A renaissance for aquariums?

Expozoo served up some tasty offerings with JBL’s palm grove, a Parisian Café on the Alter Ego stand and lots of fascinating show tanks on several stands. And in addition to the visual highlights there were many new products to contribute to the show’s entertainment value. The Zoolux stand proved a magnet for visitors on all three days of the show. The new products unveiled there in all product categories – whether the fresh colours of the range of dog and cat accessories, the new aquarium sets for children or the company’s new filter materials – met with great interest. Another stand worth visiting was the Korail stand, which featured “Pet Info”, an interactive guide offering advice on all questions regarding pets (see detailed report on Page 52). Based in Donneville, near Toulouse, the company markets “Aquastyle” pet sales display units, which are manufactured in the Portuguese city of Porto. The shopfitting company Aquafeeling presented a small animal unit of unusual dimensions, a glass polygon with compartments designed for the respective inhabitants that would create an eye-catching display in any store. As part of its “Marex” aquatics range Ferplast exhibited around 60 new aquatics accessory products including rear walls, air pumps and aquarium nets. One product worth highlighting is the “Chef”, a new automatic feeder for ornamental fish that can be used to feed both flake food and small granulates. Key elements of the “Chef” are an innovative metering device and an integrated programming facility that makes it possible to adjust the amount of food dispensed for up to three feeds (see detailed article on Page 40). The Adax-Jac & Lars Group featured a large chew bone. In addition to attractive aquarium sets and a new automatic feeder (already featured), the most striking aspect of the Rena stand was the appearance for the first time of the API brand. API is the abbreviation and brand name of the American company Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc., which like Rena was taken over by Mars Fishcare two years ago. API is the number one in the USA when it comes to care products for ornamental fish and some of its products are now also available in France. Other countries that are likely to see the introduction of the API range this year are Italy, Spain, Portugal and Sweden. Aquariums were a predominant theme on the Ferplast stand also. Sera’s stand, taking up more than 200 m² and located in the strategically favourable entrance area to the fair, attracted a…