With the advancement of solid organic carbon dosing, colloquially referred to as BioPellets, one of the fundamental areas lacking has been research. We have yet to find the best method to utilize them.

Back in 2006 a company by the name of Aquaculture Systems Technologies received a Phase 1 USDA Small Business Innovative Research award to investigate the use of one of the most popular BioPellet materials–PHA or polyhydroxyalkanoates.

Specifically PHA from Iowa based Meril / Metabolix was used in a self cleaning reactor design dubbed the PolyGeyser. The idea here was to develop a cheap and easy way to provide nitrate management in aquaculture systems. The nutrient levels AST tested these systems on are elevated from our own, but their is certainly some crossover and learning that can be done.

Links for your own jump to conclusion mat are below:

• USDA SBIR Funded Denitrification Research and Technology Using Biodegradable BioPolymers [PDF]
• World Aquaculture Society

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There is a lot of buzz circulating among one of the industry’s brightest companies, EcoTech Marine. Two things in particular have brought them into the spotlight more than usual: 1) Their sponsored flow study (and resulting underperformance under the testing criteria by main competitor Tunze) and 2) Their to be released Radion LED light… I’ll give my thoughts on the Radion in another article (post-MACNA) when I can comment on its appearance.

With everything appearing to go swimmingly I was pretty stunned when looking into Orbital’s patent re-examinations today, I came across a very recent re-exam request for EcoTech’s patented “Bracketless Magnetic Pump” — more commonly known as their Vortech line of aquarium pumps. And by recent, I mean August 26, 2011 recent.

In reality, the story is not as big of a deal as a patent re-examination may sound. What is most revealing is how the aquarium industry has begun to protect and challenge intellectual property. This is no longer just KZ’s cone skimmer war, but has spread across subsets of the aquarium market.

Back to the re-exam. The request was filed by Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP of Houston, Texas. In the manner that it was filed we don’t know who F&J was acting on behalf of, but my non-attorney opinion is that EcoTech will need to take this seriously.

It appears that EcoTech has not immediately responded to re-exam request which gives the aquarium stalwarts 90 days to get their defense in line. My understanding of this is, if EcoTech comes out with a solid defense against the request filed, the re-exam is dead. If not, the formal re-exam process “begins”.

The re-examination request pulls a bunch of patents one of which I previously never paid much attention to, despite the fact that it incorporates the magnetic coupling idea that is well… what makes a Vortech… a Vortech. Specifically, I am talking about Anthony J. Allis’s 2004 patent, apparently owned by Mag-Life, which was filed 5 months prior to EcoTech’s filing. The Allis patent describes a magnetically coupled aquarium motor as integrated in its filter system. You can read the full Allis patent here.

In Claim 1, the re-examination argues that the Allis patent “meets every recited feature” of EcoTech’s. Below is a screen grab of the comparison that the filed re-examination makes between the Allis patent and EcoTech’s. If EcoTech defends this well it is a non event. If they do not, it could alter the aquarium pump marketplace.

When I asked Tim Marks, President of EcoTech Marine, on his thoughts of the re-examination he responded with the fact that the evidence presented in the request was already considered by the USPTO. When looking at the references cited and looked at by the patent examiner, it’s true. See the very first one:

Hopefully the USPTO will still feel the same. Can you imagine a Coralife  made, Vortech-style pump? No thanks.

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The continually elusive Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) has gotten a recent YouTube cameo, compliments of 44AZR. The tank has gotten a re-scape or is entirely new, but the shrimp and notched dorsal (albeit healing) suggest this is still the specimen belonging to Mr. Uragami.

Update: This little gem is being held at Japanese LFS Marin Technique while a new tank is worked on.

Mr. Uragami’s fish is the only publicly known specimen in captivity. Read into that as much or little as you’d like.

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A handful of special fish have been collected over summer, but this tiny Orange Margined Butterflyfish (Prognathodes basabei) takes the adorable prize. Collected in the deep waters of Hawaii, this little one was destined for Japan upon entering Rufus Kimura’s net. To no surprise it is headed to Koji Wada’s Blue Harbor in Osaka.

Over two years ago, Kimura made a splash with rare fish enthusiasts with the commercial availability of Prognathodes basabei. As was true then, their appearances in captivity are extremely rare due to the extreme depth at which they are found and the accordingly high price tag. Like many sought after species, the Basabei commands an inverted pricing structure–meaning smaller specimens command higher prices than their larger brethren.

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Japanese marine specialty store SplashSea, has recently uploaded this brief clip showing off the incredibly rare Resplendent Angelfish (Centropyge resplendens).

Centropyge resplendens is so rarely seen due to its limited range. Endemic to Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic, the collection of this species is a logistical and legal nightmare. Every so often a few will illegally find their way into the markets–and being on the IUCN red list (least concern, due to limited range) this is not a another bruise that the hobby needs. That said, it is important to note that the Resplendent Angel was captive bred by Frank Baensch (RCT) and some legal specimens are out there.

