Michael Paletta has been keeping marine tanks since 1980 and reef tanks since 1985. During the past 20 years he has written over 180 articles on marine fish and invertebrates in both the US and Europe. His first book “The Modern Marine Aquarium” is an attempt to simplify marine fish keeping for the beginning hobbyist while at the same time incorporating advances that have been made due to reef keeping. This book has sold over 140,000 copies. His second book “Ultimate Marine Aquariums” illustrates how far the hobby has come in the past 15 years. In this book are examples of just about every type of reef tank using different methodologies and technology. Michael has enjoyed speaking at over 120 marine societies and national conferences in North America, Canada, South America and Europe. Michael has appeared on both local and national radio shows to discuss the hobby and to help new hobbyists become successful. Currently Michael has 1,200 and 40- gallon reef tanks set up in his home. He has helped in the set up of over 200 tanks throughout the U.S, including several tanks over 4,000 gallons in capacity. Michael also acted as a consultant with the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Pittsburgh Zoo Aquarium. Michael has B.S. from Dickinson College and a Master’s degree from Yale University. Michael has also been a technical consultant for several equipment manufacturers and online companies. Michael is currently employed in sales in the biotechnology field.
Adam Blundell (Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team)
Saturday 2:30PM - 4:00PM
Adam Blundell M.S. works in Marine Ecology, and in Pathology for the University of Utah. He is also Director of The Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team, a group which utilizes research projects to bring together hobbyists and scientists. His vision is to see this type of collaboration lead to further advancements in aquarium husbandry. While not in the lab he is a presidency member for one of the Nation's largest hobbyist clubs, the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society www.utahreefs.com. Adam has earned a BS in Marine Biology and an MS in the Natural Resource and Health fields. Adam can be found at adamblundell@hotmail.com.
Robert (Bob) Fenner is a content provider to the pet-fish (ornamental) aquatics hobby and trade, dive/travel adventure and underwater natural history genres; writing, photography and videography. Though retired since 1994, he continues to produce in this field as well as consult on aquaculture and public aquarium installations.
Bob has "lived" the science, hobby and business of aquatics in the Philippines, Japan and United States. All phases; collector, wholesale, jobber, retail, design, construction and maintenance. All levels; manager, owner, hatchery worker, retail clerk, technician. Except for a stint teaching high school sciences for four years, he has worked all his life in the field of ornamental aquatics.
Academic experience includes fifteen years of college, a couple of life science degrees and a teaching credential for chemistry, physics and biology. Published works include several studies on aquatic biological and chemical questions, and an extensive book and article publishing (helped author a few books, The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, Fishwatcher's Guide to the Tropical Marine Aquarium Fishes of the World, Natural Marine Aquariums Reef Invertebrates...) and photographic background in aquatic industry and hobby fields. Have taught High School sciences and Marine Sciences and Aquariology courses at the State University, University of California levels.
Bob has been an avid aquatic hobbyist since day one and is active in hobbyist and scientific organizations. He has served on numerous Boards, judged shows and given many programs.
Helped form and run (President) of the employee-owned corporation, Nature Etc., Inc. in San Diego, started in 1973; a turn-key operation in the field of ornamental aquatics, designing and building ponds, lakes, fountains and waterfalls (Aquatic Environments), designing, installing custom aquarium systems and maintenance (Aquatic Life Services), and operating retail outlets (Wet Pets).... currently does consulting, content provision to the trade, sciences and hobby of aquaristics.
My real name is Marc Levenson, but online I'm known to many as melev. I've been in the hobby for about 10 years and my Percula clownfish (the first fish I bought) is still with me to this day.
I run a website called www.melevsreef.com that is there to help hobbyists everywhere. My site started off as a single page many years ago, talking about my 29g, but then grew longer and longer. It was like a never-ending blog, until one day I started page 2 about a new project for my tank - a sump. Over time, the site grew to include additional topics of interest such as acrylic work, photography, solutions to pests, information about my tanks, lighting, feeding, and more. There is always
something new being added as time permits. Now entire sections are themed so that you can stay in a particular line of thinking. I've even begun the task of translating some popular pages into other languages to reach more individuals globally.
