Frag'd It » macna

Candied Apples For Everyone

vlad — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 20:53:39 +0000

We conclude this week of MACNA pictorials from Reef2Reef’s own OCREEFMASTER. His incredible photography skills managed to recreate the bliss we all feel after seeing a spectacular coral in person. Living through his pictures has been a great adventure. To finish things off, we have a super-colored bleeding green Scolymia, it showcase fashion:

photo by OCREEFMASTER

Scolys, as reefers call them, are fairly resilient corals. They tend to do best in LPS dominant tanks. Just be sure not to have any picking fish, as they will be the first corals to bite the dust. Feed these bad bays with meaty foods such as scallops, silversides, and raw/cooked shrimp.

Happy weekend reefaholics!

MACNA Day 1 photos

jeff — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:01:17 +0000

If I could describe the first day of MACNA 2010 in one work, it would be ‘fun’. If I had two, it would be ‘crazy fun’ and if I had three and an acronym, it would be “L.E.D.s and pink clams”. Everyone selling livestock has a pink clam for sale, be it maxima or squamosa. It seems like everyone selling dry goods has some sort of L.E.D. fixture. The future is so bright it hurts.

Most of today was spent at the talks. I enjoyed Calfo’s talk on holistic reef keeping, even if I already follow most of his advice already, it’s still good to hear it. Scott Fellman’s talk on seagrass was surprisingly inspiring. It makes me want to try a seagrass tank.

Enjoy the photos, more to come.

Here’s a video of a neat surge tank Martin Moe has been working on.

MACNA 2010 Day 1: Ecotech Introduces The MP60

vlad — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:18:36 +0000

MACNA couldn’t have started off without a bang, eh? Ecotech Marine has decided that the time was right to steal the first day of showcasing new products. Their new pump is designed for those reefers who really want to go big or go home. The MP60 or MP60w, have the capacity to turnover a tank with volumes as great as 1,000 gallons. At 5500 gallons per hour, you better be sure you do not have slow swimming fish! Ecotech explains:

The MP60 is engineered for tanks holding 120 to over 1,000 gallons with up to one-inch glass thickness. The MP60 uses the same award-winning technology that has made EcoTech Marine’s VorTech line the number one brand of pump among reef aquarium enthusiasts. Capable of pushing 5,500/gph, the MP60 offers the smallest in-tank footprint for a commercially available pump.

The MP60′s unmatched flow and out-of-the-box multi-pump wireless communication makes it the best value on the market for larger tanks. The MP60 leverages EcoSmart driver technology, introduced earlier this year, providing unmatched versatility, controllability and customization of flow patterns.

EcoTech Marine’s patented VorTech technology produces broad yet gentle flow while placing the motor outside the tank–preserving the beauty of the aquarium and enhancing the health of the tank’s ecosystem.

MP60 @ 5500 gph

The pricing of this pump is not bad in relation to the costs of acquiring the MP40w. At 695$ each, they surely will replace your closed loop system, and even in some cases, your return pumps. More can be found on Ecotech’s website.

MACNA Aftermath: Ecotech Marine Shows Muscle

vlad — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:06:23 +0000

Just because its 4 days after MACNA, it doesn’t mean we won’t be giving you glimpses of what we saw. Here is an example… Ecotech Marine showed North America why they are the industry leader in manufacturing intelligent propeller pumps. We spoke to Jay Sperandio of Ecotech to see what new things they have in store for us this year. This year we have witnessed the release of their new pumps for smaller reef aquariums, such as the MP20 and MP10. But at MACNA, they demonstrated to us the minor improvements that they have made in their pump design (on that a little later on). By doing so, they reinforced and solidified the notion that their quality of their products in the industry is second to none. After Jay wowed us with technical talk, he also opened our eyes with visuals on how their products are best used. Let us illustrate this with a few pictures from their booth:

We were really impressed with their presentation. Top notch guys! We will get into the specifics of what little things have changed, but for that you have to tune into our blog next time!

