This years ACA

[Neil]

Let's here some info on the ACA this year for those of us who couldn't make it.
Those who caught Randalls talk - give us some info.
How about the fish? Anything interesting?

Neil

 

[Cichlids1]

I didn't catch Randall talk, but I did catch up with him. We had a good discussion and I brought my mystery Nanochromis for him to a gander at. It's good to finally meet people after swapping emails for so long.

I was a bit unimpressed with the Dwart SoftWater selection this year. One of the weakest showings in recent memory. There was a few apistos and some westies, but nothing really jumped out as a gotta have it. So, I just found some people from online and previous years and just shot the breeze. My wife wanted to come along for the day to see what I get so geeked about. She was bored to death, thought we were talking some secret code. But was impressed with the size and scope of the event. She figured it was a just handful of guys with few social skills and an affinity for speaking Latin. I think she changed her mind...there are a lot of (mostly) guys with an affinity for Latin that are very comfortable and social when placed in a group of like people

I was with Mike of 3guysaquatics when the 'Letter' was delivered. Evidently, if you had tanks set up in your room, the staff had to physically inspect the room before you could check out. I know Phil Benes (Cincy Club Guy in Charge) was running around trying to get that mess cleared up. I know a few people were a little miffed at it.

We have a year to get the dwarf people mobilized for the Denver show. Hopefully some of the West Coasters will make the trip. I'll be there, with the boss, to show her some ofthe old stomping grounds from when I was stationed in Colorado Springs.

 

[Z Man]

Hey guys & gals Denver is OK but that's next year. There will be quite a few dwarf nuts at the Ohio Cichlid Extravaganza in Cleveland Nov. 21-23. AND it's only $10 to take in everything!!!! Donuts & coffee Sat & Sun am, Pizza party Sat at 5pm & Hospitality room Fri & Sat eves. All included! Lots of rooms full of stuff and at least 5 speakers. This is one not to miss.

 

[Cichlids1]

Z...the more people that know about the OCA shindig in November means the more people I'm going to have to fight off for the good stuff (Which there is usually a lot of good stuff there). So, let's just keep it our little secret :twisted: .

For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to go, you should really make plans to attend. I think the only reason they put Ohio in the name Ohio Cichlid Association is because Cichlid Association sounded silly. Needed one more word to give it some pizazz. There are people from all over the country and Canada usually in attendance.

More info at: http://www.ohiocichlid.com/extrava.html


And remember...shhhhh only the cool people can know about it :wink:

 

[Scooter]

I did not attend Randall's talk either, as I didn't arrive until the next day. I will echo Cichlids1 about the amount of dwarves. I was disappointed with both the quality and quantity. In fact, I think there were overall fewer fish in the show than last year, but that may be a result of the different layout, which made numbers appear smaller. However, I believe there were more fish available for sale than last year.

One interesting note, Chris Persson of cichlidscene.com gave a presentation late Friday night titled "Large and Predatory Cichlids", which focused on CA brutes. If you're only into dwarves, then it may not have been very alluring, but I thought it was a great talk with lots of interesting video of fish behavior, which was a nice change from the usual still picture parade that some talks get bogged down with, though Ad Konings added some video to one of his talks.

I think the number of vendors was larger than last year also. I picked up a few things that I hadn't seen available before. Overall, I thought it was a nice gathering, albeit in considerably tighter confines. I wasn't very impressed with the hotel as a whole, especially when they sent me to an occupied room upon check-in.

 

[Neil]

That is suprising that with the increase in interested in Dwarf Cichlids, that there weren't more at the ACA. Yes, we will have to do something about that next year!

Neil

 

[tjudy]

Granted... I have not been to an ACA convention in about 10 years, but I have never seem dwarf cichlids well represented at any fish show other than a show specifically set up for dwarf cichlids (and I think I have been to one of those in twenty years).