I've been online for years, originally running a BBS called The Kingdom, run on an Atari STe back when high speed was a 2400 baud modem. That site was up for 7 years. More recently, I've been a part of a podcast for reefkeepers, www.reefcast.com which now has 25 different episodes available for download. Most of them are audio only in mp3 format but there are a few vidcasts mixed in for your viewing pleasure. We keep it casual, fun, and still cover a variety of topics to help you be successful reefkeepers.
I've been a fan of MACNA since 2002, been on the BOD for MASNA.org for over a year, then on the BOD for DFWMAS for at least 4 years. I've been the club president of DFWMAS for three of those years, working to keep the membership growing and provide interesting content both online and at our monthly meetings. I’ve also, written a few magazine articles, and was a contributing author to an e-book called Reefkeeping Basics. www.reefkeepingbasics.com
Frank Burr, owner of The Coral Oasis (Coral Farm) and Tropical Reef Oasis (Retail Store). Over 20 years Reef experience beginning with a home built 60 gallon mini-reef and progressing to multiple personal tanks, a coral propagation farm specializing in SPS and exotic Zoos with over 900 gallons of propagation tanks and coral and fish quarantine systems and a Reef specialty store with over 1000 gallons of display and show tanks.
His goal in ongoing research is to improve quarantine methods and treatments dealing with the eradication of corals pests. He is also working on creating and maintaining small low or no-maintenance self-sustained reef biospheres and is currently working on a series covering various reef filtration methods
Author of: Quarantine for Reef Systems and Self-Sustaining Marine Biospheres
In today's ever-popular hobby, we are finding more and more new varieties of pests and pathogens coming in on wild and aquacultured livestock imported from overseas. Once these pests have a chance to enter the captive systems of the commercial and private hobbyist, they spread rampantly, endangering the healthy and successful advancement of our hobby. This talk will cover aspects of identifying pests and pathogens present on incoming livestock and methods and procedures of quarantining and eradicating these pests before they get a chance to enter our captive ecosystems.
Ike Eigenbrode is currently the VP of Marketing at Current USA, Inc. of Vista, CA. A 17-year veteran in the aquarium industry, Ike has a B.S. degree in Biology from University of Central Florida and studied Aquaculture at the Florida Institute of Technology.
While in college, Ike worked at a tropical fish hatchery as a fish pathologist worked extensively on a large scale marine fish and invert holding system. He has taught classes on numerous subjects including aquaculture system design, aquaponics and water quality monitoring systems.
Ike is also an avid marine fish hobbyist and personally has a small scale coral fragging system.
Jake Adams is a professional, practicing aquarist who has been an active participant in the national marine aquarium community for over 10 years. He has been educating aquarists of a wide range of marine aquarium topics through frequent articles, podcasts and presentations around the country. He recently founded www.coralidea.com which provides a free downloadable guide to coral identification for mobile devices and home computers. Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Marine Science and he will be returning to graduate school to further pursue research in the field of coral reef ecology.
Although aquarists may be developing a basic understanding on the properties of light, they are still very much in the dark when it comes to understanding water flow. This presentation will review some of the science on the interaction of water flow and corals. By applying the properties of moving fluids, it is possible to provide better and more relevant water flow for corals. By offering aquarists some background understanding of how water moves, I hope to encourage coral aquarists to re-evaluate water movement in their aquaria.
Susan Frisch Zaleski works for the University of Southern California Sea Grant Program where she provides outreach and advisory services in the areas of coastal ecosystem health, aquatic invasive species, marine protected areas, public recreation, and other emerging issues along the southern California coast. Susan received her B.A. in Biology from Hamilton College and M.S. in Biology from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She conducted her graduate research under the direction of Dr. Steven Murray, whose research on rocky intertidal habitats along the Southern California mainland and Channel Islands has provided important information to state and federal managers on the effectiveness of marine life refuges and marine protected areas. In Murray’s lab, Susan worked on Sea Grant projects examining shifts in seaweed and invertebrate populations during a period of climatic change and increased urbanization. Susan focused her Masters research on invasive seaweeds imported through the aquarium trade. She became an expert on taxonomic discrimination of species within the Caulerpa genus and was invited to present her findings at multiple conferences (e.g. International Caulerpa taxifolia Conference, January 2002; American Fisheries Society, California-Nevada Chapter, Annual Meeting, April 2002). Susan began an outreach project in October 2005 with Dr. Linda Walters of University of Central Florida on invasive seaweeds and alternatives to releasing pets and plants from aquarium tanks.
