ctenophore June 1, 2010 Share June 1, 2010 Hi All! Some time last fall, Dan called me up to bounce an idea regarding a new product idea he had. He wanted to make a kit version of his popular GSA media reactor. I thought it was a great idea, after all, I like to build much of of my own equipment. I knew there were a lot of other aquarists out there who would do this too given the parts, tools, and skills. It saves money, you get exactly what you want, and it's just plain fun to see your projects work. Later, he asked me if I was interested in helping design and test the kits; naturally I was. So after several (hundred) hours of talking and planning, we decided that we would combine our various skill sets in order to turn Grey Seas into a very different aquarium equipment company. We wanted to appeal to the DIY crowd unlike any other company out there, but still have something for those who just want a plug-n-play device. Along with the focus on DIY, I convinced Dan that a new name and image would be useful to set us apart from the mainstream manufacturers out there. Why AVAST and the pirate theme? Well, we hope that it is memorable compared to the countless blue underwater themed sites. Also, we take ourselves just seriously enough to deliver a robust product- but you won't find chrome and racing stripes and multi thousand dollar price tags on our stuff. So a bit of whimsical humor was needed. Finally, I just loved the cool little octo dude that a good friend of mine dreamed up. He pitched it to me, me to Dan, and AVAST was born. Just to give you an idea of how Dan and I run AVAST, Dan concentrates on CAD, machining, production, and material sourcing while I do things like shipping, IT, and customer support. If you have a question about a product or a problem, just ask me and I'll do my best to help you out asap. If you need some advice on a DIY project, ask either one of us. We're on the forums, email, PM, blog site, etc. I really enjoy helping people with their aquariums, hopefully as seen here on WAMAS. Hopefully this will make me well suited to my role with AVAST. Finally, we plan to keep our new projects and ideas highly visible to all. We're hoping that this transparency of the design and prototyping phase will show you how our products are conceived, as well as inspire and teach you to make your own new devices. You can follow our blog by clicking the What's New link on the website, or this link. Thanks for your interest in AVAST! Justin Casp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman June 1, 2010 Share June 1, 2010 Do I get new labels with little octo-dudes for all of my previous GSA stuff?? Welcome aboard! Arrrrrrr... bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Thank you for your sponsorship, guys. We look forward to a long, healthy, and mutual success! WAMAS remains home to your biggest fans! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott711 June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Good luck! Waiting for a skimmer neck cleaner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Congratulations to y'all!! I very much like your story and look forward to trying your products! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandy7200 June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone. It is a nice feeling to have a sponsor forum back on our home turf. There never would have been a Grey Seas Aquatics in the first place if all of you wouldn't have been there a few years back to help support me along the way. Having Justin's support (and sweat) will hopefully allow Avast to compete amongst the top aquarium component manufactures in the industry. As Justin said, if there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for supporting AVAST Marine! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truestelf June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 good luck! I like the Pirate theme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 This is a great team! Looking forward to some new products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogurnda June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 It will be so cool to see you guys at the next meeting with your eyepatches and talking like pirates. Seriously, this sounds like a great collaboration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Excellent, Glad to hear there is a new kid on the block. ARRRRRRRRRRR (sorry couldnt resist) I think you guys will do very well for yourselves if you continue the trends you started with Grey Seas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Congrats guys! Do you have your corporate meetings at Arrrrrrrrrrrrby's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 (edited) Very cool idea, but already I'm a little confused...the MR5 built is 69.00 and the DIY kit is 59.00. The kit has a nice label, save 30% by doing it yourself...I'm no mathematician, but that's only a savings of ~15%. FWIW The CA1 seems to be correct advertising. $309 for the built, $219 for kit, savings of ~30%. Edited June 2, 2010 by John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore June 2, 2010 Author Share June 2, 2010 Very cool idea, but already I'm a little confused...the MR5 built is 69.00 and the DIY kit is 59.00. The kit has a nice label, save 30% by doing it yourself...I'm no mathematician, but that's only a savings of ~15%. FWIW The CA1 seems to be correct advertising. $309 for the built, $219 for kit, savings of ~30%. Oops, sorry about that. I thought I changed it a few weeks ago. Fixed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Camaron June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 YAAAAAAAAAAAARRGGG... Awesome logo and congrats on a new begining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 Oops, sorry about that. I thought I changed it a few weeks ago. Fixed! Nice recovery! Rather than change the "30%" you dropped the price on the kit! Now only $49 for a media reactor kit! http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/product/youbuilt/MR5-KIT So, Justin & Dan, can members save on shipping by prepaying and picking these up at WAMAS meetings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k June 2, 2010 Share June 2, 2010 I thought I'd seen that Octo figure somewhere before.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novi June 3, 2010 Share June 3, 2010 Nice! Congrats on the company. I am diggin the "Swabbie". Do you know off hand if it will fit a MRC MR2 Skimmer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandy7200 June 3, 2010 Share June 3, 2010 Nice! Congrats on the company. I am diggin the "Swabbie". Do you know off hand if it will fit a MRC MR2 Skimmer? What are the outside and inside dimensions of that collection cup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truestelf June 3, 2010 Share June 3, 2010 very nice website Logo and the whole ease of use on the website. great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore June 4, 2010 Author Share June 4, 2010 Thanks for the well wishes and compliments everyone! Nice recovery! Rather than change the "30%" you dropped the price on the kit! Now only $49 for a media reactor kit! http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/product/youbuilt/MR5-KIT So, Justin & Dan, can members save on shipping by prepaying and picking these up at WAMAS meetings? Yes, we will have meeting pickup available again for the summer frag fest. Now if I can only remember to actually bring the items that people order Nice! Congrats on the company. I am diggin the "Swabbie". Do you know off hand if it will fit a MRC MR2 Skimmer? Thanks Novi. We are doing custom versions, see here: http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/product/proteinskimmers/SWABBIE-CUSTOM So the answer is almost always "Yes" unless you have a tiny nano skimmer. We will need to do some more R&D for those but it is not far off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 4, 2010 Share June 4, 2010 Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak July 24, 2010 Share July 24, 2010 (edited) yup, good stuff Edited July 24, 2010 by jason the filter freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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