2007 GRMAS Swap

On behalf of the membership of the Grand Rapids Marine Aquarium society, I would like to thank all of the participants and sponsors of this year's West Michigan Saltwater Swap. Thank you for making our event such a success! Please support these businesses, both locally and online. A full listing can be seen at www.grmas.org/sponsors.htm. Additional thanks need to be extended to our members for working so hard to secure the room, coordinate the food, acquire sponsorships, and for coordinating and helping out with all the little things. Our success can be directly contributed to your dedication and teamwork, and your continued passion for the marine aquarium hobby. Once again, our event was a showcase for our club, and everyone should be very proud our accomplishments. Way to go GRMAS!

 

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2006 MASM Swap

In November, several GRMAS members made the journey to the east side of Michigan to participate in the MASM swap. Several deals were had, as well as many raffle prizes won. Reef Nutrition was on hand and gave a very interesting presentation on food production at their California facilities. GRMAS purchased a table to advertise our swap in the spring and we gave out several flyers. Several our board members were able to meet the leadership of both MASM and MMMC (Lansing) and discuss ideas for the future.

 

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Letter from the GRMAS President - 2006 West Michigan Saltwater Swap

I'd like to also thank everyone that came to our Swap and supported our club. I am so proud of our club and the work we put into making this a success. The road was long, but the destination was worth it. You guys ROCK!!

I'd like to send out a HUGE thanks to the following people, please support these sponsors:

• Chow Hound at 28th and Eastern in GR
• Solomon Seas in Grandville
• Ecco-Reef in Zeeland
• Reef Nutrition
• H2PhytO

PLEASE GIVE US SUGGESTIONS SO WE CAN MAKE THIS EVEN BETTER!!! I put some feedback forms out at the swap, but I only got three back. We can use this thread as a feedback forum. We value your input!!!

Thanks again!

Scott Gerdeman
President GRMAS

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Van Andel Living Shores Aquarium Tour - February 11, 2006

On February 11, 2006 GRMAS toured the Van Andel Living Shores Aquarium at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. Cheryl Dykstra, an animal curator at the zoo was on hand to give us a look behind the scenes at everything that make the displays successful. Only 1/3 of the building is dedicated to display, the other 2/3 is for support, so there were plenty of pumps and pipes to see. Check out the pallets of salt, and Scott and Derek standing by one of the several huge ozone towers. They have a nice collection of Pacific cold water species and a flock of Magellanic penguins. Best quote of the day comes from Derek: "You know you have a big enough tank when you need a dive locker in your house for your scuba gear". GRMAS would like to thank the John Ball Zoo and Cheryl for the fantastic tour.

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GRAMS A&M Aquatics Tour - January 7, 2006
(Click on image to see larger view)

Our first official group outing for GRMAS was a trip to A&M Aquatics, a marine livestock wholesaler outside of Lansing MI. The event was put on
by MASM and MMMC, a club out of the eastern side of the state and the Lansing club respectively.

The first half of the event allowed everyone to tour A&M's holding facilities. They had areas for fish, soft corals and hard corals. Unfortunately, we did not get a good look at the water processing facilities, this area was blocked off.

The second half of the meeting consisted of a slide presentation by Adam Cesnales from the Pittsburgh Marine Aquarium Society Inc and an activity on the identification of octocorals. A&M graciously provided pizza for the attendees. It was a great first event for our club.