DRAS Aquariama 2012

[buntbarsch]

Exiting News......we have changed the format of our Aquariama this year.
Not to worry, it's still a buck-a-bag auction.
Check out the attachement for more info  

[charlie]

Thanks for posting Klaus
I especially like this opening remark 

There is an old saying - "if you don't change you die". The last thing the Durham Region Aquarium Society wants is to die. No... we want to grow, to become better, and part of that is looking at what we've done in the past , build on that experience , and make it better going forward

Regards

[exv152]

Is there a list of the retailer names that are confirmed to be at the auction?

[buntbarsch]

Is there a list of the retailer names that are confirmed to be at the auction?

The three on the flyer are confirmed but we are in negotiations with several more.

[2075turner]

I believe I will head over for it.  As the time gets near I will know a bit better.  If someone wants to car pool, pm me and maybe we can split the cost of going.

Cheers

[charlie]

I believe I will head over for it.  As the time gets near I will know a bit better.  If someone wants to car pool, pm me and maybe we can split the cost of going.

Cheers

Same here.

[buntbarsch]

Here is an updated flyer.  More vendors have signed up to participate.
This will be a fun event, so don't miss it.

[Nerine]

Hoping to be able to go!!!

[Fishnut]

I'm going for sure!!  Already cleared it with Hubby...LOL.

I also just got off the phone with Mark Curtis from Shenikah Aquatic Solutions (he was our koi speaker last year).  He has been koi shopping in Japan for the last 2 weeks and expects the koi to arrive just before the DRAS Auction!  Whoop Whoop!

So, I'll be heading there on Saturday, fish shopping and staying the night in a hotel.  I'll be fresh for a day of auctions on the Sunday!

[Janny]

Shame it's so far, I would love to go. I would love some yellow shrimp and heard a rumour there might be some there.

[2075turner]

I'm planning on going as well

[2075turner]

If someone is interested, I have some space in my car.  I have someone grabbing a ride with me already so I would have two spots...

Pm me if you are interested. 

FYI, I'm a non smoker so if you are we would have to make pit stops for it.

[charlie]

Thanks DRAS, good deals today all around , the vendors made it worthwhile .
Kudos to the 6 OVAS `ers that made the trip.

[limed]

Lots of items in the auction, also had a great time but a little tried. The auction was better since
ownly fish and plants was for sale. Lots of people and vendors. Met some new people that bread similar fish.
Didn't buy much this trip, waited too long.
Now where the pictures....

Ed

Thanks DRAS, good deals today all around , the vendors made it worthwhile .
Kudos to the 6 OVAS `ers that made the trip.

[charlie]

Lots of items in the auction, also had a great time but a little tried. The auction was better since
ownly fish and plants was for sale. Lots of people and vendors. Met some new people that bread similar fish.
Didn't buy much this trip, waited too long.
Now where the pictures.... Ed

Yes Limmer where are the pictures 

[buntbarsch]

Thank you guys for coming all the way from Ottawa.
You are AWESOME 

[2075turner]

Yep, It was great!  Thanks guys for all the hard work you guys put in to move ALL  those items along.  Definitely a lot to see.

[daworldisblack]

It was awesome! My first Auction ever and I had a blast. Got some new plants and fishes and met new people too! Also met some fellow OVAS'ians for the first time (Limed lol .. I always wondered what being limed meant till he told me his name was Ed haha) and chatted with some of the guys from DRAS. Great friendly people and really well-done! Did not know what to expect but was greatly surprised with the turn of events!

[limmer]

Some of us have to sleep!
Sorry did not get a chance to meet "disworldisblack".  Nobody introduced us.

Here are my pics.
Udo Rothman Auctioneer on right.

Barry McKee in middle

One of the Auction Tables

Vendor Area

Vendor Area

Ed (limed) in the middle

Evelyn (2075turner)

Klaus (buntbarsch) & Errol (charlie)

Errol (charlie) & Sylvia (fishnut)

[Fishnut]

NOOOOO!!!!!  YOU posted my mouth full of hamburger piC!!

