nwaas.com

Several of us took a road trip to the KC HAAS meeting yesterday. We were interested in comparing the meetings to see if there were things we might want to do different at NWAAS. It was a very enjoyable trip with side trips to several shops, an unexpectedly interesting talk about brackish fish-keeping, and of course getting together with many interesting hobbyists from KC. I kept telling my companions that everything we did was Forum fodder, but that will probably come out as we progress. Up early, and home by midnight. Denny

As always, we had a great time gabbing on the way up and back. We went to see how a HAAS meeting was run, to see if we'd learn anything new. But it turns out their meetings are run pretty much exactly like ours. That's probably no surprise, since Michael founded our club and came from HAAS. I was surprised, however, to realize that the speaker they had was one of my fellow AFI columnists, Stephen Noble. He writes their plant column. I picked up a couple of plants at mini auction-- some red ludwigia with the largest leaves I have ever seen, and a plant labeled as Rotala indica. I've also never seen R. indica with leaves that large, so I'm not positive that's what the plant is. But it's cool. Rotala is easy to grow. Ludwigia has never done well for me. It likes very strong light, which I'm sure I have, and cooler water.

We had time to stop at a couple of Kansas City area shops. Aquariums, etc. was nice, but small. Unfortunately, we didn't find any species that grabbed us. A stop at The Brothers Fish and Pets landed me a few good photos, and I brought home an eastern newt to photograph. (Dealer tanks just aren't set up for getting a good newt photo.) I also snagged an unlabeled plant that I believe to be jungle val. It's the type with nearly inch-wide blades. This was unusual in that it had a lot of red in it. We'll see what it does.

Our buddy, Don, at God's Creature's Pet Shop in Neosho had a discovery waiting for me. I've been searching for ages for a trapdoor snail to photograph, and he had some! They are about the size of a mystery snail and livebearing, giving birth to the occasional pea-sized baby. I've been unable to find these in the past. I even ordered them from an Internet source, once, but they sent me mystery snails as a substitution. The buttheads! If I had wanted mystery snails, I would have ordered them. So, a trapdoor snail may soon grace the Critter of the Week feature on our portal page.

It was good to see and talk to you all again.
The fish I got from both of you are doing great!
One of these times I will have to go with you all and kick Lane in the knee !
Just kidding of course, when I had my other store he helped me out a lot.
Im getting ready to get some pond fish in this week so if any of you are looking for anything special let me know and I will see what I can do.

Don