Join us for the most festive event of the season - the JRAS Holiday Party! Get ready to unwrap the joy as we celebrate the magic of the holidays. It's time for the JRAS holiday party. This year it will be held from 6:00 pm on Saturday, December 6th at Roma Ristorante Italiano, 8330 Staples Mill Rd, Henrico, VA 23228. There will be a 'White Elephant' gift exchange so if you want to participate (and you probably do. It's so much fun), bring a wrapped, aquarium-related gift worth about $15. Each person who brings a gift will be able to join the fun. We are so looking forward to seeing you there. We request an RSVP by November 29 from anyone wishing to attend so we have an accurate count for the restaurant. Please reply to this message or RSVP to Dennis Bragg at 804-690-2152 or roovle@gmail.com. Let us know how many will be joining you so we can work with the restaurant to accommodate the number of people we will have.

This is our large fall auction of tropical fish, aquariums, supplies, and plants. Besides finding all kinds of fish and plants it is an opportunity to meet and socialize with many people in the hobby both from Richmond and our surrounding areas. This is a good time to share fish/plants and obtain new ones. Auction starts at 10:00 am, It will be ending when the last item is auctioned at approximately 5:00 pm. Check the auction tab for rules and guidelines on our website: www.jras.org The auction will be run through: www.mygroupauctions.com Please register any items you wish to sell on the My Group Auction website (above). You can also view items that individuals are putting in the auction to sell. PLEASE NOTE We will be at the New Location of LOGO ADVANTAGE new location: Logo Advantage 8055 Mechanicsville Tnpk, Mechanicsville, Va 23116 Just a few doors down from the old store - right across from the Post Office.

All members are invited to socialize. Lunch provided by the club.

Site visit to Coopers new pond

Jebriel is joining us from The Wet Spot. His specialty is aquarium plants. We are hosting him with GWAPA. He is also speaking at their meeting this weekend.

I have had a long history with aquarium keeping dating back to my child hood when my father had a 110gal tall tank with wild caught discus back in the early 90’s. around 2005 I got into saltwater and dove head first into breeding rare clownfish types but in 2014 got out of the hobby when I met my wife. Fast forward to 2018 my oldest son who was 3 at the time wanted a Betta and of course my brother bought it for him and that started my descent back in to the aquarium hobby. We went to our first pvas club meeting that same year right after the CatCon and it was so much fun and I met Frank Cowherd and was able to get my first bag of cherry shrimp. I fell in love with these little creatures and quickly setup their very own 2.5 gallon tank and quickly went from 10 to 100 in a matter of a several months. So I had to get another tank and look for other types. I truly enjoy research and found my passion in the harder to keep Caridina shrimp species and have gone from 1 dedicated shrimp tank to over 60 and 24 different fresh water shrimp variants. I focus on the genetics of shrimp keeping and have met some of the best breeders in the world and have had the pleasure of talking at many clubs up and down the east coast. I also compete in shrimp contest all over the US and have judged a few contests as well.

More information will be provided later. Time to be confirmed.

This is our large fall auction of tropical fish, aquariums, supplies, and plants. Besides finding all kinds of fish and plants it is an opportunity to meet and socialize with many people in the hobby both from Richmond and in surrounding areas. This is a good time to share fish/plants and obtain new ones.

Address will be given to attendees, car pooling is available.

Cameron Laufman has known from a young age that tropical fish keeping was the hobby for him. Starting at age 8 with a 75-gallon aquarium housing Piranha, Cameron quickly learned the joys (and pains) of the aquarium hobby. A native Midwesterner, Cameron was born and raised in West Lafayette, Indiana where he attended Purdue University, earning a degree in Fisheries and Aquatic Science. After several years of aquarium store retail, Cameron packed up and moved to the West Coast, where he resides today with his wife and their son, to manage The Wet Spot Tropical Fish, where he continues in an executive role. While Cameron’s passion is catfish, he ardently keeps fish of all varieties and is partial to any benthic species and their care, in addition to conservation.

Our April meeting will host Joshua Wiegert, our friend from up north. Most of you know Josh. He has been a speaker here at JRAS over the years. He is a well-respected source of knowledge in the aquarium world and a well known board member of the Mid Atlantic Carnivorous Plant Society. Josh's lecture will be focused on Aquatic Carnivorous plants and working them into our outdoor water gardens and ponds.

