MACNA, being the ultimate marine and reef aquarium event on the planet, inherently showcases some of the world’s best marine aquarium talent with leading authors and professionals from across the hobby-industry. This year FMAS has really made a push to mix it up a bit by including some fresh new talent and their presentations are sure to be quite special. Most of us are familiar with the regular speakers and veteran presentations but here are six speakers from the U.S., Australia, Indonesia and Thailand that you will really want to see at MACNA this year.
Nic Dos Santos (Australia) – Nic is a veteran of the Australian aquarium trade, with specialties in coral collection and discovery. He’ll be shedding some light on how this goes on Down Under and we’re expecting lots of reef and coral eye candy. He goes on at 9am Sunday morning
Keri O’Neill (Florida USA) – Keri is a research scientist at Nova Southeastern University who is working on a “dream research project” which could be one of the most profound studies to bring together aquarium coral growers and coral scientists together. She has spent the past three years working on a large study comparing the growth and survival of corals raised in land-based nurseries vs. ocean-based nurseries. 12pm Saturday
Vincent Chalias (Bali, Indonesia) – If we haven’t already convinced you that Vincent is the Man when it comes to farming corals in Bali then you need to read our previous introduction. We had the sincere pleasure of spending some time with him in Bali this summer touring coral farming locations and facilities. If you’ve got Blue Dragon, Red Dragon, or Green Leviathan Acros in your tank, you can thank this guy. 2pm Friday
Clive Bentley (Michigan USA) – Clive aka EvilC is a man who needs no introduction among the DIY LED reefers. A true aquarium lighting pioneer, and a regular writer here at Reef Builders, Clive’s many designs and early work in the aquarium LED space have influenced our collective understanding on engineering and using LEDs to grow aquarium corals to this day. 11am Sunday
Morgan Moore (Florida USA) – Miss Reef Gardener is a die hard hobbyist, coral grower and a budding author in the reef aquarium space. As someone who earns her keep by growing and propagating corals, she knows a thing or two about keeping corals healthy and beautiful. 9am Sunday
Chingchai Uekrongtham (Bangkok Thailand) – Chingchai is a diehard reef aquarium hobbyist who has inspired reefers the world over with his infamous “DSPS” reef tank. A man with the means and desire to create one of the most exotic aquariums in the world, Chingchai is going to spice things up with how they do it in Thailand. 9am Saturday
