controller that there current (lower end) model has that allows you to set the wave pulse or go random or constant on or whatever you like. One drawback is that this model will only work on tanks up to 3/8" thick...but for most of the tanks you would use this size on, that is just fine. I have left the best for last...the price...like I said, its pretty amazing and it will really affect Korallia Magnum sales in my opinion.  MSRP is $195! Now they said it wouldnt be available for a couple of months, but I did find it here. When I know it out I will be selling off my Magnum 5 (prob for $90 if any of you are interested) and kicking in the extra for the upgrade.

The next thing there I saw that is getting some big improvements is in the area for tank conrollers from Reefkeeper and Neptune. I currently have a RK2 so I was very interested in talking to them about some of the issues I have. For most people, my controller would seem to be working incredibly well with all it is doing, but being the tech geek I am, I wanted more out of their software. I was seriously disappointed. They said that they planned to not update their mReef software any longer basically leaving current owners no resort but to either upgrade to their new controller (that will not have software until maybe Q3 or Q4) or go to the competitor. This is where Neptune comes in. They are leaving them in the dust. The Neptune inventor/owner was there and he had his new unit there. I can't remember the name but it is insane. It has a new larger, dot matrix display, can control basically an infinite number of power modules, it can have as many probe modules as you like as well. For under $500 it comes with everything you need to monitor and control PH and temp and with the addition of a $50 ORP prob you can control (ozone) that too. For another $80 you can add a probe module to add another PH probe for your CA reactor (or other types of probes). The best part of this thing is the data logging and web interface. Gorgeous graphs, and unlike anything from the reefkeeper systems (except a promise in software yet to come) you can have two way communication with your tank to adjust anything as if you were tight there!  Also, he said that I could easily modify the web site pages inside the unit to add any customizations like imbedding my web cam, etc....sweet...But the last part is super cool...they even have an iphone app in the app store. Again, I think an upgrade to this unit is in my future so if anyone is considering getting the reefkeeper RK2 and you are not so interested in all these web bells and whistles, it is a great unit and works fine for me to control my lights, temp, and PH in my Ca reactor...make me an offer and I may let loose of it as soon as this new neptune unit comes out...I would even set it up for you.

Well, thats pretty much the tech side of stuff from Max that I was most interested in. I did get a sample of some new (to me) Mysis from Piscine that I am anxious to try. I can't say I have seen it in our LFS. Funny to hear the guy talk it up...told me about how they live in a lake in canada, swim up and down from 500 feet, and gut load much more than those mysis from warmer waters in the far east...who knows...sounded good.