Milwaukee Aquarium Society

The next general meeting of the MAS will be Friday, April 19th, 7:30 pm at Hoffers Tropic Life.

This is one you don’t want to miss!  Dr. Stephan Tanner  will be joining us for the April meeting to talk about Pleco nutrition.  Even if Loricariids aren’t your thing I highly suggest you come to this meeting.  Having seen another of Dr. Tanner’s talks I can honestly say that he is an excellent speaker and definitely worth listening to.  Here is a little bit about Dr. Tanner and an overview of his talk in his own words:

“Stephan has been a fish keeper since 1982. Born in Switzerland, he got his first fish tank at age 14. A fascination for biology led to a master’s degree in Ecology and Molecular Biology (1995) and a PhD in Human Molecular Genetics (1998) from the University of Bern, Switzerland. During his undergraduate years, he worked many years for a local fish  store (SpiezerZoo).                                                                                                                                                        

In 1998, Stephan moved to Columbus, Ohio for a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer research at the Ohio State University. In the fall of 2005, he became a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics. His work in cancer genetics focused on identifying genes and pathways for acute myeloid leukemia (PNAS 2001, Vol 98), juvenile vitamin B₁₂ malabsorption (Nature Genetics, 2003 Vol 33 & PNAS 2005, Vol 102), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CELL 2007, Vol 129), and colorectal cancer (Science 2008, Vol 321). Since 1998, Stephan has published 49 peer reviewed papers. 

In 1992, Stephan became a member of the International Society for Barbs, Tetras, Loaches, and Catfishes IG BSSW. From 1994-2006, he was the editor for their quarterly publication BSSW Report. He regularly travels to Germany for fish related events and to visit friends he made throughout the IG BSSW. He is a member of the American Cichlid Association, American Livebearer Association, North American Native Fishes Association, Minnesota Aquarium Society, and Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts.

 In 2012, Stephan’s wife Wendy was recruited by Mayo Clinic and they moved to Rochester in southeastern Minnesota. Stephan has since focused on expanding his company, SwissTropicals, LLC, known for Poret^© filter foam and the Jetlifters™.”

Here is a short description of the talk we will hear:

“Pleco nutrition

Suckermouth catfish were long regarded simply as algae eaters to clean up the aquarium. Nothing could be further from the truth, since the members of the family Loricariidae have a wide variety of feeding strategies. The choice of food in the husbandry of the various types is critical in maintaining and breeding these great fish.”

In addition to being an excellent speaker Dr. Tanner owns and operates the company Swiss Tropicals, LLC.  It is one of the few places (if not the only) on this side of the Atlantic that you can get the Poret^© filter foam and the Jetlifters™ needed for the Hamburg mattenfilter, or for use as really high quality sponge filters.   If you’d like to place an order, please contact him using the link below

The next general meeting of the MAS will be Friday, January 18th.

Congratulations on surviving the Mayan apocalypse!  Now we can start planning for 2013.  Our speaker for the January meeting will be Brian Perkins.  Brian was kind enough to provide us with a summary of his upcoming talk and a short Bio so …..

The title of my talk will be ” The Fauna and Flora of the Madre de Dios region of Southern Peru”.
It will be an overview of the various Eco-regions of one of the most bio-diverse areas of the world. It will be geared more to a generalist audience; and, by the way, a great talk to bring the non-fish-keeping spouse to, because it’s intended to give a broad look at the area as a whole. ( ie. Mammals, Birds, Orchids, Frogs, snakes, and (of course) lots & lots of fish!)

Bio:

I was “imprinted” to the aquaristic hobby at an early age by my father Kenwood who had kept aquarium fish since the 1940’s and seemed to always have either aquariums, a fishroom, or an outdoor pond (sometimes all three!), stocked with interesting fishes at all times.                                                                                                                                                         I have been actively keeping and breeding fish since 1965 when I got my first pair of brick red swordtails. I have been a member of the AKA off and on since 1973. I joined as a result of my brother Stephen’s passionate interest in killies. I graduated as a forester from the University of Washington in 1983. In 2000, with the support of an incredibly strong pool of aquarist talent, I started NWKillies, in Oregon, serving the Northwest region. I am a member of NANFA and the ALA as well.                                                                                            For the past three years I have been busy establishing an “Eco” tourism business in Southern Peru called “WildPERU”. We offer custom jungle adventure tours, expedition logistical planning and support, and the export of live Ornamental fish for private collectors and academics. This work has taken me into some very remote and beautiful areas of the South-western Amazon basin. I have been married for 30 years, and have two sons who, in turn, are now themselves being “imprinted” by their father with collecting fish in the Amazon.