Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Collecting in Florida (without being eaten)

If you have ever had the urge to go out and collect your own fish then Friday's talk is for you! John Boylan will be talking about how to get started collecting your own fish. He will be using his recent collecting trips to Florida as examples of the “do’s and don’ts” of collecting. His talk will also include pictures of the many species he has collected in Florida and where to find them. We can also expect some fish from his most recent collecting trip in April to be on the auction table, though you never know if a rogue gator might pop up as well.

John has been involved in the aquarium hobby for over 40 years. While he maintains, and breeds, a variety of species, his main focus over the past twenty years has been in the keeping of livebearers, killifish, and rainbowfish, and when possible going into the field and collecting. He is currently involved in a study with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama on the distribution of Brachyrhaphis and Rivulus species in Panama.

Please join us this Friday, May 3rd and bring a friend.

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

The 2013 Spring Mega Swap

Our lively SFAS Spring Mega event is here again and it's your chance to buy some great used gear and livestock from your fellow members on consignment. You never know what you'll find so make a point of checking it out. Of course you don't have to be a member to buy at the auction, but you do need to be a member to sell. It is easy to become a member with our online form and here are some great tips from Dick Au to help you sell your fish and gear. Sellers, please print out and complete your auction form ahead of time.

As an added bonus, we are holding a raffle with an assortment of prizes. For example, we have coming Fluval aquarium kits along with a plethora of other goodies from our corporate sponsors. All current members get one free ticket. Additional tickets are also available for $1. For the Spring Mega Swap, we will also waive the 25 items per member limit although the limit of 3 identical items is still to be enforced. See you all at Fort Mason and please try to be on time as we plan to engage in earnest to move the consignment as soon as everything's set.

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Doug and the art of the planted tank

SFAS is thrilled to have one of our long-time long-distance comrades join us for a revealing talk this coming Friday, March 1st on doing up an awesome planted environment. Doug Pizzy has been a freshwater aquarium enthusiast for nearly 20 years and was a member of the SFAS for at least 15 of them, regularly supplying many of the plants to our monthly auctions. In January 2011, Doug and his dog Elsie left San Francisco for sunny San Diego where he continues his career as the owner of a professional dog walking and pet sitting business. Doug will be speaking about some of the basics in keeping a planted tank as well as new species, innovative aquascaping ideas and recent products.

New members are always welcome to join, and we hope you can make it!

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Hobby out of hands

SFAS is excited to have Alena and Ivan Kuchta join us for a spirited talk this coming Friday, February 1st. Alena and Ivan, both mechanical engineers originally from the Czech Republic, were breeding fish by 3rd grade. As self-proclaimed 'fish nuts' their aquatic hobby soon took on a life of its own, so to say that they're crazy about fish would not be an exaggeration. In February's talk, they cover their experience with keeping and breeding fish from the African reef lakes, the South America Amazonian region, and many species and biotopes in between - all in 1800 gallons of water. Join us this Friday as this dynamic duo would like to share with us some good times and a great talk.

New members are always welcome to join, and we hope you can make it!

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Shopping for Tropical Fish in South Vietnam

SFAS is excited to once again have Anthony Tu join us for another informative talk, this time on shopping for tropical fish in South Vietnam. Anthony has been involved with tropical hobby more than 28 years. In April 2008, he was awarded the title as a Master Breeder from the PCCA’s Breeder Awards Program. In addition, he has written prominent articles published in several fish club journals and is currently the PCCA’s Webmaster, Chair and a current member of their Board of Directors.

After 21 years in America, Anthony returned to Vietnam on January 2012 for Tet (Vietnamese's New Year). With his passion for tropical fishes, he started to produce a documentary on the current state of Vietnam's fishkeeping hobby and their hobbyists. He visited many businesses from retailers to wholesalers and a fish farm. His presentation includes a large variety of pictures and assorted clips, with the hope that we can share in the fascinating journey. With other enlightening tidbits from Anthony's travels to be included as well, we look forward to having a great talk.

