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Sneak Peek at Aquaroche’s InterZoo Bound Reef Ceramics

eric michael — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:00:19 +0000

French reef ceramic specialists AquaRoche have been busy preparing for the big show in Germany. Arguably the most important aquarium trade show, InterZoo is quickly approaching and here’s a sneak peek at what AquaRoche will be showing in Hall 6.

While there are only so many ways to reinvent their established product, AquaRoche will be showing off their revamped Reef System. It consists of pillars and backgrounds with caves that can double as a small ledge, or extended with a larger shelf called an eco reef plate. As I showed using dry rock, reef ceramics such as these are extremely easy to adhere to one another.

The placement of ledges allows more creativity to the end user, but we’re still hoping to see some new interesting shapes and structures from the French ceramic outfit. For now it looks like AquaRoche will leave that to its end users, using their loose ceramic rocks and eco plates.

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Tunze Silence, quietest pump ever? Sicce & Oceanlife on the mark with Syncra too

eric michael — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:39:18 +0000

We covered this new Tunze Silence pump back from Interzoo, but now it is finally available at Tunze (Pronounced “Toon-zah”) dealers. Interestingly as Tunze was revealing this pump at the show, so was Sicce under the name Syncra Silent. They look identical and most of the parts, namely the motor are likely to be the same. It is of course not beyond Tunze to modify parts such as bearings, shafts and magnets. Especially since they recently ditched the Sicce PSK2500 skimmer pump in favor of a new Tunze OEM pump.

There are two models, one that pushes 634gph @ 30w (1073.020) and the larger version that pushes 792gph @ 42w (1073.040). The performance chart for the 634gph 1073.020 model is on the left, with the 792gph 1073.040 model on the right.

The Sicce Syncra Silent also comes in two models, the 2.0 and 3.0. The 2.0 is said to push 568gph @ 35w and the 3.0 714gph @ 48w. These numbers are obviously different than those listed by Tunze. Either Tunze has modified the pump in someway or Sicce has not compensated for U.S. 60hz difference. My guess is a combination. The above wattages are at 120V and 3w higher then those listed for Italy. As a comparison, here is the Sicce Syncra Silent, photo by Danillo Ronchi (Be sure to check out his blog, for an Italian perspective on reef aquaria).

Here is what Sicce has to say about the Syncra Silent Pumps:

“Thanks to Sicce’s 35 years of experience, Syncra Silent are equipped with a synchronous motor and an advanced rotor which makes the pumps 100% silent.”

Some companies are seeing value in these whisper quiet touted pumps. Oceanlife a new Italian manufacturer clearly shows this is their pump of choice. The Reactor and Skimmers shown in the rendering below were also shown at Interzoo along with their carbon dosing / bacterioplankton line off additives. A relatively new and unknown company, don’t be surprised if you see Oceanlife outside of Italy, as well as other blogs covering the line after getting word here.

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Vitrea | Can lighting be sexy?

eric michael — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:15:30 +0000

Before proceeding, set aside all previous thoughts of aquarium lighting; No more spaceships or alien abduction machines. Vitrea has created what I would argue is the sexiest aquarium light yet. Of course it is meant for the freshies, they always seem to be a step ahead of the marine side of the hobby when it comes to design.

Leave it to the Italians to integrate metal LED heat sinks into a slick glass bridge.

This light is both sexy and beautiful. This is the first example of aquarium lighting that we have seen that has taken LEDs and created something out of reach of traditional light sources. Even the brackets of this light that enable it to sit on the rim of the tank are beautiful.

We hope that Vitrea will market this to the reef crowd with high output LEDs and a higher kelvin color. Could you imagine this over an ADA rimless?

A special thanks to Danilo Ronchi and Marco Rosetti for giving us special use of using their photos from InterZoo 2008.

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Elos | e-power 250w naked or with IceCap ballast

eric michael — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:35:51 +0000

More information and pricing has been released for the new 250w Elos e-Power HQI Metal Halide pendants. Per Jesse of Elos USA:

e-power 250w with IceCap ballast- $579.99

e-power naked 250w with cord only- $449.99

All include 3 year warranty, hanging kit and glass cover.

Tentative arrival in the US at the end of July.

The e-powers will also be available in 150w should you choose. We wonder if the Italian flag is a sticker or actual enamel…? You may also remember the e-power and e-lite bracket from InterZoo.

We really like the raw metal reflector, but wouldn’t mind seeing the bracket mount in a matte Audi Dolphin Gray like Elos offers for their Planet Fixtures (second from left).

Although IceCap makes a fine ballast, it’s nice to see the e-power available “naked”, allowing the user to use his or her ballast of choice.

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InterZoo 2008 | Aquarium Systems New Jet

eric michael — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:14:29 +0000

No stranger to quality pumps, Aquarium Systems has created the New Jet. Displaying in Germany at InterZoo 2008, it looks like Aquarium Systems has hopped on the bandwagen. The recent surge in popularity of Pond Pumps for Saltwater Applications has created new limits for protein skimmers.

The new Jet is being marketed as a “Utility Pump”, yet as you can see in the image below Aquarium System has already seen it’s value for skimming applications and has created a Needle Wheel impeller for the 2500 model. With an enlarged volute and output, I am sure DIY Reefers are drooling over an Enkamat Mesh Mod on this pump. Knowing the quality of the infamous Maxi-Jet powerhead line we are sure this is a quality pump. Plus it says Made it Italy… come on.

