Hello Folks
Robert from Marine Depot here
and we have a very special episode in store for you guys
We just rapped up our yearly showing at Reefapalooza Orange County
and this year we spent some time to speak one on one with some very special guests
in attendance at the show
So stay tuned to see some live interviews with Neptune Systems, CoralVue and MelevsReef
Our first interview was with Chris Conti from CoralVue
who shows us a couple of new and exciting products that are coming to Marine Depot in 2018
Robert: Alright guys, we are here with at Reefapalooza Orange County with CoralVue
Robert: This is Chris
Robert: Chris, how you doing?
Chris: Hi Guys
Robert: Hes got some new stuff to show us, specifically the new Razor
Robert: which we are super excited about
Robert: So Chris tell us a little bit more about the razor.
Chris: Alright Guys, this is replacing the old Razor thats been out for about 4 or 5 years now.
Chris: New Razor. It comes in this nice sleek black color.
Chris: It has an onboard controller.
Chris: But it also, you can add the Maxspect connect for Wifi connectability.
Chris: There will be an app for it.
Chris: We have four channels of control right now.
Chris: And these are linkable
Chris: So master-slave situation where you can go as many as up to 10, 15, 20.
Robert: WIth the Maxspect Connect right?
Chris: With the Maxspect Connect.
Robert: So what I'm hearing here with the Maxspect Connect, you'll be able to integrate
the gyre pumps as well as the lights
Chris: It'll operate just about everything right now
Chris: Everything that Maxspect makes, the Connect will operate.
Chris: So we have the Gyes, we have the Razors, we have the Ethreal , and now we have the Turbine pump
Chris: So all of them will have their own app.
Robert: Ok, and when are we looking to have the new Razor available?
Chris: New Razor will be available right around Thanksgiving.
Chris: I'm going to say maybe right before or right after.
Chris: but its coming soon.
Robert: and if I'm not mistaken, you can pre-order on Marine Depot right now.
Chris: Oh absolutely.
Chris: It comes with the legs
Chris: Hanging kit is optional.
Chris: It does have fans.
Chris: Fans will come on if your vent is in a canopy.
Chris: or if the temperature exceeds 125 degrees.
Chris: But, here is the new Razor.
Robert: I really like the profile of it too. Its smaller.
Chris: Its smaller and the heatsink is actually, this thing has not gotten even remotely hot.
Robert: I'm kind of excited about this Klir thing over here.
Robert: This is the first time I got to see them and I'm suprised how small they are.
Robert: They're actually nice and compact.
Chris: Very compact. Say goodbye to filter socks guys.
Chris: Now we have the Klir units.
Chris: Pretty much can handle any sized aquarium.
Chris: Water flows through, goes through the media,
Chris: Media gets clogged, theres a couple sensors here.
Chris: So the Water level will raise as the media clogs,
Chris: and it will tell the smart controller to rotate the filter media.
Chris: Then the level goes back down, and it operates. Very smart design.
Robert: And these are available now?
Chris: These are actually available near mid December, right before Christmas.
Robert: And Marine Depot is going to have these?
Chris: Absolutely, I think they're going to be the first ones actually.
Chris: Replacement rolls, this is 50 micron. I'm thinking $25-$30 for a replacement.
Chris: Maybe a little subscription thing
Robert: Offer refills, that would be really neat.
Robert: How long is this lasting for you guys?
Robert: I know it depends on the tank
Chris: It depends on the size, but I'm thinking you are going to get a minimum of 30 days.
Chris: or up to 6 weeks.
Robert: Depending on the situation.
Chris: Depending on the size yeah.
Chris: Depending on how big your tank is and how dirty everything is.
Robert: Very cool. Well thanks Chris.
Robert: I appreciate you giving us some time.
The new Razor and Klir filters are going to be available on Marine Depot in the following months
so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow along with us on social media
to stay up to date with the latest product releases from CoralVue.
Our next interview is with somebondy who has done some really amazing work for the hobby in general
and works tirelessly to spread his love for aquariums.
Mark Levenson is the creator of Melev's Reef
which is an awesome website thats full of educational content and articles
so stick around to see what Marc has been up to!
Robert: Hi guys, we're here at Reefapalooza Orange County
Robert: with Mr. Marc Levenson.
