Our next event is our annual Spring Auction. For more information about coming to the event to buy and/or sell, please link to the: SPRING AUCTION.
Fast link to: Seller Sheets/Labels
This is the largest and most important fundraiser of the year for MAAH. We look forward to having a large turnout. Our past auctions have drawn people from as far as Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Our event features a new product raffle as well as the auction.
Posted in Club Info
Same meeting time (doors open 11:00, meeting starts 11:30).
MAAH/MAGC 10-Gallon Aquascape Challenge
We are launching the club’s first ‘grow out’ contest at the April meeting. We hope that many people participate in this fun event, and we are inviting MAGC members to participate with us as well. I need to know how many people are going to play the game so I can have the plants available next week. I need to know by FRIDAY, APRIL 13. Send me a PM on the MAAH forum or an email at tjudy@tedsfishroom.com. The cost to participate is $10, payable when you pick up your plants. Please plan to be at the April MAAH meeting to support Kris Weinhold (he will be giving a talk about live plants and aquascaping… so this is a great meeting to start this contest) and pick up the plant package. If you cannot come to the meeting, make arrangements with me to pick them up sometime around the time of the meeting… I WILL NOT TANK THE PLANTS.
Please read the contest rules carefully. NOTE: JUDGING OF THE DISPLAYS WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE FALL FISH FEST THE LAST WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER.
Description:
Contestants in the challenge will create an aquascape in a 10-gallon aquarium using a defined variety of aquatic plants, maintain the aquarium for a period of time, and then bring the display to the 2012 Fall Fish Fish (September 28-30) for judging. Winning entries will be determined by a combination of judging scores and ‘people’s choice’ ranking at the workshop. First, second and third places will receive awards.
Rules:
1) Entrants must purchase the prescribed package of plants and take delivery at the April 21, 2012, MAAH meeting; or make arrangements to get the plants around that time.
2) The entrant must use a standard 10-gallon aquarium (20”x10”x12”tall) for their display.
3) All of the plant species in the package must be used in the aquascape, but it is ok to use only some the plants of each that you receive (for example, if there are ten stems, you may use fewer than ten stems). More of the same species of plants may also be used, but the club will not provide them.
4) Each entrant is permitted one ‘wild card’ plant species, which can be any true aquatic plant in any amount… but only a SINGLE species other than what was provided for in the package. A different color form or cultivar of a species in the packages counts as the wild card (for example, if you are supplied with a red tiger lotus, the use of a green tiger lotus will count as your wild card).
5) All other aspects of the aquarium are at the discretion of the entrant… no limits. This includes fish, filtration, substrate, lighting, CO2… ANYTHING. The only factors in the aquascape that are defined are the plants that can be used and the size of the tank. Fish are not required, and judges will not deduct points for not having any fish in the aquarium.
6) The aquascaped aquariums must be on display that the 2012 Fall Fish Fest by 9:00 AM Saturday, September 29. The tanks are to stay on display until 6:00 PM that day, and need to be removed by 3:00 PM on Sunday, September 30.
Judging Criteria to be used by judges:
• All species of plants are used in the aquascape
• Condition of plants
• Aesthetic appeal of aquascape
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THERE WILL BE A LOCATION CHANGE FOR THE APRIL MEETING… STAY TUNED!
April will be our annual Plant Meeting, which we are moving from the Fall to the Spring in order to separate the event from the Fall Fish Fest. We also had the opportunity to book an EXCELLENT speaker, Kris Weinhold, to give the presentation.
Kris Weinhold grew up keeping aquariums, but really fell in love with planted aquariums several years ago, diving head-first into researching and experimenting with various plants, growing techniques, and aquascape designs. Kris is a past-president of the Greater Washington Aquatic Plant Association (GWAPA), and has published articles in The Aquatic Gardener (www.aquatic-gardeners.org). He also maintains a website/blog (www.guitarfish.org) showcasing his aquarium and nature photography, and his informative articles on aquarium keeping and aquatic plant ecology (check out his excellent Planted Aquarium Guide).
Kris’s talk, “Taking the Next Step,” is designed to take the low-tech planted aquarist into the more advanced world of the aquarium plant hobby. If you’ve had problems going specific plants, want simple recipes for CO2 or fertilization, or just want some tips/tricks that the pro’s use, don’t miss this presentation.
Official rules will be posted soon, but here is an overview:
Participants will purchase a starter package of plants, which they will get at the April meeting, and will use those plants in a 10-gallon display aquarium. All of the plants in the package must be used, and each tank may have a ‘wildcard’ plant species of the aquascaper’s choice. All other aspects of the tank are at the discretion of the participant (fish, filtration, hardscape…. anything goes). The tanks are to be transported to the Fall Fish Fest in September for judging.
