by Kathy Olson
December 1998

It’s been a while now, time seems to fly by these days, but I thought I’d share a little about this year’s American Cichlid Association convention.

This year it was in St. Louis. We were lucky enough to fly in and stay with two former GSAS members, Paul and Heidi, who you may remember from the spring auction (they were the ones trying to sell all their fish before moving! Their discus made it to St. Louis, but the liquid rock water has been a challenge compared to Seattle).

Turns out that at every convention, the first two days are tour by day, talk and party by night. Last year in Chicago, it was the Shedd Aquarium. For our first day we went on a tour of the city and nearby Cahokia North American Indian ruins, and after that headed to the famous Arch by ourselves.

By Thursday night, I was already drooling over fish and had bought some wild-caught Apisto’s for $3 each, some rare A. tucurui for much more ($25/pair) and mulled over others we just never see in a store. Talks started at 7 PM and continued to the midnight hour. After that there was the Hospitality Suite (aka the beer and party room)...though we never made it that far, instead ending up talking with fellow Apisto nuts in their rooms. It is great to visit with people all across the United States. Some I knew by e-mail; others I met for the first time.

The next night was the Apistogramma Study Group talk. Since all the other speakers ran late, this talk didn’t even start until 11; it ended close to 1 AM. Then, more visiting with gurus and sleep at 2:30, only to return at 8 AM for the early Saturday talk on Fish Diseases.

The topics varied widely, from the traditional Lake Malawi and Tanganyika, to plants, Apistos, West African riverine dwarfs, and South American cichlids. Can’t forget Discus and Shell Dwellers. The speakers were great. Can’t forget the show either.

We ended up buying Heidi and Paul a Lake Tanganyika book to encourage them to try some good hard water fish in those empty tanks they moved, and before we knew it they had also bought a Malawi book and were making a carefully-researched list. They scored some great deals on fish (like 20 N. multifaciatus for $40something).

Neolamprologus multifaciatus, a Lake Tanganyikan shelldweller (with shell substitute constructed from PVC parts).

Saturday evening was the banquet. To our surprise, Ad Konings ended up sitting at our table. I was a little too intimidated to talk much, but he was quite a nice guy.

Sunday was the auction. Heidi and Paul made out like bandits, cashing in on the tank deals ($10 each for several 20-gallon tanks) and more fish than I could list. Way to restock a fishroom! It was a blast hanging out with them and can’t wait to hear how things turn out after a year. As for us...we filled our two ice chests/fish carriers with fish and had no room to spare by the auction.

All in all it was great to play with fish for four days. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who wants to go to Detroit next year. Paul and Heidi may be there too!