Since I was a little boy, I have always kept pets. I kept a fish tank in my early teens, so being a member of our Club is no surprise to me.

Having been a member for several years now, I have always heard about the ACA Conventions and knew I had to attend one to see what it was all about! I came close to attending the one last year, but when I heard this one was going to be in Silver Springs, Maryland, I had to go! So I started to plan. At first it seemed as though quite a few members were going, but eventually it was just Club Vice President, Nyon Steede, and I carrying the flag for Bermuda. I must say, Nyon was so helpful from day one and throughout the Convention. Thanks again mate.

Okay, so now I know I am going and so I book the hotel, flight, and of course secure a permit to import fish as I have heard so much about the various fish auctions and fish for sale! Again, I looked to Nyon for advice on what to take, and he obliged. Nyon said it would be great if I would bring four bottles of Black Rum and 3, 2-litre bottles of Ginger Beer, as it was a tradition for our Club to make “Dark & Stormies” at the Convention. So, I was off to get the 3 bottles of Ginger Beer to pack in my suitcase and figured that when I got to the airport, I would pick up the box of rum and walk on the plane. Well, they say you learn something new every day! After checking in at the ticket counter I walked over to the duty-free shop to get the Black Rum. The sales associate informed me that I can’t carry the rum on board anymore and that I’d have to put it in my suitcase. Praise the Lord I had a carry-on bag so I could take some stuff out of my suitcase to get in the case of rum.

I’m on my way! First to New York and then in this little, tiny plane to D.C. - you know, the planes where the pilots load the suitcases and then ask you to shift to distribute the weight evenly in the plane! Once I arrived in D.C., I went to collect my luggage and knew my bag was coming because I could smell the rum! Once it got to me, I noticed the rum seeping through my suitcase. It didn’t make any sense opening the suitcase as there was nothing I could do about it at the airport, so off I went to the convention hotel. Arriving in my room at the hotel, I took the suitcase straight to the bathroom. As soon as I opened it, I could hear the glass from a broken bottle. The sales associate at the Bermuda airport’s duty free shop neglected to inform me that I could have purchased plastic bottles of rum! The good news was that only one bottle broke but the bad news was that all my clothes were soaked with rum. Thank goodness the hotel had a small laundry area one floor up, so my task for the next two hours was to wash my clothes. I then met with Nyon and we dined at Red Lobster where they sat us next to a large fish tank!

I spent my first day visiting family in the area and Nyon cooled out and did some shopping. Once the Convention started, I found everyone to be so helpful and the talks very informative. The host club for the convention had tanks decorated throughout the hotel and these were auctioned off toward the end of the convention. There was a spectacular Marineland 300-gallon tank just off the lobby that was fully stocked with South American cichlids. There were several vendors there on the first and fourth floors. It was certainly the place to be if you love tropical fish, in particular, cichlids. I was fortunate enough to purchase two of Ad Koning’s books at the book stall. He knew our President well – sounds like he had been a great customer over the years. I had Ad sign both of his books and another that I purchased at the Babes Silent Auction of dry goods. Their fish auction was a sight to behold. It was certainly a fun night. Nyon and I got some good deals there – I’m talking about $11.00 for a bag of eight great fry!!!
I also got some nice South American Cichlids as well in one the hotel rooms where fish were for sale. Some of the fish I got were Amphilophus Festae “Red Terror”, Parachromis “Red Tiger” Motaguensis, Nandopis Beani, Paratheraps Fenestratus, and one other which I will need Nyon’s help with! I also got some nice Geophagus Altifrons but lost all of them in transport. Well, they say where there’s a will, there’s a way. I knew that after the convention I would be driving up to Pennsylvania to meet up with my wife and daughter and staying there for three nights and then flying home, but I was determined to get my fish back to Bermuda!

At the Convention, I had rented three, 20-gallon tanks to hold my fish that I bought during the convention. Nyon had already secured some breathable bags from Rusty, so when it was time to remove the fish from the rental tanks on Sunday morning; I got a Styrofoam cooler from one of the guys. I caught the fish and Nyon tied the bags. Once we got the fish back to my room, Nyon then showed me how to pack the fish in the Styrofoam cooler which was great. I ended up taking a Convention sign to use as dividers in the Styrofoam cooler to make separate compartments for the bags of fish. The Styrofoam cooler was completely full once we had finished packing, which was a God send for me as it would have been difficult to go to the big Convention fish auction that was starting that morning at 10:00 a.m. and not purchase anything. And I can only imagine how awesome the Convention fish auction was if the Babes Auction was just a small one. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Babes auction didn’t end until 1:00 a.m. and then Nyon set up the Dark & Stormy bar in the hospitality suite as this was our only opportunity. Nyon also took some Rum Swizzle which was a hit. I must say, that after attending landscape conferences and seminars for a quarter of a century, it was great to see this fellow Bermudian being a true ambassador, as I did all those years at landscape conferences. I can assure you that the Bermuda Club was represented well.

Okay, back to getting the fish home. I had a 4-hour drive ahead of me from the Convention hotel to the hotel in Pennsylvania. Once I got in the hotel in PA, I took all the fish out of the Styrofoam cooler and put them on top of the dresser which thankfully, had a granite top. You can only imagine the look on my wife, Luan’s face, when she walked in the room! While there, I did as Nyon said and kept the room dark. As Nyon had said one fish per bag does much better because having two in a bag might lead to one harassing the other to death. I had to remove the dead ones and do some water changes and rebag the fish. One thing I messed up with is that I should have gotten more breathable bags from Nyon. Since I had to reuse the breathable bags, I had to rely on my daughter, Lindsay, and wife, Luan, to untie and retie the bags. There were some more casualties during the other two days, but I was so happy after getting up at 5:30 in the morning to return to Bermuda to find only one casualty. It is amazing how resilient these fish are. They hadn’t been fed for a week before I bagged them up and they were in the bags for 4 days! Again, if there’s a will, there’s a way.

Overall, it was an awesome experience. I made some great contacts, new friends, and would really encourage any member that hasn’t been before, to attend the ACA in Indianapolis next July. Oh, and don’t forget, purchase “plastic” bottles of Black Rum!