UPCOMING EVENTS:

Hey everyone! I noticed the other night that CMAS has their big show similar to our Annual Reef Symposium on the same day that our April meeting was scheduled for, the 18th. In a show of support for CMAS, the BOD has decided to cancel our meeting for this month and is inviting all of SMMAS to join us at the CMAS event! This will be our first road trip of 2009 and will be one of the best!


For all of our new members that have never been to an annual club event like this, you don’t want to miss this event if you can help it. Like our event each November, they will have 2 speakers, lunch, a raffle and vendors selling live stuff... maybe more. Visit their website, www.cmas-md.org for more information; tickets are only $15 for non-members, which is a heck of a deal! Even better of a deal is that each person who attends the CMAS Spring Seminar will receive a gift voucher for a free $25 frag at Mr. Coral's Retail Store! These will be given out at the door. (Only one per Family/Couple/Household) This is like winning a raffle item before you even get there!!!

 

Information on the first speaker...

 

Ken Nedimyer owns and operates Sea Life Inc (www.sealifeinc.net) a marine life wholesale and on line Retail Company that has been in business since 1984. Ken has collected marine specimens since 1969, and has been an aquarist since 1966. Ken has been an active scuba diver since 1970, and has logged over 20,000 hours in the water over the last 39 years.


In 1994 Ken received permits to start the first offshore live rock aquaculture site in the Florida Keys, and have operated it successfully since the first harvests began in 1996. In 2000 using corals that had settled on his live rock, Ken and one of his daughters began testing techniques for re-attaching branches of stag horn coral that had been broken off the rocks by sharks, turtles, and storms. Their work eventually led to a pilot coral restoration project using their reattached corals, which has since led to a large-scale coral nursery and restoration program.

 

In 2009, Ken received permits to start two offshore Elkhorn coral nurseries, the first of their kind in the US, and he and volunteer divers will be busy setting it up this spring and summer.

 

In 2007, Ken formed the Coral Restoration Foundation Inc (www.coralrestoration.org ), a non profit company focused on developing simple, effective, and inexpensive coral nursery and coral restoration techniques that could be duplicated anywhere. Their offshore coral nursery has grown from five corals that settled on his rock in 1996, to over 4,000 corals in March of 2009, and expected to grow to over 7,000 corals by spring of 2010. In 2008 they planted over 200 corals back onto the reef, and are expected to plant over 500 in 2009.

 

In June of 2009 Ken will participate on his second weeklong saturation mission in the Aquarius to participate in a coral restoration research project underway there. Live video of the June mission will be available on the Aquarius Website (http://uncw.edu/aquarius/ ).

 

Ken will be speaking on offshore aquaculture and coral restoration, but will be available to answer questions about the marine life fishery, marine life collecting, the Aquarius, and issues related to Staghorn and Elkhorn corals.

Most of us who attend MACNA on a regular basis have seen or have heard of Bob Fenner, the second speaker at the CMAS show. I'm not sure of his topic for this event but here is a short write up on him.

 

Bob Fenner is a lifelong aquarist with an active and continuing involvement in the academic, journalistic, trade, and hobbyist sides of aquarium keeping. He is a former marine science and aquariology instructor at the University of California and in the California State University system.

Bob is the author of The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and has been a regular contributor to a number of aquarium publications, including Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, SeaScope, Pet Dealer, and several foreign hobbyist and business periodicals. He has been a speaker and judge at many aquarium conferences and events, with subjects ranging from cyanide collection of reef fishes to Kio, shell collecting, and environmental, aquarium trade, hobbyist, and scientific topics.

 

He has worked in all phases of the aquarium business -- as collector, wholesaler, jobber, retailer, hatchery worker, designer, manager, and owner. Bob lives in San Diego, California, and is both an active Hash House Harrier and an avid scuba diver, having completed thousands of dives throughout the Indo-Pacific region, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Baja California, the tropical eastern Pacific, and the shorelines of his home state.
So don’t miss out on this great event, check out the Meeting and Event forum for updates, car pool information, and anything else for this great weekend event! I guarantee you’ll have a great time!
Posted: 11 April 2009
 

 

References from Reef Central:

  • Instant Algae Calc
  • Head Loss Calc
  • Sand Bed Calc
  • Tank Electrical Calc
  • Drain Overflow Size Calc
  • Sump Volume Calc
  • Tank Volume Calc
  • Water Change Calc
  • Unit Conversions Calc
  • Large selection of Calculators (Registration Required.).


