Volume 8, #8-9 August-September 2022
Editor: Alan De Angelo
Publisher: Daryl Hutchins
Contact: [email protected]
Greetings and post-Ian salutations! We hope that anyone affected by the storm is doing well and is making great progress in getting your life back on track. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Elections
I need to make a bit of a clarification about the election process. One cadre member, a long-time ACAer, was not aware of the fact that all people who run for the ACA BOT are self-nominated. Again, they nominate themselves. If you are waiting around for a group of your fellow members to nominate you, you will have a long, lonely wait. Eons ago, people might have gotten together and said “Hey, Joe would be good on the Board, let’s nominate him.” But that hasn’t occurred in ages. It’s a nice thought, but with our busy lives, unless a person is prepared to volunteer their time and talents, they usually send their regrets. A “Thanks but no thanks,” is the reply.
Next year, when the call for nominations comes around, please feel free to nominate yourself because there ain’t no-one, no how, gonna do it for you. (I hope my High School English teacher forgives me for that last sentence.)
Don’t forget to VOTE
While on the topic of elections, please vote for four (4) candidates on the ballot that you have received or will soon receive again. If it’s not in your Inbox, check your Spam/Junk Folder. Unlike in Chicago, where I grew up, you need to be alive to vote and you can only vote once, so make your vote count. Thank you.
Wild Caught:
The Aquarium Fish Trade of the Amazon
Several years back, the ACA helped to sponsor a video that described the great work that Project Piaba does. The video explained how the tropical fish industry in the rainforest provides jobs to the population while co-existing with nature. The video is now available to watch for free due to the generosity of a few additional sponsors. Quality Marine (USA), Tropical Marine Centre (UK) and Aquatropic (USA) deserve a heartfelt thanks for bringing this video to us all to see.
Before I tell you how to access the video, you should know a few things about it. The videography in this 90-minute documentary is outstanding. I urge you to watch it on the largest screen available. You could watch it on your phone but you would be doing yourself an injustice. The scenic views are absolutely gorgeous, the discussion is educational and the overall experience, most enjoyable. Take the time to watch it at your leisure. Maybe with your family, on a comfy sofa and a big bowl of overly buttered popcorn. (Don’t worry about your arteries or waistline, enjoy the experience.) You will be glad that you did. Fish clubs could also use this video as the topic of a meeting if you cannot find a speaker. It’s definitely a must-see.
Access the video though FaceBook by finding: Wild Caught – The Aquarium Fish Trade in the Amazon, or going to the following link:
Marine fish anyone?
If you are like me, you have interest in a great many types of fishes and ecosystems. With that in mind, I am passing along this communication to you. It sounds like a great addition to both your library and mine.
“The University of Chicago Press is pleased to offer aquarium associations a discount code for Oceans under Glass, a forthcoming book on aquariums by Samantha Muka:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo186193215.html
Lively and engaging, Oceans under Glass offers a fresh history of how the aquarium has been used in modern marine biology and how integral it is to knowing the marine world.
Used to investigate an array of scientific questions, from animal behavior to cancer research and climate change, aquariums are a crucial factor in the fight to mitigate the climate disaster already threatening our seas. To understand the historical development of this scientific tool and the groups that have contributed to our knowledge about the ocean, Samantha Muka takes up specialty systems – including photographic aquariums, kriesel tanks (for jellyfish), and hatching systems – to examine the creation of ocean simulations and their effect on our interactions with underwater life. In doing so, Muka shows how hobbyists, home aquarists, and non-scientists have played an outsized role in the development of our scientific understanding of artificial marine environments.
Praise for Oceans under Glass: “At long last, a book dedicated to the non-standard art of tinkering with oceans. Skilfully moving from one type of tank to the next, Oceans under Glass sketches a loving bricolage of tank crafters and their work in shaping future oceans.” – Irus Braverman, author of Coral Whisperers: Scientists on the Brink. For 30% off, use code: OCEANS30.
Aquarium associations and clubs are encouraged to contact the Press at [email protected] to request group-specific codes for deeper discounts for their members.”
I believe that if your club can gather a group order, you may get a better price as listed in the last paragraph. It may also make a great Christmas gift for someone you know. Or, leave this laying around with a big yellow Post-It attached saying “Hint for a Christmas gift for me!”
ACA-CON 2023
Don’t forget that the 2023 Convention will be in Madison, WI next year (July 13-16). We may be seeing a trend with the linking of our events with other organizations. The Triple Crown may have cemented this idea. Two or more conventions for the price of one seems to be a good deal. If you attended the Triple Crown, you know that there were just too many things going on to ever be bored. Again, what a great time, and kudos must be given to LTFF and the ACA crew for putting this event together.
Soup and sandwich, horse and carriage, Laurel and Hardy, many things just go together naturally. Cichlids and Catfish most certainly do. The 2023 will join the ACA Convention with the Catfish Cataclysm. It should be a great time, as usual.
