NEOnews July 2013

Monthly Meetings Starts at 8p.m.
This month we are holding a workshop:
Program Chairman John Chapek
July's meeting will be our first workshop.
We will be making 3 items for you to take
home and use in your fish room. I would
like anyone that would like to participate
to bring the following item, a clear 2 liter
pop bottle with the cap.
©2013 Northeast Ohio Fish Club. All rights reserved.
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President’s Message
Last month we had a very successful meeting. I want to thank Patrick
from TLC-Products for telling us about their product that immediately provides bacteria to allow you to set up a tank and
place fish in it without having to put in old filters or having fish die from “New Tank Syndrome”. I have been using their product and think it’s the best additive on the market.
I also want to congratulate Ken Walker for winning the mystery box of fish. Hopefully Ken liked what he won and we can do
another one later in the year. There was approximately 25 bags of fish and some hard goods, so I think Ken got a pretty good
deal for the $20.00 worth of tickets he purchased. Value wise, there was probably $400 to $500.00 worth of fish. To Brian,
who bought the tickets for Ken, just think you had the choice of A or B and you chose B. If only you would have chosen A,
you could have been the big winner.
This month we will be kicking off our “Breeding Contest”. We will be breeding Lemon Tetra’s. They scatter their eggs, and
although not difficult to spawn, they also are not that easy. It will take a little thought and a spare 10 gallon or slightly larger
tank to be successful. The prices for the fish will be $12.00 for 10. These will be adults, so everyone can get going right away
to get them into condition and starting to spawn. We will give out prizes to the first 3 members who bring in 6 or more fry.
All fry must be ¾” in size. Should you want to participate in the contest we will be taking orders at this meeting and the fish
will be delivered at the August meeting. We hope everyone will participate as this is something new and will broaden everyone’s knowledge.
Club Auction – As everyone knows the auction will be held Saturday, September 14, 2013 at the Pipe Fitter’s Union Hall. As
this will be our first major event as a club, we will need everyone’s help and participation. We will need members to run fish
bags, work the kitchen, help register and several other things. We are looking to make sure we are well organized for the
event. At the August meeting we will be asking members to sign up for jobs. We will try and set up a schedule so members
get breaks during the day, but again we will all be watched, so we should put our best foot forward. Stay tuned for more on
the event. Also, we will need members to bring fish and or equipment. With 45 members and growing, if every member can
bring 10 items, that would be a great start for a first auction.
Lastly, John has a good program set up for this month and he is working on posting all of our programs and workshops, for
the remainder of the year. In talking to him, he has some really good programs coming up. Hopefully everyone will make the
meetings.
I certainly hope everyone will attend this month. I know its summer and everyone is busy, but if you can find a couple
free hours this Friday to attend, that would be great.
See you Friday,
Dan
of
www.neo-fish.com
PS: I mentioned that on August 10th or 17th we would be taking a road trip to Michigan to see some
their larger breeders. We are calling them to set up the date. I will announce it at the meeting.
About NEOfish
The Northeast Ohio Fish Club (fish) is an all specie Fish club
in Northeast Ohio. We pride ourselves in being a progressive club offering all our members not only the
normal fish club programs, but others like individual e-mail addresses, club member websites, spawning
con-tests, aquarium decorating contests workshops, road trips and more. Our goal is to make every
meeting exciting, educational and leaving you with the feeling that you can’t wait until the next meeting.
Look at our website and see if this club isn’t the club you have been looking for. If you already belong to a
club, that’s okay, think about making us your second club and come enjoy the fun.
Our website is www.neo-fish.com
NEOfish Meetings
As always, the Northeast Ohio Fish Club (NEOfish)
holds monthly meetings in Independence, Ohio on the 3rd Friday of every month. Meetings are at:
Independence United Methodist Church
6615 Brecksville Road
Independence, OH 44131
8:00p.m. to 10:00p.m.
Everyone interested is invited to attend. NEOfish is an all species club, such as Betta, Guppies, Tetras,
Barbs, Cichlids etc. We will look to the attendees to pick out a name for the new club. Current club
members are welcome to join a second club.
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
NEOfish Sponsors
Please support these great companies who support us.
API
Hagen
San Francsico Bay Brand
Aquarium Technologies, Inc.
Hydor USA
Seachem Laboratories, Inc.
