Last weekend I was invited to give a talk at Love2Reef in Essex, England. Love2Reef was devised by British hobbyist Paul Longhurst, who managed to do what many Brits have tried and failed to do in the past – hold a successful British reefing event, which believe me is easier said than done!
I’ve attended many open days and events at aquatic stores and they work really well, but Love2Reef runs independently in its own venue, it’s a ticketed event with a maximum of 200 people allowed in, and it was a really enjoyable day. The proceeds from the show go to Mind, a mental health charity, so it’s for a good cause too.
Vendors
There were 14 vendors at the show, which may not sound like many by American show standards, but the UK’s biggest marine suppliers and distributors were there, between them showing off hundreds of leading brands from EcoTech, Red Sea, TMC, Maxspect, Reef Factory, Reef Nutrition, Sicce, CaribSea, AquaPrint, Tropic Marin, Coral Essentials, AI, D-D, Nyos, Reef Zlements and many, many more. This gave UK reefers a chance to see new products and talk to the people behind the brands. Those companies also supplied 63 raffle prizes and it’s safe to say the raffle was well attended.
Livestock
Corals were available to purchase from three coral vendors, as well as a 100-frag, frag swap. We saw a few gems change hands including one of our favorites, Turbinaria heronensis, a really cool Sinularia dura color variant we hadn’t seen before as well as all the sought-after tenuis frags and chalices, clams, and mangroves.
Talks
The highlight for me was a talk by Dr. Jamie Craggs of the Coral Spawning Lab and the Horniman Museum in London. A coral spawning pioneer, Jamie has now spawned 50 species of coral in captivity and his mobile coral spawning labs (built into shipping containers,) have been deployed all over the world for controlled, ex-situ spawning projects. His talk was on coral spawning and a future for reefs.
Jose Duarte, founder of supplement brand Reef Zlements, also gave a talk on pH, which is a hot topic on both sides of the Atlantic. My talk was on the American reefing scene, the differences and parallels between American and British reefing, and how we can scale up to bigger shows like Reef Stock in the UK.
Essex Shoptour
An added bonus with Love2Reef is its proximity to Advanced Aquarium Consultancy, a leading reefing store we’ve featured on Reef Builders several times before. This is an added bonus for reefers who like to tour shops and it delights new visitors with rare fish, amazing display tanks, acros, NPS corals, and seahorses, as well as running its own coral farm next door.
Thanks to Paul Longhurst of Love2Reef, Paul Hughes from AAC, all my friends in the UK aquatic trade, and the audience for listening to me talk about Reef Builders. If you’re in the UK look out for news on the 4th Love2Reef event next year.
