Every year we have been doing this reef aquarium blogging gig, we’ve looked out for the best and most innovative new products to be announced around the world. Hundreds of new aquarium products are introduced every year and the competition for the Editor’s Choice Award gets more fierce every year but more than any other year, 2014 had so many great introductions we could have made this list twice as long.
However we feel it is important to distill the best, most innovative, and most groundbreaking new reef aquarium gear to a concise top 10 so only the best of the best are recognized for their significance. We really do contemplate for a long time which products are most deserving of being identified as the best new products of the year and without further ado, we are really proud to announce our selection for the 2014 Reef Builders Editor’s Choice Awards.
Dos Fluid Metering System – Neptune Systems really nailed the naming of the DoS as a fluid metering system as it goes way beyond what typical dosing pumps can accomplish. The stepper motors are definitely overkill, the inability to operate as a standalone unit might be a drawback for some, but there’s no doubt that future dosing pumps will take a page from the DoS playbook.
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Tunze NanoStream 6040 – This new style of propeller pump from Tunze didn’t make as many waves as another introduction this year, but it is literally the smallest controllable pump that can make actual waves in an aquarium. The radical repositioning, deflection, and super silent operation of the NanoStream 6040 is a game changer of the classic propeller pump design and it’s unique positioning abilities will make this device a flattering addition to the aesthetically-conscious reef scapers of the world.
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Tunze Care Magnet – Tunze’s creative juices have really been flowing the past couple of years as it introduced the radical reimagining of yet another pedestrian aquarium device with the innovative Care Magnet. Use it as a magnetic scraper, use it as a handheld scraper, and no matter what you do, you wont be able to pick up bits of sand which might scratch the glass.
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Triton Reef Elementz – It’s easy to say that Triton Applied Bioscience’s new line of Reef Elementz sent the biggest shockwave in the chemical supplements side of the reefing world that the hobby has ever seen. the mega-pure and incredibly balanced chemistry of Reef Elementz coupled with the Triton water testing service are primed to usher in a new era in reef aquarium chemistry, understanding and success.
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Bali Aquarich Captive Raised Angelfish – The new products we report on are usually of the manufactured variety but it takes an equal amount of experience and expertise to produce and offer great captive bred animals to the aquarium hobby. Bali Aquarich has been offering captive bred angelfish for a couple years now, 2014 really saw a sea-change in the availability of exotic large angelfish species and you can now get captive bred Clarion angelfish, Scribbled Angelfish, Maze Angelfish, and Annularis Angelfish with regularity in most major marine aquarium markets of the world.
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LRS Reef Frenzy – No frozen food recipe has ever captured the attention of reefers, and appetites of reef fish, the way that Reef Frenzy did in 2014. Frozen food has been a major part of the marine aquarium hobby for decades and the concept of offering the freshest, bestest starting ingredients are not new either. Somehow Larry’s Reef Service created a product that was instrumental in the successful breeding of masked angelfish, and finicky fish everywhere are living large on a diet of the excellent Reef Frenzy.
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AccuraSea Seawater Reference Solution – Measuring the salinity of seawater is one of the most important aspects of keeping a marine aquarium but for some reason reefers are still not taking this pivotal aspect of marine aquarium chemistry as seriously as they should. Thankfully the release of AccuraSea will streamline the process of measuring salinity in reef aquariums no matter what device you are using and it’s about time that the aquarium hobby had a seawater reference that is commercially available..
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Red Sea Seawater Refractometer – Along the same lines as the product above. the Red Sea Refractometer is the biggest leap in seawater measurement in many year. Built from the ground up by Red Sea, the new refractometer has a custom-designed seawater salinity scale and it is the first aquarium refractometer made to measure salinity at the same temperature as our tropical marine and reef aquariums.
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MaxSpect Gyre Pump – If we selected a single device for a product of the year category, the MaxSpect Gyre Generator pump would be the lead contender this year. The gyre pump completely changes the paradigm for moving water in a marine aquarium while also educating reefers of the virtues of creating Gyre flow to encourage mass water movement – water motion in the aquarium will never be the same again.
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Kessil A160we LED spotlight – Readers of Reef Builders are well familiar with Kessil and its various product offerings. In a hobby that is dominated by incremental improvements of various aquarium devices, Kessil always follows its own path, it spends a lot of time in the creation of new products, and when new Kessil gear is released they show an exceptional degree of refinement. The Kessil A160we spotlight is a prime example of Kessil’s philosophy on aquarium lighting and dare we say it is a quasi-perfect reef aquarium LED Spotlight.