Facebook
One of the consequences of FB is that things get compartmentalized into little niche groups very easily. Due to this fact, the American Cichlid Association FB page is too often thought of as catering only to American Cichlids, (north, central and south) while excluding all of the African and Asian cichlids. As you know, this limitation is not what the ACA is about. There have actually been skirmishes about this on the site. We members then need to wade into the fray and explain that, much like the British Cichlid Association, the ACA encompasses the entirety of cichlidom.
The ACA needs your help. If you are on the ACA FB page, please post African cichlid content. This will help break the wrong stereotype that we are only focused on American cichlids. Thank you.
💖 💖 💖
Triple Crown Sponsors
The ACA would like to thank all the sponsors of the Triple Crown. Please patronize them when you are fulfilling your aquatic needs. I believe that this is a full, comprehensive list:
📀 Gold Sponsors: Zoo Med, Cobalt Aquatics, Swiss Tropicals, Segrest Farms, Wet Spot Tropical Fish, Nautilus and the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association;
💿 Silver Sponsors: Aqua Mojo, Amazonas, Akasha Brewing Company, Estes, Aquatic Arts, Doctor Tim’s Aquatics, Aqueon and Kordon;
🐡 Bronze Sponsors: Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish, NorthFin, Sandy’s Pet Shop, Chuck Davis (artist) and Pam Marsh (artist);
🍻 Our Other Sponsors: A-Pet, Cer Media LLC, Old World Exotic Fish, Mike Drawdy Imperial Tropicals, Rolf C. Hagan USA Corp, Tampa Bay Cichlids, Southside Pet Shop, Cichlids of America, Motor City Aquarium Society, John Skidmore Golden Pond Tropical Inc, Rick Biro Florida Exotic Fish Sales , Arjan de Zwart Ruinemans USA, Mike’s Cichlids, M-V Aquatics, Inc, Rawlins Tropical Fish, Urban Tropical, Inc, V-W Tropical Fish and Valley Fisheries.
🐟 We would also like to thank all of those that sponsored the numerous Show Classes of all of the organizations.
The following is a list of folks and businesses that generously donated fish to the event:
Dave Schumacher – Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish;
Tamela & Rick Biro – Florida Exotic Fish Sales;
John Skidmore – Golden Pond Tropicals;
Mike Drawdy – Imperial Tropicals, Inc;
Mike & Jen Szumigala – Mike’s Cichlids;
Victor Zuleta – MV Aquatics Inc;
Joe Hiduke – Nautilus & 5D Tropical;
Laif DeMason – Old World Exotic Fish;
David Rawlins – Rawlins Tropical Fish;
Arjan De Zwart – Ruinemans Aquarium, Inc;
Sandy Moore and Shelby Stensrud – Segrest Farms;
David Estes – Tampa Bay Cichlids;
Marcie Rivera and Steve Lundblad – The Wet Spot Tropical Fish;
Ray Quillen and Brittany Hollon – Urban Tropical, Inc;
Thomas Townsend – Valley Fisheries;
David Wilcox – V-W Tropical Fish.
I apologize if anyone was missed.
Buntbarsche Bulletin Back Issues
Don’t forget that BB is available in print form thanks to the generosity of Gary Bagnal and Zoo Med. If you prefer printed media or if you are a collector of aquarium literature, this is perfect for you. You can purchase BB Back Issues and a flash drive of all BBs at the website store – www.cichlid.org.
Speaking of BB, why don’t you send an article, illustration, photo, breeder report, helpful hint or cichlid observation to our beloved (maybe not so much lately – maligned Minion) BB Editor Daryl Hutchins – [email protected].
Become a Life Member
of the American Cichlid Association
Why become a Life Member of the ACA? Well, as a Life Member myself, I can tell you that it was one of the best investments that I ever made. Being a very busy person, I would need to remind myself constantly and keep track of various renewals for the various organizations that I was in. In order to not miss a beat, I became a Life Member of the ACA, AKA and ALA. Everything was then on autopilot and life became a lot easier. All payments are tax-deductible, too.
ACA Life Memberships can be had at various levels! You can build your membership levels incrementally and move up in rank. All memberships above the basic Life Membership will be published annually in an ACA publication to recognize your contributions to Conservation, Research and Education.
Currently, I am an Endowment-level Life Member.
You can become a Life Member of the American Cichlid Association at different levels:
- $1,000 – Life Member – All donors that give at this level, or above, will receive a Life Membership to the ACA;
- $1,250 – Patron;
- $1,500 – Endowment;
- $1,750 – Benefactor;
- $2,000 – Conservation;
- $2,500 – Legacy;
- $5,000 – or more Chairman’s Circle.
Also:
- You can build incrementally and get to the next level of recognition;
- All Patron Members and above will be listed in an annual publication of donors;
- All donations and membership dues are tax-deductible. The American Cichlid Association is a registered 501(c)(3) and will provide the proper documentation for the tax write off with all donations of $75.00 or more.
Payments can be made via PayPal: cichlid.org.
Or by check sent to the Treasurer:
The American Cichlid Association
530 Los Angeles Ave, Ste 115-243
Moorpark, CA 93021
Have a great month,
Alan
