ChromisReef.com is dead- Long live ChromisReef.com!

Dear readers,

My domain name (ChromisReef.com) has expired and will not be renewed.

After nearly a decade in the aquarium hobby and industry, I have temporarily (or possibly permanently) left the hobby to partake in other things in life that I enjoy (like keeping my money in my pocket, not my tank- WOOOAAA ZING!).

It has been fun sharing about my aquarium, tested products and new exciting products on the market. Without this blog, I may have lost interest much sooner.

I'd like to say thank you to my visitors that helped motivate me to post about whatever product or tank change I made. Also, while I received no monetary assistance from manufacturers, I'd like to send special thanks to the great teams at Marine Depot and PetStore.com for linking to my blog, providing me with products to test, and other assistance. Kudos to you guys!

Going forward, I will leave this site at it's hosted address: http://chromisreef.blogspot.com

Please feel free to browse around. I hope my few pages help you on your journey and help get someone into (or further into) the great world of freshwater and marine aquariums.

Thanks again, and keep on reefing!


Until next time,


Chris "Chromie" R.
ChromisReef.com

Goldfish are cool!

I've been kicking the idea around of setting up a freshwater aquarium. I've been deciding between a freshwater shrimp aquarium with live plants or a goldfish aquarium.

While browsing for information, I ran across this little gem: The Goldfish Tank. I don't usually share other websites, but this site is full of useful information on the care of goldfish from tank, to feeding, to fish illness. If you're an aquarium enthusiast, it's worth a browse... If not for goldfish, for the great goldfish cartoon drawings on the site!

Until Next Time...

Ecotech Marine Coral Fragging Tool Kit

Ecotech Marine Coral Fragging Tool Kit

Just in time for your holiday wishlist, the Ecotech Marine Coral Fragging Tool Kit is here...

The first thing that I have seen posted from hobbyists on forums and blogs about this item is something along the lines of, "$99?! I could buy all of these items separately for $X... [etc, etc, etc...]." Yes, you certainly COULD buy some inexpensive items and throw a kit together. Let's be frank (honest)- If you were already thinking that, then this product is probably not for you. Just as if you look at the Ecotech Marine Radion and say, "I could just build my own... [etc, etc, etc]"... then those lights are not for you either. It's okay, it happens.

Ecotech products command a premium and are not for everyone. That said, Ecotech is a growing business that has a strong and loyal customer following. This product is for the loyal fans, looking for quality and style. This Fragging Tool Kit is for the guy that has everything. The guy who likes high-end lighting, who sees value in Ecotech Lights and Pumps- the guy who takes so much pride in his aquarium, that he wants to have a great tool kit to propagate his coral. For that guy, he can now frag his coral in style.

(More information and photographs after the break...)

MarineDepot's Sneak Peak: JBJ RL-20 20 Gallon Frag Tank

(source: facebook/marinedepotdotcom)

Online aquarium retailer (and friends of ChromisReef.com), Marine Depot (MarineDepot.com), posted some sneak peak photos of the new JBJ 20 Gallon Rimless Frag Tank. Visit their Facebook Page for the detailed photos: www.facebook.com/marinedepotdotcom.

Chromis' Reef has the details, however!

The RL20, as it is called by JBJ, is a rimless aquarium measuring 24" x 20" x 9", equaling approximately 20 gallons of water volume. The aquarium is an All-In-One (AIO) system with built in filtration system, and a 266 gallon per hour power head. It is a solid aquarium, constructed of 6mm thick glass tank with a stylish curved front design. While the prototype shown features an outlet/return at the top of the aquarium, the final release will have the return at the bottom of aquarium. More on this in a moment.

The aquarium could be used as a display, but is designed with the coral propagator in mind: it's a frag tank. It is also suggested as a great tank for clams as you see the best of clams from the top.

More details after the break/jump...

Sneak Peak: JBJ Pacifica LED Light Fixture

I heard about the JBJ Pacifica somewhat secretively last year at the Reef-A-Palooza aquarium show. JBJ (Also known as JBJ Lighting) was handing out t-shirts with the name of the fixture with a question mark. Somewhat mysterious, all we could figure out was that it was a new LED light expected to release sometime in 2013.

Well the light made it to me this week, and I finally got the chance to see what this mystery was. The Pacifica is a tablet LED light fixture that appears to have been designed for use on JBJ rimless aquariums. It's comes with brackets for use on rimless and non rimless tanks. It's a strong light coming in at over 100 watts, and reminds me of the functionality of the JBJ Advanced LED 28 gallon Nano Cubes, but with less control. (Read more after the jump)...

Sneak Peak: Ecotech Marine Reef Link

Ecotech Marine Reef Link 

The Ecotech Marine Reef Link has been rumored to exist on reef sites for several months now. It was initially 'leaked' online after some requests for US patents were filed. Well here it is in all it's glory.

It's a box, that looks very much like a router or Apple TV. The big question is what does it do?

Well, we know that it will be used to control Ecotech Marine wireless products such as the Vortech Pumps or the Radion XR30 lights.

Based on the ethernet plug, it appears that you will be able to control these devices wireless and remotely using EcoSmart Live software. This would make a lot of sense and seems like the next logical step. (More after the jump...)