Worth noting, this pump is used by Marineland for their new Advanced In-Sump Protein Skimmer. The line currently has 5 models ranging from 7-58 watts and pumping 105-775 gph.

Special thanks to Sebastien @ Clam for the respective images.

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InterZoo 2008 | Aqua Medic

eric michael — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:53:51 +0000

Aqua Medic showed off their new Blue 1000 and Blue 3000 skimmers and corresponding filters. Taking note from the DIY Reefer’s choice- Enkamat mesh, they have flattened it between a Needlewheel washer. Aqua Medic also showed their new Blue Reef Sump filtration system. Special thanks to Sebastien for the photos.

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InterZoo 2008 | Tropical Marine Centre

eric michael — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:33:36 +0000

Tropical Marine Center (TMC) introduced some new exciting products in Germany last month. Popular in the UK, we wouldn’t mind seeing some of these come to our side of the pond. Photos as marked, are property of Sebastien Person Bernis of Clam34.

To go along with LED theme at the show, TMC showed their new Aqua Ray LED supplemental light.

Touted as an economical standalone or supplement these small little LED bar’s consume only 12w each and are said to add shimmer to non point source lights such as T5’s. They will be offered in a variety of Kelvin’s allowing users to pick which color temperature and spectrum will benefit their tank most.

Also shown was their new Nano V Skim Protein Skimmer. Rated up to 31 gallons, this compact skimmer was made to completely come apart via its hinged design for easy cleaning. Perhaps the square design will allow it to fit in “nano-cube” type reefs?

Check out these new “V2 React” calcium reactors, regulators and Co2 cylinders. We love the smaller cylinder’s brushed aluminum body and polished regulator.

Head over to TMC for more info and details on all these new products.

Thanks to Sebastien for allowing us to use his photos.

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Korallen Zucht HOB Skimmer | new photo

eric michael — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:06:15 +0000

As we covered in Korallen Zucht’s InterZoo release, they have created a hang on the back cone skimmer. Due to size it looks to be using a venturi injector, and not a becket like larger models. Also note the bubble plate.

KZ is rating the skimmer for up to 700L or 185 US Gallons. Judging by the neck size and overall dimensions, we feel that is highly inflated… but who knows, for ultra low nutrient systems it may prove accurate. Thanks to 3reef for bringing this to our attention.

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InterZoo 2008 – Sfiligoi Releases more info

eric michael — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:10:37 +0000

We showed some photos of Sfiligoi’s latest LED fixture. Although in the same metal skin, we mis-named it as a Stealth. Sfiligoi is calling it the Galaxy and have released additional specs on it. The Galaxy will be available in all LED and LED+T5 configurations, as shown here.

This photo from InterZoo was taken by our friend Nestor (Buffer)

One of the selling points Sfiligoi is pushing is bulb replacement. It should relatively easy as you can see that each LED is an individual bulb and socket. Great news about this is it should allow you to chose your bulb placement and highlight individual corals. E.g. Red LED over Pink Birdsnest Blue LED over Blue Tort. We’ve been experimenting with this idea for some time, and it’s great to see a company take this approach. The only possible reservation we have with the Galaxy is intensity.

High Intensity Cree LED Bulb

We have experimented with quite a few LED spot’s and none have the intensity to replace current Metal Halide and T5 lighting. Perhaps this is why Sfiligoi offers T5’s in conjunction with LED’s? The bulb below looks like near exact to those used in the Sfiligoi fixture.

Right now, we don’t know much. Maybe Sfiligoi is using a brand new 100+ lumen per watt LED and it does pack a punch. Intensity and efficiency numbers aside we feel given the “bulb” nature of each LED a much more attractive and less bulky fixture could have been made. The bulbs themselves are actually attractive with the built in metal heat sink… why not show a little bulb?

Sfiligoi.it – for more info on the new lines presented at InterZoo.

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InterZoo 2008 – Bubble King DC + Supermarin 300

eric michael — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:44:51 +0000

For information on Royal Exclusiv’s Larger DC pumps and Self Cleaning heads check our previous InterZoo post.

Klaus has released details on their new adjustable brushless DC skimmer pump. They have a variety of DC flow pumps from 1500-400 watts, but this smaller 170w model is primarily targeted for skimmer use. With max flow of 15,000l/h (~4,000gph) it has an adjustable air intake of 1000-2500 lph.

Best of all it comes with a controller to adjust RPM from 1000-3600 RPM on US electric, or 600-3300 RPM for our foreign readers. By adjusting the RPM it will allow users to perfectly dial in air and water input into the skimmer and control electric consumption. Note the extremely large and unrestrictive input and output.

No photos, but we do have some stats for the Supermarin 300. Taking a unique approach this model will come with two pumps under the premise of Master and Slave. The Controllable DC pump shown above will of course be the Master, with a Mini Bubble King pump pulling in 1700lph being the slave. This set-up will allow complete air control ranging from 1700lph-4000lph.

Watch out for the Mini-Red Dragon 2 for the Mini Bubble King line coming in late 2008.

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