Potomac Valley Aquarium Society

Meeting Notes

May, 2008

Spencer Jack gave a talk about his multiple trips to Uruguay, which is located between Brazil and Argentina. It has a dry, temperate climate with European type cities. He said Uruguay makes it very easy to export its many fishes. He said the fish from Paraguay and Uruguay are easy to care for in the aquarium.

It is very easy to travel to Uruguay in terms of visas and airline flights. He conducts tours to collect fish in November for about $1600-$1400, depending on the number of people. Guests stay at hotels; meals are provided. For more information, his website is www.cichlaholic.com.

He gave a slideshow with pictures from his many trips, very funny photos of his travels, excellent photos of fishes including local accommodations and the surrounding countryside and cities. Of particular note, he showed how easy it was to catch cichlids. He said that each stream and pond had a unique variant of the local substrate mouthbreeder. He had many pictures of other beautiful fish of that region.

The meeting ended with an auction with fish donated by the speaker and many other contributions by the attendees. Look to the forum message: "Great May Meeting, PVAS!!!" for some responses on what was in the auction.