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ACA 2015...how was it?

dogofwar

CCA Members
Kind of late to the game but Siena and I had a blast at the ACA in Springfield, MA.

The drive up (and back) wasn't bad - maybe 6.5 h there and 7 h back - great directions from Tony and Maria to miss a lot of traffic and craziness!

NECA and its sister NEC clubs really came together to pull off a well-run and well-organized event. From registration to the fish show to the meeting room to hospitality and the vendor area, everything was well organized and ran smoothly. The goody bag at registration this year was especially nice: each one had a powerhead in it (plus a bunch of food, magazines, a floating log and other stuff in it).

Siena and I entered several fish in the show. Tanks were ready and 1/2 full (as requested) when we arrived...add some water conditioner...add our water from home... add the fish... done :) All arrived in one piece. We ended up winning 1st Place in the Cryptoheros class (My big male myrnae...who was born in my fishroom, spent half of his life in Sam's DC pad...and the rest back with me), 2nd and 3rd for a couple of Uruguayan Acaras (who lost to a nice but mis-identified Cichlasoma) and a 2nd for a Pungu maclareni. The coolest part was that there is a picture (taken by Mo) of my 1st place winner on the plaque (albeit a scared fish in a bare tank).

The hotel was quite nice, although Springfield is a touch sketchy. Not a place to wander around at night. There was an indoor pool, some OK restaurants close, so it worked out for Siena and me.

A couple of highlights:

- The BABES Auction. Although I didn't buy anything, the specter of a certain make CCY member wearing a dress and being paddled was worth the price of admission. I escaped paddling with a $450 donation to the BABES from CARES fish I donated - and folks like Will, Christine, Shawn C and a bunch of people at the convention bought :) Dave Schumacher bought and re-bought a "mystery box" of sardines - all in good fun and in support of the BABES!

- Rusty's talk on Conservation in Mexico. Let's just say that Quatro Cienegas and Tamosopo Falls aren't what they used to be... not that we have many stones to throw here in the US... but without the active voice and support of people like us, these places will be gone as we know them.

- Jaap's Talk on Collecting in Guatemala. I'm not quite ready to go... but some amazing stories and even more amazing fish (especially for wild-type molly lovers like Tony)

- The Kids Decorating Contest - Siena picked out some awesome decorations, made her own background and put it all together during the contest. She didn't win but competition was fierce and she - along with about 40 other kids - got to take their tanks home. The contest was advertised on Craigslist ($10 cover charge to ensure folks showed up), so a lot of the participating kids / families were from outside of fish club circles. Kudos to Tetra for their support and NECA for holding the annual event.

I didn't buy any fish (it's a miracle) but bought some art from Sam Scalz, a photo from Mo, a couple of books and 10 show-used sponge filters (for $40!).

The best part of ACA is getting to hang out fish fish geeks new and old, drinking a beer or three with buddies, staying up way too late (Is it really 3 AM?) and meeting folks selling fish, driftwood, etc. from their rooms. Too much fun. There's really no other place to hang out with the people who write the books on cichlids and fishkeeping (other than at CCA meetings that Rachel attends :) ). Siena and I enjoyed our annual road trip together and plan to attend in Cinci next year.

Matt
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Andy had two tanks set up. Both had similar fish. One tank with the Beautymax bulb and one with the normal lights. True story - Tony and I were looking at the tanks before talking with Andy and noticed how the red zebras in one tank were so red, we weren't sure what they were. The zebras in the other tank had typical coloring. Andy then switched the light fixtures on the tank and it looked like the fish had switched tanks as well. It was unbelievable the was the Beautymax made the colors on the fish change.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Couldn't have said it better myself.

I put red, blue, and Yellow mbuna in each tank (all from Imperial Tropicals). Each tank had an Aqueon Modular fixture with two lamps in it. One had the white 6500K LED's and the other had BeautyMax. Then I just switched the lights back and forth to show the difference.

The Beautymax really makes reds and blues pop. Yellows tend to look more orange than true yellow. If you blend the Beautymax with other lights the color enhancing effects reduce.

My personal favorite combination is two Beautymax and one white LED. This makes red's and blues really pop but restores yellows back to a more normal yellow color.

Andy
 
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