Enjoy our report on the last edition of one of the most beautiful shows we have had in Europe, among incredible aquascapes and spectacular corals: we’re talking about Vivarium 2025 in Rosmalen, the Netherlands.
On November 8 and 9, in the usual Autotron complex in Rosmalen, the Netherlands, the last edition of Vivarium was held. And when we say last, we don’t mean the latest up to now, but that there will be no more Vivarium in the future. For such a spectacular show, we all think this is a real shame, and we hope that sooner or later it may rise from its ashes again, maybe a different Vivarium, but still Vivarium.
Vivarium is a show with two very distinct souls. On one side, the area dedicated to aquascaping and freshwater. This is the part that attracts the largest number of booths and visitors. On the other side, physically in another hall, there is the whole area dedicated to marine aquariums and corals. Besides these two exhibition areas, let’s call them that, visitors could also attend themed conferences that took place over both days.
The Vivarium 2025 video – don’t miss the corals and all the new products
Also this year, DaniReef, thanks to the support of all the sponsors we would like to thank, managed to fly to Rosmalen to create a complete report of this wonderful event. Before going on, we’ll leave you with the video we shot, which will walk you through the whole show. First you’ll see our quick tour of the marine booths, then we focused on the most interesting ones, and after that we went around again to show you all the freshwater booths. Finally, we dedicated an important part of our video to ANAC, the Aquaflora Nano Aquascaping Contest, showing all the nano aquascapes in competition, which will also deserve a separate article.
The organization of Vivarium 2025
Let’s start from the end. The show was, as always, spectacular. One of the nicest consumer-oriented shows we have attended in Europe in recent years. Extremely well organized and almost entirely dedicated to the hobby we love. Two separate zones, a larger one for freshwater aquariums and aquascaping. This in turn was divided into a very large ground floor and a gallery running above it, with plenty of space for sales stalls on each side. Below you can see the area we are talking about (the photo is from last year).
On the opposite side of Autotron there was the marine section. A lower area dedicated to the manufacturers, even though much smaller than the freshwater one, and a second zone created in an external hall that still hosted a high number of exhibitors, just like last year. Again this year, as in the past, the largest and most central area was reserved for De Jong MarineLife.
The location, as we said, was Rosmalen, about forty kilometers from Eindhoven. An excellent choice for the available spaces and the quiet setting, without having to deal with heavy traffic. The turnout was huge. Truly an event to be taken as an example. Official figures mention around 15,000 visitors, all for aquariumkeeping.
Italian companies
Before talking about the show and the many things there were to see, we want to highlight the presence of Italian companies. There were five of them and, finally, with as many as two brands dedicated only to marine. Five important companies: Bea and GNC for marine, Prodac and Greenvet for freshwater, and Sicce, which was present with a double booth, both in the freshwater and in the marine area.
The most interesting new products at the show
Before moving on to the corals – and there really were all types and colors – let’s start with the new products that some companies brought to the show, which we will describe in detail.
ATI presents ATI Straton X
We finally saw in person the new and impressive ATI Straton X, which we will soon have in our hands for a comparison test. The new lighting fixture from ATI promises a lot.
Royal Exclusiv presents Reef Master
Royal Exclusiv presented the new Reef Master, a complete monitoring system for aquariums that, in the future, will also be able to be equipped with dosing pumps for the automatic addition of missing elements. But we’ll talk about it in a dedicated article.
Tunze presents ORCA: oscillating system for pumps
Tunze presented its new ORCA, an oscillating and programmable system for some of its Turbelle circulation pumps.
Pantarhei presents the river
Pantarhei presented a system that was literally a river. I still can’t imagine the ideal layout for such a system, but it truly is a sight to behold.
3Dirs presents shrouds for commercial pumps to change their flow
The company 3Dirs has created special shrouds for commercial pumps that modify their flow pattern.
And the corals?
As always, there was more than you could imagine… We saw corals in the booths of Recifathome, Red Sea, K-Reef, Ocean and Lake, AquaPerfekt, Monas Riif, Divers Reef Store, Ocean’s Jewels, Senna’s Koralen, Pink Corals, DreamReef Corals, SchwabenKorallen, Ricordea Farm, DeJong MarineLife, Picasso Aquarium, Dreamcorals, Reef Corner, C-Corals and Leonardo’s Reef. In practice, no fewer than 19 coral booths. Wait for our dedicated article and you’ll see some real gems! In the meantime, enjoy the video and a selection of corals we’re showing below:
And what about ANAC?
Also regarding ANAC, that is, the Aquaflora Nano Aquascaping Competition, we saw some truly amazing aquariums. Here we’re showing six of them; wait for our dedicated article and watch the video to see them all.
And the aquascapes? So many, stunning, and spread all over the place!
We will also need to prepare a full article to show these in detail… they are absolutely crazy!
And so many friends and key players
One of the great things about shows is being in contact with people, meeting friends you wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to hug. You talk about aquariums, but not only. And when you talk about aquariums, you can really go in depth. Thank you, everyone.
Conclusions
For the third time I returned to Vivarium, and I finally managed to have two full days to walk through it completely. In the video you can see the entire route, both freshwater and marine, and how spectacular this show is. For me, it is probably “the perfect show between aquascaping and corals”. The companies, the people, the animals – everything is there. A truly unique event.
A perfect show that, starting from spaces that are more manageable for the companies, and without the need to build spectacular and extremely expensive booths, attracted a huge number of exhibitors and visitors. Of course, being in the heart of Europe helps bringing people from almost all European countries, all connected by the very fast German Autobahns. There were many coral retailers on one side, with spectacular pieces, but also a lot of aquascaped tanks on the other side, plus workshops and many, many conferences. Honestly, what more could you ask for?
And unfortunately, this was the last edition. Marco’s announcement at the end of the two days sadly doesn’t leave room for any other interpretation. A visibly moved Marco thanked everyone and said goodbye. For the last time. I always thought that these rumors, which surfaced every year, would remain just that – rumors. Instead, they turned out to be all too real. I can’t really express the sadness I feel. I can only thank Marco Aukes and all his staff for what they managed to create over these years.
We would love to hear your point of view, to know whether, by looking at the photos and the video – or if you were there – you felt the same way we did. Let us know in the comments, or on our social channels on Telegram, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, whichever social network you prefer.
And above all, let us know if you enjoy this kind of show report, or if you would prefer to see more photos or more video, so that we can do what works best for you.
In-depth articles
The booths at Vivarium, commented on and visited by us – bookmark this page and come back over the next few days.