Aquatic Creations
Marineland
Tetra
Blue Ribbon
New Life International Inc.
TLC Products
CaribSea
Omega Sea, Ltd.
ViaAqua
Cobalt Aquatics
Penn-Plax
Zoo Med
GloFish
PetSmart Store Support Group, Inc.
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
Treasurer’s Report
First of all i would like to say that it is a privilege and my pleasure to be the treasurer for your fish club!
I am overwhelmed by the generosity of NEOfish members, in 3 short months we have a balance in the
bank of $ 927.76 and that is after paying out for rent to the church and for snacks at our meetings! This
money has really been raised in just 2 meetings we didn't start raising money for the club until the May
meeting which was our second meeting.
For the May meeting bags of fish were brought in as donations for our raffle. The mini auction , raffle and
food donations brought $ 283 to the club at this meeting.
For the June meeting we held the “Big Box Raffle “, which was again supported by donations from
NEOfish members. The mini auction, “Big Box Raffle” and food donations raised $ 361.09 for the club.
I do not have at hand a list of the individual members that have donated to both raffles but “KUDOS" to
all that have donated their money, fish and or time to your new club!
Personally i am excited about the great start that our new fish club has experienced and look forward to
future meetings and club events for fun and growth!
A more detailed treasurer report will be brought to the July meeting and will be available for any member
to review.
NEOfish Treasurer
Jim Laco
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
Committee Announcements
Membership
Well the year is half gone and our club is growing. I would like to welcome the following new members
to NEO-Fish.
The following members joined at our June meeting:
Dennis Kuehn, Josh Cunningham, Jon Dietrich, Daymian Morton. They are all interested in Cichlids.
We also had one new Fish head join via our website and he is:
Andrew Shrock.
I would also like to welcome Fred Schwartz to the Membership Committee.
Let’s continue to spread the word and watch our club grow.
Program Committee
August is still pending.
September will be our own Doug Poole talking about a strain of fancy guppies he is developing.
I did put out a notepad at the last meeting asking for suggestions, I am sad to say I received no input.
Please feel free to make suggestions in person at the meeting or in writing. I will leave the pad out again at
the July Meeting. This is your club please give us your input.
www.neo-fish.com
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Committee Announcements (cont.)
Breeder Award Program (BAP)
Where do I start? I guess first of all the historic first spawn registered was from Don Danko and was a bag
of Longfinned Bristlenose Plecostomus.
Please pre-register your fish on the club web site before you bring them to the meeting if possible. It can
be done later but I really don't want to have to keep after you to finish the registration process later. Also
please sign them in at the meeting and make sure you put down your whole name and try to write legibly.
Next, the current BAP and HAP programs were "borrowed" because we needed to have them in place. I
have begun to work on one we can call our own but it will be awhile before I will be finished. Point values
may be different in the future but if you have turned in a fish that was originally worth 10 points and it is
downgraded to 5 points you will not lose any points. On the other hand if a fish is up graded from 5
points to 10 points you will receive the additional 5 points.
Another change I feel important is any fish that are turned in for BAP that are on the The IUCN Red List
will be given an additional 5 points. I will be putting a link up on the forum to the list. Please keep in mind
that these fish are considered Threatened or Endangered in the wild. You can only work with legally obtained fish and any of our American natives would be off limits since it would be illegal to own them.
There are also some fish that are native to the state of Ohio that would be off limits because they are
endangered or threatened state wide. Actually any Ohio natives would be off limits without the propagation permit.
May 2013 BAP Submissions (3)
Don Danko
Dan Ritter
Brian Shrimpton
Longfinned Bristlenose Plecostomus 10 points
Labeotropheus trewavasae 10 points
Laetarcara araguaiae 10 points
June 2013 BAP Submissions (23)
Scott Hartness
Doug Poole
Dan Ritter
Justin Way
Chuck Nowakowski
Brian Shrimpton
Tony Poth
Longfinned Bristlenose Plecostomus 10 points
Black Convicts 5 points
Jade Guppies 5 points
Half Black AOC Guppies 5 points
Neolamprologus ocellatus purple 10 points
Ophthalaustilapia ventralis Kapampa orange 15 points
Corydoras sterbai 10 points
Brown Bushynose Plecostomus 10 points
Black Convicts 5 points
Marble Convicts 5 points
Labidochromis caeruleus Yellow 10 points
Pseudothropheus demasoni 10 points
Otopharynx tetraspilus 10 points
Labeothropheus trewavasae 10 points
Neolamprologus daffodil 10 points
Blue Pribaia x altum Angels 10 points
Neolamprologus caudopunctatus 10 points
Black Sailfin Mollies 5 points
Honduran Red Point Convicts 10 points
Neolamprologus Pulcher 10 points
Pseudothropheus saulosi 10 points
Labidochromis caeruleus white 10 points
www.neo-fish.com
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Committee Announcements (cont.)
