5/16 SWDA Meeting Feedback

[diamond_discus]

Hi everyone:

Thanks for joining us for a great meeting this afternoon. I hope everyone had a great time. I would like to thank Kevin for providing his warehouse for our meeting. I also like to thank those who donated stuff for our raffle. Last but not leat, thanks for the sponsors who donated samples for us.

We still need to finalize our group name. Feel free to post your suggestion here. For the time being, we will probably switch to SWDC (Soutwest Discus Association).

Go ahead and post your meeting feedback and pictures here. Looking forward to see you all again in 3 months (at San Deigo).

-Larry

[diamond_discus]

Here're some pictures of the meeting :

Our 3 experts : Kevin (notjustfish), Bill (InlandEmpireDiscus) , and Chad Hughes
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4217.jpg
At the left, Ricardo & Benedict (gotfish?), In the front, Marco (bolivianram10)
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4209.jpg
New to Discus, Judy (Oroborus) and Joel .. Can't keep their eyes off their first purchase :-)
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4208.jpg
Nick, one of our photographer
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4207.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4206.jpg
Nick again .. looking to take some close up discus shot
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4205.jpg
Judy getting advice from Kevin
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4204.jpg
Ricardo (rickztahone) said to Chad : I didn't know you are so tall .. and so "young" ...
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4201.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4195.jpg
How I wish to have a system like this in my garage .. Super nice ..
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4194.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4193.jpg
In the middle, George (discusgeo2) drove 5 hours from Phoenix, Arizona .. What a great guy...
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4192.jpg
Glenn (nazzman), the guy with name tag .. He's Nick's dad.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4191.jpg
Chad and Bill bidding for a nice Heckel ..
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4219.jpg

[diamond_discus]

Our food and sample tables ... Look at people are busy collecting their goodies

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4202.jpg
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http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4187.jpg
Benedict trying to figure out which sample to take ...
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4203.jpg

[diamond_discus]

Our two expert speakers : Chad and Kevin

Chad gave us a talk on planted discus aquarium.
Kevin gave us a talk on disease control and how to QT


http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4212.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4211.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4210.jpg
Thanks Chad, for the nice powerpoint presentation .. and the big screen setup. Lots of behind the scene work. Much appreciated.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy115/diamond_discus/DSCN4213.jpg

[bolivianram10]

A BIG THANK YOU to all of you who made this possible. It was nice meeting all of you and finally put a face to a name. Nice pictures Larry!:thumbsup:

[brewmaster15]

Looks like a great meeting everyone! Congrats!

How about putting some names to the faces for all us that were not there ?:)

-al

[Chad Hughes]

All,

This was a great meeting! I took some pictures and I know others that were in attendance took a few pictures as well. If you would be so kind to share your photos with the group and the forum, that would be great! I'll be posting mine up this evening after water changes! LOL!

I'd like to extend a special thank you to all those that sponsored this groups first meeting. Your support made what would have been a good first meet a great one! Below are those that provided sponsorship. Thank you so much for all of your support!

Al Sabetta (www.aquaticsuppliers.com)
Bill Schroer (www.inlandempirediscus.com)
Barb Odgers (Delightful Designs Discus Cones (http://www.forum.simplydiscus.com/forumdisplay.php?f=183))
David Rose (www.igopro-online.com)
Steve Rybicki (www.angelsplus.com)
George Garcia (www.azdiscus.com)
Dan & Jennifer (www.aquaticfoods.com)
Chad Hughes (www.sandiegodiscus.com)

A special thank you to Kevin (notjustfish), Importer of Lucky Tropical Fish Farm (Lawrence Soon) - Penang, Malaysia, for the use of his facility for this meeting. You helped make the first meeting a great one! I hope your fish didn't get too bothered by all the crazy discus enthusiasts flashing cameras at them. LOL! Thanks again Kevin, the new shipment looks like it's coming along nicely!

There were several other members that supported the meeting with other items for lunch. Thank you for all of your support as well!

