melev

February 27, 2010 - Addison, Texas: With perfect weather conditions, 185 hobbyists converged on the Addison Convention Center for the day to take in some helpful knowledge and take home some gorgeous corals. Every year, the Dallas Fort Worth Marine Aquarium Society puts together a full-day conference for the betterment of the hobby.







Attendees have the opportunity listen to the four special speakers that were flown in to share their expertise. Jim Walters spoke about unusual fish for Nano and Pico reefs, and Kevin Kohen focused on the sustainability of additional fish selections courtesy Live Aquaria's 20,000g Marine Life Facility. Dr. Ron Shimek spoke about water current and how that affects corals' ability to eat, and Joe Yaiullo spoke about the 20,000g reef he cares for daily at Atlantis Marine World.

Kevin Kohen of Live Aquaria.


Speakers gave presentations throughout the day, using PowerPoint presentations to provide excellent visuals to their audience.











Vendors filled another room as well as the hallway showcasing corals and inverts they were selling. Each vendor had a well lit aquarium set up, allowing would-be customers to look for frags worthy of their tanks at home. Other vendors were there to discuss their products to provide product support.

Melev's Reef is in the house!




Icecap lighting with Frank's Tanks






Lonestar Aquaculture






I spied some treats!


And then I saw this curiosity:






Apparently this clown didn't know a thing about the world around her.


True Blue Aquatics




Even carpet anemones were for sale. Big ones!


Using a very unique system of shipping livestock, Reefkoi unpacked each item for display.






His corals were lit with his unique LED fixture that has become quite popular.








He had a bunch of clams, one of which came home with me.


Fish2morow brought a big tank full of choices.








And some drygoods.



Wet Thumb Frags had a nice mixture of choices, and used LED lighting to spotlight them.







Reef Pets was on hand, since he was a local vendor.



More LED lighting was used by another vendor.





Not enough choices? Here are some more.






Steel City Corals had a pretty nice system. He made a great looking LED fixture.


You can never have too much blue, it seems.


His corals were easily sorted by price.







Raffle prizes filled a few tables, and the raffle system awarded goods to people throughout the day. Once a ticket was drawn, the numbers were posted on the wall for the winner to claim later in the day.













This was a very popular item.


Parking was convenient. The building was comfortable being neither too hot nor too cold. Everyone left happy, some more so than others due to their winnings and/or their purchases.



I had to add these because they made me laugh. Especially since David is always taking pictures, so what was HE thinking?






Apparently it was contagious.


Next Wave 2011 is coming soon. February 26, 2011. Click to Sign up now to attend!