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TCMAS Club History (1 Viewer)

I've just been re-reading this whole thread. A few comments (really trivial ones):

Ernie said:
Larry Maras actually held the first few meetings in a private room at the Perkins Restaurant in Burnsville. Shortly after that, we decided to go to members' homes so we could actually see each other's tanks and learn more.

If memory serves us correctly, the other member Gary mentioned who had the tank split that flooded his basement, was a guy named Brad Anderson. He used to keep all his dead corals for his young son who took them to school for "show and tell".

We had a couple outings: In 2000 we had a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium at the Mall of America. We also had an after hours tour of the aquariums of the MN Zoo.
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It is possible Brad Anderson had a tank fail too, but I do know that Larry had this happen in his town house. It was a large tank. Wow, what an awful mess that must have been! I don't think this is what got him out of the hobby - I think he just ended up having other interests (a boat as I recall) taking precedence.

(Incidentally, I still have a 70 gallon tank in use that I bought from Larry, including a nice looking wooden stand and hood that he built.)

minnreefer said:
I want to add a few things that I remember from the history. I joined around 1998 or 1999, One of the first meetings that I my wife and I wen tto was at Clam mans house, he had many large and great clams, I think he donated his tank to a local college. My wife started the forum thereeftank about the same time as Reef Central got started. The club went thru a lot of changes in the early 2000's with new business rules what type of web site and where to host it. I bought one of Larry's tanks, which I am not getting ready to sell. I might get back into the hobby with a smaller tank, depending on size and cost.

Thanks

Jon Hanna
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Actually, Shaun's huge clam was a gigas, though I think he had some large clams of other species too (I'm pretty sure there was at least one crocea, for example, and at least one derasa, and maybe others, though I barely knew giant clams back then and the only one that fully registered in my memory was the huge gigas). I could hardly believe that gigas clam when I saw it. And I remember it being a very nicely colored one (I remember its really nice olive green color, and I imagine it also must have had blue spots). I later had a gigas clam that I was given by another member who was taking down a tank - mine had a lot of blue spots, but I remember the background green color being nicer on Shaun's clam.
 
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I can't remember when, but somewhere along the line we went to two meetings in 05 or so because people's houses were being overrun with people and we had new members that were overwhelmed by the numbers and just leaving without going in. That worked for a while, but in retrospect, may not have been the best plan.

I remember picking up Eric Borneman at the airport and thinking; Doesn't this guy shower? I had a good time with him though. One of his speeches was on Apoptosis as the reason for tissue recession and not the "RTN" (rapid tissue necrosis) that was the popular term at the time. I also remember either shortly after or before he supposedly had some catastrophic vandalism or something with his systems as he was trying to demonstrate some certain method of reef keeping. Others thought he did it to himself due to his theory being incorrect. I actually think I may have his speeches on tape somewhere still. I was supposed to get them to someone as one point to post online as a reference. Of course, it sounded like a great idea, but I never got around to doing it.

I remember Graham had a nice tank and that was one of my first meetings, I think Otoliths or the guy in Apple Valley that was a pilot and did the acrylic thing on the side was actually my first meeting. David Grigor was the go to guy if no one was hosting as he would always step up and he had some really long living corals. Havre always had several nice tanks going and the fake magazine cover of him is still one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Scott's tank was awesome. Energy's of course. I used to never miss a meeting. I often wonder if the economy crashing hasn't had a lot to do with the decline in the hobby? Why were people so much more active at meetings back in the day? Maybe it's just the age of the computer and technology and just not the need to get together anymore?
 
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It was likely around 2007/8 that I came up with the TCMAS shark logo.

I still have some of the most coral frags I won from Redwinger for it including a massive "chocolate chip pally".
 
I came to a few meetings when this club formed. That was back when I had my first Reef Tank. Took a break the last few years, and now I'm back.
 
Stumbled upon this gem!

Great chronicle of the TCMAS history. As a new member it is interesting to see how things have evolved.

Anyone wanna take up a challenge to dust this off and fill in the gaps of the last few years?
 
Ya’ll still kicking in the cold north? Happy to see this community is still going! <3.
 
epidemic said:
Ya’ll still kicking in the cold north? Happy to see this community is still going! QUOTE]

Whoa blast from the past! Yeah we still here.

Though our numbers have dwindled, our resolve has not.
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Oddly still in the 60's. I sure hope this doesn't mean winter drags on thru June 😅
 
Love it Ben. It was good to see pics of Craig back when he was healthy.
 
Fun thread to read. I have attended every speaker event since the Greg Hiller one in 2010. There was a frag swap directly afterward.
 
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