My friend, Deborah, and I traveled to the 2011 ACA convention held in Washington, DC a couple of weeks ago. This was a much anticipated trip for me, as a long time keeper of cichlids, and though I've wanted to attend this event for many years, it has never been this close to where I live.
Though the convention lasts for four days, we were interested only in attending on Saturday, so we left early that morning and made our way up I-95. There was traffic, as you'd expect, particularly in the Tyson's Corner area where there is a great deal of construction underway, but we made very good time and found our destination easily. We also found free underground parking just a few blocks from the hotel, which was a plus considering the nearly 100-degree weather; we knew the car would at least stay relatively cool while we were inside.
We registered and were given a very, very generous goodie bag, which contained our meeting credentials on a lanyard, a raffle ticket, a t-shirt from Drs. Foster & Smith, and quite a few samples of food and water treatments from various vendors, as well as periodicals, posters, coupons, stickers, etc. Not too shabby! The only downside to this was that the bag was heavy and we'd have to carry it around all day.
We then proceeded to browse the commercial tables where all of the familiar aquatic products were on display for sale at a reduced price. All the big names were there, and I must praise Aqueon for giving away full-size containers of food, water treatments and liquid plant food. They were very generous, though many of us were timid about taking two or three containers of food, as suggested, when the adjacent tables were selling their wares. Aqueon is really trying to make a name for themselves as they have expanded their product line, and they felt the patrons of the convention ought to come away with something to make the trip and the stay in DC a little more worthwhile. I agree, and these small gifts wound up being worth more to me than I realized at the time.
We wandered around, looking at the tanks set up in the hallways up for auction. They were pretty typical setups, though I think they were my favorite part of the convention, since you got to see some creative aquascaping (though some ho-hum setups were on display as well) and some interesting species mixed with other non-cichlid species, in some cases. I'd have really liked to have seen some more unusual cichlids, though, like Altum angels, for instance, and I was really expecting that, but did not see anything I had not seen before.
The main area was downstairs on the first floor, and there were also rooms set up on the 4th floor where if you rummaged in your goodie bag you'd find a ticket to receive a free t-shirt from the Capital Cichlid Association, who hosted this event. This giveaway was for a limited number of T-shirts, so at the specified time we all lined up to receive our shirts. I'm truly not sure why I wanted a T-shirt, since I don't wear that type of shirt, but I thought it might be an interesting momento, and perhaps Rick would wear it, or I could put it in one of my own local club's goodie bags at an upcoming meeting.
We finally get up to receive our shirt and see that they are standing you against a background and they have a photographer taking a picture of everyone who gets a shirt, and this was, apparently, required to receive the shirt. I'm not sure what this was about, other than some mention of the pictures going up on Facebook, but I thought it odd that you were not able to receive a shirt without getting the picture taken. I don't like getting my picture taken, so I asked, and was told that I HAD to if I wanted the shirt. I am a rebellious type but I went along anyway, and once I agreed two young men, 15 or 16 years of age, who were obviously assisting in the process of handing out T-shirts, asked if they could be in the picture with me. I readily agreed, and thanked them for the offer. I'm not sure why they did that, but they probably wanted to be in as many Facebook pics as they could.
Anyway, off we go, eagerly seeking out new gems, hoping to see more fish, and wanting to sit in on an interesting lecture. We happened upon the conference room where the lectures were being held, and we caught the beginning of what we thought would be an interesting lecture on pike cichlids, a variant that neither Deborah nor I knew much about. We were not impressed with the bawdy style of the speaker, whose manner would have gone over great in a hall full of college students, perhaps, but I'd have preferred more science and fewer "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" off-color humor. Our speaker is a chemist and runs a pharmaceutical company and may indeed have biology credentials, but we we left early, lol. We are SUCH snobs!
Let me interject at this point that a mitigating factor to our so-so reaction to everything was that the hotel's air conditioning system was not functioning properly, and, as mentioned, the temps were approaching 100 degrees F outside. Air was moving, but it was not cool, so we were a bit crankier and harder to please that day than we might have been.
We then made our way to the auction room, which had many tanks set up, stacked from the floor to head height, all with number designations and in many cases a species ID for the fish within. There were no lights on the fish so you had to really know what you were looking for in order to make a bid. This again reminded us of our own club auctions, where people bring in fish in bags and float them, and if you don't know the person to ask you might not know what fish you were bidding on.
