Hello everyone! Many thanks to Diane and Mike Stewart for hosting the February meeting! And thanks to Mike and Jane Geracci for hosting the March meeting! We had great food and fun, and great turnout for both meetings.

The Spring Workshop is fast approaching (May 17 & 18). The speakers, Ad Konigs, Dick Au, and Jeffrey Rapps are confirmed. We have an advertisement in three of the aquarium fish magazines. I have already received several telephone calls as a result of those ads. We need to advertise locally also. I have flyers to hand out at the April meeing. Please take some and distribute to shops close to you.

Upcoming events include the Brazos Valley Aquarium Society's Show on April 13th and the Capital Aquarium Society's spring auction on April 20th. TCA's April meeting is April 19 at Daniel & Cassie's. The American Cichlid Association Convention is July 10th through July 14th in Chicago. (TCA is still selling raffle tickets for a hotel room at the convention. Make sure you get a chance, buy a ticket at the next meeting!)

We need suggestions for future TCA projects/activities. After TCA set up the aquarium at the Dallas Zoo we discussed pursuing additional similar projects; however, we never followed through with anything. Is there any interest in doing something like that again? How about an endangered species project? Let's think about it and try to come up with something to "further the hobby and share information."

As far as TCA activities, we need to plan an event! We have taken a behind the scenes tour of the Dallas Aquarium, anyone want to see the Fort Worth Zoo's aquarium? Or what to you think about a fish or rock collecting trip (in Texas, please).

I guess that's about it for now. We do not have a meeting place scheduled for June; do I have a volunteer or suggestion? Hope to see you at the next meeting!

--Kathy

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a good Easter. Not much has been happening around the Montgomery household except for a fish spawn here and a fish spawn there.

Just a reminder I believe we are still looking for someone to host the June meeting so if you are interested please contact Kathy and let her know you're interested.

I want to thank everyone who has submitted an article and remember without your articles to pass your knowledge and experience along the club members would have a lot tougher time keeping and breeding cichlids.

As far as club activities are concerned, I vote for a fish collecting trip. I just love getting my feet wet and Susan hopes I'll stop spilling water on the carpet and getting them wet that way.

That is all for now, see ya at the next meeting.

The board meeting was held on January 23, 1997, 7:30 PM at the Macaroni Grill in Arlington. There was a quorum. Attendees: Kathy Stearns, Robert Montgomery, Randy Rhodes, Alan and Kim Young, Diane Stewart, Daniel Steelman, Walt Mercer, Robert Will and Wayne Hayes. Board members were responsible for their own expenses.

Motions:

TCA will acquire a non-color printer for use by the Cichlid Tails editors. Robert M. and Kathy will obtain two separate quotes for a moderately priced printer. Since a printing service actually generates the multiple copies required to publish Cichlid Tails, we decided a non-color printer made more sense.

TCA will generate an internet web site. Robert Montgomery will pursue the details. Any member that would like to help or contribute ideas may contact Robert. After the initial launching of the site, we will need to decide who will be principally tasked with maintaining it.

Other items discussed:

The TCA web page will cost approximately $100 per year for 5-10 meg of space. Flashnet was mentioned as a good provider. We may publish Tail Trader on the web site. We will probably have a link to the ACA web site. Access to web site updates will be limited to the Cichlid Tails editor and the TCA president. We would like to have a thank-you section to honor the manufacturers that donate goods to the TCA. We would also like to have a question-and-answer section.

We discussed desired speakers for the Spring Workshop.

The January TCA meeting was held on January 18, 1997 at the home of Jerry Whitehead in Watauga. We had some really great mexican food, including the popular King Ranch Casserole. Many thanks to Mary, Tammy and Superman (Mary's grandson.) It also happened to be Jerry and Nick's birthday on the same day, so we had a birthday cake.

Jerry has several South American cichlid tanks that I really enjoyed seeing. His fish looked really good; in fact, he has some really healthy fish - so healthy they can actually take a bite out of your finger during feeding time! We also got to see the tank that Jerry won at the ACA raffle in New Orleans last summer. He has some large and very active Africans in this tank. Jerry also has clown loaches in with his Africans that have grown to a very large size. I didn't know they would thrive in cichlid tanks, but apparently they do. You have to admit that clown loaches are most definitely cool-looking fish.

During the business meeting we voted on the 1997 board members and officers. Officers: President, Kathy Stearns; Vice-President, Alan Young; Treasurer, Wayne Hayes; Secretary, Diane Stewart. Board Members: Kathy England, Walt Mercer, Kathy Stearns, Diane Stewart, Wayne Hayes, Robert Montgomery, Daniel Steelman, Alan Young. Alternate board members: Randy Rhodes and Robert Will. The board will meet approximately once per quarter or two times per year. Six out of eight board members must attend these meetings to have a quorum. Kathy announced the selling of TCA raffle tickets for a hotel room at the ACA convention in Chicago for $1.00 apiece. This is for a room for Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the convention. We discussed the speakers for the Spring Workshop on May 17-18. We will not have a fish show for the Spring Workshop.

