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President's Message

President’s Message – September 2021

Presidents Message

I usually try to focus on the good when I write my message, but this is the hardest President’s message I have ever written. It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of our past President and my longtime friend Joe Graffagnino. Joe was well-liked by all who knew him. I have never met anyone who had a bad thing to say about him. He was always the first to volunteer his help for our club and even other clubs, in any way he could. He has left a big void in all of us and he will be greatly missed. Our heartfelt prayers go out to his family.

Continue reading President’s Message – September 2021 →

Announcements

R.I.P – Joe Graffagnino

Please donate to Tunnel to Towers Foundation on behalf of Joe.
Click here or here.  Every bit counts.

It is with an extremely heavy heart that we announce the passing of our former Brooklyn Aquarium Society President, lead board member and widely known Joe Graffagnino.

Joe has been the face of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society for over 30 years.  Joe will be greatly missed and our prayers go out to his family.

A viewing will be held on Friday, September 10th

At

Scarpaci Funeral home
1401 86th Street
Brooklyn NY 11228

Between 4 & 8 PM

More details to follow…

Announcements

Online Auction: July 2021 – Join Now.

Brooklyn Aquarium Society July 2021 Auction

Questions? Email:

DeeFromBrooklyn@gmail.com or JoeGraffagnino@yahoo.com

Download instructions here.

The tentative exchange location is the Toy’s R Us Parking Lot Flatbush off the Belt Parkway on July 10th.

The auction is open to the public. Non-members are welcome and encouraged to participate in the auction. All monies will be handled by BAS. Don’t exchange money directly with a buyer.  All lots sold are “as is, where is”.  BAS can not guarantee the proper identification or health of animals or plants. BAS can not guarantee the working order of any equipment.

Sellers drop their lots off between 11am to Noon. Help sorting is appreciated. Buyers can pick up their lots and pay at time of pick up between 1:00pm and 2pm. You must arrange for someone else to pick up or drop off your lots if you can’t make it on that day and time(s). Continue reading Online Auction: July 2021 – Join Now. →

Announcements

The Brooklyn Aquarium Society 2021 Online Auction

Hello,

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The Brooklyn Aquarium Society board is working with Auction.Fish to bring you our first Aquarium Club Online Auction platform. That’s right, you can now buy and sell your fish and other merchandise online with the rest of our aquarium society members. The Auction.Fish website is used by several aquarium societies allowing their members to create their own personal accounts and take part in their local club auctions. Once you create your account you can also post items for auction. It’s Simple, Safe and Secure.

Step 1.
Visit the website at: https://auction.fish/

Continue reading The Brooklyn Aquarium Society 2021 Online Auction →

Announcements, BAS Events

Online Event Friday 1/8/21 – Parasitology of Fishes by Pat Donston

Happy New Year,

The Brooklyn Aquarium Society welcomes you to take part in a virtual online presentation by Pat Donston of Absolutely fish in New Jersey on Parasitology of Fishes on Friday, January 8th at 7:30 pm

During this talk Pat discuss ailments and possible treatment for our aquatic friends

Watch Directly on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/SKp1ay24c1c

This meeting will also be streamed live on the Brooklyn Aquarium Society Facebook page.   Questions will be taken during this interactive event.

Absolutely Fish owner Pat Donston started in the hobby with his first aquarium when he was nine years old. In college, he majored in Zoology, and got his Master of Science degree specializing in fish reproduction.  Upon completion of his Master’s degree, Pat worked in a public aquarium teaching docents and volunteers about the biology of invertebrates in the inter-tidal exhibit.  Pat believes aquarium keeping is one of the best educational tools for children and adults to learn more about the oceans and reefs around the world. Learning about the animals one has as pets sparks an interest to become more aware of the environment in which we live.  It can bring people closer to a part of the world they may never see or otherwise know.

Absolutely Fish is located at 1080 US-46 in Clifton, NJ 07013

Absolutely Fish is a proud supporter of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society.

Announcements

R.I.P. Seth Kolker, BAS President from 1989 to 2001

Seth Kolker
08/08/1954 – 11/05/2020

President of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society
1989 – 2001

Seth was a dedicated aquarium hobbyist his entire life. He was the youngest member ever elected, in the Society’s 109 years, to the Brooklyn Aquarium Society’s Board of Directors while still in his early teens. Seth was a visionary in the aquatic industry. His keen eye for the hobby and insight into the future helped propel the Brooklyn Aquarium Society into unknown areas. In the 1970s and 80s, it was Seth’s influence to move the club into African cichlids and then into marine environments with saltwater fish and corals.

