George Farmer
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Following on from this thread I thought some of you may be interested to hear how it went (from my perspective at least) - http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=161301
I travelled with a reefkeeping pal (andyk) and picked up PFK Technical Writer, Jeremy Gay and his girlfriend on the way down. The three hour+ journey went surprisingly quickly as the conversation was flowing freely as you can imagine with a load of passionate fishkeeping enthusiasts in a confined space.
One of the highlights for me was being given my “official†name badge!
The place itself was located in a holiday village with a few marquee tents containing all the stands and displays. I didn't know what to expect so went in open minded. The place was busy with all ages and sexes although the middle-aged male seemed to dominate in terms of attendance.
I was introduced to PFK General Manager, Steve Windsor and took my place behind the PFK stand handing out goodie bags and instructing the public on how to fill out the voting slips for the photo contest.
You may recognise jimbooo’s and my own photos in the Amateur category. I was surprised at both choices of our photos that PFK picked for the finals as in terms of actual technical photo prowess the full-tank shots were not the strongest (see my sig if you're not sure). I'm sure James would agree. To be honest though the other entries were brilliant and I'm sure the public would have chose a "fishy" pic over a planted one anyway. FYI I voted for the Cory (Junior) Yellow tang (Amateur) and Killifish (Professional).
Here are the three categories.
Junior category
Amateur category
Professional category
Obviously these low res images don't do the contest photos justice but it gives you a feel.
I did get a lot of time to wander about and check out the stands etc. What most impressed me was the quality discus on display. Here's three of my favourites that I managed to photograph.
Other attractions that I enjoyed were the huge Japanese koi. There were some lovely goldfish too, not normally my bag but I was impressed. There were plenty of other fish on show, many of which were for judging allsorts ranging from a single harlequin to large armoured catfish and everything in between. There were even some aquarium plants for judging including a decent Amazon sword in a pot and some cuttings of Hygrophila polysperma!!
There were quite a few trade stands with many offering discounts on their products. I managed to blag some free Tetra Safestart (thanks Rupert) to help cycle the filter in my nano. There was one aquarium plant stand that even had some healthy HC on display although disappointingly it was already sold. I questioned the guy on the stand about availability and their storing methods but he seemed a little confused as to what I was asking and proceeded to tell me that they’ve done their research and they “believe that it is a true aquatic plantâ€. “Really!?†I thought looking at my badge as if I didn’t know!
Later in the day I met some other PFK contributors; Chris Ralph (catfish), Ian Fuller (Corydorus) and Dr. Peter Burgess (health) and we all sat down with Jeremy Gay and Steve Windsor for the Q&A session. I was really chuffed to be introduced as PFK’s newest writer who has produced some “groundbreaking†work.
The whole session lasted for about an hour or two and it went really well with no real tough questions being asked. Topics ranged from CO2 in the planted tank, “super†whitespot, L-number plecs, pH buffering, high nitrates in the planted tank, prescription drugs for fish, sale of non-aquatic plants and the use of rainwater as well as other topics that I can’t remember.
Throughout the day the PFK goodie bags (containing an issue of the magazine, some dry foods, water conditioners etc.) were a big hit as well as the voting for the photo contest. The prize draw for the winner of the complete tank set up was drawn at 4pm. I’m not sure when the final voting will be counted and the winning photographers announced.
Overall the day went well for me although I have to say I’m not personally a big fan of showing fish. Andy was disappointed as there was no reef or marine displays except for a couple of complete nano reefs that were being sold off cheap. There were a few decorated display tanks containing a mixture of community fish and live/plastic plants, some looking better than others. It was disappointing to see some dead fish but I suppose this is sadly an inevitability with these events.
It was very interesting meeting some of the PFK staff and I had a decent chat with a couple of TFF members too as well as giving some advice (even some marine) to some visitors on the stand.
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=161301I travelled with a reefkeeping pal (andyk) and picked up PFK Technical Writer, Jeremy Gay and his girlfriend on the way down. The three hour+ journey went surprisingly quickly as the conversation was flowing freely as you can imagine with a load of passionate fishkeeping enthusiasts in a confined space.
One of the highlights for me was being given my “official†name badge!
The place itself was located in a holiday village with a few marquee tents containing all the stands and displays. I didn't know what to expect so went in open minded. The place was busy with all ages and sexes although the middle-aged male seemed to dominate in terms of attendance.
I was introduced to PFK General Manager, Steve Windsor and took my place behind the PFK stand handing out goodie bags and instructing the public on how to fill out the voting slips for the photo contest.
You may recognise jimbooo’s and my own photos in the Amateur category. I was surprised at both choices of our photos that PFK picked for the finals as in terms of actual technical photo prowess the full-tank shots were not the strongest (see my sig if you're not sure). I'm sure James would agree. To be honest though the other entries were brilliant and I'm sure the public would have chose a "fishy" pic over a planted one anyway. FYI I voted for the Cory (Junior) Yellow tang (Amateur) and Killifish (Professional).
Here are the three categories.
Junior category
Amateur category
Professional category
Obviously these low res images don't do the contest photos justice but it gives you a feel.
I did get a lot of time to wander about and check out the stands etc. What most impressed me was the quality discus on display. Here's three of my favourites that I managed to photograph.
Other attractions that I enjoyed were the huge Japanese koi. There were some lovely goldfish too, not normally my bag but I was impressed. There were plenty of other fish on show, many of which were for judging allsorts ranging from a single harlequin to large armoured catfish and everything in between. There were even some aquarium plants for judging including a decent Amazon sword in a pot and some cuttings of Hygrophila polysperma!!
There were quite a few trade stands with many offering discounts on their products. I managed to blag some free Tetra Safestart (thanks Rupert) to help cycle the filter in my nano. There was one aquarium plant stand that even had some healthy HC on display although disappointingly it was already sold. I questioned the guy on the stand about availability and their storing methods but he seemed a little confused as to what I was asking and proceeded to tell me that they’ve done their research and they “believe that it is a true aquatic plantâ€. “Really!?†I thought looking at my badge as if I didn’t know!
Later in the day I met some other PFK contributors; Chris Ralph (catfish), Ian Fuller (Corydorus) and Dr. Peter Burgess (health) and we all sat down with Jeremy Gay and Steve Windsor for the Q&A session. I was really chuffed to be introduced as PFK’s newest writer who has produced some “groundbreaking†work.
The whole session lasted for about an hour or two and it went really well with no real tough questions being asked. Topics ranged from CO2 in the planted tank, “super†whitespot, L-number plecs, pH buffering, high nitrates in the planted tank, prescription drugs for fish, sale of non-aquatic plants and the use of rainwater as well as other topics that I can’t remember.
Throughout the day the PFK goodie bags (containing an issue of the magazine, some dry foods, water conditioners etc.) were a big hit as well as the voting for the photo contest. The prize draw for the winner of the complete tank set up was drawn at 4pm. I’m not sure when the final voting will be counted and the winning photographers announced.
Overall the day went well for me although I have to say I’m not personally a big fan of showing fish. Andy was disappointed as there was no reef or marine displays except for a couple of complete nano reefs that were being sold off cheap. There were a few decorated display tanks containing a mixture of community fish and live/plastic plants, some looking better than others. It was disappointing to see some dead fish but I suppose this is sadly an inevitability with these events.
It was very interesting meeting some of the PFK staff and I had a decent chat with a couple of TFF members too as well as giving some advice (even some marine) to some visitors on the stand.