Breeder Award Program (BAP) (cont.)
Name
Brian Shrimpton
Chuck
Nowakowski
Dan Ritter
Justin Way
Tony Poth
Doug Poole
Don Danko
Scott Hartness
2013 Total Points
55 points
50 points
45 points
20 points
20 points
15 points
10 points
10 points
Raffle Committee
We have sent letter to the following vendors to see if they can support us with some product donations.
to Penn-Plax, ViaAqua, Blue Ribbon, Hydor USA, Aquatic Creations, CaribSea , GloFish, San
Francsico Bay Brand and to Zoo Med.
Auction Committee
Starting this month we will be testing the accepting of credit cards for payment of membership dues,
BAP and Meeting Auction fish. We want to make sure it’s working well before the September 14th
auction where we hope to be the first local club to accept credit cards. This should be a good benefit for both buyers and sellers. The club will absorb the fees so for the buyers it’s the same as using
cash. Remember the auction will be held at Pipefitters Local 120 Union hall in Valley View OH. It’s
the same place that the Great Lakes Cichlid Society held their last two auctions. It holds 300 people
in a brightly lit comfortable room.
www.neo-fish.com
www
www.neo-fish.com
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Fall Regional Auctions
Let’s get out and support our Neighbors!
also...
Greater Akron Aquarium Society
Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society Inc.
Lorain County Aquarium Society
Medina County Aquarium Society
Michigan Cichlid Association
Motor City Aquarium Society
Ohio Cichlid Association
SCALES
Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
If your club’s event is not listed or incorrect or updating
please contact Brian Shrimpton BrianShr99@gmail.com
Regional Auctions & Shows
Fall 2013
Saturday September 21
Michigan Cichlid Association Fall Auction
Auction day registration 9-10:30 AM and the auction will start at 11am.
Our auction is being held at:
UFCW Local 876 - Madison Place
876 Horace Brown Dr. Madison Heights, MI
(off 13 Mile Road , 1 block east of I-75, south on Montpelier to end)
This auction features CICHLIDS, CATFISH, and PLANTS!
We will be allowing up to 20 bags of catfish and up to 20 bags of plants per household!
We will also be spot checking fish for size, proper bagging, etc. upon check in!
Admission is FREE - you don't have to be a member to buy or sell.
Sellers: pre-register on or before the Wednesday prior to the auction and save the late registration fee
contact Marty Ruthkosky(586) 739-1286 (before 9 PM) or
by email (recommended) cichlids01@wowway.com
When registering; we need your name, address, and approximate number of bags you expect to bring,
and a contact number.
For more info contact Auction Chairperson: Marty Derenge (586) 524-4740 nasa02@yahoo.com
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
If your club’s event is not listed or incorrect or updating
please contact Brian Shrimpton BrianShr99@gmail.com
Regional Auctions & Shows
Fall 2013
Sunday September 22
Lorain County Aquarium Society Fall Auction
Pittsfield Township Hall Corner of Rts 58 & 303 16940 Ohio 58, Pittsfield, OH 44090
Contacts: Barbara: 440-774-4533, heybarb@hotmail.com, Ken: 419-677-3405 kmcgill@neo.rr.com
www.lcas-fish.net or email LCAS@LorainCounty.com
Sunday September 22
Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society Inc. Fall Auction
North Hampton VFD—PA Turnpike, Exit 39, Butler Valley, Go North-Route 8, 5149 North Pioneer
Road. First light at East & West Hardies road turn LEFT, Gibsonia, PA 15044 Take the first LEFT onto
North Pioneer. Fire hall is on RIGHT Registration will open at 9:30 AM and close at 1 PM. Auction will
start promptly at 11 AM. WWW.GPASI.ORG.
