I’ve been seeing their ads in the classifieds at work, and in the back of my favorite aquarium magazine, for years, and kept intending to go.  I never found the time.

My aquarium hobby has fallen into disrepair with my busy life taking over.  My fish haven’t suffered- I keep low stock levels.  But the appearance of the tanks has definitely taken a bad turn.  I look at the tanks and just feel like someone could write “clean me” in the algae.  Or “failure.”

I’ve also been unable to find the kind of hobbyists I used to know in Bloomington, when I worked at an aquarium store.  The folks bred their own fish, had really nice setups, and cared for the creatures- not buying something that was ‘cool’ only to kill it.  The South side pet stores include chains who don’t know fish and a semi-local chain with a good selection of fish but horrible husbandry habits.  They churn through livestock and personnel so much that it is really sad.

So Carlton almost forced me to go to this meeting.  I’m so glad I did.  Aquarium nerds are a lot like Gen Con nerds, but with different witty sayings on their t-shirts.  They are also some of the nicest people on the planet.