Welcome to the SCDC! (Southern California Discus Club)

Hello everyone! I reached out to Al about giving us SoCal people our own little section so that we could possibly organize our own little meetings through out the SoCal area. I asked him to name it a "club" with the acknoledgment that we aren't technically a club, but rather a band of people in this general area, however, I liked the ring of SCDC, so there's that! lol

Al was very generous in allowing us our little slice of the forum for our local people. I ask you to please consider this section as ANY other part of the forum. The same rules apply and I expect everyone to act no different than you would in the other sections.

Furthermore, this section isn't so that we can start threads that could otherwise have been started in the general section. If you have an illness issue, question about a sponsor stock and so on, please do it in the regular board not only because it belongs there, but you will also get a lot more views in the general forum areas. Remember, this was aimed more towards us SoCal people, and you may not see some of the regular posters (people) in this section because it is a more specialized section.

With all that being said, what can this section be used for?:

-Setting up local meetings. Again, we aren't a "club" per se, but currently simply a gathering of SoCal people. Can we potentially become a group? Possibly, if we become more active and organized.

-Selling items locally. If you have equipment, hobbyist bred discus and other stuff for sale, you are more than welcome to post them in our own section here for local pick ups. However, I will ask this of all of you, if you post it here, only post it in this section. If you post it in the general section, you are more than likely up for shipping some stuff out to other members. So, choose one or the other. If you cannot sell one in one section, simply delete that thread, and place it in the other section and try again. If you have the same thread in both sections I will opt to always delete the one in our section for more views.

-Local deal alerts. I see this very often in another forum where members post great deals at their local LFS around town. If you see a good deal somewhere, please let your local SoCal members know. Typically, we wouldn't give someone heads up about a certain LFS having discus, but maybe some equipment, plants, etc.?

-Be creative! Think of things that would be fun for our local group to interact in, or participate in. If you happen to have a bbq for a weekend and want to show off your discus tank, let others know! They may be up for just going over and sipping a drink and talk discus.

This section is to encourage our small group to be more active amongst each other. For the most part I will keep the closest eye on this section as a mod, but again, the same rules apply here that apply to the rest of the forum.

If you can add anything to the things that can be done locally, please let me know.

I will be posting up a poll thread in this section soon. Please participate so I get a general feel of those interested in doing small gatherings and such.

Lastly, please do not forget to subscribe to this forum. This way, whenever a new threads comes up, you will be notified and in this manner, be more involved with our local group.

That should cover most of the things that I wanted out of this section. Again, a big thanks to Al for letting me start this section for us. It was very generous of him, and he took time out of his day to set all of this up for us.

Enjoy everyone!

P.S. - if all of you wouldn't mind, if you happen to start a thread in this section, would you mind starting the thread with something that depicts that it is a SoCal thread so that people don't have to unnecessarily open the thread? Some wouldn't like to be part-taking in a section that is so specific to a certain region. Lets try to be mindful of the rest of the forum as well ;)

OK, here's what I'd like from a So Cal Discus Club (not all that creative but it is an expression of interest which is what you're looking for, right?):

First and foremost, I'd like to learn more about discus keeping, this includes:
Evaluating dealers and stock for sale
Husbandry parameters like, water temp., pH, KH, DH, TDS, frequency of water changes, the desirability of using RO water, etc.
Next, I'd like to find out where to buy good stock
I'd like to know what to feed, what not to feed, and why
I may want to learn about keeping discus in a planted tank
And I may want to try breeding discus - later on.

I know I can probably find out much of this on this forum but I'd like to talk 1 on 1 with people about their successes and failures relative to these topics.
Lastly, I'd like to socialize a bit with other fish geeks.

The short version: I'm interested.

Spike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spike Cover

OK, here's what I'd like from a So Cal Discus Club (not all that creative but it is an expression of interest which is what you're looking for, right?):

First and foremost, I'd like to learn more about discus keeping, this includes:
Evaluating dealers and stock for sale
Husbandry parameters like, water temp., pH, KH, DH, TDS, frequency of water changes, the desirability of using RO water, etc.
Next, I'd like to find out where to buy good stock
I'd like to know what to feed, what not to feed, and why
I may want to learn about keeping discus in a planted tank
And I may want to try breeding discus - later on.

I know I can probably find out much of this on this forum but I'd like to talk 1 on 1 with people about their successes and failures relative to these topics.
Lastly, I'd like to socialize a bit with other fish geeks.

The short version: I'm interested.

Spike

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Well, you've come to the right place! I guarantee you that if you were to sit down with me and Al we can pretty much answer all your questions. Add to that all the other members we have here like Chad who used to have a huge discus breeding program! We got answers in spades. I'd like to meet the people interested. Let me start a thread...

Here (with a bit of a rewording) is something that may be helpful. I wrote this several years ago and it pertained to Koi clubs... but if you insert the word "discus" for "koi," I believe it still works.

Fixing Your Club
By Spike Cover

September 2012

I have been in clubs that survived and prospered and others that have gone by the way side. Here's what I've learned: People join koi clubs hoping to get more enjoyment from their hobby. With regard to club meetings, members generally like two things best:

1. Learning about things that can improve their enjoyment of koi - this generally means good (knowledgeable and entertaining) speakers at meetings, although it could mean just talking with experienced hobbyists and learning from them, and
2. Socializing with others who enjoy the hobby

What members universally DO NOT LIKE are politics, bickering, badmouthing and/or controversy. What successful clubs do is to focus on helping people have FUN in this hobby.