Greater Akron Aquarium Society

Next Meeting Is on Friday, March 13, 2026

Please join us for our next meeting, on Friday, March 13, 2026. The meeting starts at 8 pm and is held at the Ritchie Memorial Shelter House, 109 West Avenue, Tallmadge, Ohio. The meeting is free and open to the public. We will have refreshments, a mini-auction that includes BAP/HAP submissions, and a product raffle. The Bowl Show classes for March will be Barbs; Mollies; Corydoras, Aspidoras, and Brochis.

Growth Program Kick-off: See details about the Growth Program 2026 below. GAAS members—if you would like to participate, just show up at the March 13 meeting and pick up a bag of juvenile Pseudocrenilabrus sp. ‘Ruaha.’

The March program, titled Collecting and Keeping North American Native Fishes, will be provided in-person by Cody Cromer. Cody, who was born and raised in the greater Akron area, will be speaking on how he collects natives and how you can too. He will also recommend some native fishes that may be a good choice if you would like to collect or keep some unique and underrated species in aquaria.

Growth Program 2026

►If you would like to participate, just show up at the March 13 meeting and pick up a bag of juveniles.

This year we’re going to use Pseudocrenilabrus sp. ‘Ruaha,’ which is a small mouthbrooding cichlid native to the Ruaha River in Tanzania. Maximum size is listed as about 3 inches, which makes it manageable for most aquarists. GAAS member, Dave Williamson will be providing these fish for the Growth Program. Based on Dave’s personal experience with the parents of the fish we will be using, their temperament is pretty docile for an African cichlid. Adult males can get a little rough with each other, but other species of fish were generally ignored.

All GAAS members are eligible to participate in the Growth Program 2026.

Presently the juveniles are between 3/8″ and 1/2″ and will eat most typical aquarium foods as long as it is small enough to swallow. The Growth Program will end with the November 2026 meeting, just bring in your largest individual. This isn’t like the show judging, only size is considered. It’s that simple, largest fish wins a cash prize!

If you would like to participate, just show up at the March 13 meeting and pick up a bag of juveniles. If for some reason you aren’t able to attend the meeting, contact Dave at dwilliamson223@hotmail.com and we’ll try to work something out.

A side competition: If any of the fish from this program successfully spawn by the November judging, the first breeder also gets a cash prize!

Good luck and good growing!

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.

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.