Dear Aquarist,

Our April event was a great way to welcome Spring — by having a renowned speaker provide a lecture on a fascinating subject. Richard Pierce gave an in-depth talk on mysterious and controversial marine species. His topic for the evening was “Seahorses, Pipefish and Sea Dragons.” He warned our members that these creatures are not easy to keep in captivity. Some of these guys can grow to 18 inches in length. Sea horses can have 1,800 fry in a single spawn. It would be very difficult for a hobbyist to provide a sustainable biotope for these creatures. You must plan this out before seeking to obtain these creatures.

Richard was kind enough to be our speaker for the evening, even though he had an obligation to the NEC for the same weekend. Richard is an officer in the NEC and he took time out from his duties at the convention to fulfill his commitment to BAS. We thank him profusely for that.

In our continuing endeavor to educate our members and fellow aquarists, we had a representative from Hydor speak briefly on new medications for both marine and freshwater fish, so our members got a two for one deal. We hope to continue to bring product and manufacturing representatives to our meetings so our members can learn first hand about their new products and how they can improve the quality of life for aquarists.

As always, we had lots of livestock bags at the auction (we had a 50/50 with our registered members for the evening on donated plants, corals and both freshwater and marine fish), great items at the sponsor tables, and new BAS shirts, hats and club patches. We also had a large assortment of FREE refreshments to keep our members satisfied.
The weather was great; we had a packed house — all in all a great night.

Next month we have our May Giant Auction! No guest speaker, but plenty of fish and dry goods presented for our members and guests. As always, parking and refreshments are free. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Hope to see you there!

Steve Matassa
President