When considering the best new products of 2014, we try to highlight the most innovative, and performance-enhancing new devices that have the potential to radically change how we do things in our marine aquariums. However, last year more than ever there was another subset of product releases that kind of did the same thing on the nano side of the reefing world.
The top 5 best nano products of 2014 are the kinds of devices which manage to shrink our typical aquarium tools to smaller dimensions, with a minimum of compromises regarding their function in nano reef tanks. There were at least five new products in 2014 which really managed to make smaller devices while performing their primary function in a excellent and reliable way.
It takes a lot of hard work, special effort, and attention to design details to make a product smaller while still performing the same basic functions as “full sized” devices. As we are fond of saying, nano aquarium products are a concentration of features and performance, and their newfound availability paves the way for ever better and more successful miniature reef aquariums.
Eshopps Dosing Pump The Eshopps dosing pump is not inherently special – it’s a decent two-channel doser with menus that are easy to navigate and program. But where it stands out is in being the smallest dosing pump to feature two fully programmable dosing channels and it can dispense fluids like the best of them. The small size of the Eshopps doser makes it especially suitable for use in the tiny stands for nano reef tanks.
Flipper Nano Algae Scraper The Flipper Nano is the epitome of how to make a small version of an existing product as good as the original. When we first tried it out where we skeptical as to how well the Flipper Nano would work at performing its trademark flipping trick but this thing just works, and it’s one of our favorite algae magnets especially for tough scraping jobs on small tanks.
Innovative Marine Fusion Nano 10 & 20 gallon Let’s get real for a minute, anyone can build a decent 10 gallon tank and bring it to market for less than a $100. There’s a bevy of all in one 10 gallon tanks available for that price or less, but only Innovative Marine thought to make a hundred dollar all in one tank that reefers would actually want, for themselves and for our loved ones. We’ll admit that the high clarity glass of the Innovative Marine Fusion Nano 10 & 20 gallons carries them a long way, but a great look, a practical rear filter chamber and the included screen-lid to keep fish from jumping seals the deal.
Sicce Voyager Nano This diminutive little water moving propeller pump is our new first, second and third choice for use in the smallest of tanks. The Voyager Nano uses only four watts while moving an appropriate amount of water for tanks between ten and twenty gallons. A fair retail price, complete silent operation and an attractive housing easily makes the new Sicce Voyager Nano the best nano pump of 2014.
Tunze DOC Skimmer 9001 Tunze has been making protein skimmers for jsut about longer than most aquarium companies still operating today, and they have also been making truly nano protein skimmers longer than anyone. It is therefore no surprise that their newest refinement of the powered nano protein is a real winner that went over really well with the Nano-sseurs from NanoBox Reef.
