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Aqua
News
Aqua
News
A Minnesota Aquarium Society PublicationSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
3
President’s Message| Mike Fries
4
Membership Report| Bob Carter
5
Cichlid Matters| Bob Randall
8
The Plant from Hell| Dale Skiba
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Copadichromis virginalis “Nkanda”| Chris Juvinall
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Fishroom Tour: The Bruelands| Emily Brueland
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MAS Meeting Rewind: Aug. ‘06| Bob Randall
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Bowl Show 2006-07| Tiffany Severson
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Bowl Show 2005-06| Bob Randall
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BAP Report| Chris Smith and Randy Carey
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HAP Report| Milo Squires and Dave Behler
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MAS Board Meeting Minutes| Mike Harris
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Upcoming MAS Events| Dani Ellickson
AquaContentsFromTheEditor
It’s really about the Aqua News
Let me begin by groveling to the mem-bership and begging your forgivenessfor the tardiness of this issue of theAqua News. In the words of one of myfavorite comic strip characters, “I’MSORRY! BEAT ME!! I’M AN INSECT!” Icould regale you with excuse after ex-cuse, but I won’t. Life simply got in theway and I tripped over it. Enough said.I received a number of emails andcomments regarding the online ver-sion of the Aqua News. The generalconsensus is that everyone loved it! I’m just tickled pink! I want to give creditwhere credit is due. I am not the mas-ter behind the online version of theAqua News. I am but a lowly editor, or-ganizer and data transfer method. JoeLover is the mastermind and king ofdesign behind the eye-popping layoutand bright fantastic colors you wereable to enjoy in the last edition. Thatbeing said, Joe, if I weren’t on a planeright now, I’d stand up and applaudyou! Thank you for volunteering yoursplendid creative talents and givingthe MAS members the opportunity toenjoy your work.Garrett and Emily Brueland have of-fered a peek into their fish room forus this month, and for that I’m verygrateful. Thank you both! I am alwaysamazed at how our apartment-dwell-ing members can squeeze so manyaquariums into their homes. They haveall the joys of fish keeping and noneof the tribulations of home owner-ship. I expect great things from Garrettand Emily’s ‘Fish Apartment’! Whowill step up to the plate and sharetheir fish room for the next issue ofthe Aqua News? Please contact meat editor@mn-aquarium.org if you’reinterested in being highlighted inthe next issue, even if you’re photo-graphically challenged. We’ll makesure you’re covered. Write somethingabout yourself and your fish room andwe’ll take it from there.I am still looking for volunteers toserve on the web design commit-tee. All skill and creativity levels arewelcome. I am planning on having thecommittee gather two times a monthon an initial basis. I expect to have thefirst meeting in October. I realize thismay seem like a lot of time to commitin everyone’s busy schedules, but thisproject will need our attention anddiligence if we are to develop a newdesign within a reasonable amountof time. I will do my best to schedulethe gatherings based on the schedulesof those that are willing to volunteer.Please contact me at webmaster@mn-aquarium.org if you are interested.The MAS domain name has been trans-ferred to a new hosting site. For folksthat maybe aren’t technically savvy,this techno-babble may mean verylittle. But what it does is enables us tobegin revamping the MAS website andprovide dynamic content to you, themembers, while making administra-tion of the website easier. Technical
Aulonocara stuartgranti, Ngara
Photo by Bob Randall
cont. on page 22
ON THE COVER
“Betta” by William Picard
| 3 |
President’sMessage
I want to thank our past presidentJenny Kruckenberg, last year’s boardof directors and the many volunteerswho truly made our 75th anniversarya special celebration. A year filledwith national speakers, special events,and one of our largest tropical fishshows ever will be hard to top.As your new president, my focus forthe coming year is to meet the needof our current members, grow ourmembership (currently at 175), findnew ways to publicize MAS, buildstronger relationship with area petshops, and have some fun. I wouldlike to use the balance of this mes-sage to lay out my plan to accomplishthese goals.A few months ago I surveyed themembers attending the June meet-ing. What a diverse group we are!Some members have many yearsof experience and 100’s of tanks intheir fish room. They are lookingfor specialized information fromexperts. Many of our new membersare just getting starting in the hobbyand confused by all the conflictinginformation that is out there – they just want to know the basics at thispoint. Other members are focused onthe ‘aquascaping’ aspect of the hobbyand others want us to spend moretime talking about the saltwater sideof the hobby. So how does MAS meetthe needs of such a diverse group?The simple answer is by sharing ourexperiences with one another. We allhave made those beginners mistakesand all of us have some tips to sharethat others can learn from.Now I’ll be the first to admit thatthere just is not enough time tosocialize at the regular meetings, sohere are some ideas. Starting withthe September meeting, I am invitingmembers to arrive at 7:00 pm (insteadof the normal 7:30 meeting time)and we’ll meet in the kitchen andtry to answer any aquarium relatedquestions you may have. Feel freeto email me questions in advance topresident@mn-aquarium.org. We alsoinvite you to email your questionsand we’ll answer them in the nextissue of Aqua News.Starting in October, we’ll meetinformally on the first Friday of themonth. I’ll host the meeting at myhouse (but