August Meeting - Saturday August 8th at 1pm

We're trying something new and different for August !  The monthly meeting is being held on a Saturday afternoon at our regular location NCSU CVM.

Joshua Wiegert is traveling to Raleigh to speak to RAS.  He will be presenting on "Aquatic Creatures -- those animals that can go into your fish tank, but aren't fish."  In addition to being a well known author and speaker, Joshua runs Batfish Aquatics, which you may have seen regularly at the Raleigh Aquarium Society's various workshops and auctions.  Josh is accepting orders from his regular Batfish Aquatics stock list up until Thursday August 6th for delivery at the meeting.

That list can be found at:    http://www.batfishaquatics.com/freshwater.php

June 4th Meeting

In June, Tom Hicks, Membership Director of the James River Aquarium Society (JRAS in Richmond VA) will give us a talk on breeding Koi, accompanied by Dennis Bragg (president of JRAS) who will give us an introduction to the basic Koi varieties. After two years of breeding Angels and an avid ray freshwater breeder, Tom began a long stretch of breeding Koi and will share information he gained during the 12 years of breeding them. Attendees of this talk should leave with enough knowledge to decide if raising backyard Koi is something they’d like to attempt. We hope you can join us!

First Annual Carolina Killifish Club "BBQ at the Beach" May 30th

Killifish club meeting at the home of Brian Perkins in Wilmington, NC. Open to everyone with even a passing interest in Killies, those who want to learn more about these fish, obtain new stock, and enjoy a day outing to Collect and view Native fish, ( including rare Killies), & view Wild Orchids and Carnivorous plants native to Eastern North Carolina in their natural setting. We will start at around 11am in Wilmington and carpool out to the sites. That gives folks as far away as Richmond, VA or Charlotte, NC the enough time to make their way out to the beach and join the special guided tour of the Green Swamp Nature Conservancy acreage conducted by Fritz Rohde; long time resident and local Native Fish and Orchid expert. Come for the weekend, and get a hotel near the beach! Hang out with us on Saturday and that leaves Sunday open to go swim or beachcomb at Wrightsville, Carolina or Kure Beaches. There is also the ruins of Fort Fisher- a civil war era attraction. After the Orchid walk and some collecting, return to my home for BBQ. We will supply all the fixins, munchies and drinks, but please bring a dessert or salad to share, and something to BBQ! After the BBQ I plan to give a short presentation on the Killies of Peru as we understand them to date, and have plenty of wild fish for you to bid in the auction. I will post a list of fish in the next week or so ( not just killies but all manner of species) that I can import in time for the meeting. So if there is a particular Cory. or Apistogramma, or Cichlid you are looking for, you can review the preorder list, place an order with me, and then buy your fish at the meeting. If you want to bring a tent and camp out, we have room in the rear yard for this, we could probably accommodate a couple of RV's if that is more your style. 

May 8th meeting

Les Wilson, product marketing manager and founding partner of Cobalt International, will speak to us on fish nutrition. Prior to founding Cobalt, Les spent 17 years with United Pet Group aquatics. He began his career with Marineland as an aquatic biologist, working in and then managing, the aquatics lab. Les personally spearheaded many of the projects you know today, including his favorites Marineland LED lighting, Bio­Spira nitrifying bacteria, corner flow tanks, and the Marineland Deep dimension aquariums. In 2011, he left UPG to start Cobalt International with the goal to get back to his roots as a fish geek and give back to the hobby the lessons he learned. Starting with the basic dietary needs of fish and how we want to augment those needs to keep them in top shape and color in the captive environment, Les will take a deeper look at a unique study done on the effects of immuno­stimulants. We will also discuss labeling requirements and how to read the “GA” and Ingredient lists. Once we have a base knowledge of fish nutrition, we will then finish with how fish food is manufactured. We hope you can join us!

April 2nd meeting

“It’s A Small World; Tiny Fish in the US Marketplace”

In April we’ll host Dennis Bragg, the past President and current board director of the James River Aquarium Society located in Richmond, to give us a presentation entitled “It’s a Small, Small World: The Increasing Role that Tiny Fish and Tiny Tanks Play in the US Marketplace”. Dennis has kept fish since his early days growing up on a farm in South Carolina. His early interest in wildlife and fisheries led him to obtain an Associate Degree in Wildlife Technology with an emphasis in fisheries, along with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forest Management from Clemson University. Exploration of the topic will include a discussion of speciation, micro miniaturization, aquaria carrying capacity, tiny freshwater fish, and the use of plants. Also discussed will be what works within community tanks, practical examples of some of the most desirable miniature freshwater tropical fish species available in the aquarium trade, and care instructions. We hope you can join us!

NCSU CVM Open House Saturday March 28, 2015

On March 28th, the NC State Vet School will sponsor its annual Open House event, a full day of food, fun, and festivities for kids and adults alike.  RAS is one of only a handful of local pet organizations (the only aquatics group) privileged to host a booth at this event. We will be at our usual location in front of the library and we encourage all members to come out and join us (especially our younger members). Any volunteers will be greatly appreciated. If you’re interested in helping, please contact the RAS Secretary.

March 12th meeting

March 2015 Program (3/5/15 @ 7:30pm) – 

“Characins – That’s Tetras for Linda in Rio!”:

The Neon Tetra is still one of the most desired fish in the hobby. Neons and many other small schooling fish belong to a group called Characins or tetras. Although they become food for many larger predators, they possess numerous traits and attributes that help them survive and which endear them to aquarists all over the world. Founding RAS member Todd Wenzel has collected neons and cardinals in the wild and will talk in March about this fascinating species of fish. We’ll learn about their pluses and minuses, their feeding, breeding, care, and more. We hope you can join us!

The 30th Annual Workshop and Auction highlights

In February, RAS had another great workshop at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. In the course of 3 days, over 250 people from all over the country attended one or more of 5 events designed to educate, enlighten, and enjoy. We appreciate the efforts of many individuals who made this feat possible. A picture summary of the workshop is contained later in the newsletter. Any feedback from of members on how to improve this event in the future is welcomed.