Continue reading R.I.P. Seth Kolker, BAS President from 1989 to 2001 →

Announcements

Message to BAS Members

Dear Members,

I hope this note finds everyone in good health during these troubling times.

Not having our usual monthly events is strange to us. I know we miss the normalcy of everyday life, especially our fish club meetings, but our health and those of our loved ones is the most important thing we can consider. Social distancing prevents our events from happening.

The Brooklyn Aquarium Society wants to assure all our members that no one will lose membership dues payment time while we are not meeting during this pandemic. When we are back to normal, all regular members will be credited with the months we have lost.
Everyone stay safe and healthy, continue your water changes, and we hope to see you soon.

Steven Matassa
President

Articles, Freshwater Fish, Saltwater Fish

Acclimating Fish

Acclimating Fish
by Steve Matassa

There are two ways most hobbyist use to acclimate their fish. I will try to explain these methods for those of you who do not know. The first is the drip method, where you would empty the bag with the fish in to a bucket, and set up an air line with a knot in it. Then let the water slowly drip in to the bucket in till the bucket starts to fill up. Then empty some of the bucket and continue with the drip. This should take about half an hour if done right. You do not want to drip it too fast, and stress the fish. The purpose of these methods is to make the transaction for the fish as stress free as possible.

Continue reading Acclimating Fish →

President's Message

President’s Message – August 2020

President’s Message

All of us at BAS are hoping that everyone is well and staying safe and healthy. We all know this pandemic continues to grip our world. All of us are praying that we can resume normal life in the near future. I do not have any information as to when we can have in person BAS events at Education Hall. I have been in contact with Scott Doyle of the New York Aquarium and I am quoting his email response to my question about any updates we can share with our members. His response is:

Continue reading President’s Message – August 2020 →

Announcements

June 12th Virtual Event – Copepods are changing the face of aquaculture By Chad Clayton

“Copepods are changing the face of aquaculture” –  By Chad Clayton

 

 

BAS Presents Chad Clayton Online Presentation – Copepods are Changing the Face of Aquaculture

When
Fri Jun 12, 2020 8pm – 9pm Eastern Time – New York
Where
Online Presentation (Virtual Meeting)
Joining info
Join with Google Meet
Join by phone
+1 706-750-9569 (PIN: 963062243)
Announcements

The Aquatica & The Bulletin are being retired/archived.

With passing of our Editor, John Todaro (R.I.P John – read here) The Aquatica and The Bulletin are being archived and replaced by our new publication AquaticNews.

We are excited to announce that the position of BAS Editor was filled and our new editor, Virginia (Ginny) Cahill will be working on our beautiful new publication – AquaticNews.

Please note: Archived copies of our previous publications: The Aquatica & The Bulletin can be found here and here.

 

Announcements

APRIL 10 EVENT CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19

The officers and board members of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society decided that for everyone’s safety and to minimize possibility of contracting the Corona Virus (COVID-19), our April 10th event titled “Successful Strategies for Reef Keeping by Bob Stark is canceled. Bob owns and operates ESV Aquarium Products and has been long standing supporter of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society (Thank you Bob).  His company makes outstanding products for saltwater and reef aquariums. To show your support in these hard times, please visit his website and review his offerings.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and hope you stay healthy throughout the rest of the flu season.

Stay Home – Flatten The Curve!

Hoping to see you all soon.

Announcements

March 13, 2020 Event Canceled Due To Corona Virus

The officers and board members of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society decided that for everyone’s safety and to minimize possibility of contracting the Corona Virus, our March 13th event should be canceled.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and hope you stay healthy throughout the rest of the flu season.

We’ll see you at the next meeting.

 

President's Message

President’s Message – February 2020

Dear Aquarist,

One of the coldest months of the year turned out to be warm and sunny when Joe Yaiullo, Curator of the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, Long Island arrived. His presentation entitled “Sometimes It’s The Little Things” was fascinating. This event was a wake-up call for marine and freshwater hobbyists alike because it spoke about setting up the steps to prevent catastrophe, planning ahead so disaster doesn’t strike and having redundancy parts and equipment in the event something fails. It was an enlightening and educational adventure from one of our oldest and dearest friends. Joe was kind enough to donate cuttings from the corals in his 20,000 gallon aquarium. The audience was very interested and asked many questions.