Our auction was a moderate success and yielded enough funds to support our next meeting fully. 100% of our next meeting in San Diego will be funded! That means no out of pocket expense! Thank you to everyone that participated in the auction. I hope everyone enjoys the items they won!

Larry... A special thank you to you as well for doing so much coordinating to get this group off in the right direction. Everything went so smoothly! I think I speak for the group when I say thank you for a job well done!

Marco... it was great to meet you and the others at the meeting! I hope you're enjoying your new fish! I look forward to seeing you in San Diego. Give me a call when you're in the area!

Al... Thanks for the congrats! It was defiantely a success and a great time. I'll get some of these photos tagged with some names.

Best wishes to everyone! See you sometime in August!

[Discusgeo2]

I had a great time meeting everyone and for all you folks who took the time to put this together I appreciate it. Who knows I may go to San Diego in August it's been a while since I been Tuna fishing out of H & M Landing

[Chad Hughes]

George,

I really hope you can make it! H&M sounds like a good time as well. That's a ways off from now, but it's good to think about it! It was great to meet you as well. I really enjoyed the information that you put out as well. Great techniques!

I hope you had a safe trip back and enjoyed your visit with the family.

Best wishes!

[Chad Hughes]

Here are a few pictures that I took at the meeting. Most of my pictures were at the very beginning when folks were starting to show up and at the end.

These first shots are of our sponsor sample table. Some of our sponsors sent items that required refrigeration and are not shown in the pictures, but they were there for the sampling! :D

[db2inst1]

It was great meeting. Thanks to everyone who made this happen.

Chad & Kevin's speech was informative. Chad's presentation on planted tank was very detailed and helpful.

George thanks for the pump. I just ordered the manifold from him today, he was quick and helpful with the order.

-Visu

[Chad Hughes]

From left to right....

Judy (Oroborus) & Husband (Joel) Taubel: Santa Clarita
Benedict amintuan (gotfish?): Los Angeles
Larry Ching (diamond_discus): Diamond Bar
George Garcia (discusgeo2): Phoenix, AZ

[Chad Hughes]

At the left...

Glenn Abel and his son Nick..... orgive me for not knowing your screen name here on SD.

[Chad Hughes]

It was great meeting. Thanks to everyone how made this happen.

Chad & Kevin's speech was informative. Chad's presentation on planted tank was very detailed and helpful.

George thanks for the pump. I just ordered the manifold from him today, he was quick and helpful with the order.

-Visu

Visu,

Thank you for the kind words! I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the meeting! I hope you can make it to San Diego for the next one! I'd love to see you there.

Have a great week!

[Chad Hughes]

Ricardo Vasquez (rickztahone)- Reseda, CA

[Chad Hughes]

Kevin..... Hard at work! :)

[Chad Hughes]

Larry Ching (diamond_discus) - Diamond Bar, CA

[diamond_discus]

Indeed there was lots of fun ... Chad, are you ready for us @ San Deigo ? Can't wait to see your fishroom ..

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Looks like a lot of fun! Sorry we couldnt get those catalogs to you, but maybe next time around......Hopefully we can get something like that going here in the South East.

-Ryan

[rickztahone]

Kevin..... Hard at work! :)

just to clarify, that's Kevin on the right :D

[rickscics]

By the way, I was there also. I guess I don't rate a picture however.
:)

[diamond_discus]

By the way, I was there also. I guess I don't rate a picture however.
:)

Sorry, don't know why I didn't catch you in any of my photos. But I am sure Nick and Glenn would have .. Still waiting for them to upload their pictures.

[Chad Hughes]

By the way, I was there also. I guess I don't rate a picture however.
:)

Rick,

Yeah, sorry about that man! I was sure with all the cameras floating around that everyone would have been captured. I am hoping that others will post their pictures. I really wanted to gather everyone together as a group and take on shot with al attendees, but that didn't happen.

Next meeting will be different!

[rickztahone]

i'm yet to upload mine. i've been so busy lately with this Insanity work out my wife has us doing :o. will try to upload tonight, if not then tomorrow morning.

