Dear Aquarist,
November brought in cold wind and lots of rain but we were warm and dry with our guest speaker Greg Sage. Greg came in from Colorado (yes, his arms were tired from flying that far), and he gave us a very interesting topic for the evening – “Selective Breeding.” Greg runs an interesting wholesale/retail fish business called Select Aquatics. You can check out and buy fish from him on his website, www.SelectAquatics.com. Greg also has a plethora of YouTube videos on “how to” with various aquatic topics. You can reach Greg via email at selectaquatics.com. Greg concentrated on cullying fish and separating the most colorful or those with traits, such as higher fins or longer/colorful tails and retain those specimens to breed and have better stock of fish. It was a great presentation and an educational experience.
November was our semi-annual 50/50 on livestock. We had many bags of high quality freshwater fish, marine fish, both fresh and marine plants and invertebrates, along with hard to get live corals. Many attendees went away with great bargains. We had aquariums, lighting, pumps, filters and aquatic supplies and food. Everything you need to keep and maintain your aquatic creatures with the best of everything to keep them happy and healthy.
All this would not be possible without our sponsors, such as local stores and manufactures. When you go to the local pet shops let them know you are a BAS member. They need to know we are giving back to them. We also have many members donate to our club every meeting. If you have old tank, equipment (that still functions), or healthy livestock that you wish to donate you can bring them to any meeting.
Our next meeting is our Holiday Party on December 14, from 7:00 -10:00 pm at the Flaming Grill on Nostrand Ave., between Avenue Y & Z. Please see our notice in this Bulletin. There is no regular meeting and no fish, just good friends and family gathering for holiday festivities. Hope to see you there.
New BAS shirts arrived and they were selling like hotcakes! Many of you noticed that the BAS officers and Board members wore the regular BAS shirt with the word TEAM on the back. We did this to identify our members that work and help organize our events. We also have new BAS hats in a light blue color.
I must ask for our members’ help – our Treasurer had to leave due to personal reasons. Please, if you have experience in accounting, we need your help.
Also, we are looking to rent a garage, street level, to hold our BAS equipment and supplies. If you have something reasonable, please let us know.
If you want to see different speakers and learn about different aquatic systems, fish, plants and marine life, please let me know. The elected officials of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society are here to serve YOU! Please let us know what you want and why, because it would be helpful to everyone. It is important that you visit and patronize our sponsors. It goes full circle: by helping them, they are also helping you as hobbyists and everyone is helping the Brooklyn Aquarium Society, so help us, help you!
For more info, please call our BAS Hotline at (718) 837-4455.
On a more personal note – any member who wants to attend a Board meeting, which is held at Education Hall of the New York Aquarium on the 1st Friday of the month, September through June, please notify me at (347) 277-4793 by the Tuesday before the meeting.
Steven Matassa
President