Happy New Year Fellow Fish Keepers! Tomorrow we will be kicking off the New Year with our very own Jacob Waters helping us with "Upping Your Shrimp Game". Same time, same place as always. About Jacob I have had a long history with aquarium keeping dating back to my childhood when my father had a 110gal tall tank with wild caught discus back in the early 90’s. Around 2005 I got into saltwater and dove head first into breeding rare clownfish types but in 2014 got out of the hobby when I met my wife. Fast forward to 2018 my oldest son who was 3 at the time wanted a Betta and of course my brother bought it for him and that started my descent back in to the aquarium hobby. We went to our first pvas club meeting that same year right after the CatCon and it was so much fun and I met Frank Cowherd and was able to get my first bag of cherry shrimp. I fell in love with these little creatures and quickly set up their very own 2.5 gallon tank and quickly went from 10 to 100 in a matter of a several months. So I had to get another tank and look for other types. I truly enjoy research and found my passion in the harder to keep Caridina shrimp species and have gone from 1 dedicated shrimp tank to over 60 and 24 different freshwater shrimp variants. I focus on the genetics of shrimp keeping and have met some of the best breeders in the world and have had the pleasure of talking at many clubs up and down the east coast. I also compete in shrimp contests all over the US and have judged a few contests as well.

Glen Echo Park Aquarium Saturday, October 12 at 11:00 am To replace the October meeting/auction date we have arranged for a private tour of the Glen Echo Park Aquarium on Saturday, October 12 at 11:00 am.  This is open to paid PVAS members only.  PVAS will cover the cost of admission for all attending.  Please sign up here so we know how many people will attend.

Are you ready for the stupendous, spectacular double all-day, back-to-back events in less than 2 weeks? If you haven't already blocked your calendars for Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1, don't delay.

Join us tomorrow for our September feature presentation by Shane Linder. About PVAS Member Shane (on the left in above photo) Catfish expert and naturalist Shane Linder is the “Shane” behind Planetcatfish.com‘(http://Planetcatfish.com)s Shane World. Shane’s World houses well over 150 articles by various catfish experts making it the largest such resource known to exist. Shane is also a frequent contributor to several US and international aquarium periodicals and has been a guest speaker at numerous fish conventions in the US and Europe. From 2000-2020 Shane lived and collected fishes extensively in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Uganda, and Nigeria. He has made additional collecting expeditions into Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. The September PVAS Program: Fats, Flats, and Gnats: The Pleco Subfamilies.

See everyone at tomorrow's meeting where we will enjoy a feature presentation by Jennifer Williams on building backyard biotopes. About Jen I got my first tank when I was seven and went through the appropriate array of guppies, barbs, and tetras through to my first encounter with keeping cichlids when I was in high school. Years later, in response to a craigslist ad I posted stating “Firemouth Cichlids, bring a net and a bucket”, I was introduced to something I wasn’t expecting… a formidable former Army Lieutenant in my living room filling his bucket with fish, and telling me all about local fish clubs and planted tanks. Armed with a healthy dose of curiosity at what kind of characters would be at a fish club meeting, I attended my first GWAPA gathering and was completely hooked. Serving on the Board in several positions (including President) I have also enjoyed participating in events with the other local clubs and the true friendships I have made in this hobby. I currently also sit on the board for the Aquatic Gardener's Association (AGA). To date, I have a stack of ribbons from aquascaping contests, including most recently a repeat win at the 2015 Aquatic Experience/AGA Aquascaping Live! Invitational Competition in Chicago, IL for my 75 gallon entry collaboration with Rachel O'Leary and her daughters. I am also an avid fan of Blue-eyed Rainbowfish (specifically Pseudomugil) and enjoy keeping and breeding them with the rest of my eclectic assortment of fish. To pay the electric and water bills that accompany all of the assorted gallons of aquatic madness, I work as a Graphic Designer…and also enjoy fast cars as a former professional drag racer and purring cats as a long-time volunteer/rescuer with the 4Paws Rescue Team.

Tomorrow we will have one of the all-time aquarist greats present at our club: Dr. Paul V. Loiselle. Dr. Loiselle will speak on "Australoheros: The Heroic Cichlids of the South." About Dr. Loiselle Dr. Paul V. Loiselle is an enthusiastic aquarist of 50 years' experience. During the course of his career, Paul has had the opportunity to study cichlids in Madagascar, West Africa, Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika, Haiti, Mexico, Central America and the Peruvian Amazon. Emeritus Curator of Freshwater Fishes at the New York Aquarium and a Senior Conservation Fellow of the Wildlife Conservation Society, he is actively involved in conservation programs focused on the fishes of Madagascar. Paul is co-chair of the I.U.C.N.’s Madagascar Region Freshwater Fish Specialty Group. He serves as a scientific advisor to the Lake Victoria Cichlid Species Survival Program and the Madagascar Faunal Interest Group. A founding member and Fellow of the American Cichlid Association, an honorary fellow of the Association France Cichlid and a life Member of the North Jersey Aquarium Society, he is an internationally published author of numerous articles on the care and breeding of ornamental fishes and such books as The Cichlid Aquarium, Your Garden Pond and The Fishkeeper's Guide to African Cichlids.

Every year we devote one meeting to a hands-on workshop, usually in August or November. However, this year it will be in September. We regret that might pose a challenge for some members who may be travelling over the Labor Day weekend, but the scheduling couldn't be helped. In February 2021 Dean Tweeddale gave a fantastic virtual presentation on his fry raising system. We immediately asked him if he would be willing to conduct a workshop with us when we could get together in person again, and he agreed. Members are welcome to attend to watch only, or you can sign up to build your own during the workshop. These systems are effective and beautiful, and also require a lot of materials to build. If you would like to build a system in the workshop, you MUST sign up (firm commitment) by August 25 and commit to bringing cash or a check to the September workshop. The club will source and provide all the materials you need at cost except a 20 gallon long tank and water pump which you will need to supply yourself. The systems require aluminum bars, PVC pipe, joints, and caps, air valves, water valves, plugs, cement, silicone, various types of airline tubing, and more. It may seem pricey, but trying to source all the materials on your own would be even more expensive. At Dean's request, we will not be publishing the supply list or design as this is his proprietary intellectual property. Cost: $125 for set up with 4 large trays $150 for set up with 6 small trays Other Materials Not Included: 20 gallon long tank Water pump About Dean: Dean Tweeddale is a master breeder who started keeping fish over 50 years ago. He started with guppies, moved on to discus, and has since bred countless species of freshwater fish. Always an innovator, Dean has, throughout his fishkeeping career, built three in-house fish rooms and developed an incredible fry system. Some of his proudest moments in the hobby are developing a system to raise discus artificially, breeding many rare dwarf cichlids, continuous spawning of German blue rams, and spawning several L-number plecos. He has collected and bred wild fish from Peru and has appeared on a number of YouTube channels including Aquarium Co-Op, Swishkey, L.R.Bretz’s Aquatics, Bentley Pasco, and Dustin's Fish Tanks. Sign up by responding to this forum thread. We would be happy to answer questions but there could be a delay in the response as Michael is leaving for Peru today and will have intermittent internet access during the collecting trip.