I honestly can't say what I expected, and why I was disappointed. I guess I expected Heiko Bleher to be there with a beautiful river biotope containing Altum angels, rummynose and cardinal tetras, leaf litter and floating plants placed strategically to mimic his personal recollection of the cichlid's native home. Maybe I expected displays of fish with descriptions, like a public aquarium. Why did I think the whole thing would be bigger and more interesting? I can't tell you - nobody ever told me, but I thought there'd be more fish for sale, rather than the tanks of discus, oscars, jack dempseys, jewels and assorted mbuna like you'd see at any decent fish store. Don't get me wrong - they did have some less common species, but in the dim stacked tanks they were hard to see, as many of them hid behind the sponge filter or other structure, naturally, after their ordeal of being moved.
I think once you return time and again you begin to recognize the people who are putting the fish up for auction, and plan ahead as to what fish you want, so you can bid on them when you get there. I would have loved to have gotten some interesting Apistogramma species, which is something I'm in the market for, but there were only A. cacatuoides, and though I would not mind having that species I was hoping for something a little less ordinary (the specimen they did have was in marvelous shape, though!).
We wound up leaving earlier than originally planned, and made a side trip to Pristine Aquariums in Alexandria, since one of our favorite things to do is to visit hole-in-the-wall fish stores wherever we go. It left much to be desired, though when I checked the web before heading over there they got rave reviews. It was on the way home, so no biggie, but we'd have sure been pleased if they had some Apistos or catfish that caught our eye! It is a very nice, clean shop, and a large one, so maybe they were low on stock and having a bad week.
Next up will be the Catfish Convention hosted by the PVAS next year, which I hope to be didactic and fruitful, though now I'm jaded! I know very little about catfish in general, though, so I'm looking forward to it.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Back From Purgatory
I must have been a bad girl because it indeed felt like punishment to be without my computer for three weeks while... (hmmm, should I give up the name of the esteemed personal computer megacorp as I tell my tale? No, better not. For ease of reading, however, let's say it rhymes with Hell) I waited for technical service and support to ship and install a new power supply.
Yes, the rare and elusive power supply that few IT people are ever able to get their hands on. Wouldn't you know that this was the very part that went bad on my machine while under warranty? Dang it! It stands to reason there would be a delay, since these crucial components are spun from the distilled condensation of the exhaled breath of the endangered Mauritius Kestral, then shipped to Bequia in the Grenadines for assembly by Rumpelstiltskin, who is the only individual capable of fitting the delicate parts together. Well, it takes a village, after all. So I waited patiently.
In all seriousness, the chap from service visited me twice after my initial call to Hell on 7/1 when my computer would not boot up at all. He came and identified the problem as the power supply, not the motherboard, as the chap on the phone in New Delhi diagnosed. In all fairness, the local service person said that it is typically one or the other, motherboard or power supply, and in his experience they always ship both, so there would be no delays, but wouldn't you know it - this is the one time they did not. "Oh well, they'll overnight it and I'll give you a call tomorrow to set up my return to get this all taken care of."
Ok, my business is almost impossible to run without my data (my careful backups I've been performing for years on an external hard drive are not recognized when I install the HD on my spare computer - that is an entirely different story!), but I'm remaining patient, cobbling together what I can from emails and my vendors to try to function with a fraction of my usual resources, slowing me down to a snail's pace but not letting my customers know there is anything amiss.
A few days later he returns with the box under his arm, and opens it to find, *gasp!*, no power supply. What the....??? He's just baffled. They sent another motherboard. He showed me his order form that clearly requested a power supply, but at this point I can't even deal with this fellow. I have no clue what the problem is but I need to complain about this. He said he'd place another order and apologized profusely. I'm frustrated and hobbled by an inferior spare computer (thank goodness I have one of those, I must say....) and I'm tired of this.
I call New Delhi once again and am told so many, many nice things. There is a script for the apologies, and also a script that goes something like this: "Let me give you my personal email, and you must use this from now on - do not call the number and get in the phone queue - I am taking personal responsibility for this case and I will see this through to resolution. My manager is also putting this as a top priority and in a moment I will put the call through to him so he can reassure you that he has taken personal responsibility to see that you are satisfied." I was told I'd be getting a call from him in the next few days to be sure my machine had been fixed. What can I say? I talked to his manager and asked to speak to HIS manager, and someone else got on the phone, etc., but they really can't say a whole lot to me except to express empathy for my situation and promise to rectify things.
