I spent 2+ hours at the Marine Aquarium Expo on Saturday, and here are some initial things to report:
1) Ecotech Marine is coming out with a new lower-output version of their Vortech that will do 100-2000 GPH. The model is called the MP20. Cost will be "under $300".
2) Aqua Illumination will (only?) be selling their LED fixture in 12" lengths. Customers will buy the appropriate number of fixtures for their tank, along with a pair of rails (cut to tank length) that will hold the 12" fixtures width-wise. This provides better spread for the fixtures, and flexibility on fixture placement. A cable system allows the rails to be hung like a pendant.
3) Digital Aquatics demoed their upcoming Reef Keeper Elite system, which was operating - but was not actively monitoring a tank. The biggest news is that they expect to start pre-orders within two weeks, and expect models to be shipping 30 days after the start of pre-orders. The prototypes looked pretty nice, but I see why they consider the prototype plastic "sub-grade". They are waiting for the new enclosures to arrive.
Anyway, those are the big 3 things I gleaned from my brief time at the show. I will fill in some details and post pics tomorrow.
The new Aqua Illumination rail system. The rep stated that the rails will include end caps.
I am not sure I like the look of the rail system, but appreciate the ability to adjust positions, and the more optimum spread it allows. There are two things I really like about the AI fixture over the Solaris that I own:
1) Dust cannot get into the AI fixture. It is a closed design that uses heat sinks to dissipate heat. The inside of my Solaris is a dust magnet. I am going to have to dismount and disassemble the unit soon to blow the dust out and clean the cover.
2) The AI lamps mix the blue/white colors of the LEDS much more effectively. My Solaris casts splotches of light on the substrate where you can detect blue and white patches of color. Edges of cast shadows under the Solaris often have warm or cool fringe depending on the particular LED lamp that is causing the projection. It is a subtle effect that I have gotten used to, but the AI fixture seems all but immune to this artifact.
Lastly, some pics of Digital Aquatics RKE Controller. Some of these came out fuzzy...sorry, I was in a hurry at the moment. They demonstrated how the screen backlight can be set to a variety of colors (big whoop...), and showed me the graphing interface (only on the lower right corner of screen), which I thought was really dissapointing, but it does display the high and low values besides the graph. Sorry I did not get a picture of that. However, I really liked how the power bars have the cap-sense buttons for manually turning on/off each outlet(channel). These buttons can be locked/unlocked by pressing any of the buttons for several seconds. I thought the screen was a bit washed out compared to the RK2. I also thought that the RK2 has this simple, clean if not adorable appearance compared to its more powerful/extensible big brother.
Thank you for this report on each of the products. Nothing like innovation (along with competition) to keep competitors on there toes. I've been wondering about AI and their very existence. I believe they are still selling through one outlet. If so, that tells me they build their units one at a time. I don't have any problem with that. I wish I could get one to "test compare" with Solaris without having to pay retail. Not that I'm opposed to paying retail but, there is so little written about the AI unit that it's more of a gamble than I'm willing to take. I took that gamble with PFO and it has proven to be a good one. The full tank picture looks great though. It's tempting me to contact them again.
Dick
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Wish I knew more about this digital age stuff available to aquarists. I feel so inadequately educated on it.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Wish I knew more about this digital age stuff available to aquarists. I feel so inadequately educated on it.
Well Dick, you've already embraced some technology with LEDs, but I think your good sense of biology is worth scads more than any knowledge of technology the rest of us might have...
I may be mistaken, but I think the AI rep was claiming to be one of the two creators of the fixture. This made my friend and I (both 40 years old) feel very old indeed since this nice gentleman seemed like he was somewhere between 26-30 years in age. Young whipper-snappers... I should have asked how many units they had in the field...I'm not much of a reporter or a conversationalist. I am more of a 'man of (convoluted) letters'.
This was my first Marine Aquarium trade show. I first thought I would have six hours to spend at the show, but after a late start and 2 hours of (round trip) driving, I only had 2 hours to cover the show. I didn't even get to hear Jake Adams or Marc Levensen speak. There were also some good raffles going, but winners had to be present at the end of the day...
I did see some things in person that I've only read about. I hooked up with the local (MASLAC) club for the first time, I got to see the legendary Euro-Reef product line, (as well as the formidable and ultra-expensive Bubble King line. I talked to the Reef Nutrition folks about their "Tigger-Pods", saw some beautiful tanks by Elos and Lee Mar, and was even impressed by the acrylic work by CPR aquatic. The Aquafuge line looks much more pretty in person than it does in pictures.
Finally, and most importantly, there were corals at the show. I saw Bobby's fav "Fraggle Reef", who were selling some nice corals at decent prices. There was also some other dealers I have not heard of before, including a wholesaler who was not selling but had some of the nicest corals at the show. The coral "prize" at the show was a Zeroedge hex display, chock full of stunning Acans being sold by Zoa Nuts. They were as beautiful as they were expensive. Their other corals were equally as vibrant. I would definitely consider ordering from them. I did not have the time to acclimate anything once I returned home, so I made no livestock purchases.
On the downside, there was a very few number of hobbyists selling their frags. Many hobbyist tables were empty. There were also several big table inside of local clubs who didn't even show up, and a few other tables that were empty. Perhaps next year(?), the show will be filled out. I doubt I will ever make it to a MACNA, so it would be good if MAX does well enough to return.
Some nice looking stuff there. I'm particularly excited about the RK Elite.
Me too. I have followed all the RC threads and keep up on the DA site as they reveal features.
They still seem on the fence as to what wireless module they will develop (or develop first), Zigbee or 802.1x wireless. The 802.1x would be more standard with existing home computers/networks, but they claimed it would cost about $200. Zigbee would be much much cheaper, but the last thing I need is a Zigbee dongle sticking out of my laptop. I would be happy just to get a wired ethernet module that I can hook into my existing wireless router.
I am a bit uncertain of whether the RKE would add or reduce complexity in my 55g setup. While other people see automation, I see automation marred by potential points of failure. The RKE is more complicated than an RK2, ACjr - and perhaps even a AC3. My setup is so simple, that many features of the RKE would just go unused. For people with more complicated setups, it could be very useful. The price seems very reasonable for a very extensible system.
Being the subversive person that I am, I am already thinking of how I can just buy two $90 RKE power Bars (sans RKE) and just use them as (cap-sense) switched outlets...
Seriously, the RK2 would be perfect for me as long as I was willing to hook up a PC for logging/web serving. Even though logging temps is useful, and accessing stats over the web can offer some peace of mind, neither are essential to successful reef keeping. The one thing I worry about the RK2 is that there is no lock on the control panel to keep kids from changing settings. I would mount it high up on the back wall, but would always be paranoid that the kids would find a way to reach it. I asked the DA rep if they could just modify the firmware to add lock-out functionality, and he replied that it could be done if every last bit of internal memory in the RK2 wasn't already spoken for. There is absolutely no room left.
COOL! I am very interested in a slightly cheaper Vortech. I don't think I could utilize 3000 GPH in my tank anyway.
Also the AI units are interesting. I am not interested in Solaris because they wont mont under my hood too well and with the individual sections I might get by with just two so shoudl save a little dough there.
I didn't even get to hear Jake Adams or Marc Levensen speak. There were also some good raffles going, but winners had to be present at the end of the day... 
V-series Productions 
Linear Mode
