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AGA Convention Video Streaming and on Disks

Talks from earlier conventions (2000-2019) are available for streaming free to members, with a new presentation released each month.

NEW! The latest 2022 convention archive can now be purchased by members for online streaming for $15, or for a limited time on physical media (see sidebar).

All presentations feature the speakers miked directly into the camera, and the original images or video clips digitally inserted into the video (no shoot the screen garbage here!). Various pauses for accidental backwards slides and such have been removed. In the case of Mr. Amano's work, we've overlayed Tomoko Schum's amazing translation directly over his talking. Live demonstrations are 3-camera edits. Starting in 2008, everything's in widescreen High-Def, but selected earlier presentations have been "remixed" into HD when the original powerpoint files were available.

It's not perfect, even in 2022, sometimes the mic doesn’t work right, sometimes the slides don't look that great, sometimes the third camera was whatever someone in the audience had brought... but we're still pretty proud of them.

Membership note: Due to an arrangement with our speakers, convention videos (both disks and streaming) are only available to AGA Members. If you are not a member, you must join before purchasing a convention archive.

What's in Each Archive?

2022 featured three different live demos (George Farmer on aquascaping, Nick Kinser setting up some paludariums, and Jonathon Butkus on marine macro-algae aquascaping!), a very techie talk on Vallisneria from Alex Martin, Alex Wenchell giving one of the best Photography talks we've ever seen, Andre Longarco's recounting of his (and Aquabase's) history, plus two Rainbowfish talks from Gary Lange.

2019's attendance-breaking convention in Seattle has Christel Kasselman's return to the AGA after 16 years, our featured aquascaper Dennis Wong (and his four-hour rock-heavy construction reduced to an hour, with constant Q&A throughout), Vin Kutty's Mad Science growth experiments with Rotala and other plants, Cara Wade on Paludariums, and Cory McElroy on his experiences with 'the industry' side of the hobby. Also included are the vendor micro-talks, the expert Wabi Kusa instruction from Bailin Shaw, workshop highlights, and a hobby discussion panel.

2017 includes Luca Galarraga's epic aquascaping demo edited down to an hour, presentations by Rachel O’Leary (inverts and nano-stocking), Bart Laurens (Dutch Aquascaping -- the full 2-hour presentation at GSAS, and the 1-hour version at the convention), Karen Randall (Sunken Gardens, and the banquet talk on how our plants go from discovery in the wild to our tanks), Ghazanfar Ghori (Bucephalandra), and Luca Galarraga (aquascaping competition). Also included are the micro-talks, the Wabi-Kusa demo and workshop, and nano aquascaping workshop highlights.

2015 features presentations from Rachel O’Leary (inhabitants for the planted aquarium), Tom Barr (two talks), Sean Murphy (basic plant botany and taxonomy), Phil Edwards (substrate), George Farmer (aquascaping), and Nick Klase (yes, including both parts of his talk). Most of the mini-talks are also included. The aquascaping duel will be edited to an enjoyable 40 minutes, and there is a highlights video of the nano workshop.

2012 Convention: Two talks from the World's foremost Cryptocoryne expert Niels Jacobsen, one technical on the Evolution and Variation of the genus; and one travelogue on Niels’ experiences in Southeast Asia. Two talks from Kris Weinhold, one for beginners, one for more advanced aquatic plant keepers. Brandon McLane from Florida Aquatic Nurseries surveys the methods of Propagating Aquatic Plants. Tom Barr embraces the balance of CO2, light and nutrients. Cavan Allen goes exploring for North American Native Aquatic Plants. There's also a 7-minute edit of the Nano Aquascaping Workshop, a panel Q&A, and the presentation of the Aquascaping Contest awards. All talks are 2-camera edits, and in some cases the slides have been cleaned up better than when they were presented live at the convention!

The 2010 Convention Claus Christensen asks the question Are your growing conditions ideal? And do you care?, gives us some hints on shipping plants and acclimating tissue culture samples, and takes us on a tour halfway around the world. Dr. Mike Kane gives a lecture on amphibious plants, and a tissue culture workshop. Watch the AGA's best stick sterile samples into little jars! Karen Randall presents on aquascape design principles. Ghazanfar Ghori teaches how to grow emerse Crypts, and Jason Balian talks about aquascape photography. We've also got a 3-camera edit of the Iron Aquascaper competition (sponsored by ADG), and a 9-minute highlight reel from our tour of Florida Aquatic Nurseries.

Our 2008 convention All the lectures (Dr. Morin on Iron Uptake, Dr. Kane on tissue culture, Dr. Tan on mosses, Dr. Amano and Dr. Senske on aquascaping, and Dr. Randall on collecting in Thailand). Plus the two live events: the Iron Aquascaper, the Amano aquascaping demo, both 3-camera edits. We've also tucked in the Aquascaping Contest awards -- in total, over nine hours of stuff to watch!

The 2006 Convention Ole Pedersen (aquascapes in nature), Troels Andersen (acclimation of plants to underwater life), Eric Do (shrimp and other invertebrates), Dorothy Reimer (growing it old-skool!), George Batten (Chemistry), Ricky Cain (Inspiration), and Jeff Senske (aquascape photography). Plus the traditional aquascaping contest awards, and the first-ever Iron Aquascaper Competition, filmed with three cameras and edited to 45 minutes.

The 2004 Convention includes Jan Bastmeijer (Crypts in Nature, and Emersed Culture), Takashi Amano, Diana Walstad, and Mike Senske. The disk also includes Mr. Amano's late-night aquascape demo, edited down from two hours of three cameras to a blazingly-quick 45 minutes.

The 2003 Convention Main talks (Christel Kasselmann, Shaun Winterton, Roger Miller, George and Karla Booth, and Karen Randall), five hours of focus groups, banquet and miscellaneous talks, plus a bonus behind the scenes featurette that nobody ever found on the original DVD release.

The 2002 Convention has two presentations by Claus Christensen (including a collecting trip in Brazil), talks by Jeff Senske (Commercial Aquascaping), Chuck Gadd (Plants: Nature's Test Kit), Erik Olson (Photography and the Planted Aquarium), and Don Kingore (Kent Botanica) and panel discussion.

The 2001 Convention includes Takashi Amano's Nature Aquarium talk and live aquascaping workshop (first time in the US!), Wim van Drongelen speaking on the Dutch aquascaping style, Greg Morin of Seachem, Tom Barr, and Todd Stailey (photography). There's also a panel-audience question and answer session.

The 2000 Convention features talks by Neil Frank, Paul Krombholz, David Lass (lighting), Charlene Nash on Public Aquarium Planted Displays, and Karen Randall (plus the entire AGA membership in attendence) on Plant Nutrition. There's another little featurette, originally hidden on the DVD, now in plain sight for members to find. Note: the production values on this disk are significantly lower than the others, because in 2000 everyone was still using 35mm slides, and this was our first convention.