Macna '07

[hobogato]

Well, macna was one packed weekend. From the vendor and wholesaler product booths to the livestock vendors and the speaker discussions, it was a reef geek’s paradise.

Here is the whole group of maastards who sacrificed their time and attended macna to bring back all of that valuable info to all of the club back home (yes, that was definitely sarcasm – what a blast we had! ).

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00991.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00992.jpg

some of us may have had a little too much fun at times :D (this was even before the open bar at dinner)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00993.jpg

even in the airport, we found interesting things to see
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00994.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00995.jpg

[hobogato]

The speakers included Stephen Pro, Anthony Calfo, Mike Paletta, Eric Borneman, Sanjay Joshi, and many more well known scientist and reef gurus. They covered topics pertinent to the aquarium hobby as well as the marine ecosystems around the world. Some of the topics included reef lighting, coral coloration, taxonomy, green house coral propagation, the threatened reefs, illegal coral and fish collection, microfauna, and many more. We were able to have at least one person from maast at each discussion.

Here are a couple of bad pictures of Steven Pro and Sanjay Joshi – the room was very dim and I didn’t want to be rude and use a flash like other photographers

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00985.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00990.jpg

Sanjay presented some data that seemed to say that we are all discarding our MH bulbs a little too soon, as the par stays at an acceptable level four 17 months or longer. Color spectrum does shift over that time period to more red/yellow and less blue however.

Meanwhile, those of us who were not in the discussion room used our time to talk with vendors to gain information, new sponsors and new guest speakers for the coming year.

[hobogato]

It was amazing how much there was to see

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00956.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00958.jpg
love to see the reef that these rocks go into!
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00959.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00961.jpg
new skimmer design
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00962.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00964.jpg
got books?
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00965.jpg
nice cold lemonade chilled by an aquarium chiller
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00972.jpg
how about a few deltecs?
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00974.jpg
or maybe just one big one (almost $10,000 and it was sold)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00975.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00977.jpg
the new wireless contollers
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00981.jpg
anyone need a few bubble kings?
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00982.jpg
how about a really cool complete filtration system?
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00983.jpg

[hobogato]

Lets not forget about the display tanks – most of which were raffled off on Sunday
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00955.jpg
the ORA tank with a bunch of new corals that arent available yet(arent even named)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00957.jpg
here is the solaris LED tank beside a tank lit with MH
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00960.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00968.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00967.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00976.jpg
then there was this $20,000 zero edge monster that was part of the raffle
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00978.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00979.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00980.jpg

[hobogato]

This wasn’t all fun and no buy :) there were a few (sarcasm again) corals for sale
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00966.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00969.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00970.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00971.jpg

this was my first macna, and I am already starting to save up for the next one in Atlanta. Lets bring it here in 09!!!!!

[cpreefguy]

Awesome thread Ace! Great pics as usual, even with the 6+ second exposure in that dark speaking room!

[RayAllen]

Looked like a blast. Thanks for all the great pics. I hope MASNA is here 2009 so that I have that experience.

[C.Mydas]

Great pic's!

[LoneStar]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

[captexas]

Cool pics. I've never seen a tank with black sand and that one frag tank actually looks cool with it. Macna in Atlanta would be awesome to go to with the big aquarium there.

[apedroza]

I wannna go!!!!

[AquaDen]

Just curious if anyone went last year? It was in Houston!

[urban79]

Nice pics.. Next time I claim aces luggage. LOL Couple of water bottles, chips. Good to go. LOL let me out when ya'll arrive

[LoneStar]

I'm going to try and make plans to go next year!

That fish looks like its going through the Stargate in this photo!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/LoneStarSA/random%20stuff/buckrogers.jpg

[RayAllen]

Hey can I get a list of names or usernames of the the maast peeps in picture one from left to right. Ive yet to make a meeting and still do not know most faces. Only one a know is Ping aka Peter.

[brewercm]

Very nice and thanks for sharing and to all of you guys that went and brought back some great info.

[Headless_donkey]

Super sweet!

[cpreefguy]

From Left to Right:
cpreefgirl (Jessica), cpreefguy (Sean), Ping (Pete), Bigbird123 (Steve), hobogato (Ace), Texreefer (Mike), and on a knee is a sponsor of ours Polkster13, (Fredrick) from coralreefbazaar.com
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c329/hobogato/macna07/DSC00991.jpg

[brewercm]

Than goodness you put Jessica in the picture also. It was awful scary otherwise.:lauging:

[Texreefer]

what? my sexy legs gettin to ya!:hypnotyized:

[LoneStar]

Than goodness you put Jessica in the picture also. It was awful scary otherwise.:lauging:


:lmao2:

[RayAllen]

Thanks now I can put a face with a name.

[erikharrison]

Did they practically give stuff away on Sunday? I'd bet the amount of chemicals and salt that people give away is truly incredible! Those zero edge beauts are a spectacle!

[TroyPham]

looks like a lot of the same stuff from '06 macna. The coral frags forsale look to be a better selection and quality then '06. So how much stuff did everyone score. I made out like a bandit last year on freebies. The '08 should be great with the ATL aquarium. '09 in SA is a must. just put a few buckets of IO in the riverwalk and put the frags in there. haha

[TroyPham]

last year the big deltec skimmer they had was sold too. I wonder if they really are sold or just are marked sold to get us to think that there is such a demand for them!!

[Sherri]

Outstanding Ace!! Thanks for the insite! Exciting...

[ismvel]

last year the big deltec skimmer they had was sold too. I wonder if they really are sold or just are marked sold to get us to think that there is such a demand for them!!
They actually sell them...there is someone on reef central in the large reef section that purchased one and has a picture of it....

It is the 1165 gallon in wall display thread..(or something similar to that)

[captexas]

I haven't been to Macna, but I've been to other trade shows back when I was in the grocery business and usually you can get all kinds of freebies/deals at the end of the last day as the vendors don't want to pack and ship all that stuff back, especially partial boxes.

[Marlin]

Wouldn't you know..I have to go to Pittsburgh next week for business. Missed it by a few weeks

[Ross]

Looks like a good time!

[JohnS_323]

last year the big deltec skimmer they had was sold too. I wonder if they really are sold or just are marked sold to get us to think that there is such a demand for them!!

That skimmer was sold to a member of our club in NJ. The guy is a doctor who is building an 1165g in wall tank in his basement. All of the equipment he has bought is top of the line. His system, when complete, is gonna be worth more than my house!

**Sorry - I hope you didn't mind me barging in on your thread!**

[hobogato]

**Sorry - I hope you didn't mind me barging in on your thread!**

no problem - welcome!

got a link to a build thread on that monster tank?

[JohnS_323]

Here is a link (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1196471) to the post on our forum on RC. From there is a link to his thread with all of the details. Page 5 shows that monster in his basement.

Thanks for the welcome, btw!