December 9th. 2010 PROGRAMME PLANNING MEETING
November 25th. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. After all the jobs have been taken, sit back and enjoy a Fish 'n Chip Supper plus
a look at the Review of the Year.
One or two surprises on the night. First, an old friend (sorry about the old!) from the past, Kevin King dropped in having moved back
to the area after a very long absence. He hopes to become a regular member.
As you win one, you lose one and it was a real shock to
hear from Pete Caira that he is calling it a day,
not only in his Judging capacity but also he may not
be such a frequent member next year.
Pete has been a great servant to the Club over the
many years and we'll be sad not to have him around so often.
Otherwise, a great AGM - most of the posts were filled,
optimism looks OK for next year and the Fish 'n Chip Supper
went down well.
The evening was rounded off by a distinctly cheeky
Review of the Year - watch out, you never know when the
camera might catch you in an inappropriate moment!
November 11th. PHOENIX AQUARIUM. Another re-arrangement due to the fact that there had been quite an exposure to Furnished Aquariums
at the Club this year. The change meant that Dick didn't have to dash around at the last minute to video home aquariums but instead he presented
a visual tour of the Aquarium in Phoenix, Arizona. No less than three separate buildings are used with a proposed outside Koi feature promised
for the future. We hope they like the usually over the 100 degree temperatures they'll be getting every summer!
October 28th. CLOSED SHOW AWARDS EVENING.
A slightly different programme.
In place of the previously advertised
'Review of the Year' the Closed Show
Awards evening also featured Peter Anderson
showing off the numerous Furnished Aquariums
at the recent Festival of Fishkeeping, including
the decorative tanks and the Society Furnished
Aquarium Competition - which Hounslow won!
October 18th. CLOSED SHOW
An excellent entry of fishes,
this was more like a mini-Open Show.
Bob, Malcolm and Peter had a hard afternoon's
work to judge all the exhibits before we had to
get the Hall re-tidied up for the next user.
As usual there were plenty of refreshments
and good humour - but it was still a very hectic day!
October 14th. PHOTOGRAPHIC EVENING. A whole army of wannabe David Baileys trained their cameras on the fish -
then suffered anxieties
as their efforts were shown
on the big screen!
However, there were many more successes
than failures and, armed with a new mini-adaptor,
the projector could actually show everyone's pictures,
no matter what size memory card was used.
September 30th OPEN SHOW REVIEW
The Open Show turned out to be even better than the earlier reports suggested.
Thanks to the hard work of all concerned, the various 'incomes' from the Club Shop, Raffle, Refreshments and Entry Fees all resulted in a net profit of nearly £150!
Special thanks to Vic Higgs as he stands down as Show Manager after many years of organising the 'fixtures and fittings' .
September 16th
With over 200 entries the night before, it was clear we were in for a large entry on the day and so it proved with 291 entries being benched.
The day before, we had removed all the useful stuff from what remained of our shed at Funky Fish, as it will in future now be stored at
Brentford, just down the road from the Show Hall. As happens so often, the weather was just great and a very busy day was had by all -
but don't ask any members what they thought of the Show as most were too busy working to have time to look!
TDC took all honours, Terry Hewitt sneaks a 'BIS Reserve'; Jack Finnigan's Zebra Danio made him BEST JUNIOR.
The vague 'Shanghai' Rules restricted entries but made interesting judging.
TDC (D) TDC (J) TDC (V) TDC (BIS)
Amphilophus robertsoni Rasbora vulcanus Red Fantail Nothobranchius eggersi (Blue)
TDC (PAIRS) TDC (BREEDERS)
Xiphophorus multilineatus Tanichthys micagemmae
Thanks to all who helped to make it a super day, we'll find out all the facts and figures at the next meeting.
September 16thMaybe not the most attractive evening of the year but certainly an important one as we delegate resposibilities for the
build up to our Open Show on the 19th. If you can lend a hand at some stage , particularly on Friday afternoon and evening, all day on the
Saturday plus a couple of hours on the Sunday morning then the Show Committee will be eternally grateful.
September 6th. The BRENTFORD FESTIVAL at Boston Manor provided another annual opportunity to attract members to the Club.
Our display tent was three times its usual gazebo size, thanks to Joe Nethersell, and contained not only displays and information about the Club
but also a Competition to win a family weekend at the Festival of Fishkeeping (again by courtesy of Joe).
As usual the setting up was a humorous affair (intentional or not!) but the end result was a very comfortable display area. A good number of people
came to the Stand and all were invited to visit either the Club or, at least, pop into our Open Show to see the fish.