Wally Cox 412-420-7985 walmich@verizon.net OR Eric Bodrock (412)491-0311 coryjeb@comcast.net
Sunday September 29
Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society Fall Auction
Harry T Wilks
Conference Center
Miami University - Hamilton
1601 University Blvd.
Hamilton, OH 45011
Auction starts at 11am, registration starts at 9
For the auction flyer click HERE
Saturday October 12
Medina County Aquarium Society Fall Auction
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 3355 Medina Rd. (Rt.18) Medina, Ohio Auction Starts at Noon,
Registration 10:00-1:00 (75/25 for M.C.A.S. members -75% of sale price goes to seller)
Contact the following for more information: John Kaminski (330) 225-0709 johnrkam@roadrunner.com, Nick Evanoff 330-722-3887 nevanoff@neo.rr.com
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
If your club’s event is not listed or incorrect or updating
please contact Brian Shrimpton BrianShr99@gmail.com
Regional Auctions & Shows
Fall 2013
Sunday October 13
Youngstown Area Tropical Fish Society Fall Auction
J.V. Johnson Community Center 800 Gillmer Road, Leavittsburg, OH
Registration: 11:00 to 1:00. Auction: NOON www.YATFS.com
For more information: Tom 330.758.3043
Sunday November 3, 2013
Greater Akron Aquarium Society Fall Auction
Tallmadge Community Center, 80 Community Rd., Tallmadge, Ohio
For more information: Bud White (330) 848-3856 (bwhite@neo.rr.com), Wayne Toven (330) 2966322 (wtoven@hotmail.com) or Rich Serva (330) 650-4613 (rjserva@juno.com)
Website http://www.gaas-fish.net/
Saturday November 9
Motor City Aquarium Society Fall Auction
Madison Place 876 Horace Brown Dr Madison Heights MI (13 Mile Rd @ I-75, 1 block east of I-75,
south on Montpelier to end)
http://motorcityaquariumsociety.com/Events/events.html
Friday-Sunday November 22 to 24
Ohio Cichlid Association Extravaganza
Holiday Inn 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville, Ohio 44136 (For hotel reservations call: 440-238-8800)
http://www.ohiocichlid.com/Extravaganza.html
For more information: Tom 330.758.3043
www.neo-fish.com
www.neo-fish.com
In Closing
On Saturday, June 29th, a 30 year old club held their last auction and on Sunday, the 30 closed down their club. I am talking about the Great Lakes Cichlid Association. There are
lessons to be learned for our club from this event. Every club needs to be aware of that one person can
ruin or cause a club to cease to exist. They can chase members away and provide a negative environment
where potential members won’t want to join.
th
At Neofish, we have taken steps to insure that type of member will be held as a “member not in good
standing” and possibly not part of the club. Unfortunately, Great Lakes had no such clause in their constitution. In putting our club together we have tried to think of everything that could happen that could have
a negative effect on our club. The reality is that Neofish is a member’s club. No one person will be able
to direct how this club is run or what functions will or will not be attended or cancelled. The board works
for the membership and it’s the membership through their participation that decides. We all have a voice
and its hearing the voices of members that will take this club forward.
I feel additional “safe guards” should be included into the Constitution and By-Laws to better protect the
club from a small group of like-minded individuals that do not have the best interest in the club’s growth
and prosperity in mind.
1.
We add a clause that voting for the canceling of an official club event such as an auction or workshop,
moving or terminating the existence of the club is done initially by the board and if accepted is then
voted on by the current club members. Joining the club after the club has announced such a vote
would be taken the new member would not be eligible to join in voting for any of these items.
2.
We need to clarify what issues would be handled by the board and what items when be passed by the
board and then brought to the membership for a final determination. Are there situations when the
board has not passed an item, can it then be brought before the general membership for a club binding
vote and how much notice is adequate for the membership to know to appear and voice their opinion.
3.
Any changing or adding to our constitution must be printed in the bulletin for 2 successive months. At
the monthly meeting after the printing the members vote will be taken to approve or disprove the
amendment.
I will bring these item up to the board to consider and if passed will be brought before the membership
per the Constitution and By-Laws.
The 10 GLCS members who showed up to put on the auction and provide those of us who attended, a
good time, should be commended. They came to work and provide an environment that made the day a
fun event but also one of sadness. I cannot think of how they must have felt, a club they had belonged to,
some for several years, ending on such a note.
Dan Ritter
www.neo-fish.com
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www.neo-fish.com