MASNA

2024 MASNA Award

The MASNA Award is arguably the most prestigious in the realm of reef keeping. The list of winners is decorated with individuals who have been active in aquarium keeping for decades and whose impacts have molded the hobby into the multidisciplinary balance of science, art, and animal companionship as we know it today. These aquarists have demonstrated unwavering dedication to and significant impacts on the marine aquarium community. Championing excellence in reef keeping and serving to set the standard for best practices in our industry, it is our utmost pleasure to announce Marc Levenson as the 2024 MASNA Award recipient.

Marc’s passion for marine life began when he was just a child. His father would go on trips all over the world. On one such trip to the island of Mo’orea, 9-year-old Marc was lucky enough to tag along. Full of youthful energy and curiosity, he spent each day exploring the ocean world encircling the tiny Pacific Island. Young Marc would gather sea life in a water bottle he had cut open to create a microcosm and show it to beachgoers, encouraging them to explore the underwater realm just beneath the gentle waves of the lagoon. At this impressionable age, the sight of corals, anemones, and clownfish incited his life-long journey of marine aquarium keeping.

Marc’s passion for sharing knowledge is evident with his website melevsreef.com and the thousands upon thousands of interactions on various forums over the years, and then later further support of aquarists through his educational YouTube channel. Marc quickly chimes in without hesitation when a fellow aquarist needs help with that same excitement as the boy on the beach of Mo’orea. Anyone who has discussed reef tanks with Marc has undoubtedly experienced his enthusiasm and has been inspired to be the best aquarist that they can be.

Facing complicated challenges head-on is fairly commonplace for aquarists, and Marc has dealt with his fair share of less-than-ideal reefkeeping scenarios. Every aquarist’s nightmare is the venerable aquarium seam failure or cracked glass. The thought of waking up to a flooded living room often keeps many of us on edge. Horror stories frequently catch major attention on forums and blogs. This unfortunate occurrence has impacted Marc personally. What Marc did to remedy the situation is nothing short of heroic. Making quick decisions and acting fast, he assembled a backup tank and rescued every animal he could from the failed aquarium. One particular fish named Spock, a Naso Tang, was rescued and held for over a year in makeshift tanks until a new aquarium could be installed in his home. Spock is with Marc to this day and underlines Marc’s paramount respect for animal life and the measures he will take to ensure the well-being of those in his care.

Marc has shared many of his innovations with the community to improve aquarium systems. After a tragic experience following a system pump outage, Marc and a good friend created what likely may have been the very first feeding timer applied to a reef aquarium. Before such a device was available at the local fish store, the duo built a homemade pump control box that would pause pump operation for a limited time during daily feedings and resume pump operation automatically. Such devices are now commonplace from a variety of manufacturers, and most reef equipment utilizes this fail-safe design, ensuring the safety of countless aquarium animals.

Another one of Marc’s innovations has humbly become the norm for many in-sump refugium layouts. This approach, referred to simply as “Model-F,” partitions waterflow returning to the sump into two pathways: one into the refugium, and the other into the main sump chamber. In this way, the refugium remains quiescent allowing macro algae to flourish without turbulent flow, and the second water pathway passes through mechanical filtration for the display tank to thrive. Although he does sell equipment he has manufactured, Marc has never capitalized on these designs. Instead, he shares these concepts with the greater aquarium community so that everyone may benefit from his creations.

Marc has been a familiar face advocating for and supporting organizations such as MASNA and MACNA since the beginning. He has not wavered in his support for continuing the traditions of our reefkeeping community and what it means to so many of us. When MACNA 2023 was not able to take place, Marc volunteered to host a 24-hr live stream on his channel and coined it MARCNA 2023 to ensure the reefkeeping community carried on the tradition. Within those 24 hours, he had scheduled guests from around the globe.

His selflessness, can-do attitude and positivity are characteristics all aquarists should embrace. The MASNA Board of Directors is delighted to add Mr. Levenson to the list of outstanding individuals who have supported the growth and advancement of the marine aquarium keeping community. We look forward to Marc’s continued contributions to the hobby through his channel and as the current Executive Editor of CORAL Magazine and cannot wait to see what his next innovation will do for home aquariums.

Go run to Mote.org! 💻🌐
We are thrilled to announce that we have remodeled our website to enhance your browsing experience, which officially debuted today, June 10! Although the site may look a little different, all of the current links will still work by seamlessly redirecting you to the right places on the new site.

The new website will showcase several new features, including:

Animal Encyclopedia: This fun, educational tool will allow you to learn fun facts about the species living in our Aquarium or studied by Mote researchers!

Areas of Research: The Areas of Research pages will introduce you to broad topics, like Coral Reef Ecosystems, with fun facts, photo galleries, topic-related news stories, and links to research programs' individual pages.

Clickable Map of Mote Campuses and Research Locations: The clickable maps allow you to explore the locations and reach of Mote's projects, providing a visual understanding of where and how we conduct our research and conservation efforts.

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at: [email protected]

Happy browsing! 👩🏽‍💻👨🏼‍💻

MASNA 2024 Call for Award Nominations

Each year, the MASNA Board of Directors, and past recipients of the MASNA Award and Aquarist of the Year Award, select the new award winners from nominations submitted by the MASNA membership.

➡️ MASNA Aquarist of the Year Award
Nominees for the MASNA Aquarist of the Year Award are individuals who demonstrate exceptional dedication to the intricacies of the hobby, commitment to sharing their expertise, supporting fellow hobbyists, and advocating for the highest standards in all aspects of marine aquarium care and management.

➡️ The MASNA Award
Nominees for the MASNA Award have demonstrated an unwavering dedication and significant impact on the marine aquarium industry and community. Through a lifetime of professional service, this honoree has tirelessly championed excellence in reef keeping, helping to set the standard for best practices in our industry.

▪️ Please consider nominating those individuals who have helped you become a more successful aquarist. They don’t need to be celebrities or social media superstars to be recognized with an award. Nominees should simply be someone who has fostered your growth as a successful marine aquarist.

▪️ Nominations must include the nominee’s name, email address, and a short letter explaining why you feel the nominee should be recognized with a MASNA Aquarist of the Year Award -or- the MASNA Award.

▪️ Nomination Deadline: Sunday, June 16th 11:59 PM EST.
Email nominations to [email protected]

Awards will be presented at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) August 30th – September 1st 2024 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando Florida. Visit https://macna.org/ for more information.

Join us at 9 PM (EST), next Wednesday, June 12th, for our monthly Public Meeting!

For access, visit MASNA.org/ and scroll down to the link.

Don't forget that our newest temporary exhibit, Mystery Reef, is now open!

Coral reefs, the rainforests of the sea, are in serious danger. Help us find out what’s hurting the corals and how we can help.

We invite you to become a coral detective and uncover clues throughout Mystery Reef while learning about real coral science and restoration at Mote Marine Laboratory. 🪸💪

Check out some of the FINtastic activities included...

🔎 Solve our scavenger hunt and earn your coral detective badge!
🔍 Enter our giant inflatable coral!
🔎 Bop an invasive lionfish!
🔍 Build a reef with big puzzle blocks!
🔎 Celebrate coral parents and babies with our fast paced air maze!
🔍 See how corals can transform from stressed to strong with help from Mote's scientists!

mote.org/mystery for more details!