Giveaway: Win Family Passes to the 2013 Aquatic Experience Chicago!

About the Aquatic Experience – Chicago:

AQUATIC EXPERIENCE – CHICAGO is the first in industry history to combine everything aquatic under one roof—from saltwater and freshwater fish to pond and aquatic reptiles. Consumers, retailers and families can take part in educational seminars, hear from Zeb Hogan and other high-power speakers, enter a Kid’s Aquarium Contest and enjoy a show floor filled with vibrant displays of exotic fish and product raffles, hobbyists and equipment experts alongside the industry’s best and trend-setting manufacturers. Tickets are on sale now for Aquatic Experience – Chicago at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center (1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL) with daily individual tickets starting at just $10 and daily family passes for $25. Tickets to the Saturday dinner with keynote speaker Zeb Hogan are $60. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.aquaticexperience.org.

The event will also feature the Nations only traveling shark exhibit (The Live Shark Experience) and the Kid’s Aquarium Contest, where children from the ages 5 to 16 are encouraged to join this friendly competition to a design a fish aquarium that reflects their personality or showcases their favorite hobby. Ten-gallon freshwater aquarium kits complete with a filter, lighting, heater, thermometer and net are donated and sponsored for each entrant by aquatic companies, and each tank creation is theirs to keep! More details are available here: http://aquaticexperience.org/contest-overview/.

Keynote speaker and aquatic ecologist Zeb Hogan will speak to attendees about his travels to the most endangered areas of the world and share his many experiences working with researchers, fisherman, enthusiasts and eccentrics in his search to find some of the strangest fish in the world for National Geographic’s Monster Fish. Alongside Hogan, many additional experts in the field will be available on-site at Aquatic Experience – Chicago to meet in person and share their enthusiasm for the underwater world. Featured speakers and topics include:

Patrick Donston, owner and operator of Absolutely Fish, a MAC certified facility and wholesale retail store, will give a presentation on the proper equipment necessary to establish a productive husbandry practice for commercial marine systems including an informational session on designing, building and documenting husbandry systems.

Eric Bodrock, owner of All Oddball Aquatics, a tropical fish hatchery and independent online retailer of aquarium hobby equipment, will give two presentations on aquarium hobby basics and conditioning, spawning and raising freshwater fish.

Oliver Knott, a German aquarium designer, professional live aquascaper and InVitro plant specialist, will be giving several presentations that incorporate cutting edge technology for aquatic plant life trends including a step-by-step demonstration in front of a live audience to showcase how to aquascape a 200-liter tank.

Bob Fenner, an avid ornamental aquatic enthusiast and author of several books—including “The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Common Sense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists” and “Fishwatcher’s Guide to the Tropical Marine Aquarium Fishes of the World”—will share his experience and knowledge to help the public gather the necessary information to set up successful home aquariums.

Oliver Lucanus, a German-born writer, photographer and explorer of South American fish habitats, will present material from his most recent book, “The Amazon Below Water,” featuring the natural habitats of fish and plant life in the Amazon. He will also give a presentation on the native habitats of the most popular aquarium fish.

Heiko Bleher, a conservationist, lecturer and scholar of aquatic habitats, fish and biotope correct aquaria, will present on the proper methods to keeping Discus Fish, otherwise known as pompadour fish. He will cover how to create a simple routine to maintain healthy fish, how to avoid diseases and other common mistakes made when fish keeping.

René Krüter, a notable pioneer in the fish keeping and breeding field, specifically Tanganyika cichlids, will be giving a presentation on the topic of exploring the Congo Coast of Lake Tanganyika accompanied by his own underwater photography of fish from the Congo shoreline that have never before been seen.