Sat, Jan 7 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:30 pm Lightning Talk:TBD "TBD"
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Mark Kaprow "My Experiences Keeping and Breeding Tanganyikan Secretive Cave Spawners (aka Tanganyikan Rock Dwellers)"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
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Sat, Feb 4 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:30 pm Lightning Talk: TBD "TBD"
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Barbara Day "Betta Fish Varieties Over Time: From veiltails to avatars"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
Sun, Feb 19 | Atlas Brew Works | 1 - 5 pm
Fish & Brew Swap Meet
Join fellow fishkeepers at Atlas Brew Works for an informal swap meet. Bring your fish, plants, or supplies for trade, sell, or giveaway and share a beer with like-minded people. Atlas Brew Works is located at 2052 West Virginia Ave NE, Washington, DC.
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Sat, Mar 4 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:30 pm Lightning Talk: TBD "TBD"
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Nick Little "The Organic Mechanic: Operating life support systems at the National Zoo"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
Sun, Mar 12 | Musical Fish Swap | Sterling Conservatory of Music | 1-5 pm
Free Admission – fish, live music, and pizza
Meet vendors and hobbyists with live fish, aquatic plants, and aquarium decor
10333-B Democracy Lane
Fairfax, VA 22032
www.SCMusicArts.com
Vendors should contact dreamlandaquatics@gmail.com for details
Sat, Spring Date TBD | National Zoo | 10:30 am
Tour of Amazonia life support systems
Nick Little will provide a private tour of the life support systems at the Smithsonian National Zoo Amazonia Exhibit (and perhaps the sea lions too). This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at one of the largest water filtration systems you'll ever see. The tour can only accommodate 6 people. We will have a sign-up sheet.
*** Sunday ***, Apr 2 | Green Acres Center | 10 am - 5 pm
Spring All-Day Auction
8:30 am Set-up
10:00 am Registration opens
10:30 am Tag sale opens
10:45 am Auction opens
1:00 pm First raffle
3:00 pm Second raffle
4:00 pm Bidding winds down
5:00 pm Take-down
Spring Date TBD | NIH Campus | Times TBD
Tour of NIH Zebrafish Facility with Dr. Manuel Moro
Board member, Dr. Manuel Moro, has kindly offered to arrange an exclusive tour for PVAS members of the NIH Zebrafish Facility. Get an insider's look at the fish breeding behind the science. After the date and time are finalized, we will post a sign-up sheet on the Forum. There will be a limit of ~ 15 people for the tour.
*** Sunday ***, Apr 2 | Green Acres Center | 10 am - 5 pm
Spring All-Day Auction
8:30 am Set-up
10:00 am Registration opens
10:30 am Tag sale opens
10:45 am Auction opens
4:00 pm Bidding winds down
5:00 pm Take-down
Sat, May 6 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Dr. Paul V. Loiselle"Australoheros: Heroic Cichlids of the South"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
Sat, Jun 3 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly Meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:30 pm Lightning Talk: TBD "TBD"
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Blake & SJ Jimenez-Calhoun"Medaka Ricefish"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
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Bowl Show & Indoor Picnic
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Register fish and set out hospitality buffet
1:30 pm Eat
2:00 pm Judging and admiring fish, voting for People's Choice
3:00 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Awards
4:30 pm More mini-auction and take-down
Sat, Jul 8 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 5 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:45 pm Feature Presentation: Jennifer Williams"Building a Backyard Biotope"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
Sat, Aug 5 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Monthly meeting
12:30 pm Set-up
1:00 pm Socializing
1:15 pm Announcements
1:30 pm Presentation: Shane Linder "Flats, Fats, and Gnats: The pleco subfamilies"
2:45 pm Mini-auction
4:00 pm Take-down
Sat, Sep 2 | Green Acres Center | 1 - 4 pm
Special Pre-Auction All-Day Workshop
Sat, Sep 30 | Green Acres Center | 10 am - 4 pm
*** SUNDAY ***, Oct 1 | Green Acres Center | 10 am - 6 pm
Fall All-Day Auction
8:30 am Set-up
9:30 am Registration opens
10:30 am Tag Sale begins
11:00 am Auction opens
1:00 pm First raffle
3:00 pm Second raffle
5:00 pm Take-down
Annual Meeting & Double Speaker Event
11:30 pm Set-up
12:00 pm Regina Spotti "Tetras"
1:00 pm Club sponsored lunch
1:45 pm Elections
2:00 pm Erik Bodrock "Spawning Cory Cats"
3:30 pm Mini-auction
5:00 pm Take-down
Sat, Nov 4 | Green Acres Center | 12 - 5 pm
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Mark Kaprow
Mark has kept fish off and on for over 50 years, with the most serious fishkeeping taking place over the last 15 years, although he also kept fish seriously in the early 1990's. Mark fell in love with Tanganyikan cichlids after acquiring his first few Neolamprologus leleupi and has been keeping primarily Tanganyikan Rock Dwelling species.
