Novum Coral

[brick-brothers]

Has anybody tried this yet? If so what was the results?

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

I would avoid this. Their "white paper" shows that they started their tiles off with a larger piece of coral. On top of that, there are some things that they don't show. They make no mention of whether the frags were in the same lighting or not, and they didn't show their parameters. The presence of aragonite in the skeleton of the coral on their tile means little, as that is the material that coral skeletons are always made of. On their main page, they also stated that their tiles grow coral faster than "any other available material". However, they used only one other material (ceramic) in their study. They also used only two corals, which simply isn't a large enough sample size. Their study isn't peer-reviewed either. Also, even if it did increase growth by 300%, I wouldn't pay 200$ for a frag plug. While it is an interesting idea, I'd like to see some more studies done and the price reduce before trying it. For now, I'll stick to regular plugs.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

$200? 300%?

How would you even know if it were working? Lots of corals seem to grow quickly…

Looks like something that just about anyone could diy.

 

[Kasrift]

Just commenting because this is very curious. The cost of one frag tile is crazy expensive. I googled it and it looks like Kush Corals did a video on it.

Even if it did work, I think this is a little like snake oil. The reason I say that is because it isn't going to be a panacea that magically helps a struggling reefer succeed and there isn't anything that will replace the 100s of things you need to be doing right to achieve success. I'd love to see very successful reefers or a shop like Tidal Gardens put this to the test, but again even if it did work I don't think it would justify the cost or be something that is measurable.

 

[Novum Coral]

hi all, we're not currently on reef2reef, since we're a small starting company we're focused on mostly instagram for now to talk to people. Someone pointed out there was some discussion here, and I just wanted to let you know we will take your feedback/comments and include feedback in our upcoming update to the website. We will introduce a list of frequently asked questions and the answers we're able to provide at this point. You're right about the initial study being relatively small. For us the main purpose of that study was to establish a reliable way to measure growth. We had done testing with 3d photogrametry and weighing frags but couldnt establish reliable data that way. We are also working on getting independent reviews in, and for independent researchers to work on further understanding what's going on. We also understand the price point is challening, and that this is not a product for the masses at this point (and probably ever). It's expensive to manufacture and small scale for now. That being said, there's some very serious people in the industry looking into the blocks, and hopefully we can share info on that. @Anemone_Fanatic you make some good points, which make it clear to me we might have not worded things well enough on the one hand, but on the other hand a lot these points will be answered by the ongoing follow up studies.

It's interesting that people throw around terms like "snake oil" a lot. Everyone has their right to an opinion of course, and I hope that as more data becomes available people will re-evaluate their position (it's simply not very nice being called snake oil salesmen..). We're 4 guys who discovered something that amazed some people who know what they're talking about when it comes to growing corals, and we're doing our best to be transparent and truthful. If you have questions, ideally send us a DM on instagram (#novumcoral) or via our website contact form (as we don't actively part-take on this site currently). As mentioned the website should be overhauled within about 2 weeks to include more information, including a list of other types of corals we are testing (or that are being tested by others). We're not great at marketing, so we might have underdone our initial website being focused on getting product made and ready.

kind regards,
the Novum Coral team

 

[Viking_Reefing]

I came across this on IG and this must be one of the worst cases of a scam I’ve seen: extreme claims, very expensive, no actual data to back it up and no actual reason as to why it would work.

 

[A Young Reefer]

I definitely wont be getting this but I would be tempted to try it out, even though it obviously is snake oil.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

A lot more study/research/experiments needed to come out for this before the price tag…Getting the well known growers on board would have been my first step.

 

[Sabellafella]

I'll be taking a hungs rainbow to one which is notoriously slow growing, browns out after fragging, but has been doing really well in my system. I have a bunch of candidates lined up to try, I do also have tons of questions. Like if coralline algae encrusts and takes place of the product.

For 2 years now I strictly started buying pure calcium carbonate plugs. Honestly seen a benefit in using them.

 

[reefiniteasy]

I think I saw they used the tile to grow a Hollywood Stunner to show the tile works.

I’ve got a bridge to sell for anyone interested.

 

[reefiniteasy]

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley what do you think?
I’d love to know how the tile below would protect the coral from pH fluctuations.

Grow Coral Faster | Novum Coral

Novum Coral developed a coral substrate that will make your stony corals grow faster than you imagined possible. Science-based, high-tech materials developed with amazing purity for the medical market will help you build your best reef aquarium.

www.novumcoral.com

 

[Novum Coral]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I haven't found a way to send you a direct message but it'd be great if we could connect. I've looked into your industry and scientific background and I think you'd be in a great position to potentially help us answer some of the open questions we still have. We are talking to a number of scientific institutes to do so as well, if you're interested to have a call to meet it would be great if you could send an email to [email protected]

The chemist who developed and patented the material has a Ph.D in Chemistry from MIT and has close to 100 patents in the medical device space, mostly around bone void fillers/substitutes and is working on peptides (which I see is your current focus in Industry). So, even though we are intent to further substantiate and deepen our understanding of the product/technology we're not a bunch of cowboys.

 

[arafas]

I'll be taking a hungs rainbow to one which is notoriously slow growing, browns out after fragging, but has been doing really well in my system. I have a bunch of candidates lined up to try, I do also have tons of questions. Like if coralline algae encrusts and takes place of the product.

For 2 years now I strictly started buying pure calcium carbonate plugs. Honestly seen a benefit in using them.

can you share a source?

 

[Sabellafella]

can you share a source?

Source for plugs?

 

[arafas]

Source for plugs?

Yes, the calcium carbonate plugs.

 

[Sabellafella]

Yes, the calcium carbonate plugs.

Messaged you

 

[Sabellafella]

But let's see what happens!

 

[Tom2257]

I find it very immature, childish to call this product "Snakeoil", "Scam" unless you have 100% solid verifiable proof of such. Instead, why don't you direct contact Novum and get the facts direct from them.

 

[Reef Psychology]

Anyone can cite sources and attach them to claims. My research experience has been in psychology and psychiatric medicine, but I know enough about companies that making these kinds of claims without supplying any solid data. If you can make 20+ citations you can surely publish your own data without the need from R2R staff. If you can get up to 300% increased growth rates from corals I’m sure you could publish in Nature.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

I find it very immature, childish to call this product "Snakeoil", "Scam" unless you have 100% solid verifiable proof of such. Instead, why don't you direct contact Novum and get the facts direct from them.

Sorry if the word “snake oil” hurts your feelings, but there’s nothing immature or childish about being skeptical of a product with pretty wild claims and obscene prices. Only an immature child would just take a company’s word, hand over their hard earned cash, without more legitimate proof. The onus is on the company to provide proof, not us. We’re the ones with the cash that they seek.