Another week goes by, and I call again. They thought my problem was long since resolved! They thought I had another issue. Oh no, no resolution, no phone calls, no nothing. We go through the thing again, and I again get the same scripted "taking personal responsibility" thing, and I'm not having it. I explained that someone needed to get over here and put a new power supply in my machine so I can get on with my life. Their customer service had failed and I was not going to be quiet about it. Enough with New Delhi.
I went to the Hell website and began to search for someone who handles complaints. There are no individuals who do that - you can post feedback, which I did - but if you can't get any satisfaction there are simply no people who take responsibility for customer service, at least not that I could find on the website. I took myself over to the public forum, where you discuss with other Hell owners various computer problems and fixes for this and that. I ranted, and got some responses that essentially said I ought to have just fixed it myself and went on with my business, because this is nothing new. I suppose it is the principle of the thing now.
I got a call a few days later from New Delhi informing me that the power supply was on back order. That's right, back order. That's like going to Goodyear and being told they don't have tires because they're all on back order. Or Dunkin donuts has empty shelves because the flour is on back order. My &*%$ the power supply is on back order! They have power supplies stacked 25 deep, I promise. Contrary to my very immature opening of this post, power supplies are not fancy, not unusual, not an elite component whatsoever, and are as basic to a PC as a keyboard.
My feedback on the Hell website, which was comprehensive, sarcastic (you're kidding!) and lengthy, got someone's attention, but it was a very generic email asking me to provide contact info so they could call and get to the bottom of this issue. Hah.
Well, yet another week goes by and this morning my good buddy showed up again with yet another box under his arm, which did, in fact, contain a power supply and a motherboard, both of which he installed in just a few minutes. My computer is up and running, and I am giddy with excitement to be back up to speed. I have to update with all that went on while it was down, but that's no biggie. I'm an expert at this now. And all this only took 25 days! Amazing.
The best part? My monitor now works only at half brightness, so you can barely see what's on the screen. Perfect. Oh, wait, it was purchased at the time of my computer and is still under warranty! Thank goodness. Let me find that 800 number.....
Yes, the rare and elusive power supply that few IT people are ever able to get their hands on. Wouldn't you know that this was the very part that went bad on my machine while under warranty? Dang it! It stands to reason there would be a delay, since these crucial components are spun from the distilled condensation of the exhaled breath of the endangered Mauritius Kestral, then shipped to Bequia in the Grenadines for assembly by Rumpelstiltskin, who is the only individual capable of fitting the delicate parts together. Well, it takes a village, after all. So I waited patiently.
In all seriousness, the chap from service visited me twice after my initial call to Hell on 7/1 when my computer would not boot up at all. He came and identified the problem as the power supply, not the motherboard, as the chap on the phone in New Delhi diagnosed. In all fairness, the local service person said that it is typically one or the other, motherboard or power supply, and in his experience they always ship both, so there would be no delays, but wouldn't you know it - this is the one time they did not. "Oh well, they'll overnight it and I'll give you a call tomorrow to set up my return to get this all taken care of."
Ok, my business is almost impossible to run without my data (my careful backups I've been performing for years on an external hard drive are not recognized when I install the HD on my spare computer - that is an entirely different story!), but I'm remaining patient, cobbling together what I can from emails and my vendors to try to function with a fraction of my usual resources, slowing me down to a snail's pace but not letting my customers know there is anything amiss.
A few days later he returns with the box under his arm, and opens it to find, *gasp!*, no power supply. What the....??? He's just baffled. They sent another motherboard. He showed me his order form that clearly requested a power supply, but at this point I can't even deal with this fellow. I have no clue what the problem is but I need to complain about this. He said he'd place another order and apologized profusely. I'm frustrated and hobbled by an inferior spare computer (thank goodness I have one of those, I must say....) and I'm tired of this.
I call New Delhi once again and am told so many, many nice things. There is a script for the apologies, and also a script that goes something like this: "Let me give you my personal email, and you must use this from now on - do not call the number and get in the phone queue - I am taking personal responsibility for this case and I will see this through to resolution. My manager is also putting this as a top priority and in a moment I will put the call through to him so he can reassure you that he has taken personal responsibility to see that you are satisfied." I was told I'd be getting a call from him in the next few days to be sure my machine had been fixed. What can I say? I talked to his manager and asked to speak to HIS manager, and someone else got on the phone, etc., but they really can't say a whole lot to me except to express empathy for my situation and promise to rectify things.
