Why You Should Join a Local Aquarium Club
There are several reasons why you should join a local aquarium club. Aquarium clubs are a great way to meet other like minded people in the hobby that live in your area. When you need a helping hand moving a tank or installing a new piece of equipment, it's good to know that you have friends in the area that are willing to lend a helping hand. Likewise, you can receive great satisfaction helping a fellow fish friend in need, or lending your expertise to a problem they may be having with their fish tank.
Building a strong sense of community in the aquarium hobby is a good thing. Many time local clubs hold frag swaps or organize behind the scenes tours of public aquariums. These are just a few examples of why it's a good idea to join a club.
Many members of fish clubs have live plants, captive bred fish or over gown corals and macro algae that they willingly share with fellow club members. Also, guest speakers that come to visit and given presentations cam help you get a deeper understanding of topics that you may have never considered, or that you wanted to find more information about.
Most aquarium clubs have annual membership fees, hold monthly meetings and do fundraising raffles. Manufacturers and local fish stores will often donate products to local reef clubs when trying to introduce a new item to a group. These can be as simple as aquarium scrapers or hydrometers, or they may be big prizes such as calcium reactors or protein skimmer. Also, many aquarium clubs are offered discounts for members by the local fish stores, another great way to save money.
There are many reasons why it's a good idea to join a local aquarium club. You'll be glad you did! Here's a list of aquarium clubs around the country to help you get started! If you are already a member of a local fish club and would like to have it listed here, send me your info!