Robert: For those of you guys who don't know,
Robert: Marc is the man behind MelevsReef
Robert: So Marc, why don't you tell us a bit about what MelevsReef is?
Marc: Well its an online educational website
Marc: I have been documenting things for over 10 years.
Marc: So theres at least 1000 articles on the website,
Marc: and I've been trying to get the new version of my website out since last November.
Marc: I still have 287 articles to move.
Marc: but once its done, I'll be mobile friendly which I think the world will love.
Robert: So, you recently aquired a CNC machine, which is really cool.
Marc: Her name is Minion
Robert: So whats your favorite project you're working on with the CNC so far?
Marc: Well its, ok. So a CNC machine sounds so easy
Marc: because basically its a 3-axis router,
Marc: that will left, right, up, down.
Marc: and front to back, so thats the 3-axis.
Marc: And you design what you are going to draw, or you draw it out and you tell it cut
Marc: and then you think, from now on I can just push play and it will cut it out every time.
Mawrc: Every time, she kind of does her own thing.
Marc: and sometimes I get a good cut, and sometimes I get a bad cut,
Marc: and sometimes a piece goes flying, and sometimes it doesn't cut through enough!
Robert: So theres a learning curve so to speak?
Marc: It never stops!
Marc: Anyway, it has allowed me to do new shapes.
Marc: Because everything before, I mean I still do rectangles, I still have this thing against anything round.
Marc: But now I can do interesting cutouts on the top, I can do slits in the bubble towers.
Marc: It lets me do all my custom work,
Marc: because almost everything I build for my customers is custom.
Robert: So you're doing a lot of custom installs?
Marc: Custom sumps, custom top-off containers, custom refugiums.
Marc: They all need a certain size to fit their exact stand.
Marc: I have no cookie cutter products essentially.
Marc: Which would probably make me more money if I made like 1000 of something
Marc: but I keep building one thing at a time to the exact specs of the customer's demands.
Robert: So you run a YouTube channel as well right?
Marc: I do! I'm competing with you!
Robert: Well with Youtube, what have you found its done for your website and your business essentially?
Marc: Its kind of funny, I fought tooth and nail not to do YouTube,
Marc: because I have all the articles on my website.
Marc: and I said "All they have to do is read! Its so easy!"
Marc: and people said, "Marc you have to do YouTube."
Marc: and I kind of forced my way into doing it, because this generation likes to watch it rather than read it.
Marc: and even then, I'm going to call all of you out!
Marc: and Roberts going to check later in google analytics,
Marc: Hes going to watch this video, lets say this video is 10 minutes long,
Marc: and hes going to see average view time, 4 minutes.
Marc: Cause some of you guys quit early, some of you guys jump ahead,
Marc: We know what you're doing
Robert: I am guilty of that, I am very guilty of that.
Robert: I scrub until I see what I want to hear.
Marc, But theres a neat trick that you can do which is phenomanal, and I use all the time on YouTube,
Marc: you can do the 1.5x speed, and you do that
Marc: and they talk faster, and they stop breathing, and they get to the point.
Marc: So you can speed this up if I'm talking to slowly,
Marc: Or I can talk really fast so then you have to slow this down to understand what I'm saying.
Robert: So you recently cleaned your reef up and fragged it, so lets start with why?
Marc: Ok, all the corals had grown into this mass at the top of my reef.
Marc: So heres the water, the coral is touching the water like this.
Marc: Everything underneath was in shade. It was all dying.
Marc: I just watched things just die.
Marc: And theres nothing I can do besides cut coral,
Marc: and of course I never cut coral because why would I do that.
Marc:So I have this big beast of a colony and I have a phenomenal picture of it,
Marc: where we took it out and it was probably about that wide, in one piece,
Marc: We lifted it out, the guys fragged it because I couldn't bare to touch it,
Marc: So they're on the floor fraggin, I'm pulling out more dead stuff.
Marc: I made a lot of room, and I gave it away to people that were there that day.
Marc: It was a viewing party. they had BBQ, they had drinks, and they got frags.
Marc: And when I got off work at the end of the day, I had this new looking tank that I really didn't like
Marc: and all that stuff was gone so I didn't even have to think about it,
Marc: which was really thebest thing you could have.
Marc is an absolute character and if you ever get the chance to meet him be sure to stop and say hello,
as I'm sure you'll walk away with a laugh and learn something at the same time.