Continue reading President’s Message – February 2020 →

President's Message

President’s Message – January 2020

Dear Aquarist,

For our first general meeting of the year we thought we would warm things up with one of our favorite speakers, Luis Morales. Luis gave a very informative presentation on “Fish Photography”. It was a great lecture for beginners and advanced hobbyists that wanted to take great photos of their favorite fish, plants or corals. Luis had given similar presentation years ago but updated it with information on the newer technology in the world of photography.

Continue reading President’s Message – January 2020 →

Announcements

Win 170 Gallon System from Algae Barn!

Win a 170 gallon (total water volume) system complete with Tank, Refugium / Sump, Lighting, Pumps, Fish, Corals, Rock, Substrate, Pods and Phyto for a YEAR, Macroalgaes, Chemicals and Cleaners, and Salt!

No Tricks, No Scavenger Hunts… Simply visit pages and sponsors and say “Happy Holidays” “Merry Christmas” or whatever you would like to thank them for helping us to setup this incredible giveaway!

New Videos, Blog Posts, Sponsors Pages and more every Monday until 2020!

As a bonus, You will RANDOMLY be given gifts of REAL PRODUCTS for free, from us here at Algaebarn, As a Thank you for an incredible 2019! Two Runners up will get Ecopods and phyto subscriptions for a YEAR!

ENTER HERE

President's Message

President’s Message – November 2019

Dear Aquarist,

Our November event was a cold and windy one. Our guest speaker warmed us up though with a great presentation and he came with a few boxes of raffle prizes, which made everyone happy. Lou Ekus, CEO of Tropic Marin came down from Massachusetts and his topic for the evening was, “Reef Chemistry Made Easy.” Lou takes the guess work out of chemicals in our reef aquariums and simplifies the entire environment. It was a great talk from a wonderful person.
November was our semi-annual 50/50 on livestock. We had many bags of high quality freshwater fish, marine fish, both fresh and marine plants and invertebrates, along with hard to get live corals. Many attendees went away with great bargains. We had aquariums, lighting, pumps, filters, aquatic supplies and fish/plant and coral foods. Everything you need to keep and maintain your aquatic creatures with the best of everything to keep them happy and healthy.

Continue reading President’s Message – November 2019 →

Announcements

R.I.P – BAS Editor, John Todaro 1938-2019

It is with deep sorrow that we must report the passing of our Editor John Todaro. For BAS, moving forward will be difficult. As you are aware John created the Bulletin and the Aquatica – he was truly a special person.

John Joseph Todaro
1938 – 2019

Born and raised in New York City, John
Todaro served in the U.S. Army in Fort Rucker,
Alabama. John published a children’s book –
Phillip the Flower Eating Phoenix. He was an
art director for the McCann, Erikson and Ted
Bates advertisement agencies. A man of creative
pursuits, his hobbies included photography,
pottery, watercolors, woodworking and tropical
fish.

John’s passion and love for the Brooklyn
Aquarium Society (BAS), of which he was a club
member for greater than 50 years, combined his
creative genius and his leadership abilities. John
was the Corresponding Secretary, Exchange Editor
and Editor of two of the Societies publications
The Bulletin and The Aquatica (The Brooklyn
Aquarium Society was the only club in the
United States to publish two aquatic magazines
thanks to John). John became President of the
Brooklyn Aquarium Society in 2001 through 2003.
As President, John created the club’s Education
Program which brought aquariums to public
and private schools throughout New York City
and allowed our talented members to provide
presentations to schools, community centers and
senior citizen facilities. As President Emeritus, he
created the Centennial Journal of the Brooklyn
Aquarium Society and the 100th Birthday party at
the New York Aquarium in 2011.

In 2004 John and his son Andrew moved to
Vermont. John passed peacefully in his home on
Thursday, October 17, 2019. He was 81 years old.
John is succeeded by his three children (Christie
Potter and Andrew and Anna Todaro) and his two
grandchildren (Riley and Ella Potter).

RIP John – you will be deeply missed.