Centerfold models…

[Back in the fold]

I had a great time. Many types of hobbyist raised fish for $5 and $10 per fish or pairs, even trios. Killies, SA cichlids, shell dwelling cichlids, fancy swordtail, beautiful guppy selection, tetra, barbs etc. colorful neocaridina for $2/shrimp. Nothing exotic. Loads of plants for swap or purchase. The event was held in a local brewery so beer was on discount. A food truck was outside. I did not stick around for the raffles.

Buy any fish ?

 

[gwand]

Buy any fish ?

I was really tempted but I have no room right now.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I had a great time. Many types of hobbyist raised fish for $5 and $10 per fish or pairs, even trios. Killies, SA cichlids, shell dwelling cichlids, fancy swordtail, beautiful guppy selection, tetra, barbs etc. colorful neocaridina for $2/shrimp. Nothing exotic. Loads of plants for swap or purchase. The event was held in a local brewery so beer was on discount. A food truck was outside. I did not stick around for the raffles.

Yes!!! I hope you had a great time. You've discovered yet another benefit of local fish clubs. High quality fish at a super cheap price. $1 BAP bags. Fish auctions. Swap meets. You could almost never buy fish from a LFS again.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I'm off to our club tonight. Meeting #4, and I'll be the speaker.

There's a fellow bringing a fully equipped 55 gallon set up for the auction. He says it'll start at $2. With only 15 people there, most of whom are young and starting out in the trades, I know there isn't a lot of money to be flying around there. Someone is going to get a bargain.
The seller has money, and isn't worried. He wants to support the hobby.

I'm not bidding because I have a good set up already.

That is something I've seen with this hobby many times, although not to this extreme. Maybe because it's based on caring for living things, it seems to attract altruistic people. I used to feel guilty about accepting invites to visit killie people, because I knew they'd give me valuable fish and never accept payment. It taught me right off the bat to do the same, and that in turn has paid me back over and over again. When you give, people want to give back.

Those who just take are there, in the hobby, but there aren't many of them and they don't seem to last.

Your post reminded me of something I haven't thought about in about 20 years.
At my old fish club our December meeting was our Holiday party. We didn:t bring in a speaker and somehow I was roped into it for a few years. But what we did for that meeting was give a presentation for the kids. To teach them the basics, feed their curiosity. I'm positive there were fish tanks on Santas lost those years. Just the excitement on the faces of kids from 5 to 13, staying up probably late on a Sunday night to hear a talk about fish. You can't buy that feeling. I like to think there's at least one fish head out there that attended one of those meetings. One of the best things I've ever done in my life.


Sorry, I did try to merge those two together.

 

[fishorama]

I belong to an area plant club. We mostly just give away our extra plants & often fish or equipment, but there can be some selling too. It's fun to both give & receive. New people are often amazed they might go home with a bag of free plants just for showing up!! LFS often donate gift cards, small discounts or other good stuff when they "host" us. But we also usually buy quite a bit while we're there, a win for everyone! I've "hosted" at my house & had lots of help setting up new big tanks twice. I got "first dibs" on plant offerings & amazing planting skills/design help too. A fun time!!

The downside is there is nobody really in charge, it's up to members to choose a place; ask a LFS, invite us to their home or find a park. Precovid, we often had potluck lunches, that was even better! I often bring cookies since I don't always have plants to share.

This in person casual meeting is different than talking to you all online...Face to face, even masked, is nice too.

Over the years, I've been to several fish club meetings where we've lived. They were great in a different way. I mostly went to hear a speaker on an interesting topic or hoping to buy some new fish, shrimp, equipment, etc. Those were fun too, but often ran past my bedtime...

Our first club had Santa show up & dole out goodies, but I don't remember many kids attending.