Cichlid Clubs

[bassmaster]

Is there a Cichlid Club in Dallas and if not why?

[Mr.Malawi]

you mean like Texas Cichlid Association ? or something smaller?

[bassmaster]

Ya

[Mr.Malawi]

yea to which one of my questions?

[masroberts9]

good question. :hehe:

[biggin]

I think TCA has a big handle on it.

As far as I know there are not any Dallas area ones.

[kSpieler]

Hill Country Cichlids is the only other club I know of ... but it's out of San Antonio (I think)

[BlackJew]

I'm was thinking about starting a new one. For the DFW area.. what do ya'll think ?

[bassmaster]

now that is what i am talking about way to step up!

[OOwl]

BJ, I belong to TCA but I'd join a local club too.

[Mr.Malawi]

right on i would join too..:D

[budwick weiser]

ya i'd join.

budwick weiser added 11 Minutes and 21 Seconds later...

we should come up with a really catchy name like
cichlid organization and conservation klub

[bassmaster]

I will join of course

bassmaster added 3 Minutes and 58 Seconds later...

I have always wanted to start one but did not know enough people or how to go about doing it. I think it would be real cool to have one.

[BlackJew]

Let's do it ! I'll gather up some info and get things rolling.

[Mr.Malawi]

ETCA - East Texas Cichlid Ass.
DFWCA - DFW Cichlid Ass.
ICA - In-house Cichlid Ass.

plus i can build the website! :D

[BlackJew]

North Texas Cichlid Association (NTCA) - Idea's ? What would it take to be a Site Supporter here ?

[Mr.Malawi]

North Texas Cichlid Association (NTCA) - Idea's ? What would it take to be a Site Supporter here ?


Donating 20 dollars to the site will make you a site supporter.

[Bubbles]

cichlid organization and conservation klub


:rofl:

[biggin]

Why go the cichlid route? I have always thought it to be a little arrogant.

I would be more supportartive of a FOTAS type organization.

IMO.
Posted via Mobile Device

What do you hope to gain over TCA or FOTAS?

I am just curious, there are a few local clubs around but the big clubs seem to remain king.

[alta678]

I would be more supportartive of a FOTAS type organization.


?????:confused:?????

[biggin]

I and a lot of others keep more then cichlids and my non cichlids are my fav fish.

Just saying another cichlid group is not really interesting.

I have thought a lot about this kinda thing but in the end I do not see it working out really well especially if you are not supporting 60% of the hobby.
Posted via Mobile Device

[rolloffhill]

What are you hoping to get out of a local "club" that you can't get at this site? Just curious.....maybe I'm missing something....:confuzeld:

I guess if it were me and I were looking for a cichlid club I'd join TCA.

They have a lot of their meetings here locally in Decatur IIRC.

[Mr.Malawi]

yeah. now that i think about things.. this site sorta is a "club" would be cool if we did more thing outside of the website. nonetheless i would still join a local club being formed by members on here.

[budwick weiser]

EDIT
I'll be the prez
Posted via Mobile Device

[Mr.Malawi]

lmao hell yeah..

[tsunderl]

EDIT
I'll be the prez
Posted via Mobile Device

WRONG!!! http://www.pushupstairs.com/images/emoticon/neptune/Animated/Angry/angry051.gif

[BlackJew]

EDIT
I'll be the prez
Posted via Mobile Device

I like it ! **** it is !

[Bubbles]

Guess no one caught the first one.:rolleyes:

[budwick weiser]

hah ya i guess not, the second one has a better ring to it anyway....

[tsunderl]

You guys do realize that word is the worse thing you can call a woman??? Doesn't say a whole lot about the character of the club and it's members.

[Mr.Malawi]

that's true but i think it was a joke t.

[budwick weiser]

it's true... i wouldn't ever start a club with a name like that.

i have thought about making a t-shirt like that though............

how many people would even notice what it really meant unless it was spelled out on the shirt??!?! i think i'll try it and find out

[tsunderl]

that's true but i think it was a joke t.

I understand it was ment as a joke, but not a very funny one if you are of the female gender.

[Mr.Malawi]

lol bud.. and thats understandable t.

[BlackJew]

Hey guy's Skipp's right. TCA meets up in Southlake and Duncanville Ft.Worth ect. I also found http://www.cichlid.org/ . And T no disrespect ment sorry.

[xtc]

You're new- we have had a NUMBER of gatherings. Sit back and wait for the next, host the next or talk it up and it'll happen. :twitch:

yeah. now that i think about things.. this site sorta is a "club" would be cool if we did more thing outside of the website. nonetheless i would still join a local club being formed by members on here.

Budwick- that was a bit lame and really needs to be kept in the NSFW room. We aren't the most conservative group around, but since we're talking about clubs and gathering popularity...a thread new folks would be likely to read...how about you tone that stuff down outside your romper room. Please. When I talk to people that don't like our site- it's crap like that they site. We don't require only conversations about fish- but that's really pushin it.

[Haiven]

I caught both of them, and didn't respond. That club name is not funny.

[budwick weiser]

Sorry. Ill go to my corner again ... Hated like usual
Posted via Mobile Device

[Haiven]

Okay, I still love you and you can come out of the corner. :):):)

[budwick weiser]

well... i was a bad boy, i made a mockery of a great suggestion and then to add to it i used a word that offended several of you. i'm sorry for the language and i promise to watch my fingers more closely when i'm posting in a public thread. i honestly had no idea that the word i used carried with it such powerful emotions. the end

[cichlidfan]

As long as this thread is open, I’ll throw in my 2 cents. From the outside looking in, Fort Worth is the driving force in pretty much all of the local aquarium clubs/society’s and apparently the largest collective represented formal “presence” in the area (pretty expansive as the crow flies). Nothing for me to gain by saying that, in my time on the DFW scene this is “as it appears”. Not even my idea, a pair of LFS provided that concept to me--I've seen nothing to disprove it.