Blake and SJ Jimenez-Calhoun are a married couple from Barboursville, VA with a dual love of freshwater fish keeping. SJ has kept fish off and on for more than 20 years, most recently re-entering the hobby in 2018. Blake had one goldfish as a child unsuccessfully. After moving in together in 2019 Blake grew fond of aquascaping, and later breeding fish. The couple expanded from one tank to more than 100 tanks over the last 5 years. By day Blake and SJ spend their time advising students at the University of Virginia. By night they pick spawning mops, feed off brine shrimp, and talk fish. There will be a special dinner to celebrate Marty Verdery’s many contributions to the JRAS over the years. Please join us for pizza and cake at Logo Advantage at 6:00 pm to wish her well, as she departs for her new home in North Carolina

Ever since I was a kid, I can remember there always being at least one aquarium in the house. When I was 10 and living with my grandparents in Blackstone, Massachusetts, my uncle (who was still living at home….) was keeping and breeding show guppies in several (I think it was around 20 or so) aquariums. That was my first real exposure to breeding tropical fish and it snowballed from there. Also, during this time I also developed a liking for exploring the local streams and ponds in search of whatever “critters” I could find. I think you know where this is heading…..! Fast-forward 15 years to 1984…. I get my first introduction to killies, at a local killifish show at the exhibition halls at Balboa Park. I was absolutely in awe of just about every fish I saw, and I had to find out more. I contacted the local San Diego club as advertised at the show and attended my first killifish meeting with the likes of Monty Lehman, John Pitcairn, Russ Feilzer and other names I can’t remember. However, this was to be a short foray into the killie hobby since family and military obligations took precedence. After some life changes and a military transfer to Jacksonville, FL in 1992, I once again started looking for killifish contacts. By chance I was referred to and contacted Mark Rodriguez in Tampa, FL. I made the trip to his house and after he showed me around his “fish room” (actually in his living room) we spoke for a few hours about killies. I left there with several pairs of killies (blue gularis and others), as well as contact information for the AKA. At this time, I also renewed my love for tromping through the waterways in search of my own “wild fish”. Currently, I maintain approximately 325 tanks, mostly filled with my favorite genus, Rivulus, of which I maintain about 70 species/locations as well as my other passion, native fishes and killies, many of which I have collected myself. I still enjoy going on collecting trips, most notably trips to Panama 2006, 2009 and 2012, as well as Colombia in 2015, 2016, 2023 and 2024. I have also been privileged to be able to assist several scientific institutions by providing living and preserved samples for genetic research and am in the process of being appointed as a contract field research assistant for East Tennessee State University. I have had the honor of being invited to speak on my favorite genus at several local club shows and have been a speaker at six AKA national conventions. I have been a past (and present) member of the BOT (Board of Trustees) for 11 years between 2013 and 2025, serving 3 consecutive years as AKA BOT Chairman from 2022-2024. I am a former chairman of the Rivulus sub-committee of the AKA’s Killifish Conservation Committee, and I have been honored by the AKA as Killifish Hobbyist of the Year for 2000, 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2025, I was made a Fellow of the AKA.

Arlene will be sharing her tips and tricks for keeping your aquatic plants in good health. All beginners and experienced hobbyists are encouraged to attend.

Blake and Sonia (SJ) Jimenez-Calhoun are a married couple from Barboursville, VA with a dual love of freshwater fish keeping. SJ has kept fish off and on for more than 20 years, most recently re-entering the hobby in 2018. Blake had one goldfish as a child unsuccessfully. After moving in together in 2019 Blake grew fond of aquascaping, breeding fish, and what she calls “fish room engineering”. If SJ thinks it, Blake builds it! The couple expanded from one tank to more than 100 tanks over the last 6 years. By day Blake and SJ spend their time advising students at the University of Virginia. By night they pick spawning mops, feed off brine shrimp, and talk fish.

Bob has been importing fish in to his Va beach aquarium stores for almost 50 years. He has maintained very successful stores during that time. He will share with us his successes for finding quality sources, and the ability to keep his fish healthy and happy until they find their new homes. Because he surrounds himself with courteous caring staff, customers always come back. His dedication to the aquatic industry is unsurpassed. You don't want to miss this meeting, and bring your questions for Bob.

We have 3 amazing speakers scheduled for the morning and our 1/2 day auction in the afternoon. This awesome event will be on March 15th from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. We hope everyone can attend! Below are our speakers and topics they are speaking about: Ryan Chan - Breeding Amano Shrimp, Cardina multidentata, a scientific detailed walk through. Jamie Smith of Freshwater Aquatics - A Journey Downriver, a collecting tour of the amazon featuring plecostomus species. Gary Lange - The Most Amazing Rainbowfish. Gary will have select rainbow eggs available for auction directly after his talk. This special auction is available to anyone who is a paid lecture attendee. We will also be sending out information about getting ready for rainbowfish eggs and hatching rainbowfish eggs. So stay tuned for these updates. The fee to listen to the lectures is $15 for members and $25 for non members. We are offering pre-registration for this event. As always the auction after lunch is free for anyone to attend.

