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Local Fish Clubs


Andy's Fish Den
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So with the pandemic going on, and group sizes limited for meetings, what are some of the things your local fish clubs doing to still have fishy activities? I'm a member of a couple clubs, one has been dead, except for the Facebook page. Another has been doing fish buys, and we have a swap meet coming up this weekend that I'm excited about. It is being held outside in a parking lot at a mall. I'll be sure to take some pics and post them on here, and going to try to shoot some video as well. 

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The Minnesota aquarium society is doing online meetings with zoom and they are also doing online auctions. We had someone from Hong Kong call in and they were able to talk about what they we're doing with fish over there. We have people from around the country able to participate it's a good time. this is the link to next months meeting about swimming with cichlids in Zambia with speaker Pam Chin
https://aquarium.mn/aqua-news/monthly-meetings/lake-tanganyikans-pam-chin

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6 hours ago, Ben Ellison said:

Do virtual fish clubs exist? I have never got around to joining a club myself but I'd really be into a online club. ,😀

I don't think there aren't any clubs that are totally virtual, but a lot have been having virtual meetings. I actually joined in on one that had master breeder Dean as a guest speaker a few weeks ago. The Ohio Cichlid Association has been doing them live on YouTube and I've also joined in on those a couple times.

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5 hours ago, Taylor Blake said:

The Minnesota aquarium society is doing online meetings with zoom and they are also doing online auctions. We had someone from Hong Kong call in and they were able to talk about what they we're doing with fish over there. We have people from around the country able to participate it's a good time. this is the link to next months meeting about swimming with cichlids in Zambia with speaker Pam Chin
https://aquarium.mn/aqua-news/monthly-meetings/lake-tanganyikans-pam-chin

I just joined in April and the online auctions have been great. Our last meeting was my first and I thought the format and conversation was great - they had Zoom breakout rooms for fish, plants, or the general topic Q&A. 
 

AFAIK there are no fish clubs within my local area and the drive to Minneapolis is kind of a chore so I think online makes it more possible for me to participate. 

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41 minutes ago, Ben Ellison said:

I would love to be in a club that would give me access to fish outside of my area. Knoxville Tn is not exactly the hub of exotic fish 🙂 . I would love a breeder like Dean to be made available to me.

I stopped at a store in Knoxville at a store called The Aquarium I believe when I was in the area years ago. Then several years later, I saw it on a YouTube video by Pecktec. 

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I'm not sure but I bet they do. I didn't know there was an aquarium club in my area until I found a little local fish store where all the employees are hobbyists and members of the club. It seems like in a lot of ways they are kinda like orchid societies and rely a lot on word of mouth. I went looking for mine and they don't have much of an online presence, or at least they didn't pre-covid.  I'm a member of my local orchid society and I've been working hard to get them an online and social media presence so for those who are actually looking for us can find us and know that we are active and not disbanded. 

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I am a member of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society and they have a virtual presentation every month and have worked hard to extend or deepen sponsor support. Beyond that we have not had anything in person. Space is at a premium in NYC and hard to make social distance events possible. That said since our Covid RO in the state has been less than 1 for a while so hopefully we can soon.

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We had a great day yesterday for the club's first outdoor swap, rained in the morning, but it was cleared out by 11am! I took a bunch of bristlenose plecos, neocaridina shrimp and plants, I sold all the bristlenose and shrimp. They sold over 60 spots for people to sell, and there was a great turnout of buyers as well, I think a lot of people were happy to get out of the house and enjoy some fish nerdiness fun. I ended up bring home a Kleiner prinz swordplant, some apistogramma baenschi, L393 cheese creek plecos and some gold back yellow neo shrimp. I will have to post some pics later tonight or tomorrow of the fish, I got them acclimated and went to bed, it was a long day. I had planned to do a video of the swap and all, but forgot, my 8 year old son even forgot to remind me, I guess we were too caught up in all the fishy excitement.

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On 9/11/2020 at 9:11 AM, Ben Ellison said:

Very good point I will actually ask the fish store people. 😄 They might be a secret society trying to change the world's fish keeping by pulling nstrings from the darkness 🤫

I have been wondering about clubs in my area.  Baltimore is not exactly a small town, so I'm sure there are some, but often my work schedule keeps me from any semblance of a social life.  That's why I love the CARE forums, I sit and update my posts and follow along with everything all from the comfort of my desk...while on the clock... and hoping that my boss is not a fish keeper. 😉

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45 minutes ago, Rikostan said:

My wife and kids are getting so tired of hearing about fish stuff, but I have no one else to talk to about it.

And that is why we all gather here.

One of the attractions of fish keeping is that we are the deities over our small aquatic worlds, determining who eats when and what. Though our skill or ignorance we determine who lives and who dies.

And if in your world you are a deity, talking to mere mortals who have little understanding of the true nature of the world is futile.

So we, the aquatic deities, meet here to hobnob with our fellow supreme beings, to share trade secrets and revel in glory and wallow in the sorrows of being the prime movers.

All thanks to our generous host, amen.

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1 hour ago, Rikostan said:

One of the few things I do not like about where we live, is the fact there are no clubs or even fish stores within an hour and a half drive of us.

 

My wife and kids are getting so tired of hearing about fish stuff, but I have no one else to talk to about it.

My wife has been getting tired of me talking about fish as well. My oldest boy, who's 8, loves the fish, and likes to be down in the fish room helping. He's the one who wanted the apistos we got yesterday, he even talked the lady down in price.

My most local club hasn't had any meetings or activities since March, I've been trying to get the president to go along with doing something outdoors, but she is against it. The club that hosted this swap is about an hour and half from me, I make the drive a few times a year for meetings and their auctions. 

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