Innovation in the hobby

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Hi Everyone,

I am curious to hear everyones opinions on what are the most innovative products in the hobby right now, and what type of innovative products you would like to see in the future.

I also was curious if people think these products and their bells and whistles are worth the prices?

For example the ecotech mp line has a completely unique feature, but you pay for it dearly.

I think the benefits vs the costs of most products will be a driving force in whether or not the hobby grows in the future so I would love to get some opinions on this.

Thanks everyone for your input

 

[randomfishdude]

Maybe thoes apex things. I don't have one but having something that tests for you is pretty cool.

I want to see a frozen food autofeeder. I'm working on making one but who knows if I'll sucseed.

 

[Thalasstronaut]

Maybe thoes apex things. I don't have one but having something that tests for you is pretty cool.

I want to see a frozen food autofeeder. I'm working on making one but who knows if I'll sucseed.

How would that work? Some sort of small refrigerated section that feeds into a holding coffer of sorts for the food to thaw? That could be really interesting.

 

[randomfishdude]

How would that work? Some sort of small refrigerated section that feeds into a holding coffer of sorts for the food to thaw? That could be really interesting.

Pretty much.
I have a thread on it. Shows most of the ideas and progress I have.

 

[JZ199]

I think a lot of innovation is convenience based.

I absolutely love my ATO system, but it's not necessary to succeed, it's just super convenient to not have to monitor my water level or remember to refill it. I feel its the same with the APEX and dosing systems, I would love to get them eventually and be able to monitor and dose everything remotely, but right now the cost overrides the benefit of me owning one.

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

I think the biggest leaps forward in this hobby have been the prices coming down on lots of equipment. When I got into this hobby 15 years ago the only ATO option was the Tunze Osmolator which was great but it was over 150 dollars I am sure adjusted for inflation that is over $200 but now you can get some good ATOs for less than $100. I remember when the only dosing pump was the SpectraPure Liter Meter which was $250 for 1 head and over $100 for each additional head and now there are dosing pumps less than $100. I remember the first variable speed power heads from Tunze costing several hundred dollars each and now there are plenty of good ones around the $100 mark.

Unfortunately, all of these things were not considered necessary in the past. You could top off manually, dose by hand, and use basic Korallia power heads but now people feel that these are necessities. This leads to the illusion that the hobby is getting more expensive but in many cases it is getting more approachable.

 

[JayM]

I’d love to see an invert safe treatment for common diseases that actually works, but I’m not holding my breath.

It’d also be nice to see an industry standard for electrical devices so that most anything would be compatible with whatever automation system you happen to prefer. Again, not holding my breath.

 

[fish farmer]

I think a lot of innovation is convenience based.

I absolutely love my ATO system, but it's not necessary to succeed, it's just super convenient to not have to monitor my water level or remember to refill it. I feel its the same with the APEX and dosing systems, I would love to get them eventually and be able to monitor and dose everything remotely, but right now the cost overrides the benefit of me owning one.

I agree remote monitoring is a good thing...but how much do you trust it.

I have a huge liquid oxygen tank at work. Telemetry didn't work well, so we monitored the drop and called the gas company to fill at 30 percent.

Recently they got the telemetry to work so we didn't have to email when we were low...in essence us not monitoring our usage. Well... something let loose either last week or over the weekend or sooner, we don't know. The tank was filled around Thanksgiving. We probably lost 500 to 700 gallons , luckily no fish died.

I found the leaky hose, but we are back to checking and emailing just in case.

 

[TX_REEF]

• powerful LED units. These are a gamechanger vs the days when halide or T5s were the end-all be-all. Lots of cheap LEDs are almost or just as good as "name brand" for coral growth, if not as sleek
• fleece rollers! i love my reefmat, it's so much better than cleaning filter socks constantly
• An innovation I'd love to see is a sleekly designed flush/surge/dump device. It seems to me that a flushing surge device is able to create the most "natural" chaotic waves to emulate the ocean. I'd love to have one, but all the DIY units are basically giant buckets with toilet hardware. not at all aesthetically pleasing for a streamlined setup. Remember going to those kiddie water parks where they had the giant bucket that would slowly fill with water and then dump out when full? Something like that on a smaller scale and with some sort of built-in failsafes to prevent overflow or flooding would be awesome.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Honestly seeing how a lot of stuff is automated these days is pretty cool. I can see where it can be a negative for some people, but it can help for those who want to have a tank, but might forget to do some of the smaller task like water testing or topping off water.