There are a number of quality shops in the Arlington/Fort Worth/Keller area, and that’s wonderful--but as we see in the threads here, expecting to pull any but the most diehard folks from as far away as (Example: Frisco and Plano, which are well-represented in this forum) is unrealistic. If “we” were to build on the concept (not to take anything away from Fort Worth or any of the "local" clubs/groups), and try to fill that void up in say Plano area where there’s a nice saturation of LFS also--it could only be a good thing…if done correctly. (and in conjunction with available resources--aka DFW Fishbox to whatever degree, if willing) It could be both rewarding and entirely useful towards filling that void.

A full-blown club may or may not be exactly what we need, but if the (insert new group name here) “North Dallas Fish Keeper’s Chapter” wanted to get 4-10 folks together for an afternoon 1 weekend a month, run out to a LFS, swing back and discuss the host’s aquariums/interests and a corresponding topic…count me in as well. You’d pull in local folks that have a little less experience but many questions, meet new people that you’ve known only by their penmanship prior, etc. We/I could type up minutes of the adventure, we’ll throw in a couple pics, done. If we wanted more exposure, we could share the minutes (articles) with TCA, FOTAS, or any of the “local” aquarium societies and open up communication/partnerships, etc. Can be as big or as small as you want. I joined this website in early September, and it struck me in the short time I’ve been here that we have enough “articles” from personal stories & accompanying pics in that timeframe to easily fill 6-10 newsletters if that’d been the goal.

How would this be different than a G2G? Not all that much…but if creating a formal or informal (my choice) local “club” is what it’ll take to make G2G’s a reality, I don’t see much harm coming from it.

Not all linings are silver…to form a fully functioning club is a lot of work, not the least of which is registering as a Non-Profit Organization, acquiring a Federal Tax ID and implementing associated regulations, etc. It’s a long-term commitment. New non-profit organization’s are watched very closely their first 3 years. Depending on local/state law, under some circumstances IIRC, the charter members’ credit/finances can be inspected upon initial submission and/or annual follow-ups.

Seat-of-the-pants Disclaimer: My opinion is simply that, presented in general discussion format. I’m not in any way suggesting that a newly-formed local club should name drop (DFW Fishbox), steal articles/ideas (DFW Fishbox), or in any way misrepresent/overwhelm existing resources/create additional work for/create conflict for (DFW Fishbox). That being said, all my PPE is firmly in-place…

[xtc]

When this forum was created, we had a variety of roads to chose from. We picked this one because it made the most sense for what we saw as necessary in the community. We have tried to create a non-power hungry structure (like clubs tend to have- either at the onset or over time). You can get your voice heard, pick up fish, gain some knowledge and sell your stuff, get a T-shirt, window sticker or soon to be- calendar- all right here. No tax-ids, long ways to travel for meetings, etc.

Like Skipp and Blake have both stated- we still don't see the point of having a "club" as being any different than what we have here. A club, sounds like we'd be trying to narrow the focus to "cichlids" and this place has yet to narrow that deeply, which we still feel is cool. Were we talking "All cichlids"? New World cichlids? Dwarfs? Malawi? Tanganikan? Victorian or all of them?

We've talked about membership cards as well, but again, to what end? You can get a discount at all of our site supporter shops just by telling them you are a part of the group/club/forum- so what would a membership card do differently? Sure, we can create them and discuss who qualifies for one- no problem...but again- to what end?

If you need to feel financially involved, donate@dfwfishbox.com will always take your money. We welcome leadership involvement- of events, G2Gs and any other fresh ideas anyone might have.

If you need to commune with other like minded fish keepers- host a G2G either at your home (or tell a friend they're gunna host), local pub or a local eatery, wherever!- all these have been done before. Or post a chat room topic and time and see how many people you can bring to an online event- there's a "fresh" idea.

All I'm saying is we have the structure to provide ANYTHING that anyone wants to do- we just need the leadership.

I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other about a splinter group, club or what have you- everyone needs something a little different. Go for it! But don't fail to recognize the resources we have all built right here under our feet. :D

[arnold]

TCA is interested in all types of fish, some of its more notable members raise n breed anything with fins, at the TCA auctions you will find catfish live bearers killies and what not. They/we are much more laid back as far as offering oportunites to fish keepers other than just cichlid fans to participate and enjoy. Some regional cichlid clubs only allow cichlid s and catfish in their auctions. You can always join ACA (which TCA is associated with, AKA. or the live bearers assn. I found for a wider accessibility to other fish the TCA is great.
Since the TCA web site is very limited and has no forum I would think they might like to associate with this website but who knows, the person to talk to would be the president or have a board member bring it up.
I have been to TCA meetings all over the metro mess and cities in the surrounding area and as far away as Hot Springs Ar. They also have road trips from time to time and the availability for fish that you wont find at a LFS or cant afford from same is phenomenal.
They may want nothing to do with an external website and are getting along great without, but never hurts to pursue it.

[ElijahTurtle]

or tell a friend they're gunna host...
LOL! I'm pretty sure we've seen that happen more than once around here :hehe:

[BlackJew]

I don't like to get into altercations.. It's just not who I am. I see both points of view. Cichlidfan has a very good point.. As far as everything out in Ft. Worth. Arguments are wasted energy and I don't like them But I agree with Cichlidfan. We have one store in the (Plano, Frisco Allen ect )area that is a sponsor. But I'm not here to make waves and I enjoy this site so no lost sleep on this of the tracks.