Another week goes by, and I call again. They thought my problem was long since resolved! They thought I had another issue. Oh no, no resolution, no phone calls, no nothing. We go through the thing again, and I again get the same scripted "taking personal responsibility" thing, and I'm not having it. I explained that someone needed to get over here and put a new power supply in my machine so I can get on with my life. Their customer service had failed and I was not going to be quiet about it. Enough with New Delhi.
I went to the Hell website and began to search for someone who handles complaints. There are no individuals who do that - you can post feedback, which I did - but if you can't get any satisfaction there are simply no people who take responsibility for customer service, at least not that I could find on the website. I took myself over to the public forum, where you discuss with other Hell owners various computer problems and fixes for this and that. I ranted, and got some responses that essentially said I ought to have just fixed it myself and went on with my business, because this is nothing new. I suppose it is the principle of the thing now.
I got a call a few days later from New Delhi informing me that the power supply was on back order. That's right, back order. That's like going to Goodyear and being told they don't have tires because they're all on back order. Or Dunkin donuts has empty shelves because the flour is on back order. My &*%$ the power supply is on back order! They have power supplies stacked 25 deep, I promise. Contrary to my very immature opening of this post, power supplies are not fancy, not unusual, not an elite component whatsoever, and are as basic to a PC as a keyboard.
My feedback on the Hell website, which was comprehensive, sarcastic (you're kidding!) and lengthy, got someone's attention, but it was a very generic email asking me to provide contact info so they could call and get to the bottom of this issue. Hah.
Well, yet another week goes by and this morning my good buddy showed up again with yet another box under his arm, which did, in fact, contain a power supply and a motherboard, both of which he installed in just a few minutes. My computer is up and running, and I am giddy with excitement to be back up to speed. I have to update with all that went on while it was down, but that's no biggie. I'm an expert at this now. And all this only took 25 days! Amazing.
The best part? My monitor now works only at half brightness, so you can barely see what's on the screen. Perfect. Oh, wait, it was purchased at the time of my computer and is still under warranty! Thank goodness. Let me find that 800 number.....
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
A bit of catch-up...
It has been a while since I've updated the blog, and there are many reasons. Kids, especially those who plan on entering college next month, have taken a lot of my time (don't. even. mention. money.), plus rising 5th graders out of school and needing to be kept busy when I'm not working myself, which is not much of the time.
My tanks are all still up and running, and I am proud to say, right off the bat, that Otis, the adorable F8 puffer, has now been upgraded to a double wide, with his 10-gal swapped out for a 20! The tank looks virtually the same, with his central rocky cave and tower structures so he can explore on both sides, but there is a ton more room and this is the right amount of space for the little bugger. I used to think it would be too big, but honestly these are very dirty fish, messy eaters of heavy proteins, so the water quality is much easier to stay on top of with more water, and I truly believe he needs the space to stay sane. He uses every last inch of the tank, too.
I have also had some pretty major computer issues that have cropped up recently and I'm trying to get those resolved. My spare machine cannot recognize my camera and won't load the software to run the driver, so I can't upload any pics, so I will hopefully get that resolved soon.
The big news is that I have ember tetra fry, in a community tank, no less! This is the first time I've ever been aware of spawning tetras. The only other fish I've spawned in a community tank that was not one of the usual suspects (cichlid or livebearer or invert) was white cloud mountain minnows, but I'm much more excited about the embers. I noticed a subadult lurking in the java fern one day, and he was just too small to be one of the ones I purchased. I was scratching my head over that one when I noticed a wee tiny little group of fry! About 4 mm long. I got very excited and took a pic but, alas, I can't post it until I get my computer back. As of today I seem to have only one fry left (wahh!) but that is to be expected in a community setup. Current residents include het rasboras and a pair of wild caught rams. The rams truly stick to the bottom and I never see them even in the middle of the tank, and the ember fry stick right up to the very, very top, so that's why it worked out as well as it did so far.
Keep in mind, I did not plan on spawning the embers. I did not do extra water changes or prime the breeding pair (I don't even know which fish are the pair...) but simply kept the tank like I normally do, with weekly 50% water changes and daily feeds of quality flake (Omega One) and pellet (NLS Grow). This was a pure accident, and I could not be more delighted.
I'll post pics soon.
