Best innovations in the past few years?

[Pandora]

Hey, old salts of the hobby... you've been around to see fads come and go, technology outdoing technology like a nuclear arms race... skimmers, lights, RO/DI...

What do you think is the best innovation in the reefing hobby in the past 5 years? In the past 10? 20?

[donfishy76]

I would say lighting and skimmers have come a long way! But by far, the best in helping more animals thrive is realizing that a mojority of corals thrive in TONS of water flow! The more flow the better things are for your system!

[tfetter]

I love the hqi DE metal halides.

[anthworks]

15 years ago high-end skimmers, calcuim reactors and MH lighting was not so wide spread and affordable.

[steve the plumb]

by far the internet and this web site

[donfishy76]

and they are affordable now? Have you seen Deltec stuff?

lol

[Pandora]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6709254#post6709254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steve the plumb
by far the internet and this web site

Hey, I like that answer... :thumbsup:

[elephen]

High flow low energy consumption pumps along with better skimmers and lighting for sure. But that doesn't mean nothing if you don't have any information to back it up and go with it, thanks RC :)

[Weatherman]

Tunze Streams.

[threeheaddog]

#1 REEF CENTRAL = because reef info/secrets used to be like gold

#2 live/dry goods delivery = prices selection. cant get at LFS

#3 commercial applications into home reefs = Tunze, ASM, Euroreef

#4 Food = Formula one frozen, DT's, cyclops

#5 Fragging/Aquaculture = ceate a reef using cultured live rock and frags with aquacultured fish and have the ability to make a fully customizeable enviromentally friendly reef.

[angel125]

hey lets not forget our friendly weatherman he always warned us here in florida when a huricane is comming.......hum he even told us we will be having a cold front comming this weekend another good tip for us to keep an eye on our tank temp.....lol.....:rollface:

[gobygoby]

I am going with....

1. Oceans Motions
2. Tunze Wavebox
3. DE lighting
4. Recirc needle wheel skimmers
5. not new but now mainstream - 'fuges

IMO, this hobby changes so much...its hard to put "the most inovative" title on anything...because it will change again in 6 months...or atleast be modified to be better.

:D

I think this hobby advances faster then computers.

[Tunjee]

Flash in the pan mentality says............Wet Dry filters with rolls of DLS material and rotating spray bars make a comeback! jking. My first reef tank had one and created buckets of nitrates. Seriously though, I think in the past 10 years affordable RO/DI filters have made a difference for the better.

[know-it-all]

pump technology is probably the best improvment over the past couple years
15 years ago, pumps were 2x the size they are now,
and had 1/2 the power/volume

with these pumps, energy consumption has gone down
skimmers have been made more productive
(the technology for skimmers hasn't changed that much over the past couple years)
and we have been given stream style pumps

[REV]

Knowledge!! It seems relatively easy now to research so much. I'm glad that people who have the time and money are learning more about tyring to replicate a flourishing marine environment. As far as "gadgets"... it's still pretty new, but as far as available equipment out today, NOTHING replicates a more natural flow with loads of volume in a tank than wave2k... I love mine, but I'll give it some time still to prove itself... If it doesn't work great over the long haul, someone will need to pick up on the flow concept and perfect it, but... so far uncomparable!

[TrojanScott]

I second the use of the internet, and sites like this one.

[gobygoby]

I was going to say books originally. When I first got into the hobby the only books available were around 10+ years old. while still good reading, I wanted to know about what was current. then a year later or so, I would say there was an explosion of books on the market....My fav is Calfo's "Book of coral propagation, Vol 1" ....sure wish he would come out with Vol 2! :)

Guess that kinda goes along with knowledge. our knowledge of the hobby has skyrocketed in recent years with so many DIYers and lots of us in it more so then just to have a pretty tank to look at, lots or propigation, breeding, etc..experiments.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6710318#post6710318 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REV
wave2k... ... so far uncomparable!


....Tunze wavebox.

[REV]

Tunze wavebox may be great equipment, but the flow is NOT the same. The wave box waits on a "bounceback effect" of the water. Wave2k is constantly alternating flow from top to bottom, giving the entire tank a kind of rolling effect that seems to me to be very similar to what a wave would actually do. Not knocking tunze, but still not apples to apples...

[SEAFLOWERS]

I would say the ablity to stop raiding the ocean with all the aquaculturing going on with fish and corals, I guess you could count that as innovation.

[Pandora]

Yeah, sure... to me, innovation doesn't mean just hardware (though these are good inclusions), it means concepts like aquaculture... another good one. Keep em coming... especially comments from people who have been in this for decades... interesting to hear about the evolution of this hobby...

[gobygoby]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6709874#post6709874 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tunjee
Wet Dry filters with rolls of DLS material and rotating spray bars make a comeback! jking. My first reef tank had one and created buckets of nitrates.

:lol: Ya I remember those. and when a sump was truly a sump and nothing more, no baffles, you only put your heater in there and maybe a skimmer.

[balberth]

Things I have now that I wish I had when I started:

1 - Better, cheaper test kits, and a much better understanding of water chemistry vs the needs of our animals.

2 - Better foods - ready availability of things like cyclop eeze, phytoplankton, live pod cultures.

3 - Tied in with #1 widespread commercial availability of additives that actually do something positive ( primarily Ca, Mg and Alk ).

4 - Brighter, more efficient lighting with a lot more choice in spectrum.

5 - Widespread availability and use of RO+DI water.

--Albert