While many marine aquarium events draw in a retailer presence, MACNA is often the pinnacle of manufacturer presence and new product releases, just as aquarium retailers see the start of the busy fall season. With a spacious floorplan, no doubt influenced by the continuing reality of COVID, the event may have felt less busy than past versions of the show. On the flip side, people were not crowded, and most had plenty of time to browse offerings and talk to aquarium manufacturers about their products. Of course, most of the photos I’m bringing back from the show were shot before opening, during a quiet moment between booth traffic, or after the show’s close for the day.
Even then, I know there were some booths I never got to visit without a crowd of people around. Of particular note, when it comes our friends at Reef Nutrition & Reed Mariculture, their booth never even made it to the show floor due to logistics issues, but the team always seemed busy with customers!
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the Trade Show portion of MACNA Milwaukee wasn’t limited to just aquarium manufacturers. Coral Vendors were numerous, and are featured in another post. Beyond that, several non-profit and educational programs sought to engage with marine aquarists (and potentially future students or donors).
Seasafe Fiberglass Grating & Structural Systems – if you’ve been in some larger public aquariums, you may have recognized these unique flooring systems under your feet!Past and present students from Des Moines Public Schools’ Central Campus were on hand to showcase their amazing high school marine & aquarium sciences program. Long-time MACNA show-goers may remember the Iowa MACNA, when many attendees took the opportunity to tour the facilities during that show.Ocean Nutrition and San Francisco Bay Brand were on hand to showcase their diverse offerings of aquarium foods.Several colorful Hanna Checkers were on hand to examine at the Hanna Instruments display.While European manufacturer sera may be best known for their selection of premium fish foods, the new hybrid siporax biofiltration media took center stage, particularly useful for smaller reefs. Not for everyone, but Tsunami Coral Reefs put on display some of ultra-realistic faux marine life…Another look at the TCR display of artificial corals. … a massive reef of artificial corals big enough to walk into!TCR president Donte Jarrett shared this photo of himself, sitting in his display, so you could get a better sense of scale!Judd McCracken, captured in the early morning showing off LifeRock from CaribSea.Tamsco-USA was the place to stop for all your fragging tool needs!SpectraPure was the official water sponsor for MACNA 2022!Jay Wilson took time to walk customers through the full line of Sicce pumps and aquarium filters.The team at Champion Lighting & Supply had a lot going on, but if you took the time to ask, they showed you something incredible in their space, a new aquarium-ready adhesive called SeaTak, which I’ll show more in the products post!Two Little Fishies always puts together a light, airy display showcasing a wide range of innovative products.Another look at the Two Little Fishies display.It’s not really a MACNA unless Julian Sprung has a mangrove tank at the Two Little Fishies display.CoralVue and their wide family of brands took up a large amount of floorspace up front!Boyd Enterprises invited you in to look at all they offer, including the iconic Chemi-pure line and Jellyfish Art systems.Online Retailer SaltwaterAquarium.com enticed customers with discounts and an app.First time through Frank was manning the sera booth, and on my next pass, Theresa was happy to show me all they had brought! Note the “clear” covers on the sera foods, which allows you to see what’s inside the canister without breaking the seal!Crystal Dynamics Aquariums was a new brand to me, and the tank on display was impressive!AquaFX displayed an assortment of water treatment systems, including a new RO/DI unit I’ll show you in greater detail!The team at MarinePure was ready to showcase some new innovations.Carlotta, Brandi and Francois of ELOS and Aquarium Partners had something exciting to share, a prototype doser….S.A. Coral Farm was promoting new efforts towards sustainable coral farming in Bali, Indonesia. What was in the glowing tent? Check out the coral post to see more!A&C Plastics, Inc, was on hand to showcase the raw materials used to create aquariums and filters, hoping to catch the attention of manufacturers and hobbyists alike!Smarter Reefs was busy demonstrating their newest auto filter roller concept!Well-known provider of salt and supplements, Fritz always puts on a clean, inviting display!Roger Vitko & Tunze are part of the secret club of “mangrovers” now! Tunze had an interesting new cooling system prototype on display…watch for the forthcoming products post.The Biota Group had a larger open floorplan with several aquariums to showcase an exciting range of captive-bred fishes. You’ll see many of them in my “fishes of MACNA” post!Kessil was front-and-center as you walked into the MACNA convention floor!The backside of Kessil’s open floorplan presence at MACNA 2022.Neptune Systems highlighted the new A3 series of aquarium controller equipment to an eager audience.Visitors could get up close looks at both the Tideline all-in-one and OceanVue lines of fish tanks from Planet Aquariums.While perhaps most well-known for their magnetic algae scrapers, Flipper Aquarium Products had an array that included viewers, frag systems, and ATO systems.Give Essie Campbell five minutes of your time, and she’ll have you truly intrigued by the ITS Exact iDip water testing system from Industrial Test Systems.MACNA exhibitors aren’t just aquarium product manufacturers. Artists bring diversity and complimentary offerings that help complete the “reef aquarium lifestyle.”Nori Vossen’s artwork continues to gather fans with each passing show.It’s no surprise that Ecotech Marine was another company that just always had a flow of inquisitive customers.Lou Ekus (left) kept busy helping customers learn about Tropic Marin’s line of salts and additives.Mike @ Proaquatix was eager to tell you all about their latest offerings of captive-bred fish (you’ll see some in the fish post!)Bashea’s line of high-quality sumps and filtration made for an impressive display, including a new sump model that I’ll have to show you in the new products post!Kordon displayed their lines of water conditioners, treatments, and preventatives at MACNA.Ryan (right) and his team showing off all the innovation at Minnesota-based Slide-Loc.For many, this was the first opportunity to see the entirely redesigned line of testers from Milwaukee Instruments.The CORAL Restoration Foundation team was present and eager to share updates about their efforts with reef restoration in the Florida Keys.Try as I might, sometimes you get noticed when attempting to capture a candid photo! How many CORAL readers wish they could have attended a “Marine Science Magnet High School”?Huntley Penniman is part of the Rising Tide Conservation team, here to share all about the program and solicit support to further marine aquarium fish aquaculture research.I saw several of my friends sporting interesting earrings and other jewelry they had purchased from Ocean Inspirations by UniqueCherie!Aquarium livestock wholesalers Sea Dwelling Creatures and Exotic Reef Imports (SDC & ERI) had some truly impressive fish on display (see more in the fish and coral posts)!Hikari’s presence at MACNA 2022 showcased their fine lines of prepared foods, but also highlighted the freshwater aquarium fish cartoon series Weird Waters, a show created in part to bring young aquarists into the hobby, blending aquarium-inspired characters with a bit of underwater fantasy and fun.If you’ve never walked through the massive display put on by Dirk, then you really haven’t attended a proper aquarium event yet!Joe Caparatta was ready to talk ICP water testing at the Triton display! (Image courtesy Toni Xiong)Italian-made TECO aquarium chillers were on display at MACNA.Another look at the business side of the TECO Chiller lineup.Harley Finberg & Jenna Miller of PNW Custom had several new micro-scale aquariums to showcase.
MACNA is always a #MACNAblur – so, if I missed capturing a picture of your booth at MACNA and you’d like us to include it here, please get in touch! More, still, to come…
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