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The Raleigh Aquarium Society's next Carolina Aquarium Workshop will be held on February 17th-19th, 2012 at the NC State Fairgrounds (1025 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607) at the Governor James G. Martin Building. Doors open at 8:30am, and open to the public. The poster for this event can be found here and the brochure for this even is here.
Registration:
Friday Field Trip and Saturday Speakers: $20.00 per Family, $10.00 Student.
Saturday Banquet and Dinner Speaker: $20.00 adults, $10.00 under 12.
Sunday Auction: FREE -- Anyone May Buy & Sell.
Friday February 17th, 2012
1:00 to 5:30 Native Fish & Plant Field Trip
Meet at James Martin Bldg, State Fairgrounds, Trinity Rd.
contact for info: raleighfish@yahoo.com
Saturday February 18th, 2012
9:00-10:15 • Todd Wenzel - Barbs of Asia and Africa
Todd Wenzel has been keeping aquariums for over 40 years, first in his hometown near Milwaukee and now in the Raleigh area, where he was a founding member of RAS thirty years ago. He has a BS degree in Fishery Science and MS in Zoology, focusing on fish immunology. Todd worked as an aquaculture agent for the NC Cooperative Extension Service, managed an aquaculture research center in Virginia, and managed the old Fish Pros shop in Raleigh. He has spawned and raised about 140 species of fresh and salt water fishes, and has collected wild fish in Peru, Brazil and Jamaica (on his honeymoon)! He enjoys the support of his wife Dee and daughter Cristen. When he's not playing with fish, Todd competes as a national level target shooter, brews beer, and is a Certified beer judge . Todd will present "Barbs of Asia and Africa". Besides the dozen or so "bread and butter" barb species in the hobby, dozens of new and unusual barbs have been entering the hobby in recent decades, including some spectacular fish from areas where collecting for the aquarium trade is a new local venture. From one inch to two feet long, and from acid black-water to the alkaline Rift Lakes, there's a barb suitable for every tank! Todd will cover choosing barb species for different tanks, acclimating and keeping barbs, understanding and managing aggression, potential tankmates, and breeding and raising these lively tropical minnows.
10:15-11:30 • Kris Weinhold - Aquascaping Design & Ecology
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 informative articles on aquarium keeping and aquatic plant ecology (see his excellent Planted Aquarium Guide). Kris’s talk “Aquascaping Design & Ecology” will cover lighting, substrate, plant selection, nutrient and CO2 needs, and aquascape design aspects. Regardless of whether you’re a high-tech aquascaper seeking a horticultural masterpiece, or you just want to grow healthy plants au naturale to improve water quality for your fish and shrimp, Kris’s talk will provide the information you need.
11:30-12:30 (LUNCH - on your own)
12:30-1:45 • Ted Judy - West African Aquariums
Ted Judy is an addicted aquarist with over 25 years of fish keeping and breeding experience. He is a generalist who enjoys all types of fish from around the world, but West African species (especially the dwarf cichlids) are always an important component of his fish room. He is on the American Cichlid Association Board of Trustees, as well as the boards of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society and the Madison Area Aquatic Hobbyists. Ted is a former high school science teacher who is now a full-time stay-at-home father, with a fish room. He is a prolific speaker and writer, and wants to become a better photographer. Ted also maintains a personal blog website (www.tedsfishroom.com) and a community forum dedicated to dwarf cichlids (www.apistogramma.com).
Ted’s presentation “West African Aquariums” looks at the fish diversity of West African rivers, home to dwarf cichlids, large cichlids, characins, catfish, barbs, mormyrids, bushfish, knifefish, and many other families . This talk is organized around several possible fish community combinations for stocking a 15-gallon nano tank to a 150+ gallon aggressive fish community. Ted will discuss many species of common and rare fish available from West Africa, their behavior, water quality and diet, which species can be kept together safely, and other crucial information for keeping and breeding West African fishes.
1:45-3:00 • Charles Clapsaddle - Fish Farm Operations
Charles Clapsaddle began his fish-keeping career at age 7 (lots of years ago) with goldfish he won at a carnival. He successfully raised and spawned them, and was hooked on fish forever. Shortly after his success with goldfish, he turned his attention to locally-collected mosquitofish and sailfin mollies, and by junior high he was breeding fancy guppies. Charles earned a BS in Zoology from The University of Texas at Austin to further his knowledge of fish biology and genetics, and his fascination with livebearers continues today. While his family hatchery (www.goliadfarms.com) breeds many kinds of aquarium fishes, it’s developing new livebearer strains and improving existing strains that he finds most rewarding. Charles’s talk “Fish Hatchery Operations” chronicles his experiences spanning several decades in operating greenhouse-based tropical fish hatcheries. He will describe his plant-based filtration and recirculation systems, spawning and rearing systems, selective breeding, feeding techniques, day-to-day hatchery operations, and of course the disasters: hurricanes, floods, power failure, and disease.
