Dear Aquarist,

We had beautiful weather for our April event and our members packed the house for our guest speaker Todd LaJeunesse. Todd is a professor at Pennsylvania State University and his topic for the evening was “Coral Physiology, Ecology, Symbiosis & Evolution.” We had a great turnout for Todd’s talk on corals and our attendees appreciated his presentation. We thank him for taking the time from his busy schedule to visit us.

Also on hand was Lance Reyneirs from Python Products to discuss his new product, an attachment that will dechlorinate water as it is put back into the tank — meaning no longer a need for added chemicals.

With over 200 bags of fish and plants donated from local fish store sponsors and members, the night was a real success. April was a 50/50 auction, meaning anyone donating livestock received 50% of the sale back. We do this twice a year to show appreciation to our members for their support.

Remember, if it was not for our local pet store sponsors, BAS would not be able to survive, so please patronize our loyal sponsor stores because they keep us up and running.

In May, we will have our giant auction, so no speaker — just lots of great aquarium products and livestock. We will also make an announcement about our annual photo contest which will start in June. As always, we will have lots of great prizes, so clean up those tanks and get your photos ready. We always have free parking and free refreshments, so mark your calendar, and bring money. See you next month.

If any of our members have a topic they want to hear speakers talk about or have ideas about our events; we want to hear them. We need your feedback to keep our club going strong. Members can contact us at our hotline (718) 837-4455 or visit our web site www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org where you can find out about upcoming events or join our new BAS forum. The forum is a great place for your questions and answers, and to buy or sell aquarium items.

Members can also bring up new ideas at our Board meetings, held on the first Friday of the month in the NY Aquarium Education Hall. If you want to attend a Board meeting to help out or just to bring us your thoughts; you are always welcome. Please call Joe Graffagnino (718) 238-1792. You must call by the Tuesday previous to the meeting. The next Board meeting is May 1, 2015. Hope to see you there.

Steven Matassa
First Vice President