Come to the Ultra-Aqua 2026—June 13-14, 2026
Come join the fun at the Ultra-Aqua 2026, be held this weekend, June 13-14, 2026, at the Tallmadge Community Center. The Ultra-Aqua weekend includes a 55 Class All-Species Tropical Fish Show, Saturday Swap Meet, Saturday Speaker and Dinner, and Sunday Fish and Plant Auction. The event is open to the public and free to attend. For dinner on Saturday, all attendees will pay $5.00. See details on the Ultra-Aqua page.
►Note that the Saturday night dinner will start at 6:00 pm (not at 7 pm).
During the Sunday auction, there will be raffles for rare and desirable fish. We will have the following fish in the raffles, and updates on this list will be made this week:
- 6 Osteogaster shultzei (black)
- 3 Rineloricaria eigenmanni (Common Whiptail)
- 5 CW217 Cory (Rio Tomo Concolor Cory) half inch long
►For travelers on I-77 Northbound (coming from south of Akron), please be aware of the closure of I-77 at the I-76 exchange. As you travel on I-77 North, please know that I-77 / Rt 8 is closed at the I-76 exchange and at that point you can only go east or west on I-76. So, go east (right) on I-76 East and then exit at Gilchrist Road and turn left to get to Rt 91 north (which will take you to Tallmadge)…..or continue on I-76 East and exit at Southeast Ave and turn left on Southeast Ave to go to the Tallmadge Circle.
Click on the image below to view and download the Ultra-Aqua 2026 show filer with show rules.
Our Ultra-Aqua 2026 Sponsors
Please see the full listing of the show sponsors here. We are grateful for these sponsors who make the show awards possible.
Swap Meet Vendors for the Ultra-Aqua 2026 on June 13
Thanks to all of the Swap Meet Vendors for their participation!
Here is the list of swap meet vendors who will be attending the Swap Meet on Saturday, June 13, 2026 (Noon to 5 pm at the Tallmadge Community Center):
►Caveman Creations
►Beautiful Aquatics Click Here to Download the Price List for Pre-Orders
►Neptune Aquatics
►Adam Fox
►Steve Brunn and The Professor
►Shelbie Schatz—Fins & Flora
►Mark Allar
►Mark Herman
►Robert West — Azul Aquatics — Download Item List for Saturday
►Awesome Aquatics
►There will be no food served out of the kitchen during the Saturday Swap Meet.
►Around the Tallmadge Circle, the following restaurants can be found (some can be called for takeout orders): Arby’s, Aura The Himalayan Kitchen, Breakfast at Tiffani’s Cafe (just a walk across the street), Danny Boy’s, East Avenue Gyros, Fire House Grille & Pub, Golden Place Chinese Restaurant, Jimmy John’s, La Mexicana Cantina & Grill Tallmadge, McDonalds, Sammie Bar and Grill, Subway, Taco Bell, Tres Potrillos (Mexican), Wally Waffle, West Ave Tavern, and Yummy Kitchen.
Dinner Program on Saturday June 13 at the Tallmadge Community Center
The Ultra-Aqua dinner will be hosted by GAAS, which begins at 6:00 pm. This year, we are going to ask all comers to purchase dinner for $5. Saturday’s dinner will be a Pasta Bar, which will include pasta, red sauce, alfredo sauce, meatballs, Italian sausage, grilled chicken, salad, dinner rolls, desserts, and beverages.
This year’s speaker will be Sabu Yamamoto, and he will be presenting his talk, What the L? — An Introduction to Plecos.
Program Description: Many people get suckered (LoL) into buying a pleco to clean their tanks. They’re seen as entry level fish, yet they can be so much more! There are hundreds of varieties, each unique in their own way. The goal of this presentation is to give an overview on one of the most fascinating groups of fish.
Save the Date—Saturday, June 20, 2026—for Native Fish Collection
GAAS is planning an outing to catch and photograph native fish on Ohio’s Free Fishing Weekend in June. Members of GAAS will meet at 9 am at the Water Works Park, 2025 Munroe Falls Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 44221. Bring collecting nets, buckets, bags, and containers for viewing fish. The event will wrap up around noon. We will have access to the Cuyahoga River and adjacent water features at the rear of the Water Works Park. More details can be downloaded here.
May Meeting Summary
On May 8, we had a shared meeting with our friends at the Medina County Aquarium Society. Together we enjoyed an informative and educational talk from Prof Jason Den Haese, who offered an inside look at his various armored catfish aquarium setups.
April Meeting Summary
During the April meeting, Kristen Kodish led the presentation but the “speakers” were the members of GAAS. Kristen presented the club’s purpose, history, events, and membership survey results and then skillfully transitioned to an open forum to hear what members had to say.
March Meeting Summary
The March program was provided by Cody Cromer, and he showcased many native species that he has caught from his many travels. Many of his pictures showed native fishes in the beauty of their breeding dress. Thank you, Cody for a fantastic talk!
February Meeting Summary
We thank Dr Peter Dijkstra, faculty member in the Department of Biology at Central Michigan University, in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, for providing an excellent for the February program, titled Colors and Conflicts: The Social Lives of Cichlids. Dr Dijkstra’s lab studies fish brains and the fascinating inner workings of Lake Victoria cichlids. His research uses state-of-the-art tools to understand how social dynamics shape a cichlid’s physiology and brain.
Figure reprinted from Dijkstra PD et al. Oxidative stress in the brain is regulated by social status in a highly social cichlid fish. Front Behav Neurosci. 2024;18:1477984.
© 2024 Dijkstra et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Spring Auction Pictures
The GAAS Spring Auction, held on March 1, was a great success, thanks to the many participants who bought, sold, and volunteered throughout the day. There were more than 1,000 items auctioned by Randy and George. See more springtime regional auctions listed here.