Texas Cichlid Association

Athens Fisheries Center Trip This Saturday

rdeboard — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:16:25 +0000

Everyone is getting excited about the trip to Athens (Texas not Greece) Saturday to see the Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Here are the important details you need to know about.

1. It should be pretty easy to find. From Dallas, take Hwy175 south to Athens. As you near Athens you will see the Loop (Loop 7). Get on Loop 7 headed East. Watch for the exit to FM 2495. Exit there and go left onto 2495. Follow it about 3 miles and you will arrive at the Freshwater Fisheries Center. When you get to the entrance watch for Mike or Carla. They will give you additional directions to the Picnic area which we have reserved for 12 noon. The exact address is: 5550 FM 2495 Athens TX 75752. if you want to use your GPS system.

Here is a map to give you an idea about the drive.

Map To The Fisheries Hatchery In Athens

2. Bring your own picnic lunch and whatever you want to drink.

3. We will watch the Dive Show at 2 PM, then have a tour (hopefully behind the scenes if someone can get free to escort us on that).

4. The entrance fee is $4.50 (kids 4 – 12 are $3.50). This is a discounted rate for our group. However it is a special rate and must be paid in a single transaction by our group leader (Carla). That means you need to bring cash for this – and hopefully exact change,

Here is a link to the Center’s website. It looks like fun.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/

Be sure to check ou all the things to see on their website. One interseting note I found:

Fishing at Lake Zebco

About half the people who visit TFFC each year spend at least a few minutes fishing in Lake Zebco, a 1.2-acre pond stocked with channel catfish and sunfish year around and additionally with rainbow trout during winter. Rods, reels and bait are provided at no charge, and staff and volunteers are on hand in the Brookshire’s Anglers Pavilion to answer questions and render assistance as needed.

I have been told that no fishing license is needed.

If you have other questions let me know.

Ralph

Celebrating The Life Of Kent Hunsuckle

rdeboard — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:37:50 +0000

Kent Hunsuckle was very active in the worlds of both turtles and killifish. He had held various positions in multiple clubs in an effort to promote the hobby in a positive light. He had written multiple articles on his interest and was active on the internet forums in an effort to bring new people into the fold. He was at the first NADA show and worked tirelessly to make the show a success. He did this even though he would never own a discus. That tells you a lot about the man and the kind of friend that he truly was. There are others that will talk the talk, but he was one of the few that would walk the walk. He will be deeply missed by his friends and by the hobby.

A celebration of Kent’s life will be held Friday from 2 to 6 at the Estelle Lodge, 401 North Ector Drive, Euless, TX 76039. Please dress casual and bring some sort of food or snack.

John Nicholson
Caddo Mills, TX

Auction and Field Trip Coming Up

rdeboard — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:05:01 +0000

The next two months will bring 2 great events for TCA and our friends.

1. A huge Auction is scheduled for April 15 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Irving. You can see the drop down menu on the Auction Tab at the top of the page for details for buyers & sellers, but the basics are as follows:

a. Sellers can begin registering at 9 AM – our goal is that all sellers are registered by 10:30 .

b. Buyers can begin registering at 10 AM.

c. The auction will start at 11:00 AM and continue until all items are sold.

d. In addition to the regular auction we will also have a silent auction running all afternoon.

2. We are going to have a Road Trip & Picnic – at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, Texas on May 19. Details will be coming later, but we hope everyone will set aside the day for this special trip. Click the link below for information about the Center.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/visitorcenters/tffc/

3. And FOTAS is coming together nicely thanks to the work of Kathy Stearns, John Hansen and the FOTAS Committee.

We now have committments from Laif Demason, Spencer Jack, Greg Steeves (for a CARES session), and also a likely speaker from Indiana (recommended by Ron Georgeone) who will talk about all kinds of Loaches (Riverine, South American, Botia, Clown, & others). We are working at being able to have some to sell in the FOTAS auction. We are also trying to find someone to talk about additional non-cichlids. We will share additional details as they become available.