He will be presenting on his involvement in tropical fish, with speaking to us about his trips to Asia, and the contacts he has made there,,, also his progressive involvement with bringing in quality bloodlines of guppies and bettas to spread around the hobby. Tony graduated from VCU and has lived in Virginia for 15 years. He started out loving saltwater aquariums. Tony had a lot of fun keeping a reef tank, but then Covid happened. During that time, there was an explosion in the South East Asia area in show guppy and betta variations, Tony fell in love with them all over again. He has been keeping and breeding guppies, mollies, and bettas for over 2 years now.

Our members will be spearheading this topic, with several live cultures, and several options to offset your feeding program to keep your fish healthy and happy. Blake and SJ will be hosting a talk on their setup and program for keeping "Blackworms" Jim will show us a new setup for culturing Vinegar Eels, that will make keeping these little worms very easy and simple to feed your young fish. Anyone that wants a starter of "Green Water", "Infusoria", or "Daphnia" please bring a small bottle (water bottle size container) to the meeting and he will supply you with your own starter for these above cultures. Dennis will show us his microworm culture techniques, and this simple plan enables us to have live foods for our micro fish and young fry. We will also talk about easy methods for raising baby brine shrimp - a true staple for raising young fish, and works well for adults too. David will walk us through making Repashy, a true tested gel food that is good for just about anything you have from shrimp to fish.. We will have an open discussion about other good quality foods to keep your fish fat and healthy.

Gary Hater is a former professional biologist with a bachelors and a master’s degree. His professional career was in the environmental field and centered around water quality, air quality, bioremediation, research and development, and waste water treatment. Gary started in the aquarium hobby in the mid 1960’s and moved almost exclusively into goldfish in the 1980’s after breeding livebearers, South American and African Cichlids. Over years he has bred over twenty varieties of goldfish and has maintained several rare lines for decades. These rare lines include Philadelphia Veiltails, English Veiltails, Bristol Shubunkins, and Broadtail Moors. His hobby is best described as very large with 70 - 90 indoors tanks and tubs, and numerous outdoor ponds and seasonal tubs. Gary has brought Steamed Eggs into the mainstream for feeding juvenile and adult fish. He was the first President and founding member of The Goldfish Council, a 501(c)3 a non-profit charity. Gary was a co-chairman of the Goldfish Society of America, (GFSA), and a member of the American Goldfish Association, (AGA). Gary was born and still lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where he continues to be a member of the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society (GCAS). He has been a club member for over 30 years. Other interests include fishing, Chestnut farming, bee keeping, gardening and koi keeping. Gary has been retired since 2015 and married for almost 50 years.

Catfish expert and naturalist Shane Linder is the “Shane” behind Planetcatfish.com‘s Shane World. Shane’s World houses well over 150 articles by various catfish experts making it the largest such resource known to exist. Shane is also a frequent contributor to several US and international aquarium periodicals and has been a guest speaker at numerous fish conventions in the US and Europe. From 2000-2020 Shane lived and collected fishes extensively in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Uganda, and Nigeria. He has made additional collecting expeditions into Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.

David Snell has been a tropical fish hobbyist since 1993. Since then he has spawned and raised numerous killifish, as well as various tetras, corydoras, a few cichlids and the occasional Loricariid (L-333) He has been active in the tropical fish hobby in the Washington DC area serving in former PVAS positions to include: Treasurer & Board Member, 3 terms as President, and 1 term as VP. He’s currently serving on the BOD as the club’s registered agent. He’s also been an avid auctioneer since the 90s. In addition to PVAS, he is a member of the American Killifish Association (AKA) since 1996, lifetime AKA member since 2006, as well as a member of the Mid Atlantic Killifish Organization. David is an avid photographer. He has had articles and photographs published in FAMA, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Journal of the American Killifish Association, ACA’s Buntbarshe Bulletin, and NANFA’s American Currents. He has collected fishes in Venezuela in 2002, Peru in 2007, 2013, 2017 and most recently in October 2023 collecting on the Rio Tapiche. The presentation is a travelogue of pictures, short videos and drone images: Exploring the Rio Tapiche: Collecting, Community & Clinics (the trip that was not supposed to happen).

Annual Spring Fling. There will be presentations in the morning and an auction in the afternoon.

Rice fish are some of the most exciting fish in the hobby! Blake and SJ keep several varieties are looking forward to sharing their expertise.