Barbara Day
Barbara is a passionate hobbyist who has been surrounded by fish and nature throughout her life. Her uncle started the addiction with a few fish tanks in Mexico City that still stand today 30+ years later. Growing up in Cancun provided great opportunities to be close to nature, thus becoming an avid scuba diver and working at an ecological park with several exotic animals.
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The obsession continued once in the US by working at pet stores for several years and keeping several fresh and saltwater tanks.
She currently keeps several planted tanks with nano fish and enjoys experimenting with different methods and techniques.
Nick Little
Since 2014, Nick Little has worked at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park. Initially he served as the Aquarist at the Amazonia exhibit, and then as the Senior Life Support Systems Operator for the last 6 years. In this role, he helps maintain all equipment related to the processing and purification of water as it pertains to the safety and well-being of various aquatic animals on exhibit throughout the zoo. Equipment such as pumps and motors, sand and bead filters, UV sterilizers, ozone generators, and even the monitoring and testing of water quality.
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Prior to that he was a Senior Aquarist at the National Aquarium in downtown D.C. before it closed its doors to the public in 2013. There he spent his time maintaining the Native Fishes Gallery where he was responsible for the acquisition/collection, care, and breeding of native fish species found across the U.S. Nick has spent his entire professional career, spanning over 25 years, in various zoos, aquariums and the tropical wholesale fish industry.
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Nick’s background and passion for aquatics started at an early age. He enjoys designing and building custom aquatic systems, and keeping tropicals and native fish alike.
Dr. Paul V. Loiselle
Dr. Paul V. Loiselle is an enthusiastic aquarist of 50 years' experience. During the course of his career, Paul has had the opportunity to study cichlids in Madagascar, West Africa, Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika, Haiti, Mexico, Central America and the Peruvian Amazon. Emeritus Curator of Freshwater Fishes at the New York Aquarium and a Senior Conservation Fellow of the Wildlife Conservation Society, he is actively involved in conservation programs focused on the fishes of Madagascar. Paul is co-chair of the I.U.C.N.’s Madagascar Region Freshwater Fish Specialty Group. He serves as a scientific advisor to the Lake Victoria Cichlid Species Survival Program and the Madagascar Faunal Interest Group. A founding member and Fellow of the American Cichlid Association, an honorary fellow of the Association France Cichlid and a life Member of the North Jersey Aquarium Society, he is an internationally published author of numerous articles on the care and breeding of ornamental fishes and such books as The Cichlid Aquarium, Your Garden Pond and The Fishkeeper's Guide to African Cichlids.
Blake and Sonia (SJ) Jimenez-Calhoun
Blake and Sonia (SJ) Jimenez-Calhoun are a married couple from Barboursville, VA with a dual love of freshwater fish keeping. SJ has kept fish off and on for more than 20 years, most recently re-entering the hobby in 2018. Blake had one goldfish as a child unsuccessfully. After moving in together in 2019 Blake grew fond of aquascaping, and later breeding fish. The couple expanded from one tank to more than 100 tanks over the last 5 years. By day Blake and SJ spend their time advising students at the University of Virginia. By night they pick spawning mops, feed off brine shrimp, and talk fish.
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Rice fish are some of the most exciting fish in the hobby! Blake and SJ keep several varieties are looking forward to sharing their expertise.
Shane Linder
Catfish expert and naturalist Shane Linder is the “Shane” behind Planetcatfish.com‘s Shane World. Shane’s World houses well over 150 articles by various catfish experts making it the largest such resource known to exist. Shane is also a frequent contributor to several US and international aquarium periodicals and has been a guest speaker at numerous fish conventions in the US and Europe. From 2000-2020 Shane lived and collected fishes extensively in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Uganda, and Nigeria. He has made additional collecting expeditions into Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. The September PVAS Program: Fats, Flats, and Gnats: The Pleco Subfamilies.
Jen Williams
I got my first tank when I was seven and went through the appropriate array of guppies, barbs, and tetras through to my first encounter with keeping cichlids when I was in high school. Years later, in response to a craigslist ad I posted stating “Firemouth Cichlids, bring a net and a bucket”, I was introduced to something I wasn’t expecting… a formidable former Army Lieutenant in my living room filling his bucket with fish, and telling me all about local fish clubs and planted tanks. Armed with a healthy dose of curiosity at what kind of characters would be at a fish club meeting, I attended my first GWAPA gathering and was completely hooked. Serving on the Board in several positions (including President) I have also enjoyed participating in events with the other local clubs and the true friendships I have made in this hobby. I currently also sit on the board for the Aquatic Gardener's Association (AGA). To date, I have a stack of ribbons from aquascaping contests, including most recently a repeat win at the 2015 Aquatic Experience/AGA Aquascaping Live! Invitational Competition in Chicago, IL for my 75 gallon entry collaboration with Rachel O'Leary and her daughters. I am also an avid fan of Blue-eyed Rainbowfish (specifically Pseudomugil) and enjoy keeping and breeding them with the rest of my eclectic assortment of fish. To pay the electric and water bills that accompany all of the assorted gallons of aquatic madness, I work as a Graphic Designer…and also enjoy fast cars as a former professional drag racer and purring cats as a long-time volunteer/rescuer with the 4Paws Rescue Team.
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