We were lucky in that the sun shone for most of the day (the temperature in the unheated Guppy/White Clouds tank appeared to touch 84 degrees!)
and a great time was had by all. Let's hope we get some tangible results out of the effort spent.
September 2nd. HOME FURNISHED AQUARIUM COMPETITION 2002. If the BBC and ITV can rely on repeats then so can we!
Relive Malcom Goss's judging of our first video'ed competition.
It came as a shock to some of the newer members just how young some of the rest of us looked in this 7 year-old video!
However, it also came across as a great entertaining and informative programme about the intricacies of creating (and maintaining)
a Furnished Aquarium to the demanding standards expected by the Judge.
We welcomed Barry officially as a new, paid-up member to the Club.
August 19thAQUARAMA 2009 presented by Dick Mills. Singapore's latest Fish Show
The hot evening provided almost the appropriate atmosphere for this talk, especially when you consider the Show's marine tanks had to have chillers fitted!
Compared to our judging system, their's uses multiple Judges per Class and can be very complicated. The range of fish included the sublime and the ridiculous
depending on your personal choice and much the same could be said about the products and equipment on view.
Our new visitor, Barry, seemed to enjoy it so it can't have been too bad!
August 5thNATIVE MARINE FISHES presented by Ron Allum
A talk well worth waiting/re-arranging the calendar for! For sheer enthusiasm, you have to admit Ron takes the biscuit!
Who else could set up and maintain a native marine aquarium on half a shoestring, keep it all going for several years
and actually return bigger fish to the wild than he took from it?
If this achievement doesn't astound you, then how about his superb feat of memory in just remembering all the details?
There weren't any pictures or diagrams either, just Ron telling you how it was, still is and probably will be in future!
July 22ndSHOWING, JUDGING AND POINTING FISH. Bob Esson's talk has been brought forward to replace the previously planned programme
A delayed start, during which important Club business was discussed - such as the impending rent increase! - meant that Bob's detailed and informative
talk was still going strong around 10.30pm. This resulted in the lower than usual attendance having a late night!
Seats in Peter Quested's new car are up for grabs for a Thursday (day after next meeting) Club outing to Dorking and most fish shop points west.
July 8thth TABLE SHOW - PAIRS and BREEDERS
It was down to just two contestants but,
if your name was Peter, you still got a card!
With Ron and Dave Brooks away, it fell to
Messrs Anderson and Quested to battle it
out for Pairs and Breeders honours in the
final Table Show of the year.
We must express our appreciation of Pete Caira,
our resident Judge, for all his work during the year -
only the Closed Show to go now, Pete!
Earlier, a visit from 'The Rent Man' put back
the meeting schedule more than a few minutes
as we debated the proposed increases!
July 1stth POND DIPPING EVENING - Not too many words, let the pictures do the talking.
June 24thth SOME WORLD-WIDE PUBLIC AQUARIUMS. Join Hounslow and see the world!
Most other people's holidays photos are a bit boring, but Peter and Hanne are not only enviable in their choice of destinations but
their resulting videos are also very interesting when viewed through fishkeepers' eyes.
Their Vancouver Aquarium episode featured three generations of White Beluga Whale (OK we know it's not a fish!) and Hanne
only just missed the birth of a new 'calf' to the Grandmother.
Dubai generally means lots of glitz, bling and a seriously damaged credit card into the bargain. Another thing in its favour (if you're not
into retail therapy) is that it features two aquariums - one in a Shopping Mall and another in the Atlantis Hotel in the fantastic
Jumeriah 'Palms' development. All-round '5 Star' entertainment Hanne!
June 17thth BBQ NIGHT
We might as well call this
'Weather or not to have it Night'
as we never quite seem to get the
weather we either want or had been
having for the previus days!
Nevertheless, despite some depleted
numbers, it all turned out to be the usual
enjoyable evening.
Only one casualty on the BBQ front and
Janet even took time out from being the
hostess to take the photos!
June 10thth TABLE SHOW EVENING - Livebearers
With such a good number of fish on the bench,
it was decided to split the entries into popular groups.
Apologies for poor quality of Guppy photo -
sometime they come out good, sometimes they don't!
May 27thth NEW PRODUCTS
Peter Anderson's annual dip into all that's new from the aquatic Trade.
Very many thanks to Norwoods for supplying plenty of items,
most of which were snapped up at bargain prices!
May 13thth TABLE SHOW EVENING - Goldfish and Any Other Coldwater Fish.
April 29thth BRING 'N BUY. Watch out for that rubber Chicken!
