# UKAPS BBQ 2009 @ Dan Crawford's - Photos



## Steve Smith (20 Jun 2009)

Some photos taken so far.  More will be posted as the day progresses, depending on alcohol consumpiton 

All the items for the scape-off and ferts/plants to auction off:






Hardscape to be used in the scape off:










LondonDragon (Paulo), John Starkey and Dan Crawford:





Me and Paulo sorting out the technology:


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## Lozbug (20 Jun 2009)

aw wish i could be there!! all looks great!


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## aaronnorth (20 Jun 2009)

looks good, thanks to the sponsors aswell


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## zig (20 Jun 2009)

look at all that gear,no excuses, looking for some serious aquascaping here today  (just to add some pressure)


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## Stu Worrall (20 Jun 2009)

cant belive I had to miss this    have a great time


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## Graeme Edwards (20 Jun 2009)

Wooop woop, looking good fellas, wish I was there.

Ive been watching the cam sumising what has been talked about, to my amusment.   

More, more pics!!!!


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## Graeme Edwards (20 Jun 2009)

P.S, ill give you a quide for the Denerle nano and stand .........

Done!


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## Garuf (20 Jun 2009)

I thought this was next weekend?!


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## Mark Evans (20 Jun 2009)

SteveUK said:
			
		

>



thats the biggest gravel foreground i've ever seen!   

can you tell mr starkey, i won my section with 46lb of carp and we won the team event tit was a gruler  :?   raising just over Â£2000 for charity! 



			
				Garuf said:
			
		

> I thought this was next weekend?!



ooops


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## zig (20 Jun 2009)

Garuf said:
			
		

> I thought this was next weekend?!



Nope this is definitely this weekend  

Just waiting for the pics of the scape off now.


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## TDI-line (21 Jun 2009)

Garuf said:
			
		

> I thought this was next weekend?!



I wondered where you was.


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## George Farmer (21 Jun 2009)

I've just got home after a rather delicate 1 hour drive...

I think it's safe to say everyone had a super time!  What could be better that meeting up with like-minded enthusiasts to discuss and get hands-on what we all love so much? 

Personally I'd like to thank everyone that came and for making the event such a success.

Huge thanks to Dan for hosting the event and I have to mention Steve, who was legendary on the BBQ and tidying up!
What a guy!

The 'scape off was a great success with the winning layout looking brilliant!  One lucky winner got to go home with it all set up!

Everyone came away with some goodies but more importantly, it was a fantastic opportunity to build on current friendships and develop new ones...

We were graced with a surprise visitor at about 8pm, and this was Dan's reaction...





I post a complete set of photos (including the 'scape off entries, Dan's tank/pond, UKAPS members, etc.) when my brain is working properly...


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## CeeBee (21 Jun 2009)

Absolutely superb day - we had such a great time.  I only wish we could have tried for the ukaps5 - did anyone make it?  We got the tank home in surprisingly good shape - I was panicking with every bump in the road and roundabout - but it arrive home looking pretty much the same.  Leigh has been staring into it from all angles - he's absolutely delighted with it, so thank you.

I think that we're going to leave it a while before it actually gets set up properly.  We're going to have to get a stand, filter and lights - so we'll do it in stages.  Don't worry though - I'm going to take out some of the less interesting plants in my tank (I can't remember who it was who mentioned 'his and hers' tanks - but here we are!) and replace them with the plants we took last night.  We can sort out a set for 'his' tank once we've got the bits we need.  Honest - I didn't coerce him into handing over his new plants, but it would be a dreadful shame for them to go to waste..........    

Will they be OK until tomorrow night though?  They're currently in the main tank but unplanted  - I'm feeling a little delicate and not very creative!

Again - thanks for a wonderful day.  We really hope that we can get together with you all soon!


