Aquarium Specialty is pleased to announce it's 1st Annual Most Valuable Product (MVP) Awards. The 2013 Aquarium Specialty MVP Award recognizes aquarium manufacturers and their products which have excelled in the following areas:
Customer Feedback
Value
Reliability
Ease of Use
Number of Units Purchased
Innovation
Build Quality
Product Support & Customer Service
In 2013, more than 7000 products were considered from over 200 manufacturers. This year's Aquarium Specialty MVP award categories are:
All of the 2013 Aquarium Specialty MVP Awards are in now! Today we are announcing the Aquarium Specialty MVP 2013 awards for Aquarium Reactors and for the 2013 "Up and Coming Company of the Year". Congratulations to each of the winners and thank you all for producing great aquarium products which help us and our customers to keep and maintain healthy and successful aquariums!
The 2013 Aquarium Reactor of the Year Award goes to Innovative Marine for it's MiniMax All-In-One Reactors. This choice was easy. Innovative Marine reactors are very unique and well designed and are the best choice to use on any All-In-One style aquariums. The innovative Patent Pending design minimizes the need for flexible tubes, pvc pipes, ball valves, thumb screws, and unnecessary clutter that are usually associated with typical media reactors. The following video says it all...
The 2013 Up and Coming Company of the Year Award goes to Triton Aquatics for it's Blue Fin Reactors and other new products currently in development that we can't share with you at this time. We met the guys from Triton at MACNA this year and we could quickly tell that they had winning products on their hands. We hope to see a lot more of Triton Aquatics products on the shelves in 2014. Aqua Specialty is the US online distributor while Aquarium Specialty is an online retailer for Triton Aquatics.
The 2013 Specialty Product of the Year goes to Gryphon Corp for their CR40R AquaSaw. The Gryphon Aquasaw has proven to be the best and most reliable coral frag saw on the market today. Gryphon has anodized the motor block and other internal components for increased longevity. They have also added a splash shield to further protect the motor from excess salt water.
We have had many customers express their frustration with another brand of frag saw (who will go nameless) and how they have had to replace it as many as 4-5 times in a few years before they discovered the Gryphon Aquasaw. It's by far the best product in it's class and because it's a specialty product the easy choice for 2013 Specialty Product of the Year goes to the Gryphon AquaSaw.
The 2013 MVP Temperature Control award goes to Tradewind Chillers for their in-line and drop-in style chillers. Made in the USA, Tradewind chillers come with an out-of-the-box 2 year warranty and an optional 5 year upgrade for a small upgrade cost. Tradewind received the nod because of their exceptional customer service, quality control and reliability. Hal, the owner at Tradewind is very responsive to us and to our customers and they actually manufacture an exceptional affordable chiller made in the USA. Congratulations Hal and Company, we will be mailing you an MVP Crystal Trophy to display at your business.
The 2013 MVP All-In-One Aquarium of the Year Award was an easy choice for our customers. This award goes to Innovative Marine for it's Nuvo All-In-One series aquariums. Innovative Marine ran away with this award and left all the competition in the dust with the Nuvo Series Aquariums. The Nuvo series are available in 4, 8, 16, 24 30 and 38 gallon sizes. Each aquarium features a rear storage compartment for all the necessary space to hide filtration equipment, heater, and return pump providing a very clean and elegant look. The 4 and 8 gallon tanks come equipped with LED lights while the Nuvo 16, 24 30 and 38 gallon tanks offer lighting as an option. Each tank also features low iron glass and curved seamless glass on the front edges.
The 2013 MVP Protein Skimmer of the Year Award goes to Coralvue for it's Reef Octopus Classic NWB110, NWB150, NWB200 series protein skimmers. Admittedly, the protein skimmer award is the most difficult category to award. There are hundreds of different skimmers and sizes with prices ranging from "Kia" to "Bugatti". Our choice on these 2 models was based on price vs. performance, number of units sold, reliability and ease of use. The Classic series has been around for a few years now and Coral Vue has recently added a more efficient Aquatrance pump to the NWB110 model making this an even better skimmer for the money. If you are looking for an affordable skimmer with solid reliability and performance at a great price, then we believe that one of the Reef Octopus Classic NWB series protein skimmers would be the right choice for you.
The 2013 MVP Aquarium Lighting product goes to Aqua Illumination for it's Hydra LED fixture. Although just Introduced earlier this year, the AI Hydra has not only become the best selling LED light fixture in the Aqua Illumination line up, but has also achieved that status among all brands. Aqua Illumination has exceeded all other LED fixtures in units sold along with very high marks for build quality, innovation and consistent customer service. If we had to pick a runner-up, it would be Ecotech Marine for it's Radion Pro LED light fixture. However, with a much lower price point and higher number of units sold, the nod goes to Aqua Illumination.
The MVP Water Pump of the Year Award goes to RLSS for it's Waveline Series Pumps. The models include the DC6000, DC10000 Gen 2 and DC12000 controllable direct current pumps. Capitalizing upon the lessons learned from the premature pump failures which plagued the The Waveline 1st generation pumps, a complete redesign was created in a new factory setting and the feedback regarding the newly redesigned product has been very positive. It will be interesting to see how the RLSS Gen 2 skimmers will perform with the Gen 2 pumps. They are slated to beging shipping the week of November 25th.
The MVP Wave Maker of Year Award goes to Ecotech Marine for it's MP Series Wave Makers. The models include the MP10ES, MP10WES, MP40WES and MP60WES controllable wavemaker pumps. Ecotech Marine has excelled in all areas of performance, reliability, feedback and customer service after the sale. These award winning wave makers work well as stand alones in addition to communicating with one another and with their flagship LED fixtures, the Radion Gen 2 and Radion Pro. Showing unmatched innovation, Ecotech Marine continues to unleash new products while they consistently produce quality wavemakers.
The MVP Aquarium Controller of the Year Award goes to Neptune Systems for the Apex Controller product line. While remaining the most dominant player in the US aquarium controller market, Neptune Apex Systems has also developed and innovated several new products this year as add ons to their existing Apex platform, making this the far and away the MVP controller of 2013.
Congratulations to Ecotech Marine and Neptune Systems. Aquarium Specialty will be shipping out a beautiful MVP crystal trophy to each of the category winners in December for your display case at your company headquarters.
