MEETING FRIDAY! Our own 1st Vice Presedent decided to give us a little lecture! Kevin Fehringer will be talking to us about water quality this Friday!

Kevin was born and raised in a small farming community in northeastern Colorado, raising cattle and growing dryland wheat. It was here that Kevin got his start with fish when he was six, keeping two goldfish in a one-gallon bowl. They quickly outgrew that bowl, and they found themselves in a new three-gallon bowl. Despite weekly 100% water changes, the water always seemed cloudy and a bit smelly. The pet shop wasn’t much help either. Finally, Mom hit her limit, and the goldfish went out to the stock tank. But the seed was planted.

Soon, Kevin, convinced his parents to get him a real aquarium – a Metaframe slate-bottom ten-gallon aquarium. He was in heaven! He continued with his weekly 100% water changes, taking care to set his buckets of water aside the day before to make sure the chlorine was allowed to dissipate, just like the pamphlet said. Never mind his house was on well water and there wasn’t any chlorine. Kevin eventually graduated from the box filter to that new-fangled undergravel filter. Still, the fish just never seemed to thrive, and always just withered away one by one after being in the tank for a few months. Same pet store, and still not a lot of help. Finally, the expense and frustration overcame his enthusiasm, and the empty aquarium found a dusty corner of the basement to live in.

Fast forward to Colorado State University, and a buddy took him down to a local pet store there. He was amazed at the variety and wonder of what he saw. Soon, a betta came home to live in a two-gallon pickle jar with a heater. But it was a cheap heater and the betta soon cooked. This pet store was a lot of help, though, and finally Kevin began to learn the basics of the hobby. Eventually, he advanced to the typical college guy’s tank with a managuense cichlid, arowana, and an ornate bicher. His love of the hobby got him a job at a local pet store in Fort Collins (Bamboo Pet), which led to his next job at a tropical fish wholesaler in Denver (Tropaquatics). He got married, and tried to remain sensible with his tanks, never keeping more than two at any time. Even that was too many, and the new wife put her foot down, and the tanks went away.

Mini-Fish Auction! Please bring a bag or two to sell! Our Monthly Mini-Auctions have been growing, and becoming “not so mini” So if you have some extra fish you’d like to sell, plants, ext. Bring them!

We will also be bringing in fish from davesfish.com for Mini-Auction. Feel free to contact Dave if you would like to order any fish and save with no shipping cost. Just tell Dave to ship it to the RMCA meeting!

LOCATION
Friday Feb 8th!
Colorado Academy
3800 South Pierce Street
Denver, CO 80235
Bowl Show Setup at 6:30pm
Meeting starts at 7pm