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May 10 CCA Meeting - Peter George - Importing Fish From Africa and Europe

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Peter George, CARES specialist and expert on a wide variety of fish and fish-related topics, particularly fish from African lakes and rivers. Peter will be sharing his knowledge and experience in collecting and importing fish from Africa and Europe, particularly African cichlids, and the unique challenges that arise. He will also be sharing his experiences collecting from offbeat lakes and rivers of Africa.

ALSO - we will have food for purchase!

Here are the details:

May 10 @ JOHN F KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL:

1901 Randolph Rd, Wheaton-Glenmont, MD 20902

  • Meeting from 1:00-4:30 PM
  • Socializing 1:00-1:30 pm
  • Speaker at 1:30-2:30 pm
  • Break at 2:30-2:45 pm
  • Mini Auction at 2:45

Topic: You Know It Don't Come Easy

Speaker: Peter George

Born and raised in the Bronx, Peter attended Queens College for two years, followed by the University of Kansas where he graduated with degrees in Zoology and History. He subsequently went on to attend KU Law and in 2004 joined and ultimately took over a legal services referral agency where he is still the managing partner as his son prepares to step into his father’s shoes in 2025.

Peter’s current residence since 1983 in Petersham, Massachusetts has provided him with ample room to garden and a huge basement to accommodate his tanks. An avid rock gardener, he served as President of the North American Rock Garden Society from 2011-13 and organized several international rock garden conferences. As a fish guy, Peter joined the New England Cichlid Association in 2012 and was involved in two American Cichlid Association conventions hosted by the NECA, as well as several regional events, numerous auctions and all facets of aquarium club volunteering. He also served most of two terms on the ACA Board of Trustees.

Having kept fish since childhood, Peter presently runs 35 tanks for a total of approximately 1,300 gallons. Almost all of his fish are either East African Rift Lake species (Lakes Victoria, Edward, George, Mweru, Kyoga and other satellite lakes), as well as Lakes Bermin, Barombi Mbo and Ejagham. He has had some Synodontis species from Lake Tanganyika for over 20 years.

Peter has been nothing short of extraordinary in networking with European breeders, collectors and scientists to bring in rare conservation priority species and connecting hobbyists with their dream fish. He has taken this upon himself as a mission which has been immensely beneficial to the aquarium hobby at large, not to mention for the future outlook of species at risk. During his years with the NECA, Peter has been involved in over a dozen new collections from African lakes and rivers, leading to the introduction of over 40 new species and the re-introduction of over 20 species that had been lost to the hobby. And NECA has initiated seven imports of CARES cichlids from Europe, again introducing and/or reintroducing over 40 previously unknown or lost haplochromines.

Recent Threads

40 Gallon Acrylic Tank with included bio-filter, poret foam pre-filter pump and choice of LED lights.

For sale, 40 Gallon Acrylic Tank with included bio-filter, poret foam pre-filter and pump. $200 OBO

For reference this is the tank as commercially listed:

For lighting, you can choose between an Aqueon 30 inch LED light or a 36 inch current USA 12000K LED strip.

Tank dimensions are 36" wide X 15"deep by 14" high with the filter and heater area about 4" wide.

Includes Poret foam pre-filter, bio-balls for bio-filtration and return pump.

Pickup in Olney, MD or can deliver to a CCA meeting. Very light weight, one person can easily carry it.

front.JPEG
Front
back.JPEG
Rear included pump on left and poret pre-filter on right. Bio media goes in middle plus there is a space for a heater.
current usa light.JPEG
Current USA LED strip
aqueon light.JPEG
Aqueon LED
bio balls.JPEG
bio balls
care supplies.JPEG
Acrylic care supplies

GWAPA Meeting this Saturday (Speaker from The Wet Spot)

Sudden Flashing Behavior in Healthy-Looking Cichlids

Hello

Over the past week; I have noticed a few of my cichlids occasionally flashing (rubbing their sides against rocks / the substrate), even though they show no visible signs of parasites or illness no clamped fins, spots, or rapid breathing. Water parameters are stable and in the ideal range: ammonia/nitrites at 0, nitrates under 20 ppm, pH around 7.6. They're eating well and displaying normal social behavior; so I’m puzzled about what could be causing this.:)


I recently did a minor re-scape of the tank and added some driftwood (boiled and soaked beforehand), which makes me wonder could this be a delayed reaction to changes in the tank’s chemistry? :(Or maybe even low-level stress from shifting territories? :( I've read that micro-irritants like fine sediment or leaching tannins can cause mild flashing without leading to full-blown illness. I'm hesitant to treat the tank blindly without understanding the root cause. Checked https://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/forums/general-fish-talk.32/Snowflake Course guide related to this and found it quite informative.


Has anyone here seen similar behavior in an otherwise healthy group? I’d really appreciate thoughts before I jump into meds or salt baths. Also, is there a good way to monitor for very early stages of external parasites that don’t present visually? Thanks in advance for any advice—trying to stay proactive but cautious.








Thank you!:)

Fish Store HOP - May 17, 2025

CCA! We're gearing up for our next fun adventure! This time, we're making our way all the way to PA to visit our friends Blake and Tara at Fish and Friends and ending our trip with our friends Dale and Adam at Londontowne Tropicals! Below is a list of stores we plan to visit (plus lunch). We meet at Londontowne Tropicals at 8:30am., Saturday, May 17, 2025.

111 Mayo Rd, Edgewater, MD 21037

This time, I will be asking for contact information so we can coordinate any last minute changes. If you would like to join us, please comment in the thread below. We are asking that everyone chip in $20 to cover the cost of the rental car, gas, and snacks. (Everyone pays for their own lunch.) Hope you can join us! (Some of these stores are offering our group a discount! Let's go show our fish community some support!)

List of stores:
Fish and Friends
CTE Aquatics
Tom's Tropicals
Go Fish
Londontowne Tropicals

ISO Big male nanolutea

I have a big female nanolutea I'm looking for a male for. She is about 4". Shipping is fine if necessary

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