The February TCA meeting was held on February 15, 1997 at the home of Diane and Mike Stewart in De Soto. I really want to thank everyone for attending; I counted at least thirty people including the baby! I was honestly having too much fun to take notes at this meeting. We grilled chicken breasts that appeared to be a big favorite. Kathy England was able to attend and she spent the night with us. Kathy would like to have a monthly meeting at her house. I told her I'd like to come and see all those tanks where catfish and 'who knows what else' are always breeding,, you lucky dog. Kathy lives in Texarkana. We were very glad to see Jeff at the meeting Jeff has been recuperating from severe burns and appears to be getting better every day.

If you've considered hosting a TCA meeting, serving a full dinner is not a requirement. Light snacks are perfectly adequate. Also don't worry about space; we can always squeeze everyone in. The fish conversations and fellowship is why people come to the meetings. Really!

You may have a house-full of cichlid tanks, but it's really not necessary to jump in in a big way to be a huge cichlid fan. Raising cichlids is an avocation at which even a person with one tank may be successful. 
I personally have only three aquariums at this time. I don't think I'll ever get too many more because taking care of three tanks is not very much work. I'd rather have a few tanks that look great all the time. (This is also a requirement because they are in my living room!) 

I really enjoy visiting other people's homes and seeing their fish tanks,. If you don't normally attend the meetings, even if you live far away, please consider taking time to drive up on the third Saturday of every month to meet fellow TCA members. We really do have a lot of fun and it's neat to see other member's tanks.

Bye!

Here is some old news about breeding Tropheus and keeping them alive that will help beginners.

The success I have had with Tropheus began when I started using a wet-dry filter instead of the plain undergravel filter with gravel on top of it. The underground filter did not get cleaned good and would leave food particles and other matter under it which let bacteria and fungus grow. This harmed the undergravel filter and made the fish sick. The wet-dry put more oxygen in the water and filters the water better.

The second best filter I use is a sponge filter on an airline tube, but you can use any kind of sponge filter. There is a lot to choose form. The sponge filter collects most of the bacteria on it and turns some of it into food. When you change the water, you will eliminate most of the bad bacteria and fungus.

The most important thing to remember in setting up a Tropheus tank is to put all the Tropheus in the tank on the same day. If you don't, the new fish might get stressed or get picked on. Because I had two kinds of Tropheus in one tank and put two other kinds in, I got aggression from the older ones. It stressed the new fish and some got bloat and died. I read somewhere you can put more territories in the tank to stop the aggression. I have tried this and it did not work for me. I tried putting other fish that were not Tropheus and those fish got fin nipped, but this might work for you.

The third most important thing for breeding and keeping them alive is food. The food I use is flake food, Tetra Ruby Flakes and African Flake food. The Tetra Ruby Flakes is for color and the African Flake food is to keep them healthy for breeding. But I do not feed them anything else. I have had good luck since I have had them for one and a half years. Other people might keep Tropheus differently and still be successful.

Good luck with Tropheus.

Below the Mason-Dixon Line we have a gentleman who can tell you the circumstances under which you might be that uniquely Southern animal, a redneck. In a sudden flurry of inspiration (and not having much to do at work), I have taken pen in hand and developed similar criteria pertaining to individuals who are involved with tropical fish:

You know you're a fish person when:

...You break in the new pickup by hauling aquariums around in it.

...The wet/dry vacum stays in the fish room, just in case.

...You'd rather stay in a hotel and talk fish during a convention or seminar than go out and sight-see.

...You constantly think about what fish to move where.

...The last four digits of you telephone number spell "FISH".

...You can talk for hours on the phone about fish, but all other conversations last five minutes or less.

...You spend more time with your fish than with your wife and kids.

...Your backyard is filled with running aquariums and other fish paraphenalia.

...All you think about is going to Chicago in 1997.

...You drive four hours one way just to attend a fish club meeting.

...You take your fish for a walk rather than your dog.

...Your apartment floods at midnight because you forgot and left the water running.

...Your wedding picture is in a frame that has a fish on it.

...You're going to cut back on the number of fish you have, but then you find a fish you can't live without, so you take it home and tell your wife you bought it for her.

...You leave in the middle of a really great cookout because you thing you might have left water running.

...Your spare bathtub is full of filters and sponges.

...There are numerous five gallon buckets and siphon hoses lined up outside your back door.

...You mumble fish names in your sleep.

...You sell a fish at a garage sale.

...Your dog's favorite toy is a sponge filter, and your cat's favorite sleeping place is an empty aquarium.

...Your mouse pad has a fish print.

...You have tanks in every room of the house, including the bathroom.

...You've thrown enought dead fish away that archaeologists a thousand years from now will wonder about the fossils.

...All you are concerned about while on vacation is what pet stores are in the area and how to get to them.

...You've got more fish business cards than money in your billfold.

...You hear the word shrimp and automatically think brine.

...The welcome mat at your house is shaped like a fish.

...Your grandmother's antique bureau is moved to the garage and a 125 gallon tank takes its place.

...You take fish magazines instead of newspapers into the reading room.

...The best Christmas present your wife ever got you was fish.

...Your dog's water dish is a 10 gallon aquarium.

...You use horse troughs for outside tanks during the summer.