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Saturday, September 14th, 1:00 PM (noon Social/Setup)
Dan Hodnett: “How I Quit My Job and Built A State-Of-The-Art Aquarium Fish Facility ”
SPU, Otto Miller Hall Room 109
Bonus informal gathering Friday evening -- see below!
Dan Hodnett has been in the hobby since sixth grade. After working at local and large pet distributors, Dan recognized a serious problem in the industry: unethical sourcing and treatment of fish. A large percentage die in the brutal supply chain. By the time they reach the pet store and are listed for sale, they are very stressed and their immune systems are compromised. The average customer, unaware of this, finds the fish are dead within weeks.
Fueled by his desire to change the industry, Dan started “Dan’s Fish” in June of 2018, initially from his own home in Wyoming. His goal is to be "the store a fish would choose to go to if the fish could choose". He built a state-of-the-art retail facility where fish receive "spa resort" pampering before they are sent to customers via uniquely humane shipping practices. The final result is that almost 99% of fish sold arrive alive...and stay alive.
Dan will be sharing with us the details of his company's facility, processes, procedures, and mindset in the hopes that others will experience the same success and that our aquarium fish will enter a kinder, gentler industry and hobby.
After the main presentation, expect a very lively Monthly Auction (sellers, pre-register your stuff here). There's always a lot of new fish and equipment people have accumulated over the summer...
BONUS: Join us the evening before, Friday the 13th, between 6 and 8 PM at Mark Pedersen's home in Northeast Seattle, for an informal second presentation by Dan, "How to Ship Fish So They Arrive Alive 99% of the Time." Please RSVP by September 11th for this informal gathering by e-mailing info@gsas.org -- Mark will send you directions to his house. If weather permits, this will be another backyard event.
Hope everyone's having a great summer. The Greater Seattle Aquarium Society Fall Schedule is out, and we have an incredible line-up for the next four months...and for the first time, dates, times and locations are all set!
A belated thank you to everyone who came out in force to our record-breaking general auction this year, especially to all our volunteers who worked tirelessly the whole day. And a special thanks to the sponsor stores and national companies.
Our big auctions still remain the primary source of income from the club, and their success means we can pay our rent and Internet video storage bills, bring in top quality speakers, and have nice prizes in our contests throughout the year. Thanks again!
Saturday, May 11th, 1:00 PM (noon Social/Setup)
Dick Au: “Keeping Trophy Discus”
SPU, Otto Miller Hall Room 109
Also: Informal potluck Friday May 10th 5:30~9 PM in North Seattle
Dick Au is a very experienced, hands-on, aquarium hobbyist. Having spent decades in the hobby, he is a master breeder and has bred more than several hundred varieties of aquarium fish. He is a life member of the San Francisco Aquarium Society, an author, show judge and lecturer. His lectures are always entertaining and invariably generate “Aha!” moments as he shares the results of his detective work revealing secrets in keeping and breeding your favorite aquarium gems. He has given lectures at many aquarium societies and conventions across the globe, including the American Cichlid Association, Aquarama in Singapore, and most recently, Sacramento Aquarium Society's “Findig”.
Dick's fascination with Discus began as a child living close to several ornamental fish farms in Hong Kong, China. Every day, after school, he would spend hours at a nearby farm watching a pair of brown discus nursing fry under a huge Amazon sword plan. He was so mesmerized that he had never been without Discus, all through college, raising a family and a career in the computer software industry. During the past 60 years, he witnessed and participated in the evolution of the discus hobby from when discus was only available in brown color all the way to today when they are available in all the colors of the rainbow. Dick has written frequently for various publications. He authored two books on discus – The back-to-nature Guide to Discus, and Trophy Discus – the art of selecting, grooming, and showing Discus.
Following the meeting, our Monthly Auction (sellers, pre-register your stuff here).
Members, join us the evening before the talk for a backyard potluck gathering in North Seattle. This is an opportunity to just hang out with our speaker and other GSAS members informally! RSVP to Mark at margenex@comcast.net for directions and what to bring.
