Innovators and entrepreneurs are always busy finding ways to tweak, streamline and improve existing technologies. And while this kind of progress is most obvious in the world of computers, smart phones and cars, aquariums come with their fair share of gadgets too.
If you love to stay up-to-date on the coolest new trends, here’s a look at some of the latest advancements in aquarium tech, from simple but effective gadgets to sophisticated sensors and machines.
Mess-Free Feeding
Feeding by hand is not hard, but it can be messy, especially if you are feeding your fish on the run and don’t have time to stop to wash the fishy smell off your hands before heading off to work.
If this describes your life, you’d probably be much happier with an automatic feeder from a company like Neptune Systems or Lifegard Aquatics. You can program them to release food at certain intervals, which is great if you have to work long hours or plan to take a mini vacation.
Automatic feeders are “set it and forget it” devices that don’t need much attention, other than a quick check to make sure they are working properly. Most have a manual mode for times when you want to give your fish an extra snack. They also help reduce waste by releasing only the amount of food necessary for your tank. They work with flaked or pelleted food.
Detect Problems Quickly
Wouldn’t it be great if a single device could help you diagnose problems or alert you to changing conditions in your tank? Wouldn’t it be even cooler if that device tracked data over time and compiled the results into nifty graphs?
Such a device is now on the market, and it is called Seneye. Available for saltwater or freshwater tanks, koi ponds and reef tanks, Seneye will light up if there is something wrong with the temperature, pH or ammonia levels in the tank. The reef version also includes a light meter.
If you love poring over statistics, you’ll love Seneye for the graphs and charts it generates, which are stored on a cloud server and can be accessed from any device.
One product to keep an eye on, as it’s meant to be released sometime this year, is MindStream, which claims to monitor even more parameters, like oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and potassium and calcium levels.
Then there’s the GHL Doser, which helps to maintain the nutrient levels in your tank, which are especially important for the health of coral reefs. This unit automatically dispenses trace elements, liquid feeds and more. It’s full programmable so that you can rest assured that your tank gets the nutrients it needs without requiring too much hands-on maintenance.
Smaller and Smarter Auto Top-Off Systems
Auto top-off systems maintain the water level in your tank by sending more water back into the tank as water naturally evaporates off the surface. This helps to keep the salinity of your tank stable. For aquarium enthusiasts, when it comes to the auto top-off sensors, the smaller the better. Large, clunky and awkward sensors can be an eyesore.
Fortunately there is an upsurge in the number of small auto top-off sensors equipped with “smart” technology hitting the market today, including the Water Refill Genie and AutoAqua Smart ATO Micro, to name just two.
If you love to track data and have a sleek, easy-to-care-for tank, now is a great time to have an aquarium. With the help of the latest technology, you can have your cake and eat it too!