Also don't forget to visit his website to check out all the amazing content Marc has created.
Last but certainly not least is one of the most exciting new products introduced in 2017
The Neptune Systems Trident is an automatic water testing station
that will log and test calcium, alkalinity and magnesium levels in your reef tank.
We sat down and spoke with Terence with Neptune Systems to learn a little bit more about the new Trident.
Robert: Alright, we are here with Terence of Neptune Systems,
Robert: Terence, how you doing?
Robert: So you've got a new product here, the Trident? Tell us more about it.
Terence: Well we showed this off at MACNA, it was a big debut for us.
Terence: Back in San Diego, 2016, we met up with Tim Welsh and looked at an alkalinity monitor that he had put together,
Terence: was showing around to everybody.
Terence: and we started to deal with him to figure out how to develop an alkalinity monitor,
Terence: and along the way I pretty much said "Hey, thats great,
Terence: but lets go for the Holy Grail.
Terence: Lets go for the Holy Trinity, lets try and see if we can make it happen."
Terence: and worked on it for a few months,
Terence: and he came back with some stuff and we were blown away at what we were able to do.
Terence: We were able to monitor alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium with one device.
Robert: So essentially, how does it work?
Terence: So the device its self, obviously it sits next to your aquarium,
Terence: Its got two tubes out the back, one tube goes into your tank,
Terence: one tube goes into your waste water container.
Terence: There's no rinsing, there's no RODI, or anything else necessary.
Terence: Inside the device are the reagents.
Terence: There's three bottles. Those three bottles will basically last you for a month,
Terence: for all three of those tests
Terence: at the rate of four alkalinity tests a day, two magnesium tests, two calcium tests a day.
Robert: Thats awesome! When are we looking at having it available? Whens it going to be ready?
Terence: The Trident is going to become available to our insiders at the first quarter of 2018
Terence: Its slated to come out by the end of Q2 in 2018 for the general public.
Terence: Its going to come in at about $500 to $600
Terence: Its going to require the new Apex,
Terence: We know its a sticking point for some people, but its a technology thing.
Terence: I assure you there is no grand conspiracy here.
Terence: And the reagents you're going to basically be able to get two months of reagents in a pack for $40.
Terence: to do that level of testing, so 4 alkalinity, 2 magnesium, 2 calcium a day.
Terence: Like 7 cents a test.
Robert: So hows it work with the DOS?
Terence: So, the whole Idea is its great to know these numbers,
Terence: but what if you could actually have your system keep everything at just the right level for your tank,
Terence: and be completely safe so that you don't have to have any overdose
Terence: or anything like that, its going to know kind of what your tank should use,
Terence: monitor itall the time, and use our DOS system to add two part, magnesium back into to the tank.
Robert: When its connected with the DOS, is that going to be somethings thats all advanced programing?
Terence: Absolutely not! Basically you're going to go in there and say take care of my aquarium.
Terence: I've got this kind of an aquarium, go in monitor my alkalinity, keep my alkalinity at 8.4,
Terence: and its going to figure it all out for you and keep it level.
Robert: Well I'm super excited to get my hands on this.
Terence: Well sooner or later, probably 1st quarter.
Can you imagine, finally a product thats going to be able to paint a clear picture of the major elements inside of your reef tank,
without ever having to touch a test kit?
All of us here at Marine Depot are thrilled to get our hands on the new Trident
We are so thrilled in fact that we awarded the Neptune Systems Trident
With our 2017 best in show award!
This was one of nine products recognized in 2017
and if you'd like to see all nine of the winners, you can follow the link in the video description below.
Reefapalooza is an awesome event that all of us at MarineDepot look forward to each and every year
The show was created by reef keepers like you and I to be a fun event for every level of hobbyist
You will see a ton of new products, a myriad of coral and livestock vendors,
as well as educational workshops and presentations from some of the industry's greatest minds.
This year we filmed and documented three of the presentations that took place at Reefapalooza
These videos will soon be released on our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe to us below.
I want to send a huge thank you to the Southern California Marine Aquarium Society
for putting on yet another wonderful Reefapalooza
and I want to thank all of you guys for supporting Marine Depot
and helping us to create fun videos just like this.
Until next time, take care and happy reef keeping!