MACNA Aftermath: McCollochi Clown and Friends, part 2

vlad — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:57:34 +0000

While Jeff is still recovering from MACNA, I am going to continue to show you guys things we saw in detail. So lets continue from our previous post on fish at MACNA.

ORA’s booth wasn’t to be disappointed. They had a spectacular zero edge display and a common 120 gallon rectangular aquarium. A cylindrical shaped aquarium with numerous tough-to-get ORA frags, along side with some cute little fish and inverts. Alongside, they showcased some of their captive raised fish, which included different types of A. ocellaris (picasso), Meiacanthus oualanensis (Canary Blenny), Meiacanthus grammistes (Striped Blenny), and some wrasses. It was great to see more progress on captive fish breeding from the industry leaders ORA.

MACNA Day 3: T. maxea In Person

vlad — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:14:34 +0000

Well, we have only had the opportunity to see the first ever T. maxea hybrid clam in pictures. Well now at MACNA, we were wowed with its presence. Chris Bueschel of Reefkoi Corals had the pleasure of showing us this amazing specimen. For its size, it measured at around 2.5″ in length. A delicate baby, to say the least. The price tag? 129$, not too shabby considering the rarity of the clam species. Here she is in its glory:

MACNA Day 2: Digital Aquatics Beefs Up

jeff — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:54:01 +0000

After visiting with GHL yesterday and their impressive new upgrade, we got a closer look at the Digital Aquatics’s new eye opening lineup. We spoke to Scott Bogner about what DA is brewing up this year but he was tight lipped about some of their new modules that they intend to release. He did confirm that it will involve a module which will be controlling a very popular brand of German powerheads. He also laid out plans for DA to upgrade their head unit firmware to 2.0. Some of the new features would be the ability to fully control your RKE through a wifi network (using your NET module). Furthermore, with the new software, the ground loop errors with some pH and ORP probes (and now Salinity) will be eliminated.

We can also confirm that we will be bringing you many DIY videos and tutorials on how to setup numerous RKE/RKL modular systems.

Stay tuned here for up to date information on all of your Digital Aquatics needs!

MACNA Day 1: Profilux gone wild

jeff — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:46:55 +0000

Got some exclusive closeups of the Profilux III upgrade kit and the final product. Enjoy the stripped down sneak peek. Me, I love the USB and Ethernet jack.

MACNA XXI: Day 1. Livestock

jeff — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:35:21 +0000

Wow, what a day! My feet are tired, and so’s the rest of me, but I had a lot of fun. I browsed the vendors, met some new people and took a ridiculous amount of pictures.

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures to share. I’ll start by sharing some pictures of the livestock available here. For those who know me in Toronto, the prices here are very different than home, but there sure is some purdy stuff.

The headline picture is for my buddy Eric. SETOSA!

Vortechs are almost universally loved here. Every vendor seems to have one.

Enjoy the pictures.

MACNA XXI: Will We See You There?

vlad — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:04:27 +0000

Well, its time again to do a post about the MACNA festival. If you are not in the know, MACNA is the Marine Aquatic Conference of North America. Its the biggest North American industry-driven, elbow greasing conference that allows all types of people to experience the hobby on a whole new level.

This year it is going to be in Atlantic City, NJ, a place where gambling meets reefing. It will be three days of madness, excitement, and free-for-all. You do have the time to purchase your tickets, as it is held on September 25th, 26th, and 27th. But, the tickets will go up in price as the dates near.

This years speaking engagement list includes Anthony Calfo, Bob Fenner, Frank Marini, Martin Moe, Scott Fellman, Jake Adams, and much more.

If that’s not enough, there will be raffles, and exhibitions, and fun activities presented by the industry leaders.

So buy your tickets, head to NJ, and look for us roaming around. It would be fun to meet you all. Plus it will be easy to spot us, two guys wearing our Fragd.it gear!
See you all in September!