[diamond_discus]

Rick,

Yeah, sorry about that man! I was sure with all the cameras floating around that everyone would have been captured. I am hoping that others will post their pictures. I really wanted to gather everyone together as a group and take on shot with al attendees, but that didn't happen.

Next meeting will be different!

Good point, Chad ... I did plan to have a group pictures .. but then once we start the raffle .. I totally forgot .... Oops .. Some room for improvement, next time. Sorry again, Rick .. but I am sure there are more pictures will be uploaded from others.

[gotfish?]

ugh i was trying to hide from the cameras! but oh well... haha

it was great meeting all of ya :) i really wished i stayed longer but my two body guards aren't as excited as me when it comes to fish :D

cant wait for the next meet though and thanks so much to everyone that made this first meet possible :)

[diamond_discus]

ugh i was trying to hide from the cameras! but oh well... haha

it was great meeting all of ya :) i really wished i stayed longer but my two body guards aren't as excited as me when it comes to fish :D

cant wait for the next meet though and thanks so much to everyone that made this first meet possible :)

Nice to meet you, Benedict. Hope you enjoy the beer as well .. ;)

[AppleNick]

I have meeting photos and some of the discus. I hope I got everyone in a photo.

Some discus:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/025.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/026.jpg
Table of samples:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/027.jpg
More discus:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/033.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/034.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/036.jpg
Some people:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/039.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/040.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/041.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/042.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/043.jpg
Dining on worms:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/046.jpg
The store:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/048.jpg
Member introductions:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/049.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/050.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/051.jpg
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http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/053.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/055.jpg
Chad discusses aquarium planting:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/056.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/059.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/060.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/061.jpg
Kevin speaks on potassium:
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/070.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/072.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/073.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/074.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/075.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/AppleNick/076.jpg

[nazzman]

At the left...

Glenn Abel and his son Nick..... orgive me for not knowing your screen name here on SD.

nazzman (glenn) and AppleNick (nick) ... Hope we got everyone in the photos that Nick just posted.

It was terrific to meet everyone and big thanks again to the organizers, speakers and sponsors. Love those free samples!

Excited about the next meeting, see you there!

[diamond_discus]

Glen and Nick :

Thanks for the wonderful picture. Got to get a camera like yours. Great shots.

-Larry

[rickztahone]

Judy, how are your discus doing?

[Disgirl]

Great pictures! Thanks for letting us see all the fun you had!
Barb

[Oroborus]

Hey!

They are doing very well, thank you for asking! They are readily taking flakes, FDBW, BW and Larry's BH. They act like they are starving all the time. They are now coming up to the tank front when I go near, but I don't always have food like they think I do. :) They are taking food from my fingers too.

They're a great bunch of fish.



Judy, how are your discus doing?

[Chad Hughes]

Nick,

Thanks for posting up those pics! They look fantastic and I think, with your addition, we may have everyone covered that attended. Thanks for sharing brother!

Best wishes!

[inmisawa]

Hello all. I just found this forum about 2 days after the meeting. Hopefully I'll make the one in August.

[Chad Hughes]

Hello all. I just found this forum about 2 days after the meeting. Hopefully I'll make the one in August.

Hello all. I just found this forum about 2 days after the meeting. Hopefully I'll make the one in August.

Oh wow! Sorry to hear that you didn't find us in time to make the meeting. Glad you are here though! The next meeting will be at my house in San Diego sometime in August. The exact date is TBD.

Welcome aboard!

[ShinShin]

Enjoyed the thread, guys. Congratulations on your success.

Mat

[DiscusKev]

wow, gorgeous looking spotted strains, love it! Thanks for sharing the pics photographers :D

[Chad Hughes]

Nick,

Thank you for posting up your FANTASTIC pictures!

Best wishes!

[KeonTheKing]

tell me when the next metting is scheduled chad lol.

[Chad Hughes]

It will be in August.... no date set just yet.

More to follow!