Meeting Saturday Night 3-17-2012

rdeboard — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 07:41:27 +0000

This month’s meeting will be held at Dawson Middle School, 400 South Kimball Ave. in South Lake, where we have met several times in the past.

We had originally planned to have Don Conkel speak at this meeting, but due to circumstances beyond our control, Don will not be able to attend this month. Perhaps he can be re-scheduled later.

So instead the entire meeting will be dedicated to the Cichlid Grow-Out Contest. We will have several presentations related to the contest, and will distribute the bags of fish by a drawing contest. We even plan to have a guessing competition as to which bag of fish will prove to be the winners – before we distribute the fish.

So you can expect to have lots of fun and good-natured competition.

A map to Dawson Middle school is below.

See you next Saturday.

Houston Auction – Sunday

rdeboard — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:55:34 +0000

The Houston Aquarium Society will be having an auction this coming Sunday, 3-18-2012.

Cichlid Grow-Out Contest

rdeboard — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:12:40 +0000

This is your chance to show your skill at raising cichlids. So the question is:

Who will prove to be our champion fish keeper for 2012?

John Hansen has agreed to donate an adequate number of Hap. moorii to the club to answer the question above.

Here are the rules and all the details you need to enter:

1. As stated above, the fish will be Hap. Moorii, the Malawi Blue Dolphin, all similarly sized at about 1.5″

2. Each entrant will receive 4-6 fish, depending on the number of entrants.

3. The fish will be judged at FOTAS scheduled for next September, so you will have about 6 months to grow your fish.

4. We will set up one 10 gallon tank for each entrant, and everyone who gets fish is expected to bring their best fish to FOTAS.

5. There is no charge to enter, no charge for the fish, and no charge to show these fish at FOTAS.

6. One prize will be awarded to the biggest fish.

7. Another prize will be awarded to the most attractive (aka “best”) fish.

8. They will be judged by the show judges at some point in the show.

9. Winners will be awarded when we announce FOTAS show winners.

10. Prizes will be determined later – and will be highly desired.

11. If you want to enter you must:

a. Send Marvin England an e-mail by this Wednesday (March 14) at midnight,

[Marvin's e-mail address is marvinengland@hotmail.com ]

b. Attend the meeting this coming Saturday at 7 PM (see details below) to pick up your fish.

c. Agree to bring your best fish back and show it at FOTAS next September.

d. Be a current member of TCA. If you are not a member now, let Marvin know you want in the contest, come to the meeting and join on site for the new low membership fee of just $5.00 for the rest of the year.

Now that’s pretty simple and sounds like lots of fun. A huge thanks to John Hansen for donating these fish and supporting TCA year after year.

Here are the details about the location of the meeting next Saturday.

The meeting will be held at Dawson Middle School, 400 South Kimball Ave. in South Lake, where we have met several times in the past.

We had originally planned to have Don Conkel speak at this meeting, but due to circumstances beyong our control, Don will not be able to attend this month. Perhaps he can be re-scheduled later.

So you can expect to have lots of fun and good-natured competition.

A map to Dawson Middle school is below.

See you next Saturday.

Monthly Meeting – February 18

rdeboard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:12:12 +0000

This month’s meeting will be held at the home of Jim & Tara Hall.

Location/Contact #:
3012 San Frando Dr. Arlington, 76010
817.875.7880

Arrive:
Board Meeting 6:00 pm
Official Meeting 7:00 pm

Tara has agreed to publish the Cichlid Tails this year and will be showing us her plans for converting Cichlid Tails to a primarily electronic newsletter. This will be your opportunity to get a first look at her ideas and plans.

She will also have an editorial calendar prepared to help assign articles for the year so please be thinking about an article/story you would be willing to submit.