3:00-4:15 • Eric Hanneman - Cichlids of the Maya
Eric Hanneman has rasied fish for over 40 years, focusing mainly on Central American and African cichlids, plus various livebearers, catfish, tetras, killifish, and others. He has collected fish in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, and been diving in Lake Tanganyika to observe wild cichlids. Between trips he resides in Raleigh, where he is Curator of Living Collections/Aquarist at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and also maintains about 40 tanks at home. Eric received his Ph.D. in Developmental Neurobiology from the University of Oregon in 1986. Following 6 years of postdoctoral studies he became a stay-at-home Dad, then from 2005 to 2010 he owned Liquid Sunshine Tropical Fish, an aquarium shop in Eugene Oregon, before moving to Raleigh. Eric has served on the ACA Board of Trustees for 20 years and writes a bi-monthly column, Cichlid World, for TFH magazine. His talk “Cichlids of the Maya” covers the fascinating fishes of Central America, and the ecology and culture of the Maya region, based upon his many trips to this region in search of new fish species and adventure. See Eric’s website: liquidsunshinetropicalfish.com.
4:15-5:30 • Mark Denaro - Wild Bettas & Labyrinth Fish
Mark Denaro has been keeping freshwater aquariums since 1970 and marine aquariums since 1976. He has propagated over 100 species of freshwater fish, over 100 species of freshwater plants, 20+ marine invertebrates, and spawned 8 species of marine fish in his tanks. Mark is a past president of the International Betta Congress and the Indianapolis Aquarium Society, and is currently president of the Bucks County Aquarium Society. He is a well-known aquarium speaker and fish show judge with 30 years of experience in the pet industry. Mark operates Anubias Design, an online retailer of new and rare freshwater and marine fishes, invertebrates and plants in the Philadelphia area (www.anubiasdesign.com). His latest endeavor is founding the American Labyrinth Fish Association (ALFA) for the study, breeding and trade of Bettas, Gouramis, Paradisefish, Ctenopomas, and their relatives. Mark’s talk on “Wild Bettas and Labyrinth Fish” will showcase many of the new and unusual members of this fascinating and colorful group, as well as some old favorites.
6:00-7:00 (DINNER)
7:00-8:00 • Ted Judy - Ted’s Most Excellent Cameroon Adventure
This is the story of Ted’s trip to southern Cameroon in February, 2009, from the Ndonga area to the Ntem River system on Cameroon’s southern border. Ted shares his adventure collecting fish in the areas in and around Ndonga, Kribi and the Campo-Ma’an forest reserve. You will see cool fish (both common and rare) including the discovery of a new species. You will also see what life is like for many of the people in Cameroon, from the largest city ( Douala) to a small forest village. See Ted Judy’s biography information above under “West African Aquariums”.
Sunday February 19th, 2012
9:00am – 11:00am Auction Registration Opens. (Sellers and Buyers may register at any time during the auction or sellers may register online at the link www.mygroupauctions.com prior to the RAS auction on February 19th, 2002 .
For more information on registering on-line, please view the user guide at http://www.mygroupauctions.com/UsersGuide.pdf.)
11:00am – Auction begins.
Rules for the auction can be found Here. (last updated on 9/16/2011)
We have had Manufacturers' representatives on hand in the past from companies such as Marineland and Tetra plus Ray Lucas of Kingfish Services. We've had the workshops and auctions for over 20 years. In addition, in the past we've had tours of the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, The North Carolina Museum of Science, and trips for collecting native fish and plants. Plus, we have a raffle for aquarium goods running throughout the three days and two mini auctions of items donated to the club.
Some of the past guest speakers have been Ad Koenig, Lee Finley, Jack Wattley, David Herlong, Rusty Wessel, Karen Randall, Scott Saunders, Neil Frank, John Kuhns, Tom Allen, Robert Goldstein, Wayne Leibel, Gary Lange, Randy Carey, Diana Walstad, and many more.
Our Annual Auction is held on the Sunday of the workshop weekend and often many rare and difficult to find fish, plants, and hardware items (plus some old collectibles) are put up for bid.
We thank the past guest speakers and the attendees for their time and we extend another "thank you" to those who have provided donations for our auction.
Contributing Manufacturers, Distributors, Pet Stores and Organizations:
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