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## John Starkey (21 Jun 2009)

Hi all,

i just want thank dan for hosting this event i really enjoyed it,unfortunatley i had to leave early because my dear old mum isnt too good,she will be in hospital for a few days,
unfortunaley i had left when my buddy g,man turned up (gutted i missed him)but i will be up to tgm very soon,

once again thanks to dan,and thanks to caroline and leigh for the ride in the z4 awesome,also it was great to meet new faces.
regards john.


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## LondonDragon (21 Jun 2009)

My first UKAPS meet and it was great, we nice to get chatting to everyone and it wasn't just fish stuff haha
Was great to meet the guys/gal behind the nicks and what a bunch of great people we have here, thanks to Dan for hosting the event, picking me up from the station and being such a great host, and thanks to Tony for dopping me off at the station at the end of the day, and not forgetting Steve for bringing me the opti nano, still trying to decide what to do with it hehe

All in all the first of I hope many meets that we will do in the future, everyone was so down to earth and great characters, very much enjoyed the day 

UKAPS BABY!!!!!


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## aaronnorth (21 Jun 2009)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> My first UKAPS meet and it was great, we nice to get chatting to everyone and it wasn't just fish stuff haha
> Was great to meet the guys/gal behind the nicks and what a bunch of great people we have here, thanks to Dan for hosting the event, picking me up from the station and being such a great host, and thanks to Tony for dopping me off at the station at the end of the day, and not forgetting Steve for bringing me the opti nano, still trying to decide what to do with it hehe
> 
> All in all the first of I hope many meets that we will do in the future, everyone was so down to earth and great characters, very much enjoyed the day
> ...



lookin gforward to the nano  

well done on the video hosting too


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## TDI-line (21 Jun 2009)

I've got to say what an excellent day, it was great to meet new faces, and thanks to Dan for holding the event.

I've also got to say thanks to Steve (for his cooking, and meat on a stick) and Paulo (for his live feed), and a big thank you too the sponsors for there generosity.


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## Graeme Edwards (21 Jun 2009)

Nice one Dan for the BBQ, glad i got there, even if i did miss every one. Your reaction was overwhelming to say the least.

So gutted I missed you John, and Paulo, maybe next time. Nice to meet you Ed ( TDI line ) and nice to see Tony, Caroline and Leigh. 

Well, for me, better late than ever. I had to drive the 2 hour drive for my brother Crawford.


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## mr. luke (21 Jun 2009)

If anyone managed to use the big rock next to the deck chair in the scape off ill eat my nano 
are pics of the 'scape-off' up on the site anywhere?


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## Garuf (21 Jun 2009)

Oh man, what a tit, I just got back from the station getting a refund on my tickets. Can't believe I got it so wrong.


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## Mark Evans (21 Jun 2009)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Can't believe I got it so wrong.



chin up lad,  8) 


c'mon, get some pics up


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## Tony Swinney (22 Jun 2009)

It was great to see everyone on Saturday, and great to put more faces to Ukaps names   

Big thanks to Dan for hosting the event, and to all the mods for putting all the effort into organising it - you guys are a credit to aquascaping     Also, thanks to the sponsors for their generous donations too - plenty of nice rock and wood for the scape off   

I wish I could have stayed for the ukaps 5, but I had to get back to look after Sara, I'm sure I felt better than you guys yesterday though   

I didnt take a camera this time, so I look forward to seeing the pics from George,

Cheers

Tony


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## Dan Crawford (22 Jun 2009)

Hey guys. I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who made the effort to come over, i had a ball as some of you could tell LOL Meeting everyone again was great and meeting the eagerly awaited London Dragon and TDi Line was great too. George's military precision ensured that all went smoothly so i can't take any credit for that. Steve was the perfect chef too so full respect goes out to him. And Brother Edwards, what a legend! The sponsors did us proud yet again with loads of goodies.
Thanks again to everyone and i hope to see you all real soon


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## Lozbug (22 Jun 2009)

Also looking forward to the rest of the photos... Sounds like ya'll had an awesome time, absolutly gutted i couldnt go!!!