By all accounts, all the usual suspects were lined up for transition to their new owners!
This traditionally 'late night' saw some good fish purchases being made,
thanks to members bringing out their surplus livestock.
April 15thth TABLE SHOW EVENING plus mini-talks by Peter Anderson and Malcolm Goss.
Another excellent display of fishes,
although the numbers (fortunately!) were down
a little this time but still plenty to keep
Judge Pete Caira fully occupied.
Malcolm and Peter Anderson provided insights
into the Catfishes, Danios and Loach species
with some good slides.
Sadly, the tragic news about Peter Lawrence
rather took the fun out of it all.
April 1stthAQUARIUM PLANTS presented by Malcolm Goss
This wide-ranging presentation from Malcolm
included both pond and aquarium plants from
"a few years ago now" right up to today's more
than realistic plastic replicas.
The top left picture shows a mixture of real and
replica plants (and logs) in a furnished aquarium,
the lower picture shows the Skunk Cabbage,
Lysichiton americanus, in its more usual
yellow form.
Another informative evening and yet again we had a
new face amongst us - let's hope Andre continues
to keep with us company!
March 18thth TABLE SHOW EVENING plus mini-talks from Ian Glaubes and Spike Collins.
CORRECTION! It was more like
our Closed Show - entry numbers
were so large and the 'mini-Talks'
anything but!
Not only that, there were 23 members
present too.
Pete Caira was left wondering whether
his decision to become a Table Show Judge
was a good idea after all.
March 4thth Another 'home-grown' lecture with Peter Anderson giving FILTRATION AND WATER QUALITY a thorough going over.
With excellent participation from the audience (no-one minds asking questions of a fellow-member) it proved to be a most informative
evening, well-backed up with equipment treatments etc.
February 18thth Into the unknown in more ways than one! With our famous LUCKY DIP SLIDE SHOW, you never know what slide
you'll be expected to comment upon but the added risk factor this time around, is whether Pete Anderson can make Dick's
digital projector deliver the goods! Note: Dick's mobile will definitely be switched off this evening.
Having not heard any reports to the contrary, the evening must have been a success, both technically and aquatically!
February 4thth SETTING UP THE AQUARIUM It's Vic's turn to present a topic for beginners - or even a reminder for seniors!
This what a Fish Club should be all about - members fully taking part and learning from each other's experiences.
In the third programme of the year, Vic provided a simple setting-up menu for the freshwater tropical aquarium.
Rather than taking time to expand each 'component' subject (which may have meant running out of time!),
topics that really were of interest to members were brought out after the tea break and discussed more fully, as required.
One item of interest was mentioned by Ashby - a T8 to T5 conversion kit (1" diameter fluorescent tubes to 5/8" diameter
tubes to the rest of us!). You can see details of a DIY conversion HERE
January 21st WHAT FISH MEMBERS ACTUALLY KEEP After the 'theory'of last meeting now's the time for members
to come clean as to what they really have in their tanks.
A most entertaining evening with many early fishkeeping experiences coming to light. A common theme seemed to be 'I persuaded my wife to let me .....!'
but there were some great eye-openers as the diverse fishkeeping whims, pitfalls and successes of members were revealed.
What delighted us most was the participation of new member, Pete Lawrence, who showed no shyness at all in describing his progress in the hobby.
Comments ranged from almost one-line anecdotes to full-scale historically-accurate descriptions of tank acquisitions, building works, fireplace demolition jobs -
in fact, if you could imagine it, it had happened to a fish tank somewhere!
January 7thth WHAT FISH TO KEEP? The first meeting of the year supposedly imagined that all members were new to the hobby
not knowing what to keep, or what was even available to them. Dick presented the whole spectrum - freshwater (tropical and coldwater)
and marines - outlining the possibilities and some of the pitfalls awaiting any newcomer to the hobby. It was a pity that some of our
newer members
weren't there to take note.
At long last,
Ashby was
presented with
his Club badge and Janet stepped up for a hug from Chairman Pete Anderson
as he presented her with the 'Ladies Award' for 2008,
kindly donated by Bob Nelhams.
December 10th CHRISTMAS PARTY! Don't forget to bring a glass, a gift-wrapped prize/surprise/novelty for 'The Game' and your photos.
Hounslow's Helping
Hints
Hounslow's Secret Weapon!
Hounslow's Recommended Top Shops
Hounslow's Pond Primer
Which Fish to Keep?
Hounslow's Marine Manual
TRY THE HOUNSLOW LUCKY DIP
SLIDE SHOW EXPERIENCE!
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