And don’t forget to bring your favorite potluck dish, snack food, fruits/veggies and/or desserts. Tara will have a banana pudding prepared and can be reached at tfhall@gmail.com if you have questions.

Officers & Board Members For 2012

rdeboard — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:54:51 +0000

At the January meeting, the final order of business was election of officers and Board members for 2012. The election results are as follows:

Officers:

President: Ralph DeBoard

Vice President: Mike Johnson

Secretary: Page Ullman

Treasurer: David Andrews

Board Members:

John Nicholson (second term)

Kathy Stearns (second term)

Phil Tucker (second term)

John Barnett (first term)

Dave Gregory (first term)

Jim Hall (first term)

Carla Johnson (first term)

Ernie McAnally (first term)

Alan Young (first term)

Tara Hall agreed to become the editor of Cichlid Tails, the TCA Newsletter. Tara is taking over for Kathy England who asked to be relieved of this task which she has handled in a marvelous way for many, many years. If anyone in the club deserves our deepest thanks, it is Kathy for the wonderful job she has done with this challenging task.

Tara is excited about the Newsletter, and since her professional career is in advertising design there is no doubt she will be bringing some terrific ideas into the editor’s work. It is our hope that every TCA member will contribute an article to the Newsletter in the upcoming year. Our February meeting (see the 2012 calendar below for details).

TCA Calendar For 2012

rdeboard — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:35:03 +0000

Date	Meeting/Event Information
January 21	Regular Monthly Meeting/Officer Elections to be held at 7:00 at Spring Creek BBQ. 1509 Airport Freeway, in Bedford (site of Christmas Party). Phone number (817) 545-0184.
February 18	Regular Monthly Meetingto be held at 7:00 at the home of Jim and Tara Hall, 3012 San Frando Dr. Arlington TX 76010. The meal will be a potluck dinner – so plan to bring your favorite dish. The Meeting will be a lot of fun. Tara, who has agreed to publish Cichlid Tails this year, will be showing us her plans for converting Cichlid Tails to a primarily electronic newsletter. Since advertising design is Tara’s professional career you will want to get a first look at her ideas and plans. Be thinking about an article/story you would be willing to submit for the newsletter this year.
March 17	Regular Monthly Meeting to be held at the Dawson Middle School in Southlake. The meeting will be about the Cichlid Grow-out Contest.
April 15	TCA Spring Auction at the Hilton Garden Inn in Irving. Registration for sellers will begin at 9:00am. Buyers can begin registration at 10 AM. The auction will start at 11:00am and continue until there are no more items to be auctioned.
May 19	Road Trip & Picnic – at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, Texas.
June 17	Regular Monthly Meeting.
July 11-15	American Cichlid Association Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.
August 25	Regular Monthly Meeting – Cookout at Alan Young and Debi Swan’s house in Arlington.
September 14-16	TCA Hosts 2012 FOTAS Annual Convention & Auction at the Hilton Garden Inn in Irving. Full details coming soon.
October 20 October 21	Regular Monthly Meeting at 2:00 PM at Dave Gregory’s wholesale tropical fish facility in Decatur, Texas. Full details will be posted later, but Dave is planning a tour of his newly established greenhouse and a Bar-B-Q cookout. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Third TCA Swap Meet. Bring your new and used fish keeping equipment (in good working condition), rent a table for only $30 and sell, sell, sell! Each seller keeps all sale proceeds. No admission fee. Fish and plants being sold must be bagged appropriately in order to prevent water spillage. No tanks will be set up. More information coming soon.
November 4	No Meeting – Enjoy Thanksgiving with your family.
December 15	Annual Christmas Party and Crazy Santa gift exchange. Location To be determined.

Christmas Party This Saturday – December 3

rdeboard — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:22:14 +0000

The TCA Christmas Party and Crazy Santa Gift Exchange will be this weekend at 7 PM at Spring Creek Barbeque, 1509 Airport Freeway, in Bedford (where it was last year).