I had a great time as well.  I got a pair of Egyptian Mouth Brooders that I have been looking for for a long time (thanks Peter), some swordtails, a culture of live Daphnia and some super red shrimp from one of the vendors.

Inspiration for us to improve our auction!!

[touchofsky]

It looks like a great sale!  I wish I could have gone, but it wasn't a good weekend for me.

So, what all did people buy?

[Peekay]

It looks like a great sale!  I wish I could have gone, but it wasn't a good weekend for me.

So, what all did people buy?

+1!

[charlie]

NOOOOO!!!!!  YOU posted my mouth full of hamburger piC!!

Speaking of mouth full here are 2 examples of an OVAS mouth full & a DRAS mouth full

[charlie]

It looks like a great sale!  I wish I could have gone, but it wasn't a good weekend for me.

So, what all did people buy?

It was a great buyers auction, regarding the plants it was a Anubias ,Java fern day sprinkled with some run of the mill stem plants a very light topping of some cool plants.
For fish @ the auction Bushy Nose & other plecos ruled with Africans as to be expected.
On the Vendors side of things, they were some great deals, it was refreshing to see the  local big al`s ( Whitby) leading the way, they had the entire back wall of the room, well staffed with about 6 guys, specials for the auction, some cool cray fish , Betta's , shrimp, plants etc etc, 12 cardinals for 18.00, 3 Sakura Deep  red cherryfor 6.00 & 3 sakura yellow shrimp for 6.00, HC on Lava rock for 5.00
Drift wood for 10.00 @ another vendor & My Fav store Aquainspiration with a display to make planted junkies feel happy all day 
I was very impressed @ the effort put out by the local vendors, some of whom closed their store to support DRAS WOW
As for my acquisitions, it was a few plants that was pre ordered form another hobbyist & some impulse purchases from AI & Big Al`s
AI - 10 gallon Starfire tank, stainless steel filter grill, stainless steel scissors
Big Al`s some Sakura Yellow shrimp
Did a ton of networking.
Errol

[charlie]

A few pics

[ajm1961]

Great pics!
Nice shot of the pleco, and isn't that a sweet golf shirt.
Thanks for taking the time to share the experience.

[touchofsky]

It looks like it was a very well organized show, with a lot of interesting things on offer.  Thanks for the pictures, I appreciated seeing them 

[daworldisblack]

It was really well organized and great to be there! Big Al's did have pretty sweet deals on plants, livestock and even dry goods! Eheim filters were on sale for boxing week prices! And I was surprised they had some of the choices they brought! AI also had an outstanding presence with shiny toys and amazing demo set-ups! I got myself some Netlea Shrimp Soil from them! There were other vendors there too with great prices on things!

As for the auction, it was my first time and I was excited! I scurried around looking for whatever I might have been interested in. I had a list: Crystal Black Shrimp, interesting plants and N Class Endlers. NO CBS and N-Class Endlers (bags of P class ones though!) but tonnes of interesting plants and I got myself some Crypts (Affinis, Mi'Oya, Nurii var. "Copper") as well as Dwarf Hair Grass, Willow Moss and a really healthy Crinium Calamistratum!

Livestock selection wasn't too bad either - bags upon bags of Cichlids but I had my sights on some Empire Gudgeons (Saw them on a trip to MTL last week and been looking for them since!), some nice plecos (black with tiny white spots - proper L-number escapes me now) and a pair of long-finned albino bushy nose plecos. I lost the pleco bid but I was determined to get the rest so won the Gudgeons and the Long Finned Albino Plecos (sorry Ed ). I also stumbled on a bag of "12 Cherry Shrimps" and upon closer inspection, saw that there actually were tigers in there too! And they were all berried up! So I won those too. It was definitely an impulse purchase and I found when I got home that they might cross breed with my CBS so am ambivalent about them - they look awesome though and I want to keep them but we'll see what I decide to do with them (can't put 'em in my main tank and yet can't put them in my nano shrimp set up either..hmm.. new tank?  )

