UPCOMING EVENTS:

Hey Everyone! Hope your thanksgiving holiday was wonderful and relaxing. We do have a lot to be thankful for now get ready, the holidays are here!

This year's annual Christmas party will be Dec 19th from 2-5 pm at Danny and Tracy's house on Route 234 just north of lovely Leonardtown. Feel free to PM Fishwish or Lotus for directions if you need them. Like every year the club will provide all the meats, soda's and water; everyone is asked to bring a side dish to share. There will be door prizes and a special give away for one lucky person. Leave your money at home; every member will receive one raffle ticket for the big give away. Unfortunately, because we had to postpone the Reef Symposium this year, there will be no free coral give a ways this year but imagine what we can do next year with 2 symposiums in one year!

Like the last 3 years, we will also be asking our membership to help with our annual food drive for those less fortunate. Please bring at least one can or non perishable food item to help our cause. Last year we donated a pickup truck full of food items to a local food bank. Like the last few years, the person that brings the most food items for this cause will receive a top prize as well!

This is the time of year we get together to relax for a few hours, talk about whatever we want, enjoy good food and good friends have a little fun, and help others all at once. It is a good time. Hope to see you there!
Posted: 30 Nov 2009
 

 

References from Reef Central:

  • Instant Algae Calc
  • Head Loss Calc
  • Sand Bed Calc
  • Tank Electrical Calc
  • Drain Overflow Size Calc
  • Sump Volume Calc
  • Tank Volume Calc
  • Water Change Calc
  • Unit Conversions Calc
  • Large selection of Calculators (Registration Required.).


     

     

     

    LIBRARY SCHEDULE:

    November 8-21 Frankie
    November 22 - December 5 Jerome
    December 6-19 Ken
    December 20 - January 2 Mike H.
    January 3-16 Tony

     

     

     

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    CLUB PROJECTS:
    The SMMAS School program is now in full swing with TWO schools participating in our program to reach the next generation of Marine Hobbyist. Our goal is to teach these children about the dangers our natural reefs face today and what we can do as hobbyist to help.

    A very nice 75 gallon reef display was set up last year at the Little Flower School in Great Mills and is being supported by SMMAS members Mike Howell and Tracy Lumpkins. Classes are being taught to the 4th and 6th graders every week about the dangers our coral reefs face today and how we can save a reef by growing our own. They started with the quick and easy to grow coral xenia; now they are working with other corals as well and seem to enjoy every aspect of marine husbandry. We have discussed virtually all areas of starting and maintaining a saltwater aquarium, with the students actually doing the work themselves. We expect that by the end of the school year they will be able to propagate many different types of corals and perhaps sell them to help offset the cost of maintaining their reef aquarium.

    Our second school in this program started this year, with SMMAS members Dana and Cale Benefield supporting Kings Christian Academy. Dana is teaching the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th graders every week on all aspects of Marine aquarium keeping. She is also developing a lesson plan so that SMMAS can document and standardize our teaching program. A very nice 58 gallon Oceanic tank is being set up with donations from SMMAS members to add all those key items that make a salt water aquarium function. We expect this tank to get wet December 2008, with live animals being added in January, 2009.

    There are other schools that have expressed an interest of starting a program in their school similar to the two we have now. Leonardtown High School is interested in an after school Reef Club which Shaun Elliot is heading up and Mark Powell has offered to help. St. Peters in Waldorf is also interested. We need at least 2 volunteers for each school to make this happen, if you are interested in helping and becoming involved in this program let Mike Howell know and he will be happy to get you going.

    Our first community project, the 75 gallon reef display at the Lexington Park Library has been a big success. The tank is flat out beautiful with compliments from library patrons as well as the staff. The library has set up a donation fund to help pay for the cost of maintaining the tank with SMMAS volunteers taking turns each week performing the necessary task of keeping it in such great shape. A special thanks to SMMAS members Jerome Burgess, Doug Lias, Mike Howell, Ken Jordan, Rob MacLaren, Frankie Riffle, and Tony Wolfe for their time and effort in keeping this tank beautiful. Stop by and check it out!

    If you would like to help out on any of these projects please contact Mike Howell (cmacmike) or Ken Jordan (ken) either by email or PM in the forum section.
     
    FEATURED SPONSOR:
    FIELD TRIP TIME: Dr. Mac

    On November 7, 2009 SMMAS will be hitting the road once again to Dr. Mac in Eastern, MD. It has been almost 2 years since our last visit to Dr. Mac and it is time for us to head east to see how the store looks now.

    It is a bit of a drive (2 hours one way), car pools are forming, but it is worth it. Cars roll out at 8AM, Nov 7th, don't miss out!
    About Us
    The Southern Maryland Marine Aquarium Society (SMMAS) is a friendly gathering of folks from all walks of life that share an interest in Marine Aquariums.  It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert, we welcome everyone.  We have monthly meetings to exchange ideas, discuss current conditions in member’s tanks, share and trade corals, and plan field trips.  Our goal is to educate ourselves as well as the general public about the saltwater aquarium hobby and to raise awareness of the delicate reefs we take care of, in and out of our aquariums.
    more about us