New members are always welcome to join, and we hope you can make it!

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Holiday Party and the SFAS Brine Shrimp Story

There will be plenty of free food and drinks and a holiday raffle in addition to a special showing of rare footage regarding the story behind the club's involvement with brine shrimp and how it became such a great food source for raising fish. We will also have our auction as well so this is an event not to be missed. Please join us this coming Friday, December 7th and bring a friend. Merry Christmas everyone!

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Science Fishin':  What Nothobranchius Furzeri Is Teaching Scientists

Sabrina Fullhart has been appreciating aquatic life for more than twenty years. With a growing need for more information came a desire to help share information with others, and she became a crewmember for Wet Web Media in 2001 and has remained on the Crew, on and off, since then. She is a past president of the Silicon Valley Aquarium Society and the Pacific Coast Cichlid association and currently works for the Brunet Lab at Stanford University, studying aging and longevity in the short-lived Nothobranchius furzeri.

Scientists and Nothobranchius furzeri are getting together in labs across the planet to learn more about ourselves and the world around us.  What is it like to be a fish that grows up in a lab? How are they kept? What happens to them? Why this fish, and what's so special about this short-lived killifish from Zimbabwe, anyway? These questions and more will be discussed, and hopefully inspire others to wonder more about their own fish, and appreciate the life around us. Please join us this Friday, November 2nd and bring a friend.

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

The hatcheries of the Indonesian archipelago

AJ Lee has been a passionate fish hobbyist for over 30 years. He not only breeds and raises fish but AJ has also been fortunate to collect with seasoned collectors like Stan Sung, John Niemans and Felipe Cantera in places like Alabama and Hawaii. When he’s not collecting fish or going to conventions like the 2012 ACA annual meeting in Indianapolis, he travels abroad to expand his experience in things aquatic, recently visiting the 2011 Indonesia Pet Plant and Aquatic Expo in Jakarta. Join us this Friday, October 5th as AJ takes us behind the gates of that archipelago's most secretive arowana farms, flowerhorn breeders, and cichlid and pleco breeding facilities. See you there, and bring a friend!

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

The 2012 SFAS Mega Auction

The SFAS Mega Auction is here again and it's your chance to buy some great used gear and livestock from your fellow members on cosignment. Of course you don't have to be a member to buy at the auction, but you do need to be a member to sell. It is easy to become a member with our online form and here are some great tips from Dick Au to help you sell your fish and gear. Sellers, please print out and complete your auction form ahead of time.

As an added bonus, we are holding a raffle with the grand prize being a brand new German-engineered Eheim canister filter along with a plethora of goodies from our corporate sponsors. All current members get one free ticket. Additional tickets are also available for $1. And we may still have some free wipes or food samples to pass around. Now how are you going to beat that? See you all at Fort Mason and please try to be on time as we plan to engage in earnest to move the consignment as soon as everything's set.

Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room C370

Setting up a collection facility in the South Pacific

A rock star among author/speakers in the aquatic hobby, Bob Fenner continues to redefine the essence of what it means to be a conscientious marine aquarist through his numerous contributions, either online assisting fellow hobbyists or in the oceans actively documenting fragile ecosystems. As our August speaker, SFAS is honored to have Bob as our guest.

A central thread to everything Bob has attempted in writing, presentation or action in the interest of the hobby has been "to enhance people's love of their own lives through an appreciation of the living world." Bob has 'lived' the science, hobby and business of aquatics in the Philippines, Japan and United States through all phases: collection, wholesale, jobber, retail, design, construction and maintenance, and at all levels: manager, owner, hatchery worker, retail clerk, technician. Except for a stint teaching high school sciences for four years, he has worked all his life in the field of ornamental aquatics. So come join us this Friday, August 3rd and spend some time with one of the shining lights of our hobby. Explore the wonders of the south Pacific as Bob takes you on a fantastic tour of the collection facility he's helping set up in Fiji, and bring a friend!