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ACA 2014 Trip Report

dogofwar

CCA Members
Siena and I arrived home from the ACA Convention in Louisville last night...tired but having had a great weekend!

I've been going to ACA Conventions on and off since 1990(!). This was Siena's fourth... It was great to see Pat and Tracy, Rachel, George (Turfboss), Josh and Alexandra from CCA (I think that was everyone!) and lots of other folks that you only get to see at events like this!

We decided to make it a road trip both because it's simpler to bring (and bring home) fish and because it's really not a bad drive (~9 hours through really pretty country).

Anyway, we took off on Thursday AM and arrived in Louisville about 4 PM. The Crowne Plaza near the Louisville Airport is quite nice: clean, spacious, across the street from Kentucky Kingdom (amusement park) and lots of restaurants.

We checked into our room ($99 per night) and put away our show fish (we brought 9). We transported most of them in buckets with large fish bags and all made it without issue (I bagged with oxygen which didn't hurt). The others I just double-bagged in a styro. I also brought four buckets of water from home, since Louisville (Ohio River) water is like liquid rock.

My favorite technique for catching fish for the show is the night attack: having all of the bags/buckets ready and going into the fishroom in the dark (with a flashlight) while the fish are sleeping. Any little nip or imperfection in a fish can be the difference between a winner and not placing (as silly as that seems for fish that naturally argue and interact in ways that split fins and otherwise ensure they're not perfect).

Anyway, fish in tanks...all doing well. Time to see the first speaker: Willem Heijns from the Netherlands. His presentation was on keeping and breeding Central American cichlids and his Cichlidarium (before the blow-out of his 12 foot tank). He's collected in Nicaragua and Mexico (when it was legal) and has amazing DVDs of his exploits in both (I got one of each). Really informative and fun presentation from a serious and smart guy. I hung out with him later and we're going to work together to document different Australoheros populations!

After Willem's presentation, it was dinnertime. Siena and I had some really good Chinese food... before she went to bed and I went to the midnight Cichlasoma Study Group Meeting. This year's presenter was Sam Borstein, who is from Chicago but currently working toward his PhD. His presentation was on the latest phylogeny (genetic relationships / evolution) for Central American cichlids, including the "new" genus Nosferatu (formerly the Labridens group of Hericthys). His take is that the Labridens-type fish are different than the other Hericthys (i.e. Texas cichlids) but that the description for Nosferatu is lacking in rigor. By the time the presentation was over and Dave Schmacher, Sam, Rick (Sam's dad) and I quit yacking, it was 2 AM!

We slept in on Friday and Siena had her first trip to Cracker Barrel (blackberry pancakes, eggs and thick-cut bacon). Coffee for me ;) We checked on our show fish, did a water change with the water we brought and checked out some of the vendors, show fish and fish for sale. A guy from Ohio had some fish for me and Batfish Josh was nice enough to let me store them in one of his tanks!

The big event on Friday was the tour of Rusty Wessel's fish house. Tickets were $35 each - all for cichlid conservation - and included a bus ride to and from his house, BBQ, drinks (Dark and Stormy's for me...lemonade for Siena) and, of course, getting to see the amazing fish room and ponds at Rusty's. It's an amazing experience and I was glad to see that there were five busloads of attendees supporting the cause.

When we returned on Friday afternoon, Siena and I went to the big ballroom housing the show, vendors and rental tanks. It was the epicenter of the action and a great place to run into friends. Siena was intent on finding the perfect piece of driftwood for her Kids Decorating Contest entry (on Saturday)...and she did at the Stith's table. We picked up some really nice Jenynsia onca (and Uruguayan livebearer) at Imperial Aquatics and hung around for a bit before grabbing some wings and pizza for dinner.

I watched Les Wilson from (big AquaMania supporter) Cobalt give a really interesting presentation on fish nutrition, while Siena chilled with a DVD in the room. Les' presentation, while focused on Cobalt's food, was quite informative. He answered a lot of pointed questions about this controversial topic and I'd definitely use Cobalt food :)

The other conventions going on alongside the ACA are always interesting. This year, Lebowski-fest was across the street from the Crowne Plaza at a bowling alley. There were no shortage of "Dudes", Walters and Smokeys. Or maybe those were just fish guys who kinda looked like them. Anyway, it was funny to see so many Jeff Bridges and John Goodman lookalikes!

The BABES Auction was on Friday night. For anyone who hasn't experienced this, it's a blast, albeit a little risque. This was the 20th year of the BABES using the auction (as well as silent auctions) to raise money for cichlid conservation. They're raised over $100K! This BABES auction had so many cool fish that vendors and hobbyists donated for this cause. Although I didn't get anything, some standout offerings were: several (!) groups of young and adult Tropheus of a few varieties, a 12-adult-fish-breeding-group of Taeneolethrinops (!), a few bags of fish direct from Rusty's fish house, some nice Apistos...and tons more. I was tired, full of wings and beer and had a full Saturday ahead, so I retired early (which is a little before midnight at the ACA).

Siena and I got up bright and early on Saturday to grab some breakfast. I went to Dr. Paul Loiselle's presentation on Conservation and What Hobbyists can do...and Siena went back to the room to eat a muffin and work on her Kids Decorating Contest background. Paul provided really tangible examples of threats to cichlid habitats (introduced species, agriculture, water depletion, fishing...even the hobby itself) and what some activities that hobbyists can do to help. It's a presentation that everyone should see, so maybe we can have him as a speaker next year for the club. What we need now are small, specific projects - run through the ACA or other clubs - to address some aspect of conservation. I consider him to be the author of the best ever book on keeping cichlids ("The Cichlid Aquarium") and I treasure the copy that he signed for me at one of my first ACAs.

