ACA News, Volume 2, #1

Editor: Alan R.De Angelo
Greetings and Salutations!

Happy New Years!

The ACA has made great progress over the past year due to the efforts of many people. A thank you is extended to all who have helped the club become what it is today. Thank you also to the BOT members who are retiring, Sam Borstein, Mike Meyers and Chuck Rambo, who was the previous BOT Chair. The new BOT is ready to take up the challenge.

As you will see in the following Props, we are once again being led by Jan Benes as BOT Chair. She did a fabulous job last year and will, I’m sure, continue to lead the ACA to new heights.

BOT Proposals

Prop 15-29: To elect Jan Benes as Chairman of the BOT for 2016. PASSED
Prop 15-30: To elect Rusty Wessel as Vice-Chair. PASSED
Prop 15-31: To elect Scott Jacobsen as Secretary. PASSED

Coming Events

Remember, that the Convention date and venue has changed. Please go to the websitecichlid.org for more information or go to the convention site at acaconvention2016.com.

Also, the ACA will have a greater presence at the Aquatic Experience this fall, sponsoring an all-cichlid show. I will keep you updated on the event that is taking place Nov. 4-6, 2016. Get your show fish ready. We have a chance to show the 6000+ attendees what keeping cichlids is all about.

Aquatic Literature

With the onset of cold weather, you may want to curl up with a good book and read about the early ACA, in the BB 1-20 Special Publication and about the experiences of Ross Socolof in the aquarium hobby in his book Confessions of a Tropical Fish Addict. Both are available from ACA Book Sales or from Mike Schadle’s, The Fish Factory, aquatic book store. They are both a great read.

In my December ACA NEWS I mentioned buying Ad Konings book Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, when I went to the Cichlid Press website to order one for my son, I found that it was sold out! Never fear, though. A quick email to Ad gave me the inside scoop. A new edition is planned to be released this fall and it will have glossy paper, too. I am a fan of glossy photos above matte ones so I am happy for the return to glossy. The photos, however, are only a part of the books written by Ad Konings. The content of the text is educationally fantastic and these books are a must for any cichlidophile. I can’t wait to get my copy in the fall. Look for it at cichlidpress.com or you can buy it from my favorite purveyor of fine aquatic literature, Mike Schadle.

Also, Central American Cichlid fans may be getting a new book soon. I have to chase this down a bit more but when I can confirm a release date, etc, I will let you know. The name revisions recently adopted in the CA cichlid world make this sorely needed. Hint to Anton Lamboj, a new West African book would be fantastic. And Boy! Does the Apistogramma community need an update. Any volunteers on that one? Let’s hope for new publications in the coming years.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a great fan of aquarium literature. The internet has its uses, with a few reliable sources like the Cichlid Room Companion, but a good, solid, peer-reviewed book is my favorite way to get reliable information. And, much to my wife’s chagrin, I love to collect books! Shelves and shelves of glorious paper.

[While we’re talking cellulose …]

ACA News

Local Club Events

If your club is having an event that you would like listed in the ACA NEWS please send me a notice to ACA News Editor.

Membership Details

You can now check/edit your Contact Details on CRC yourself when you move or change your e-mail address. And it is simple … give it a try now

  1. Log-in to cichlidae.com
  2. Click username in Welcome Panel
  3. Select the Edit Tab and make changes
  4. Click Save

Articles

As usual, don’t forget about your beloved BB Editor, send your articles, experiences and photos to Daryl Hutchins. [At this time, the upcoming edition is in dire need of contributions — BB Ed.]

Before I close out the newsletter, I want to give a special thanks to my cohort, Daryl Hutchins, who takes my written word and makes it presentable to you with graphics and colors and assembly of the ads and notices. Without Daryl, you would be looking at a plain, boring, black and white newsletter. So, thank you Daryl for joining me in this process of getting the latest cichlid information out to you, our members.

Have a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

Alan

You can support the ACA by shopping at AmazonSmile

Amazon smile

Simply go to smile.amazon.com, choose the American Cichlid Association as your charity and they will donate 0.5% of each purchase to the ACA! It’s easy and basically free money.

Please help spread the word.