[Sticky] tentative 2025 Schedule

Update

January 11th Kegan Morrow Evolutionary Biology Student, University of Missouri - Kansas City “Poeciliid Evolution Stinks” 

This talk will be on a collecting trip Kegan went on with a group of college students and lead by Michi Tobler who has previously spoken to our club

We now have Mike Hellweg committed for our September meeting. Now we just need to pick his talk.

These are the options:

"Anabantoids: Keeping and Breeding Fish that Can Drown"
This talk introduces the audience to all the groups of Asian and African
Anabantoids, divided by their spawning method. I’ve kept almost every known
species, and bred nearly half of them, so the talk covers many of my personal
experiences with them. Emphasis is placed on smaller, more challenging
species. I only briefly discuss Bettas since they require a full talk of their own.

"Adventures in Fish Breeding - Breeding Tips and Tricks"

In this talk I discuss the challenges of spawning fish, sharing many of the tips and
tricks that I’ve learned over the past 50 years from my own experience and from
other hobbyists who have gone before. I offer a few specific examples to inspire

listeners to try to think outside of the glass box and maybe try their hand at
breeding something more than just a few of the common community fish that
most people breed. Throughout I throw in how I used many of these tips and
tricks to win the first ever TFH Fish Breeder’s Challenge.

"Meet the Wild Betta Species"

This talk introduces the audience to all of the Betta species groups and most of
the 70 or so known species of the genus Betta, with emphasis on methods for
keeping and breeding them. I share my personal experiences with keeping more
than 50 species and breeding more than 30. I do not cover the fancy Betta
splendens except in passing, as they require an in-depth talk of their own.

Wild Livebearers - More than just the Retail “Big Four”

This talk introduces the audience to the wonderful world of wild livebearers, the
American Livebearer Association, and hopefully expands their thinking about this
amazing group of fish beyond the Retail “Big Four” – Swordtails, Platies, Mollies,
and Guppies.

"The Joy of Goldfish"

This talk introduces the audience to Fancy Goldfish in their many forms, their
history, and their husbandry in aquaria, tubs and ponds. It’s a light-hearted talk,
and doesn’t really go into breeding, etc. but rather concentrates on the amazing
and beautiful variety of forms and their unique and charming allure.

"Culturing Live Foods"

This talk is based on my book Culturing Live Foods (TFH 2008) and covers all of
the commonly available live food animals and their easiest culture and harvest
methods – or at least, what works best for me. I also cover other methods that
other hobbyists have found to work well for them. Even though the book is now
over 10 years old, I update the talk before each talk with new methods and
information, and sometimes even new culture critters. It includes things that are
easy to culture and easy for the average hobbyist to find. I donate a few starter
cultures for the club to distribute as they see fit. I have various versions of the
talk aimed at an All Species club, a Cichlid club, a Livebearer club, a Catfish club
or a Killie club.

"Breeding and Raising Livebearers – It’s Not Always Easy!"

This talk discusses the often-ignored topic of how to breed and raise wild-type
livebearers, with emphasis on ‘how I do it’. I cover breeding methods, breeding
tanks, feeding, and raising the fry. I give several examples in each of 5 different
families of livebearers, and encourage the audience to not be afraid to try new
species and to participate in Species Maintenance.

"Cyprinids in the Aquarium"

This talk introduces the extremely popular aquarium fishes of the family
Cyprinidae; concentrating on the smaller Barbs from West Africa and SE Asia,

the Danios, the Rasboras and their kin, and introduces the audience to some of
the North American Minnows and Shiners, which often rival the more ‘exotic’
Cyprinids. Discussion of breeding and raising them and my experiences with
the various groups is also covered.

"Miniature Cyprinids"

This talk covers the dozen or so genera of true Cyprinid miniatures, including
many fish that have only recently been discovered and described, some within
the past year. The largest fish that I talk about are the White Clouds! Most are
less than an inch, and many are regularly available in the trade IF you know
where to look. I cover that, too.

"Nano Fish"

This talk introduces the popular so-called Nano Fish – small fish from several
families that have become wildly popular in the past decade. Sometimes,
however, hobbyists assume that just because fish are tiny, they can live in tiny
tanks. That’s not always the case! We’ll look at the nano tanks themselves, and
about 3 dozen nano species including their care, feeding and even their
breeding, which is sometimes simpler than one might think.

"Fishroom Design"

This talk covers all aspects of fishroom design, from making a small system that
covers only 8 square feet of floor space and might fit in a spare closet to a full
sized fishroom. I discuss electricity concerns, plumbing, rack design, drilling
tanks, layout, lighting, dealing with humidity, insulation, air supply, safety, and
workspaces.

