How to join your organization

[Radicaljbr]

New to hobby and would like to join any groups in the Cleveland area. Could someone tell me how or who to contact.

John

[Rhodophyta]

To join C-SEA, go to

http://www.c-sea.org/membership.html

and print out that page. Then mail it with a check or bring it to the next C-SEA meeting.

What other Cleveland area groups would you want to join? There are a number of clubs all over Ohio on this list and you can pick out the ones near Cleveland with topics that interest you. Some cover all aquarium topics. Some specialize in bettas (FW), guppies, cichlids, or saltwater.

http://www.angelfire.com/oh3/aquariumclubs/fishlink.html

[Radicaljbr]

Only heard about C-SEA. Did not know about others. Thanks for the list and I will look it over. I have a new reef tank right now that I am starting to stock and am really just looking for people in Cleveland with similar interests

thanks

John

[Radicaljbr]

Are there any that you recommend? What about Cleveland Aquarium society...Are they all pretty similar?

[Rhodophyta]

My personal favorites are CAS, C-SEA, GAAS, and GLCS. Someone else might have different favorites because of their location, the style of the meeting, size of the club, or the topics brought in for talks. CAS usually has a wide variety of topics, with only one or two specialized in saltwater. For example, the next meeting is:
January 6th, 2004, 7:30pm. The topic is Filters and filtration, covering fluidized sand bed, wet/dry, cannister, all the different types of fiters, and filtration methods. The speaker is Nick Zarlinga- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Aquarium Biologist. That topic covers both reef, saltwater fish only, and freshwater aquariums. Most C-SEA speakers talk on reef topics, and the rest cover a saltwater topic, perhaps maintaining types of marine fish, or a travelog of diving in reefs. GAAS is also a a general club like CAS, but because the saltwater club in Akron folded a few years ago, some of those people now come to GAAS. GLCS is a freshwater specialty club interested in cichlids and freshwater catfish and loaches. I like their website and they hosted a national fish hobby organaization recently bringing hundreds of hobbyists from all over the US and other countries to Cleveland for a weekend of programs and activities. There are other clubs too, and every aquarist will have different favorites. A lot of them meet on different days of the month so that you can go to several of them, but CAFE, C-SEA, GLCS, GLAS, and YATFS all meet on the third Friday of the month, so you can only pick one of those.

Pittsburgh and Detroit have marine/reef clubs and sometimes C-SEA'ers will arrange a road trip to travel to one of their meetings. I went to one in December to Pittsburgh and it was interesting. I came back with some corals and macros that are a little different from the local ones.

When we plan our vacations, we sometimes check out what fish clubs are in the area, and if they have a meeting scheduled then, we try to attend, and sometimes have even visited the homes of their members. This summer we're vacationing in Ireland and I haven't even started to see what fish clubs might be there.

[Radicaljbr]

Thanks again for the info...Can anyone attend the CAS meeting on the 6th? Would not mind checking it out before jumping in.

thanks

John

[Rhodophyta]

You and anyone you bring with you would be welcome! Parking and admission is free. It's at the zoo, but after closing hours. The entrance is on Wildlife Way.

http://clemetzoo.com/visit/directions.asp

You will see a brick wall to the left of the main zoo gate. There is a double glass door entry. Go in, this is the zoo education building. If it's locked, someone will let you in. The zoo assigns the meeting room but it's most of the time the large meeting room that's all the way to the end of the hall and then right. That will help you find the C-SEA meeting, since both usually meet in the same room on different weeks. There will be signs with arrows. You might want to bring a few dollars in case you see anything in the raffle. Manufacturers and pet shops donate items to help the club afford speakers and activities promoting the hobby. The speaker is a good one and the topic has relevance to anyone's aquarium, fresh or salt. Every club in the area welcomes guests to try out a meeting before joining.

[Radicaljbr]

What about my 4 year old son...we actually have a membership to the zoo and maybe I could take him to the zoo that day and then go to the meeting.

thanks again for your replys

John

[Rhodophyta]

We had four children that we took to all the CAS and C-SEA meetings soon as each one was born. CAS is a weekday night and because of that they try to end the meeting by about 10:00 PM. You can expect the meeting to start at 7:30 even if people are still greeting, so that everyone can get going home at a more reasonable time.

[Radicaljbr]

Thanks for all your help!

[Radicaljbr]

Hi ....remember me? I was unable to attend last months meeting, but would still like to join. Do you know when the next meeting is?

thanks

[Rhodophyta]

The tentative date is Friday, February 20th, in the MetroParks Zoo Education Building.Check with the club webpage http://www.c-sea.org for updates and topic/speaker announcements.