The Missouri Aquarium Society, Inc. is proud to announce that we will be hosting the Aquatic Gardeners Association 2012 Convention right here in St. Louis on November 1 – 4, 2012.

The convention will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis Airport. Click link to reserve a room. There is a free 24-hour shuttle from the airport to the hotel.

We’ll have a great lineup of speakers!

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Niels Jacobsen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, eminent authority on Cryptocoryne species and world traveller.

Also featuring:

• Kris Weinhold — “Beginners Aquascaping, and Tips & Tricks”
• Brandon McLane of Florida Aquatic Nurseries — “Propagating Aquatic Plants”
• Tom Barr — “Plant Nutrition & Fertilization”
• Cavan Allen — “Identifying & Collecting Native Species”

Visit the AGA website for more information!

More information can be found on Aquascaping World Competition

For those who have already submitted, good luck!

More Information

• Temporary close of the Nature Aquarium Gallery

Despite those who dare attempt to replicate ADA products and resell them as if they were the original product(s), it is to show that ADA produces quality products that are truly valuable and that there is a demand for them. However, will the new logo fix the problem? Or will these companies continue to counterfeit and use the same new logo as well?

More Information

• Renewals of ADA Logo and Product Package

The members of GVAC are still somewhat new to the world of aquascaping planted aquariums and this event has shed some light on those who aren’t too familiar with what aquascaping is. Although GVAC is mostly focused on freshwater aquariums along with breeding fish and flowering aquatic plants, they have become more interested in learning on how to beautifully aquascape their aquarium with the plants and fish they are so accustomed to.

Here are a few photos that I took while at the event.

Free Samples!

Mini Auction Items

Trophies!

GVAC Members

29G Aquarium Setups

Winning Aquascape by Popular Vote (Greg Bush)

Runner Up Aquascape - Ben VanDinther

Runner Up Aquascape - Johnny Dinh

Runner Up Trophy

Although I did not come up victorious as I would’ve liked, it was not my main focus for the event. My main focus was to spread and share the knowledge of aquascaping to those who want to create beautiful planted aquariums. By answering questions and demonstrating of how to aquascape an aquarium, I believe that there will be more GVAC members getting into aquascaping.

The fully aquascaped aquariums were then raffled off at the end and surprisingly, my raffle ticket number was called and I ended up bringing back home the aquarium setup I aquascaped! Now that’s a first!

Lastly, I would like to thank the Grand Valley Aquarium Club for hosting the event, and also Blue Fish Aquarium, Preuss Pets, Hagen, Seachem and Florida Aquatic Nurseries for sponsoring the event.

Until then, happy aquascaping and stay green!

If you are in the area and wish to attend, information about the event are below.

Date: Saturday, March 12th, 2011
Time: 7:00 P.M.

Location:
Holiday Inn Express
US 131 and 68th Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49548

Special thanks to Blue Fish Aquarium, Preuss Pets, Hagen, Seachem and Grand Valley Aquarium Club for sponsoring the event.

As a planted aquarium enthusiast myself, my early years in the hobby were dedicated mostly to growing and farming a variety of aquarium plants, which still continues today. However, throughout the years of being in the hobby, there was a couple times where I have attempted to do an aquascape, but due to not being satisfied with the outcome, these aquascapes were never really made an online presence.

Takashi Amano Nature Aquarium Complete Works 1985-2009

It has been quite a few months since I’ve last attempted to do an aquascape, and the question comes back to my head, how great of an aquascape does it need to be?

Takashi Amano Nature Aquarium Complete Works 1985-2009

Looking back, I realized that a lot of successful aquascapers today start somewhere and work their way up to become great at doing what they do. So it was time to tell myself that, no matter what, my next aquascape will be completed and shown regardless if I liked it or not. But before stepping back into the aquascaping scene, I need to prepare myself and enliven my creativity with a source of inspiration. And in doing so, I went online and purchased the book, Takashi Amano Nature Aquarium Complete Works 1985-2009.

Takashi Amano Nature Aquarium Complete Works 1985-2009

Looking through this book of all the completed aquascapes by Takashi Amano from 1985 to 2009, I noticed that too, Takashi Amano’s aquascaping creativity has evolved over the years. Each year, the aquascapes looked more and more beautiful. With over 250 pages of beautiful artwork created by Takashi Amano, my creative aquascaping juices have returned once again. While carefully analyzing the types of plants that are used and how they are used in conjunction with other plants in the same aquarium, I have a better idea of what to use and how to use them.

Nevertheless, this book is one of my resources to go to when I need to find inspiration for aquascaping. Other resources that I go to find inspiration are nature and the completed works created by great aquarists in the planted aquarium hobby. With the combination of inspiration from others and a little creativity in your aquascape, you may find that, maybe your work might be the source of inspiration for someone else.

Houston, Tx, 03/04/2011 – As part of new plans for 2011 to re-innovate Aqua Design Amano product offerings in the United States, Aquarium Design Group (ADG) has implemented a new buyer reward program that is automatically applied to all ADGShop.com buyers.

This new program instantly adds and accrues points to customers and clients of ADA through ADGShop for money spent on product as a way to reward those who choose Aqua Design Amano products. Whether a customer purchases a bag of AP-1 Fish Food or a complete ADA 120-P Aquarium setup, they are rewarded for their loyalty, patronage and appreciation.

The basic premise of the system works in the following formula:

• Every dollar in product spent results in one point earned.
• Per 20 points accrued, the customer receives 1 dollar worth of store credit on their account (or 5 dollars back per $100).
• There is no minimum point requirement for redemption. This can be applied at any time by the customer.

The new Buyer Reward Program is effective immediately on all purchases, and while the system is brand new to ADGShop and ADA offerings, it allows for much greater integration and development as time progresses. This enables possibilities such as:

• Bonus Points awarded for special purchases
• Pre-Order Bonuses
• Double Point weekends

When you make a purchase, you can check the amount of points accrued by your account at ADGShop.com by simply clicking on “My Account” then under “Other Features” select “My Rewards”

Your accrued Rewards will then show and you can Redeem these at any time to apply to your order!

Aquarium Design Group, LLC is the North American distributor for Aqua Design Amano, Co. Ltd products such as Nature Aquarium Goods and Do!Aqua. This offer is exclusive to Aquarium Design Group /ADGShop.com and is not redeemable via other venues in which we have no affiliation. For more information, visit www.aquariumdesigngroup.com, http://facebook.com/adgonline, or http://youtube.com/adgvibe

Frank Wazeter
Aqua Design Amano USA / Aquarium Design Group
1 (832) 459-5172
frankw@aquariumdesigngroup.com