"Miniature Livebearers"

This talk covers many of the truly tiny Livebearing species that are popular in the
hobby, and many that are less common including many of the diminutive
Poecilia, “Micropoecilia”, Girardinus, Gambusia, Heterandria, Neoheterandria
and several others. In this talk, guppies are the giants! It covers some of these
amazing fishes’ specialized adaptations to meet the challenges of delivering live
young when the females are often not a whole lot larger; husbandry, feeding and
much more.

"Miniature Poeciliids I have Known"

This talk covers one of my favorite groups of fishes, the smaller Poeciliids. Often
overlooked or dismissed as “tiny gray fish” or “dirty ditch fish”, even by dedicated
livebearer enthusiasts, these diminutive livebearers are fascinating, and many
are fairly easy to keep and breed. Some exhibit fascinating breeding strategies
that take maximum advantage of their small size. They deserve more
recognition and respect, and I hope through this talk to share my enjoyment of
the group, and maybe generate more interest in them.

My Adventures with Dwarf Seahorses and Freshwater Pipefish

This talk covers these interesting and unusual livebearers, with emphasis on
feeding and care, and in-depth tips and tricks for the easier to keep and breed
species including several species of freshwater pipefish and dwarf seahorses.

Working with the Livebearing Halfbeaks

This talk introduces the livebearing halfbeaks commonly available in the hobby
as well as some of the rare ones; with tips on aquarium care, feeding, and
breeding. It also helps to alleviate some of the confusion that abounds among
the mixed imports that are currently coming in all being sold as a single
“species”.

Oddball Livebearers

This talk covers many of the less common livebearing fish that are occasionally
available in the hobby, including information about the biological adaptations and
mechanics of livebearing in fish, husbandry and breeding information, and a look
at what makes some of these groups of fish so unique.

On the Origin of Livebearer Names

This talk introduces the scientific names of Livebearing Fishes and their
interesting and sometimes unusual origins. It’s a light-hearted look at the history
of livebearing fishes in the hobby and in science and sneaks in some relevant
care information at the same time.

Danios, Devarios and their Kin

This talk covers the amazing members of the genera Danio and Devario and
some of their amazing close relatives. Who would have thought that you could
do an entire talk on Danios? There are dozens of species, many with interesting
behavior, that have entered the hobby in the past ten to fifteen years. Many of
these fascinating fish are from Burma, which was only barely represented in the
hobby until very recently. Plus, there is the amazing Zebra Danio and all of its
contributions to human health research.

Meet the Barbs

This talk looks at an often overlooked and maligned group of fish, the Barbs.
These fascinating and often beautiful fishes have a bad reputation from the early
days of the hobby when one species, the Tiger Barb, was often improperly kept
in small groups in smaller community tanks and it earned a bad reputation, not
only for itself, but for the entire group! I look to correct that and share my

enjoyment of these amazing fishes and their close relatives, along with tips about
their husbandry and breeding.

Meet the New Tetras

This talk covers the many new and fascinating characins that have been coming
into the hobby in the past decade or so, and many old favorites which
disappeared for years, only to come back into the hobby once again. I cover
species, care, and breeding.

Siluriformian Serendipity

This talk covers my approach to keeping and breeding oddball catfish, embracing
the “happy accident”, including tips and tricks for combining the right conditions,
feeding the right foods, and patience to get spawns from reluctant catfish. I
include specific examples of how I took advantage of serendipity with fish from
several families of catfish: Banjo Catfish, Hoplos, Moth Catfish, Pimelodids,
Synodontis, Wasp Catfish, Wood Cats and more, with a surprise description of a
totally unexpected (do not try this at home!) spawn at the end!

Dwarf Cichlids

This talk provides an introduction to the fascinating Dwarf Cichlids, including
several species that are commonly kept, and some that are fairly rare but that
would be interesting to folks with more than a casual interest in Cichlids. I cover
fishes from Central and South America, West Africa, East Africa, and even into
the Middle East and India. I discuss feeding, housing, breeding and raising these
amazing fishes.

Vote here for which talk you would like to hear.

I don’t think he’s given us enough choices 🤓

That being said ….. I vote for:

"Miniature Cyprinids“

Have you considered just penciling him in for all the meetings. His catalog would fill 2 years worth without anyone getting bored. 

Quite the selection. I would pick one of these 3 - Anabantoids, Joy of Goldfish, or Oddball livebearers

A wealth of information to choose from.

1 Danios, Devarios and their Kin

2 Cyprinids in the Aquarium

3 "Breeding and Raising Livebearers – It’s Not Always Easy!"

1. "Culturing Live Foods"
2. "Nano Fish"
3. "Miniature Cyprinids"