In the United States, aquarium conferences are dominated by hobbyists–they are organized by them and for them. This contrasts to what takes place overseas where the emphasis is truly on industry trade–for example InterZoo and Zoomark. Similar pet industry trade shows do take place in the U.S.; namely the HH Backer show in Chicago. However, these have failed to gain significant traction in the American aquaria realm.

There is certianly a place and a need for the hobby driven conference, but there is also a need for a true industry event. As MACNA is the biggest marine aquarium conference in the United States, the ORCA / MACNA 2010 crew have decided to highlight the often overlooked industry aspects of the event by making Thursday, September 2nd open to wholesale only.

This wholesale only day is free to attend, but limited to those who work inside the industry. To qualify the following items must be faxed for pre-registration:

1. Invoice for aquarium livestock or drygoods purchased from manufacturer or distributor
2. One of the following

• • Resale Tax certificate
  • Business License
  • Utility bill listing store name

Fore information on the event and the wholesale only day visit MACNA2010.com

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One light many people didn’t see at MACNA was Ushio’s new Synergy MR16 LED spotlight. These tiny lamps pack 3 Seoul Semi Conductor LEDs into a tiny MR16 package that consumes just 4w. The Ushio Synergy MR16 LED light is aimed at the retail and architectual lighting industries, but the lighting gurus / Ushio reps confirmed that they will be pitching to higher ups that these lights have a market for blue 460nm version just for us aquarium enthusiasts. Currently the lights are available in 4,500K or 6,500K.

Although these kelvin numbers may elicit a gag reflex–remember that 20Ks are not the only way to make corals pop. Check out this article showing how warm color temperature lamps like 6,500K  can be used to bring out vibrant reds, yellows and oranges.

At roughly 20″ these lights hit over 120 PAR… keep in mind they use only 4 watts! These ought to work well as a true spotlight for nano reef keepers looking to provide an area with higher light, perhaps for a showpiece Acroporid or Tridacnid. They are available in the following beam angles

• 12 degree narrow spot
• 24 degree narrow flood
• 34 degree flood
• 50 degree wide flood

The Ushio MR16 LED was able to throw light across the show room floor and highlight the walls of the building. We can’t wait to see what they’ll do over an aquarium. Retail pricing varies from $50-$100 depending on vendor, kelvin and beam angle–keep in mind these lamps should last over 10 years with 10 hours of use each day!

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Ice Cap’s Reef Illumination line will roll out with a 48″ T5 + LED and a 48″ Metal Halide + T5 + LED unit. Both feature an aluminum body available in silver or black. Mounting over the aquarium can be done with the included hanging kit or mounting feet. An interesting difference between the Halide and T5 versions is fans. The Halide + T5 combo comes equipped with two fans and “cooling channels”, while the pure T5 version lacks them. Noise aside, we’re not sure why IceCap did this, they are well aware of the benefits of active cooling.

The most unique part of this light is what we’ve heard it will be paired with–a Reefkeeper Lite (L1) from Digital Aquatics for an array of timing features. IceCap touts 24hr lighting control with this combinations.

Additional stats and photos can be found below.

Reef Illumination T5

• 4×48″ T5
  • 2 power cords for lighting control
• 4×48″ Lunar Lite LED Tubes
• Acrylic splash shield
• 3 year warranty

Reef Illuminations Metal Halide + T5

• 2×48″ T5 lamps
• 2 Metal halide lamps
• 2×48″ Lunar Lite LED Tubes
• 2 cooling fans
• MH Tempered glass shield
• T5 / LED acrylic splash shield
• 3 years warranty

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A view of the MACNA floor from the back–it was a huge space.

Rod and SaraB representing the IL reefers. Three new Rods Food blends were on display–Fish Eggs, Algae, and Pacific Plankton.

TECO chillers always has a great display, and the best lemonade–kept at a cool 37F.

EcoTech brought the full Vortech pump line and brought a nice LCD TV to show off their revamped website. More to come on EcoTech and some interesting ideas for Vortech placement.

Colin of Coral Morphologic showed up sustainably collected Ricordea florida.

If it’s not hot, then it wasn’t in this display by Todd and Brett of Cherry Corals. This tank was illuminated by LET Lighting’s module T5 system. This tank was full of LPS wonders.