After Dr. Loiselle's presentation, Siena and I were ready for something different: Kentucky Kingdom, a freshly renovated King's Dominion-type park across the street. We got discount tickets from the hotel, got the shuttle across the street and went right in. We rode the biggest coaster, the Fear Fall and a few other rides and it was time for lunch (Mexican food) and the Kids Decorating Contest.

I think the first one of these was at the ACA we hosted (and organized by Discus Hans). The Louisville Club had almost 50 kids entered, including Siena. It was $10 per participant (to reduce the number of no-shows), which was donated to charity. UPG provided 10g set-ups and decorations. Kids could either use all of the provided decorations, bring their own (or both). Siena brought some and used some that were provided. Parents were expressly not permitted to touch the tanks... it was 100% kids. After 30 minutes of furious aquascaping, the kids left and the judging began. Siena spent the interim trying to convince me to buy a water dragon from Josh (uh, no...). While all kids got to keep the tanks, decorations and fish (donated by Segrest), everyone anxiously awaited the announcement of the winning tank. And it was Siena. She was grinning from ear to ear and got a big ribbon :) It made my trip!

Afterward, we went back to Kentucky Kingdom (wave pool and water slides) and went to dinner (La Mirage for some great Mediterranean food). We decided not to attend the banquet, both because we weren't sure when we'd be back from Kentucky Kingdom but because 9-year-olds and awards ceremonies aren't a good mix. The nice folks from the Louisville Club told us to make sure to come back about 8 or so... and I'm so glad we did!

We were lucky enough to win some awards in the fish show (1st places in the Crenicichla, Acara and Cryptoheros classes and 3 more 2nds and 3rds) with some really nice fish in the show. A young guy from Cleveland named Scott Myers cleaned up with best of show and reserve for an outstanding (BOS) Geo. brasiliensis and (Reserve BOS) Sunshine Jake Peacock. Firsts were original art from Sam Garcia, which is amazing.

Then it was Siena's turn: They announced the winner of the Kids Decorating Contest and Siena got to go onstage and accept the award, an original piece of art from Sam (a convict pair + babies). She was on cloud 9... and already making plans for Boston's show next year. We hung out for awhile and stayed up too late but (fortunately) were packed and prepared for the last day and the ride home.

Sunday started with packing up our show fish (buckets with bags and oxygen - thanks Josh) and a few purchases...and helping the Louisville folks break down and drain some tanks. We took a break for breakfast and stumbled onto a local bakery and (next door) coffee shop with excellent examples of each. The greatest donut EVER is a maple eclair with a piece of bacon in the frosting on top. Just what we needed...

The ACA auction started at ~10:30 and had table upon table of fish. With the long drive ahead and fish in buckets, we couldn't stick around all day. I bumped up the bag of fish I wanted (four nice-sized Vieja regani) and was able to buy them for a steal. We packed up and were off.

The drive was uneventful until bad weather hit once we crossed the MD border. We arrived home around 10 PM...I put the fish away and went to sleep. Siena wanted to tell everyone about her great victory :)

The Louisville club did an amazing job with the convention. It was great team work and they had ton of volunteers. To pull of a fish show, big auction and event of this magnitude isn't trivial and they did great. I was particularly impressed with how helpful everyone was. And with I think 425+ visitors, it's hard to keep everyone happy!

A big thank you and thank you for reading!

If you're not a member of ACA (www.cichlid.org), it's worth joining and getting involved. I think it's only $15 per year for an online membership (access to all of back issues of the BB and other benefits). The ACA will be launching a new website and partnership with the Cichlid Room Companion soon, so stay tuned.

Matt

PS We didn't take pictures but please feel free to post or link to other places
 

Pat Kelly

CCA Member
Staff member
The best part was the Siena's reaction getting the award

The crowd loved in.
Some of the people in the back on my side of the room got more excited about her reaction than anything else that night.
 

Pat Kelly

CCA Member
Staff member
Close enough next year that if I have anything, I may put fish in the show.

2016 should be Cleveland (a new club up there not OCA)( i understand there are now 2 cichlid clubs in the same city)
2017 looks to be Sacramento CA again.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
Me too

Congrats to Sienna! I saw her picture on Cobalt's Facebook page!
Or at least I saw a kid with a first name of Siena who had won and I figured it was her. (No other dads are this crazy! I mean this in a good way.)

Tell her congratulations from me too.
 

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
Great write up! Sorry I could not make it. With the next two so close to home there really is no excuse for me not to attend at least one.
 
Thanks for the recap Matt. Wish I could have been there. Sounds like a great show as always.

Boston is a bit far for me but Cleveland is very doable!

Andy
 

AquaStudent

Members
Congrats to Siena! Thanks for the summary of your trip! It sounds like you had a great time!

ACA in Boston! YES! That's uber close!
 

Hannibal

Members
Thank you for sharing your experience! I have already started laying the groundwork for next year by asking my wife if she wanted to go back up to visit Boston.
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
Imagine that you're nine and just got invited onto stage to accept an award...

That's how Siena felt :)

Thanks so much to Rusty and the Louisville Club for hosting an amazing convention. Ironically, Siena wanted to keep at least half a dozen types of fish that she saw in Rusty's fishroom (most growing upwards of a foot) in her tank!

Matt

Siena and Rusty.jpg
 
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