     

     

     

    LIBRARY SCHEDULE:

    December 14-20 Ken
    December 21-27 Rob
    December 28-January 3 Doug

    January 4-10 Tony
    January 11-17 Frankie
     January 18-24 Chris
    January 25-31 Jerome

    February 1-7 Ken
    February 8-14 Mike H.
    February 15-21 Rob
    February 22-28 Doug

    March 1-7 Frankie
    March 8-14 Tony
    March 15-21 Chris
    March 22-28 Ken

    March 29-April 4 Jerome

    April 5-11 Mike H.
    April 12-18 Rob
    April 19-25 Doug
    April 26-May 2 Tony

    May 3-9 Frankie
    May 10-16 Chris
    May 17-23 Jerome
     May 24-30 Ken

     

     

     

    		•
           
             
     
    CLUB PROJECTS:
    The SMMAS School program is now in full swing with TWO schools participating in our program to reach the next generation of Marine Hobbyist. Our goal is to teach these children about the dangers our natural reefs face today and what we can do as hobbyist to help.

    A very nice 75 gallon reef display was set up last year at the Little Flower School in Great Mills and is being supported by SMMAS members Mike Howell and Tracy Lumpkins. Classes are being taught to the 4th and 6th graders every week about the dangers our coral reefs face today and how we can save a reef by growing our own. They started with the quick and easy to grow coral xenia; now they are working with other corals as well and seem to enjoy every aspect of marine husbandry. We have discussed virtually all areas of starting and maintaining a saltwater aquarium, with the students actually doing the work themselves. We expect that by the end of the school year they will be able to propagate many different types of corals and perhaps sell them to help offset the cost of maintaining their reef aquarium.

    Our second school in this program started this year, with SMMAS members Dana and Cale Benefield supporting Kings Christian Academy. Dana is teaching the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th graders every week on all aspects of Marine aquarium keeping. She is also developing a lesson plan so that SMMAS can document and standardize our teaching program. A very nice 58 gallon Oceanic tank is being set up with donations from SMMAS members to add all those key items that make a salt water aquarium function. We expect this tank to get wet December 2008, with live animals being added in January, 2009.

    There are other schools that have expressed an interest of starting a program in their school similar to the two we have now. Leonardtown High School is interested in an after school Reef Club which Shaun Elliot is heading up and Mark Powell has offered to help. St. Peters in Waldorf is also interested. We need at least 2 volunteers for each school to make this happen, if you are interested in helping and becoming involved in this program let Mike Howell know and he will be happy to get you going.

    Our first community project, the 75 gallon reef display at the Lexington Park Library has been a big success. The tank is flat out beautiful with compliments from library patrons as well as the staff. The library has set up a donation fund to help pay for the cost of maintaining the tank with SMMAS volunteers taking turns each week performing the necessary task of keeping it in such great shape. A special thanks to SMMAS members Jerome Burgess, Chris Coons, Mike Howell, Ken Jordan, Rob MacLaren, Frankie Riffle, and Tony Wolfe for their time and effort in keeping this tank beautiful. The club is also looking to replace the current Medal Halide lighting in this tank with the new state of the art LED lighting system from ARAD. Big energy savings and lower heat are big factors in this bold step. Stop by and check it out!

    If you would like to help out on any of these projects please contact Mike Howell (cmacmike) either by email or PM in the forum section.
     
    FEATURED SPONSOR:


    One of this club’s better sponsors, Jeff Knight, owner of Reef Chief in Virginia Beach recently moved from his jam packed garage operation into his first real storefront with 3200 square feet of operating room. Jeff invited SMMAS down to see his new place last year by hosting an open house with Anthony Calfo as the guest speaker and enough food to feed an army. Since then Jeff has been hard at work transforming a once empty warehouse into a very full reef store that rivals the best in the country. SP Aquatics, owned by Sean Hawkins, shares a portion of the building with Jeff and has built 6 of the most awesome acrylic display tanks that show off most of Jeff’s corals. Two 600 gallon and four 400 gallon acrylic tanks surround you in a double horse shoe fashion that makes it easy to find the coral you are looking for with most in a price range lay out. From $10 frags to $500 basketball size show pieces, he has coral that will fit any pocket book.

    The store has over 4000 gallons of saltwater, housing an average of 500 frags, 1000 corals, and 300 to 400 fish. The selection is outstanding and is easily one of the finest Marine Aquarium stores in the United States.

    Jeff is offering SMMAS club members 20% off of live stock after the TRS Reef Symposium April 26, and is planning on bringing even more into the store by then to increase our selection. Be sure not to pass this event up, the selection is awesome to start with.

    Jeff has been an active sponsor of this club for a few years now and we are proud of what he has accomplished since we have known him. From donating the top prize of a $200 Gift Certificate for our fundraising raffle, being a vendor at the SMMAS Reef Symposium, and offering advice and discounts to club members, Jeff is any clubs best asset that is lucky enough to count him as a sponsor. Thanks Jeff!
    About Us
    The Southern Maryland Marine Aquarium Society (SMMAS) is a friendly gathering of folks from all walks of life that share an interest in Marine Aquariums.  It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert, we welcome everyone.  We have monthly meetings to exchange ideas, discuss current conditions in member’s tanks, share and trade corals, and plan field trips.  Our goal is to educate ourselves as well as the general public about the saltwater aquarium hobby and to raise awareness of the delicate reefs we take care of, in and out of our aquariums.
    more about us