PremiumAquatics showed off the Euro goods, like the Aqua Driver Skim Clean.

John “Copps” Coppolino giving his talk on Angelfish. John is a great guy and a good friend–I assure you will not find anyone more passionate about Pomacanthidae than him. In his slide you can see a photo of him with GBD contributor Tetsuo Otake in Japan.

Curt of Neptune Systems showing off their Apex Controller

UV Lighting exhibited their range of T5 lamps

Plenty of bright corals on display–this Fungia was a looker

On Sunday we said our goodbyes while many anxiously waited to hear the number called in the raffle. It was a Floridian who walked away with the 300g tank–good luck to Julio with that set up.

A special thanks to Manhattan Reefs for throwing a great party Saturday night, full of cocktails, guitar hero and a bizarre mix of wigs and devil horns. I am sure some of those stories and photos will become MACNA relics in the years to come. Florida has a big act to follow, but we’re sure it will be just as good–See you there in 2010.

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For the first time in North America, Deltec showed off their new TC and SC line of skimmers that feature a bundle of new Deltec features–namely the OEM AquaBee / Deltec 5000 Deltec Pump, enlarged neck and air silencer.

The external TC line is unique in that it recirculates in a chamber directly below the bubble plate. This has a pressurizing effect from the feed into the skimmer, which helps reduce the back pressure put on the pumps. For normal flow applications the pressure is non-existent, but because air is being drawn into the pump from outside of the skimmer, the height of the water inside skimmer can reduce air intake levels. These heavily modified AB5000 pumps are capable of pulling 1,500 lph at 25w–and we can attest to their quiet operation.

The internal SC line features a “sump saver” design with the AB / Deltec 5000 pumps mounted inside the skimmer body injecting into the skimmer. We were curious as to how Deltec designed this because the bubble plated is not sealed like most and a pump injecting straight upwards would create plenty of turbulence.

The Deltec TC and SC bubble plates featuresa perforated “lid”, with open gaps on the side of the chamber. To reduce turbulence out of the pump, Deltec attached a length of tube to the output–but it’s capped, with slotted vents along the sides for a diffuse output of air and water. Also notice the distance the venturi is from the actual pump intake.

The TC and SC 2060, 2560, and 3070 are leaps for Deltec, but compared to what has been available on the market and their pricing…they may have arrived a bit too late to the party. We’ll have to see, Deltec fans are tried and true.

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For me, one of the most exciting products at MACNA was Nano Custom’s PAR38 LED lamp. These lamps screw into your standard E26 household socket, but unlike traditional spotlights the Nano Customs PAR 38 unit is powered by 5 CREE XR-E LEDs driven at ~750mA for roughly 15w of electric consumption. For the first time true spotlights for reefs may become a reality in North America.

The lights currently retail for $119.95 and come in two versions–12K & 20K. The 12k is comprised of (3) white XREs and (2) royal blue XREs, while the 20K uses (2) whites and (3) royal blues. At roughly 20″ the 12K lamps was hitting over 220 PAR–Not included in those numbers is the incredible colors that royal blue LEDs can bring out in corals.

The optics had a fairly tight spread, I would guess 30-40 degrees based on the height they had them mounted. However, Clive (evilc66) of Nano Customs hinted that optics as tight as 8 degrees were available for those wanting a more focused and higher intensity light.

The high intensity of the LEDs makes it difficult for camera’s to capture their true color–shown below is a 12K lamp with 3 white and 2 royal blue LEDs.

Nano Customs PAR38 LED Spotlight is a simple plug-n-play reality that can be universally applied to nearly all reef aquariums. Clamp on lights, track lighting, even desk fixtures can be converted into a simple direct-able and energy efficient light source for your reef tank.

I have personally tried over 10 different types of LED spotlights ranging from 5mm LEDs to Cree XREs in Cast and Machined aluminum heat-sinks from the U.S., China and everywhere in between. Based on what we saw at MACNA, I would rank Chris and Clive’s Par 38 Spotlight ranks very high. I cannot make any direct comparisons yet, but we have a feeling these lights will outperform similar LED spotlight models currently available. Many other LEDs are plagued by wiring issues and poor quality LEDs, if Nano Custom’s can overcome this they will have a very popular and useful light for the masses.