My tanks are all still up and running, and I am proud to say, right off the bat, that Otis, the adorable F8 puffer, has now been upgraded to a double wide, with his 10-gal swapped out for a 20! The tank looks virtually the same, with his central rocky cave and tower structures so he can explore on both sides, but there is a ton more room and this is the right amount of space for the little bugger. I used to think it would be too big, but honestly these are very dirty fish, messy eaters of heavy proteins, so the water quality is much easier to stay on top of with more water, and I truly believe he needs the space to stay sane. He uses every last inch of the tank, too.
I have also had some pretty major computer issues that have cropped up recently and I'm trying to get those resolved. My spare machine cannot recognize my camera and won't load the software to run the driver, so I can't upload any pics, so I will hopefully get that resolved soon.
The big news is that I have ember tetra fry, in a community tank, no less! This is the first time I've ever been aware of spawning tetras. The only other fish I've spawned in a community tank that was not one of the usual suspects (cichlid or livebearer or invert) was white cloud mountain minnows, but I'm much more excited about the embers. I noticed a subadult lurking in the java fern one day, and he was just too small to be one of the ones I purchased. I was scratching my head over that one when I noticed a wee tiny little group of fry! About 4 mm long. I got very excited and took a pic but, alas, I can't post it until I get my computer back. As of today I seem to have only one fry left (wahh!) but that is to be expected in a community setup. Current residents include het rasboras and a pair of wild caught rams. The rams truly stick to the bottom and I never see them even in the middle of the tank, and the ember fry stick right up to the very, very top, so that's why it worked out as well as it did so far.
Keep in mind, I did not plan on spawning the embers. I did not do extra water changes or prime the breeding pair (I don't even know which fish are the pair...) but simply kept the tank like I normally do, with weekly 50% water changes and daily feeds of quality flake (Omega One) and pellet (NLS Grow). This was a pure accident, and I could not be more delighted.
I'll post pics soon.
Central Virginia Aquarium Society!
It is finally here, the Central Virginia Aquarium Society, or CVAS. Someday soon we'll launch our website, cv-as.com.
I've been working with some awesome folks in the local Richmond and Tidewater aquarium hobby to make this thing happen, and we've had a few meetings already, which have been a success. Now our Tidewater contingency have broken off to start their own regional club, which I think is a rational decision considering what a pain it is to drive to Richmond for our club meetings - I belong to the PVAS and they have to have something pretty darn interesting happening for me to drive to Northern Virginia to attend. I can certainly understand. We will likely combine our chapters several times a year for a large meet and greet, but both our clubs need to get our footing.
We've mainly focused on holding swaps and auctions to raise money to fund things like our website, business cards, etc., and now that we finally have a club name (very recently) we can proceed with a logo and get our internet presence established.
This all could not have been possible without the aquarium hobby website USA Fisbhox, where we all met and realized that there are quite a few hobbyists in the central Virginia area.
It has taken quite a bit of time to get things organized. Right now we have a board, a secretary and a treasurer, but otherwise we don't have a constitution or a mission statement, bylaws, or any of that. I think we need to keep things simple right now as we grow.
This weekend is the big American Cichlid Association convention in Washington, DC, and I know I will be in attendance. This is my first ACA ever, though I've known about it for many years. This is the first time it was close enough to me and I did not have any conflicts. Love a road trip! I will try to post pics here upon my return.
I've been working with some awesome folks in the local Richmond and Tidewater aquarium hobby to make this thing happen, and we've had a few meetings already, which have been a success. Now our Tidewater contingency have broken off to start their own regional club, which I think is a rational decision considering what a pain it is to drive to Richmond for our club meetings - I belong to the PVAS and they have to have something pretty darn interesting happening for me to drive to Northern Virginia to attend. I can certainly understand. We will likely combine our chapters several times a year for a large meet and greet, but both our clubs need to get our footing.
We've mainly focused on holding swaps and auctions to raise money to fund things like our website, business cards, etc., and now that we finally have a club name (very recently) we can proceed with a logo and get our internet presence established.
This all could not have been possible without the aquarium hobby website USA Fisbhox, where we all met and realized that there are quite a few hobbyists in the central Virginia area.
It has taken quite a bit of time to get things organized. Right now we have a board, a secretary and a treasurer, but otherwise we don't have a constitution or a mission statement, bylaws, or any of that. I think we need to keep things simple right now as we grow.
This weekend is the big American Cichlid Association convention in Washington, DC, and I know I will be in attendance. This is my first ACA ever, though I've known about it for many years. This is the first time it was close enough to me and I did not have any conflicts. Love a road trip! I will try to post pics here upon my return.
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