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## Steve Smith (22 Jun 2009)

It was an awesome day!  Toxic!! (In the words of John!)

As I hadn't bought any food, and managed to raid my fridge for only a few drinks to bring with me (It was a busy week last week!) I thought I should man the BBQ to do my bit   I was explaining to George how making a charcoal fire, with firelighters, was much like making a scape in that you have to have things piled and positioned correctly.  Yes, I'm that sad   

I was amazed at all the hardscape and gravels various sponsors of the day had provided!  So much Unipac gravel!  Some cracking stuff, and I came home with some small bags of graded gravel!  (Donation will be forthcoming!)

I really enjoyed the scaping contest!  Myself, Tony and Leigh (CeeBee's other half and soon to be plant enthusiast - we were brainwashing him hard!!) struggled with various bits of wood, and decided on the monstrous pieces.  They were huge for a 60cm but I think it worked well!  Can't wait to see the photos!

John, Dan (TDI-Line) Paulo and Caroline came up with a great scape too, using some fantastic bits of fossilised wood, along with some really branchy sumatra wood.  It was a close run thing!

As we won the contest, and as the 60cm tank we were using was donated by me, we made Leigh take it home as his first ever planted tank!  We loaded him up with some of the plants from Fluid Sensor and I think he was chuffed to bits!  One of the conditions was that he made a journal when he planted it up.  Hopefully that'll be soon, when they get a light unit and filter for it!

Dan was a great host!  Keeping everyone entertained   His house was a real state when we finished the night, but it was well worth it I reckon!  Hopefully he's recovered from the vodka!

Oh, and the UKAPS 5 (drink untill 5am) unfortunately got as far as UKAPS 1   We made it to 1am and those of us left turned in for the night.  

Thanks again to Graeme for giving me a lift home.  Hope you didn't get too lost on the way out of Coventry!


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## George Farmer (22 Jun 2009)

I'll get a load of pics up tonight - I promise!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm still recovering!!  I did 2hrs of CV work in the gym this morning in an effort to sweat out the toxins, and lose the half a stone I'd put on through eating and drinking my own body weight in meat and beer!

Happy times.  Looking forward to the next one!


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## Dan Crawford (22 Jun 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> I don't know about anyone else, but I'm still recovering!!


I haven't even started to recover, i couldn't drive all day yesterday


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## John Starkey (22 Jun 2009)

Reminds me of myself 30 yrs ago,   
 cheers john.


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## George Farmer (22 Jun 2009)




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## aaronnorth (22 Jun 2009)

who did the tank on the left? looks ace!  just need a shot of the right tank now    

was that your tank marine tank George?


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## John Starkey (22 Jun 2009)

Nice pics george,
jesus my hair looks whiter every time is it in a pic    ,
regards john.


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## Tony Swinney (22 Jun 2009)

Great pics George, thanks for posting them    Love this one of "Dan-got-wood"   



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

>


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## Dan Crawford (22 Jun 2009)

Crackin shots George!
My hair gets BIGGER I'm every shot


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## rawr (22 Jun 2009)

I love that hardscape in the full tank shot! Who done that? 

Nice photos, thanks for sharing.


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## samc (22 Jun 2009)

thanks fro putting the photos up george they are great 

nice to see the scapes too they did a good job with the time they had


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## Lozbug (23 Jun 2009)

Great Pics! (love the koi too  )


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## Dan Crawford (23 Jun 2009)

rawr said:
			
		

> I love that hardscape in the full tank shot! Who done that?


Tonser, SteveUK and Leigh aka CeeBee's partner, they did a cracking job.


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## Steve Smith (23 Jun 2009)

I wanted to take it home secretly!  But I have far too many tanks as it is, and I was actually glad to see this 60cm go to a good home


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## LondonDragon (27 Jun 2009)

There were so many cameras there I got shy so only took these shots:


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## Steve Smith (28 Jun 2009)

Nice shots mate!  Looks like George is giving another demo


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