For all, but the tiniest pico reefs these lights will be for supplemental purposes, but that does not make them any less significant. I strongly believe that coral specific lighting is the future of reef aquarium lighting. With mixed reefs, this will require the use of spotlights. For more information on utilizing LED spotlights see one of our past articles here: LED Spotlights and Reef Aquariums.

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The ORA Platinum Perculas got plenty of attention at MACNA. They have been released for sometime now, but are still a hot commodity to most aquarists due to their limited availability and high price. What I find most unique about these fish is their facial markings—here is where the fish can have distinction from one another as patches of orange blend in spattered patterns of the prevailing white—or platinum—body color.

ORA also showed off their new Striped Fang Blenny (Meiacanthus grammistes). These were seen in their display tank intermixing with clowns, gobies and dottybacks.

When speaking with ORA we got word of some new clownfish variants and their hope to eventually create a WYSIWYG website to supersede their current “Grade” system for clownfish and hybrid variants. This is most prevalent with Picasso Clownfish, where they are forced to quantify organic and unique markings to fit a certain level, such as “Grade A”. Each fish is unique and so are everyone’s personal tastes. If done right, such as LiveAquaria’s Diver’s Den, it could be a hit at either the wholesale or retail level.

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Sightings of Elos gear was quite rare in Atlantic City—but this ePower / eLite combo was a worthy addition to MACNA and true to the Italian company’s style. Featured at the Unique Corals exhibit, the Elos unit features two 250w DE metal halides in ePower parabolic reflectors, connected to an all blue elite via the Elos Manta lighting bracket. We’re not crazy about the UFO-esque look this reef lighting combination achieves, but it is unique. Unique enough to be the only Elos product at the event? Probably not. Jesse when is Elos USA going to put on a real display like InterZoo? Kidding, but we can dream.

Light spread from the unit was better than expected. There was fairly even blending among the three light sources, with the LEDs providing that extra pop on corals in the middle—don’t take my word for it, take a peak at this stunning Acropora under the Blue LEDs of the eLite.

Despite the legal environment of LED lighting for saltwater and reef aquariums, they made a splash at MACNA. And if you have not been able to tell yet, reef lighting made up some of the most exciting products at the event.

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Seachem has continued to develop and expand their Aquavitro line of supplements thanks to their new Salinity Salt mix. Salinity salt will be made by Seachem in house using a proprietary mix of elements to provide what they are calling a high concentrated salt–meaning less salt will be required to hit 35ppt.

The exact parameter values have not yet been settled on, but we do hear the pH value will be decreased from the initial 8.8 that they released when first promoting Salinity. One Seachem rep said they expect the mix to roughly hit the following parameter values (note – numbers are not official):

• 8.6 pH
• 3.5 meq/l Alkalinity
• 440 calcium
• 1300-1400 ppm Magnesium

Living up to the premium look of the salt, each Salinity batch that is made will be tested by a lab and the parameter values for each respective batch will be included on the bucket. Two thumbs up on this idea. Between settling and test kit error, we don’t expect this to become an industry standard… but it is a good way to distinguish their product.

We appreciate the forthright position Seachem is taking. Hopefully this will help aquarists improve parameter values while insuring a level of confidence in a new salt mix.

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Julian Sprung attended MACNA in full force, giving a thought provoking talk on hybridization while also representing his company Two Little Fishies. TLF brought in their popular products such as ReVive Coral Dip and Phosban, but they also had some new unassuming products to show. One of which is this new magnetic algae clip. The version shown below is a handmade prototype, production is expected to start up soon.

At first glance this looks like a common offering. But these magnets are embossed with a unique material that creates a static cling against the glass, while also being able to float should they come loose. The rubber -like material on both magnets is strong enough to hold itself in place, without the aid of magnetism, to a curved surface. Julian demonstrated this on a Phosban reactor, and sure enough the magnet held itself up. These magnets are also strong enough for 3/4″ glass–plenty for most rimless tank owners.

TLF also showed off the new  Phosban 550 Reactor that we first shared one year ago. As compared to the smaller Phosban 150 reactor, this model offers some slight changes in the lid design. Other than this it is an enlarged version for those who wish to run more media.

There are a lot of new undertakings going on at TLF and we’re looking forward to what they release next. If they follow the simple, useful and utility-like nature of their past line up– we’re sure they will not disappoint.

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