A true Resplendent paired with an RCT Hawaiian Resplendent

I won’t delve into the legality of this particular specimen, but the google translation of the video’s description is worth a laugh:

“I will present a very rare fish in your customer’s safety deposit box.”

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After a few years of work the Elos Evision controller and accessories are ready for the limelight. The high gloss Elos Evision control center offers a color touch screen in a rectangular form factor.

For the Evision, Elos has taken a modular approach with offerings which include:

• Clima – Evision temperature module
• Tempo – Evision timer module
• LED dimmer – Evision dimmer for Elos LED compatible luminaires
• ORP – Evision ORP monitor and control
• pH – Evision pH monitor

Elos has also put some effort into developing a web interface. Check out this video as Nic, in Singapore for Aquarama, observes the office aquarium, in Italy, via remote video… and changes the colors of the aquarium’s Elite XP through an internet connection.

On paper the initial Elos Evision controller offering looks quite solid and is a significant advancement from the previous Biotopus II. Then comes practicality and of course cost. Whisper numbers suggest the control center will be near the $400 to $500 USD, which will certainly not be helped by the plunging dollar.

I’m admittedly not a huge fan of the aesthetics of this product (a personal first for an Elos range?)–but I am curious to see how Elos packages and bundles the complete offering as each module is quite large. We’ll see… as always Elos is never one to ignore looks and its understood they have a few more tricks up their sleeves. And remember, LED dimming is always a large question mark / elephant in the room, thanks to Orbitec’s award winning product patent.

[h/t LSS]

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The glassbox, my personal aquarium prior to tear down.

Just before tearing down my 90g rimless aquarium, or what I refer to as my glassbox, I sought the help of some friends to take make a brief video. A few corals and one piece of live rock were sold before filming, but overall this is how it looked over the past 3-6 months.

I’ve caught flack in the past for not sharing that many updates of the tank. Truthfully, it was because there was always something I wanted to try first. As much as this tank was a display tank, it was also a test tank. Every marketed amino acid, biopellet, and off the shelf organic carbon product I can think of got experimented with. So did an alarming number of skimmers, reactors, and lights; few of which ever made it on the pages of GBD.

Looking back at the video now, I am pleased. I hope it gave aquarists some ideas on presenting an aquarium and I am delighted at the recent increase in “Butterfly in a reef tank” discussions that have been taking place. As for my favorite Butterflies, I have donated them all to good homes. The C. declivis lives in a large new home in Atlanta. The Banks got an upgrade in Chicago. The Hybrid and Marcellae were donated to the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, CA.

A new tank is in the works. It will be something much different–and smaller! Until then..

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If there is one aquarium company that has embraced the simplicity of a “glassbox”, it is Aqua Design Amano. Commonly referred to as ADA, their cube gardens feature beveled, high clarity glass and minimally visible adhesive, making them some of the most attractive aquariums in the world. The Cube Garden Superior takes that all to the next level.

Using heat resistant glass and molded into shape, the Cube Garden Superior features 100% high clarity glass construction. There is no silicone used on this glass box. Each aquarium is melded into a unique work of art.

Takashi Amano himself says,

“It was produced on a different concept from the conventional aquarium. It was made of special German heat resistant glass, and its construction was totally different. Instead of connecting glass plates with silicone, it was made as one piece like a sphere. I thought it would be necessary to propose that an aquarium can be a work of art like that. I suppose that I did not think of it as a business much because of that mind-set.”

The first ADA aquarium featuring this construction was featured in their ’95 catalog– selling for ¥250,000 for the 60cm aquarium. Such a high price tag remains today on these made-to-order aquarium.

A 4″ Cube Garden Superior cube starts at $400 USD with prices quickly rising. The 24″ x 12″ x 14″ 60-P fetches a price of $3,200.

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Water samples taken near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have exhibited radioactive caesium levels 24.8 times the established limit (established by Japanese authorities)while Iodine-131 has been measured 126.7 times greater said limit. What does this mean for Japan’s reefs and ocean life? [via ZeroHedge and WSJ.]

ORA yellowline gobies are now available. Not a new release, but the Florida fish farm writes, “These gobies were once commonplace in the hobby but they have been extremely difficult to find since Brazil stopped exports several years ago.”

Our friends at AquariumSpecialty have completely overhauled their site. Hat tip for the user videos on individual products.

Copps the angelfish nut goes collecting in Florida.  Here’s the colorful catch… I think he needs another Queen or two. Check out his full story over at RC.

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JNS Alpha 2 BioPellet Reactor in action

JNS has literally put a new spin on the BioPellet reactor. As every manufacturer does their best to standout from the crowd, JNS has opted to swirl water in a circular motion within the reactor to create a vortex like flow pattern. The result is a tornado of biopellets.

Is this going to perform noticeably better than a traditional reverse flow fluidized design? Likely not. But the reactor appears well designed and incorporates plenty of thick black acrylic in traditional JNS style. What we like best is the paired Sicce Syncra pump that mounts underneath the reactor for a very small footprint.

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