hope others might beinterested in taking a month). Thesemeetings will have NO formal struc-ture, just a chance for us to talk. Itcould be about the previous night’sspeaker, it could be about a greatmovie you just saw, or maybe we’llbring our camera and help each othertake better pictures of our wet pets.No formal structure, just a chance tosocialize and get to know other MASmembers – and have some fun.Growing our membership is beneficialto all. The more members we have,the more resources we have for infor-mation, more chances that someonemight have that rare fish you havebeen looking for and a larger pool ofvolunteers if the club decides to hosta national show in the future.As you know, there are many benefitsto your MAS membership. In additionto receiving this excellent publication,you have the opportunity to use theMAS library, purchase fish and plants(usually at rock bottom prices) duringthe BAP and HAP auctions, receivea larger percent of sales of youritems at MAS auctions, and purchaseplants (at cost) at the DecemberPlant Extravaganza. In addition, yourmembership helps defray the cost ofnational speakers and the use of thechurch two Thursdays a month. Not abad deal for $15.00.Our annual tropical fish show is oneway we publicize the club. We alsohave ads in all three tropical fishpublications and an excellent website(more on the website below). WhileI will continue to serve as public-ity chair for the annual tropical fishshow, Tiffany Severson has volun-teered to take on the role as publicitychair. As the new MAS secretary, MikeHarris will assist Tiffany by sendinginformation about club meetings toarea publications. I would like to seeother MAS members join this newpublicity committee. I think there are
President*
.........................................................Mike Fries651-489-2973 .......................president@mn-aquarium.org
Vice-President*
(tie breaker only)
...........Jenny Kruckenberg952-529-3596 ....................................jennyk@usfamily.net
Treasurer*
.....................................................Tom Gromek651-462-8223 ................................................tjg@usgo.net
Secretary*
.......................................................Mike Harris651-882-4715 ........................secretary@mn-aquarium.org
Under-director*
............................................Milo Squires952-448-4153 ...................................squiresmn@msn.com
Director-2yr.*
...........................................Anchor Sarslow763-856-0940 ....................................anxsar@netzero.com
Director-2yr,*
.................................................Bob Randall952-432-6298 ...................................bobrfish@yahoo.com
Director-1yr.*
..............................................Dani Ellickson............................................underwaterjewels@gmail.com
Director-1yr.*
..............................................Brad Hedlund............................................BHedlund@timesaversinc.com
Aqua News Editor
......................................Dani Ellickson....................................................editor@mn-aquarium.org
Auction Chair
................................................Tom Gromek651-462-8223 ................................................tjg@usgo.net
Auction Chair
.............................................Brad Swanson612-522-4399 ....................................wifabo@myexel.com
BAP Data
.......................................................Ted Jolivette763-783-9416 ...............................t.jolivette@comcast.net
BAP Spokesperson
.......................................Randy Carey651-780-8068 ................................aquaria@randytech.net
Bowl Show Chair
....................................Tiffany Severson651-487-8073 ................................tiffnseve@hotmail.com
Book Points Chair
...........................................Mike Harris651-882-4715 ........................secretary@mn-aquarium.org
Special Event Chair
............................Jenny Kruckenberg651-457-2302 ....................................jennyk@usfamily.net
Donations Chair
..........................................Dennis Drews952-529-3596 .................................drews5255a@aol.com
Exchange Editor
........................................Brentt Helland...............................................................brentt_@msn.com
HAP Spokesperson
.......................................Milo Squires952-448-4153 ...................................squiresmn@msn.com
HAP Data
........................................................Dave Behler952-215-2043 .....................................................................
Librarian
............................................................Jon Heyer952-215-2043 ....................................Jpheyer@yahoo.com
MAS/ACA Liaison
...........................................Bob Randall952-432-6298 ...................................bobrfish@yahoo.com
MAS/FAAS Liaison
.................................Carter McAninch763-784-4937 ..............................._carter_mc@excite.com
Membership Chair
...........................................Bob Carter651-633-4351 ..........................................bcarter@visi.com
Program Chair
...............................................Randy Carey651-780-8068 ................................aquaria@randytech.net
Show Chair
.....................................................Bob Randall952-432-6298 ...................................bobrfish@yahoo.com
Webmaster
..................................................Dani Ellickson...........................................webmaster@mn-aquarium.org
Historian
.................................................Rodger Anderson763-535-4364 ..................................rodgea@earthlink.net
Advertising & Promotions
.....................Tiffany Severson651-487-8073 ................................tiffnseve@hotmail.com
cont. on page 22
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