Weekend Timeline

Wednesday April 16th Entries and banquet reservations due! 6:00 p.m.—Layout at Klaus Bertich's home
Thursday April 17th General meeting, bring last minute show questions!!
Friday April 18th 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m..—Show rack setup @ the Stratford Inn 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m..—Entry setup @ the Stratford Inn 6:00 p.m.—Dinner with the speakers @ Sesame Chinese restaurant
Saturday April 19th 7:30 a.m.— Judges breakfast 10:30 a.m.—Showroom open
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Get Hooked on Tropical Fish! The State of the Hobby: Industry and Clubs by Ray Kingfish Lucas Ray has been a fish hobbyist for over 48 years and active in aquarium societies since the late fifties. He has been an active member in almost twenty different clubs including local and national ones. For years Ray traveled and entered fish shows around the country, then continued as a speaker on many topics. In the 1980’s Ray worked with Paul Speice (his mentor) on the TV and live shows, “The Aquatic Maestro”. He was inducted into the Tropical Fish Hall of Fame in 1989 and is also a member of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, and Western World Pet Association. Ray worked for General Motors for over 30 years and is now retired. Ray is currently traveling with Kingfish Services, a company he started in 1989 with Python Products and Mardel Labs, promoting their products to fish clubs around North America. He is now representing MARS FishCare North America, Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Aquarian Flake Foods, Pond Care, & Rena Products, Python Products, Aquarium Technology Sponge Filters, Cichlid News Magazine, Cichlid Press (Ad Konings), The Fish Factory (Mike & Robin Schadle), Finley Aquatic Books, Diskus Brief Magazine, Discus Hans USA, Eastern Aquatic Blackworms, and Ken’s Fish. Kingfish Services just visited their 400th show in 18 years, as a service to the aquarium societies and manufacturers in the trade! Now over 400 shows bringing hobbyists, aquatic societies and the aquatic industry together. Visit www.kingfishservices.net for images of our past events adventures and check our calendar for upcoming events. Besides fish, Ray loves music, Nascar, grandkids, old cars, and being with great people. Ray has bred over 45 species of Livebearers, 30 different Cichlids and 10 Catfish and still maintains 12 aquariums and 2 ponds.
1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m An Introduction to Aquarium Livebearers by Mike Schadle Mike has been seriously involved in the aquarium hobby since his grade school days. Although interested in all aspects of aquarium keeping his chief interests lie in livebearing species and the cichlids of the Americas. A member of most national specialty societies, he has served several in a number of administrative positions, including the editorship of the American Livebearer Association’ journal for eight years and a term on the American Cichlid Association’s Board of Trustees. Mike runs a business specializing in aquarium literature, and he and his books can often be seen at fish shows in the Great Lakes region. He also is frequently called on to judge these shows, and is one of the area’s most sought after auctioneers.
2:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Ad Konings—The Feeding Strategies of Malawi Cichlids Ad started keeping cichlids in 1970. Although Ad has a PhD in a complex field related to medical biology and biochemisty it wasn’t until 1991 when he started his own publishing company, Cichlid Press, that he was able to devote full time to the fishes. Ad averages three fish expeditions a year and about 75,000 frequent flier miles going all over the world to talk about his trips. The numbers: Ad has authored or edited 31 books on cichlids and 8 publications concerning descriptions of new cichlids. Ad has been an invited speaker to 20 international talks and a great many more in the US. For his complete bio please visit his website: www.cichlidpress.com/
5:00 p.m.—Cash Bar opens 6:00 p.m.—Banquet and awards dinner with Joe Fleckenstein Corydoras Catfish by Joe Fleckenstein Joe Fleckenstein, the past president of the Circle City Aquarium Club in Indianapolis, has been in the hobby seriously for about fifteen years. He maintains many species of fish in a basement fishroom consisting of over 130 aquariums. Joe has a B.S. degree in zoology from Ball State University and is currently working on his masters in secondary education. In his spare time he is a high school science teacher. Joe will give a program on Corydoras catfish. He will cover the basics of maintaining these popular catfish. Joe currently maintains approximately forty species of Corydoras. His program will include information on water conditions, feeding, species identification, how to tell the boys from the girls, and breeding.
Sunday April 20th Auction —Showing 10:00 a.m. Donation auction begins 11:00 a.m. Regular auction begins immediately after donation auction ends 5:00 p.m.—Raffle drawing 5:00 p.m.—Show teardown begins. No teardown before this without approval of the show chairman!