Posted in Club Info
Seems like February was packed with cub activity, and now we get a month before the March 17 meeting. We will post more specifics later….
But mark your calendars for the Milwaukee Aquarium Society Spring auction on March 11. For more information click here: MAS AUCTION
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The WI Garden Expo was a blast! Thanks to everyone who helped out, and to everyone who stopped by the booth and chatted. I hope all of you are reading this post!
The next general meeting of the MAAH is next Saturday, February 18, at Dream Lanes (13 Atlas Ct., Madison). The doors open at 11:00. Hopefully some (or all!) of the people we talked to at the Expo will show up. If they do, this meting will be HUGE!!!!
Speaker Presentation by Chrystal Schreck – WI DNR
Chrystal is going to give a presentation about the WI DNR rules regarding invasive species in WI, and how those rules affect aquarium hobbyists. She will leave plenty of time for questions and answers.
Also at this meeting:
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MAAH will be manning a booth at the WI Garden Expo, Feb. 10 – 12, at the Alliant Energy Center. Come to the event, meet some club members and take a look at a 75-gallon planted display tank stocked with full-color rainbow fish. We will also be having a drawing for a 29-gallon aquarium with Eclipse hood/filter system. We will be joined by members of the Madison Aquatic Gardeners’ Club, a long-standing aquarium society here in Madison dedicated to keeping aquatic plants. MAAH and MAGC members who want to help us out manning the booth are invited to contact Ted Judy (tjudy on the forum) to schedule a time. We have some passes into the Expo for people help us out.
Our next general meeting will host the second annual MAAH Gadget Contest.
When: January 21, 2012 11:30 AM
Where: Dream Lanes (13 Atlas Ct., Madison)
The gadget contest features several short presentations by club members about ‘Do It Yourself’ applications of objects used for aquarium keeping. Anyone may enter a gadget. The audience will choose the winner, who will get a prize. Please see the official Gadget Contest rules to learn what is eligible and how to enter (contact Dave through the forum. Username: Dave).
Also at this meeting:
Posted in Club Info
Time: 12-5 PM, food served at 12:30
Location: Ben and Dawn’s place located in Sun Prairie near the Cottage Grove/Sun Prairie exit on Hwy 94 heading East
Please RSVP in this thread in the forum and you will be sent the exact address: Party RSVP
This will be a Pot Luck Meal. Ben and Dawn will provide Chili as the main dish, in addition to non-alcoholic drinks, plates, napkins, and utensils.
We need side dishes and treats. Please RSVP in this thread with what you are bringing. Bring your own alcohol.
Donation fish, BAP and CBP will be accepted. All bags are $2.00 each, no auction. The proceeds help pay for the party.
White elephant gift exchange. Bring a $10.00 fish related, wrapped gift and we will have a gift exchange between everyone that brings a gift.
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Rachel O’Leary of Mount Wolf, Pennsylvania has been in the hobby since childhood but has gotten increasingly active in the past decade. She is currently operating over seventy tanks with interests that range from micro to monster. She has a special focus on dwarf freshwater invertebrates including snails, shrimp, crayfish, and aquatic crabs.
She is currently breeding catfish, shrimp, snails, pseudomugil rainbows, dwarf crayfish, plecos, and several other central and south American cichlids as well as a range of livebearers and egg scatters. Her tanks range in size from ten gallon to 220 gallon.
Rachel is an active member and on the board of the Capital Cichlid Association as well as a global moderator on Aquaria Central and a moderator at MonsterFishKeepers. She actively attends conventions and travels to speak at clubs on her invertebrate and micro fish interests.
She imports from around the globe to redistribute and help share with hobbyists around the country.
A proud mother of three, she actively donates tanks and their inhabitants to schools around her area and the country.
Future projects include a lot more travel to increase awareness of invertebrates and microfish as well as furthering the growth of her fish room through increased breeding efforts and availability.
Rachel will present a talk that is a culmination of her many years of trial and error learning about breeding invertebrates (shrimp, crayfish and snails).
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Thank you to everyone who made this past weekend’s event successful. I think that the fest went very smooth for out first event of this type. I will have some numbers totals up on the forum shortly.
The next general meeting of MAAH will be November 19… Only 3 weeks away!
Rachel imports, breeds and sells many different invertebrates and small Asian fish. She has become an authority on the invertebrates a great speaker. Just as soon as she sends me a description of her talk, I will post it!
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