I think that the main reason is that they just do not show as well as larger cichlids. I would like to see the ACA expand their categories, or change their rules, to allow aquascaping in show tanks. I feel confident that dwarf cichlids would show a lot better if they had some plants or driftwood to hand around. All I have ever seen at the ACA is the fish hide behind the filters.

 

[Randall]

ACA Cincinatti 2003

Hi all,

This year's ACA convention was an event that I will not soon forget. The organizers tell me that attendance was up and the show entries were up as well. Last year in Atlanta, we had about 235 entries as opposed to nearly 400 this year.

Besides the fish and the presentations, the highlight for me was meeting fellow hobbyists, some of whom are members of our forum. It was great meeting Ken Roese (finally) and seeing first hand his "mystery nanos." For the record, Ken has promised to place his pair in a species tank, acclimate them to soft, acidic water and successfully spawn them. He has also promised to photograph them and to furnish quality images to us all, worthy of framing, that I may include in my presentations. Are you reading this, Ken? Seriously though, our Ken is a great guy who presented me with a beautiful pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Mahone" as a gift. Thank you, Ken!

Unfortunately, dwarf cichlids were underreprented in the show, but we did fare pretty well in the West & Central African cichlid department. Included were some very nice tilapiines, hemichromines and chromidotilapiines. Of note were a beautiful pair of rare Pelmatochromis nigrofasciatus, a large Pungu maclareni, a large Tilapia sp. and a Hemichromis cerasogaster. With P. maclareni, I think this may have been the first time we've seen a cichlid endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo, Cameroon, represented in the ACA show.

There were a number of interesting dwarfs for sale, both in peoples' rooms and through distributor Tony Orso. A partial list of would have to include Apistogramma bitaeniata "Fresia/Strawberry," wild Laetacara thayeri, Pelvicachromis pulcher (Ndonga), P. taeniatus "Wouri," P. humilis, wild Parananochromis longirostris, a wild Hemichromis sp. from Inongo (which I ID'd as H. stellifer. The seller was not exactly pleased with me at that moment.), Pelmatochromis nigrofasciatus and wild Tilapia snyderae. Certainly, there were other New World dwarfs available, but I was too busy gawking at the Africans.

For those who missed my talk on Thursday night, although I was a bit nervous, the program was well received, and the response immediately following and thoughout the duration of the convention was overwhelming. It warms my heart to know that there is such a growing interest in West & Central African cichlids. From the response, I'm now of the impression that there is a segment of the hobby who thirst for more information. For those who live on the west coast, I've been invited to speak at the Pacific Coast Cichlid Association in San Jose this October, thanks to our Kevin Plazak.

Paul Loiselle also presented a West & Central African cichlid program. Kudos to Dr. Loiselle for discussing some of the species that are not well known in the hobby, including some of those endemic to the Cameroon crater lakes, a fascinating group of cichlids.

While I had the floor, I used the opportunity to announce next year's keynote speaker, none other than Mag. Dr. Anton Lamboj. As many know, I champion Dr. Lamboj's work and am personally thrilled that we will have him in Denver next year. We expect that Dr. Lamboj will be presenting two programs and will also be bringing his family with him.

If there is anyone who might be interested in breaking bread with the Lambojs and treating them to lunch or dinner, please contact me privately. Dr. Lamboj possesses a tremendous hobbyist's heart, loves interacting with hobbyists, and is just as thrilled about the hobbyist aspects of the fish as he is by the science. Hardly a week goes by when I don't get word from him about a new acquisition or spawning success.

Since first establishing contact with him, Dr. Lamboj now serves on the boards of several noted scientific and hobbyist organizations; is intimately involved in researching and surveying two regions that encompass nearly all of West & Central Africa, as part of a worldwide group effort; and is writing a book that will cover all of the cichlid species of the region. We are very fortunate that this book will be offered in English (a rarity these days) and hope to make it available in Denver next year. When available, I encourage everyone to buy this book! Collectively, perhaps we can send a message to German publishers that English editions of German language books are no longer a losing proposition.

Thanks all!

Randall Kohn