Michael Paletta has been keeping marine tanks since 1980 and reef tanks since 1985. During the past 20 years he has written over 180 articles on marine fish and invertebrates in both the US and Europe. His first book “The Modern Marine Aquarium” is an attempt to simplify marine fish keeping for the beginning hobbyist while at the same time incorporating advances that have been made due to reef keeping. This book has sold over 140,000 copies. His second book “Ultimate Marine Aquariums” illustrates how far the hobby has come in the past 15 years. In this book are examples of just about every type of reef tank using different methodologies and technology. Michael has enjoyed speaking at over 120 marine societies and national conferences in North America, Canada, South America and Europe. Michael has appeared on both local and national radio shows to discuss the hobby and to help new hobbyists become successful. Currently Michael has 1,200 and 40- gallon reef tanks set up in his home. He has helped in the set up of over 200 tanks throughout the U.S, including several tanks over 4,000 gallons in capacity. Michael also acted as a consultant with the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Pittsburgh Zoo Aquarium. Michael has B.S. from Dickinson College and a Master’s degree from Yale University. Michael has also been a technical consultant for several equipment manufacturers and online companies. Michael is currently employed in sales in the biotechnology field.
Adam Blundell M.S. works in Marine Ecology, and in Pathology for the University of Utah. He is also Director of The Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team, a group which utilizes research projects to bring together hobbyists and scientists. His vision is to see this type of collaboration lead to further advancements in aquarium husbandry. While not in the lab he is a presidency member for one of the Nation's largest hobbyist clubs, the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society 
Robert (Bob) Fenner is a content provider to the pet-fish (ornamental) aquatics hobby and trade, dive/travel adventure and underwater natural history genres; writing, photography and videography. Though retired since 1994, he continues to produce in this field as well as consult on aquaculture and public aquarium installations.
My real name is Marc Levenson, but online I'm known to many as melev. I've been in the hobby for about 10 years and my Percula clownfish (the first fish I bought) is still with me to this day.
I run a website called 
Frank Burr, owner of The Coral Oasis (Coral Farm) and Tropical Reef Oasis (Retail Store). Over 20 years Reef experience beginning with a home built 60 gallon mini-reef and progressing to multiple personal tanks, a coral propagation farm specializing in SPS and exotic Zoos with over 900 gallons of propagation tanks and coral and fish quarantine systems and a Reef specialty store with over 1000 gallons of display and show tanks.
Ike Eigenbrode is currently the VP of Marketing at Current USA, Inc. of Vista, CA. A 17-year veteran in the aquarium industry, Ike has a B.S. degree in Biology from University of Central Florida and studied Aquaculture at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Jake Adams is a professional, practicing aquarist who has been an active participant in the national marine aquarium community for over 10 years. He has been educating aquarists of a wide range of marine aquarium topics through frequent articles, podcasts and presentations around the country. He recently founded 
Susan Frisch Zaleski works for the University of Southern California Sea Grant Program where she provides outreach and advisory services in the areas of coastal ecosystem health, aquatic invasive species, marine protected areas, public recreation, and other emerging issues along the southern California coast. Susan received her B.A. in Biology from Hamilton College and M.S. in Biology from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She conducted her graduate research under the direction of Dr. Steven Murray, whose research on rocky intertidal habitats along the Southern California mainland and Channel Islands has provided important information to state and federal managers on the effectiveness of marine life refuges and marine protected areas. In Murray’s lab, Susan worked on Sea Grant projects examining shifts in seaweed and invertebrate populations during a period of climatic change and increased urbanization. Susan focused her Masters research on invasive seaweeds imported through the aquarium trade. She became an expert on taxonomic discrimination of species within the Caulerpa genus and was invited to present her findings at multiple conferences (e.g. International Caulerpa taxifolia Conference, January 2002; American Fisheries Society, California-Nevada Chapter, Annual Meeting, April 2002). Susan began an outreach project in October 2005 with Dr. Linda Walters of University of Central Florida on invasive seaweeds and alternatives to releasing pets and plants from aquarium tanks.