All in all a great day and pretty exciting purchases. Some cost way more then others but all in all I'd say I got stuff worth the price and good amounts (except the Nurii - man that one was a hefty blow to my auction funds). I managed to sell everything I brought as well so that helped offset the cost a tad. Great crowd and as Errol mentioned, for the most part it was a Buyer's Auction (for more common items) but a pretty penny was required for the rarer stuff but if one were to get a rare item anywhere, it'd be the auction and it is well worth it! Hope next year will be as awesome and I hope to attend OVAS's auction next year and be just as blown away

[pm]

Man, you guys are road warriors  .  MTL a few weeks ago and GTA this past week.  Each in one day I assume.

As for the DRAS auction, thanks for the pics, they really put it in perspective.  I really like the vendor displays (and prices).  Wish I could have gone.

[bizfromqc]

Looked like a lot of fun. I also wished I could go but that week-end was a scratch for me.

A lot of food for thought for the next OVAS auctions.

+1 on the golf shirts, I'm still bummed out I can't get my OVAS one 

[androo303]

I will definitely have to hit the GTA auction up for drift wood; which sadly the OVAS auction did not have.

Looks like my 120gallon tank will be getting stocked by the auctions once it is up!! 

[exv152]

I will definitely have to hit the GTA auction up for drift wood; which sadly the OVAS auction did not have
Looks like my 120gallon tank will be getting stocked by the auctions once it is up!!  .

I was thinking the same thing, I would have spent a few bucks on some neat looking driftwood for just $10 a piece.

[daworldisblack]

I was thinking the same thing, I would have spent a few bucks on some neat looking driftwood for just $10 a piece.

I believe they were Mangrove Roots and the store that was selling them was Aquatic Kingdom(http://www.aquatickingdom.ca/). You could probably check 'em out the next time you're in the GTA area maybe.

[Peekay]

I lost the pleco bid but I was determined to get the rest so won the Gudgeons and the Plecos (sorry Ed ).

How do the fishies fare being in bags for such a long day?  Do you do anything special to make it easier on them?

[daworldisblack]

How do the fishies fare being in bags for such a long day?  Do you do anything special to make it easier on them?

I guess it depends on how sensitive the fishes are. I know for a fact that some had died on the auction table. Bags of 5 were left with Bags of 1 or entire shrimp mini-colonies were dead in the zip-lock bags. For the killis i sold, i only tied the bag up prior to leaving in the morning. I also was told by Ed that for his plecos, they put in oxygen gas and also provided a type of foam that helps maintain ph levels in the bag.

[charlie]

Man, you guys are road warriors  .  MTL a few weeks ago and GTA this past week.  Each in one day I assume.

As for the DRAS auction, thanks for the pics, they really put it in perspective.  I really like the vendor displays (and prices).  Wish I could have gone.

That is nothing, i know of 2 members here who drove to New Jersey to buy some fish & return the same day

[zenins]

Hey everyone,

Nice to meet some of you again this past Sunday

Here is a link to my photos on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.342598719129853.82536.141380715918322&type=3&l=4d0c3d79d6

Double click on the first photo, then you can step through them by hovering on the right edge of the photo then click

You should not need to sign into Facebook

[Fishnut]

How do the fishies fare being in bags for such a long day?  Do you do anything special to make it easier on them?

The best thing to do is to bring a small bottle of water conditioner with you and a couple of extra bags, just in case you need to do a water change on the bag of fish.

[charlie]

Hey everyone,

Nice to meet some of you again this past Sunday

Here is a link to my photos on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.342598719129853.82536.141380715918322&type=3&l=4d0c3d79d6

Double click on the first photo, then you can step through them by hovering on the right edge of the photo then click

You should not need to sign into Facebook

Hey Zenins, was nice chatting with you, thanks for dropping by & sharing your photos.
Errol

[zenins]

Hey Zenins, was nice chatting with you, thanks for dropping by & sharing your photos.
Errol

I should have got a photo of you guys, at least in the crowd, but I see other photos from there shared here, so it is all good