Please join us, this Wednesday evening, April 152026, at 7:00 for this month's Tropical Fish Society of Rhode Island meeting.
This month's speaker is Craig Storms
Craig's talk will be on Aquarium Alchemy.
Craig has been an aquarium hobbyist since the 1960s when his parents supported a ’10 tank fishroom’ in their basement. Now a long time cichlid keeper, he first experienced spawning behavior with Pelvicachromis pulcher – the ever popular Kribensis. He’s been hooked ever since. In 2020 Craig retired to the Berkshires and went all-in on the aquarium hobby including building a dedicated fishroom and landscaping his yard to support outdoor summer ponds and tubs. Currently he keeps a mix of Tanganyikan and South American cichlids which are slowly being displaced to allow tank space for wild-type Bettas, Rainbowfish, and even a dedicated Killifish tank. Amazing what happens when you join fish clubs.
Craig earned two degrees in chemistry before coming to the realization that it wasn’t really his thing, but fortunately found some value in it with his aquarium hobby. After some soul-searching he enjoyed a career in software development and with the onset of those long cold New England winters he began development of AquaristSpecies.net - an open source site focused on helping aquarists network and find one another based on the species they want or keep. Of particular interest was helping NECA members find and track who is keeping rare or endangered species, which led to collaboration with the CARES Preservation Program. In 2024 Craig applied for a Paul V. Loiselle Conservation Fund grant which was approved - funding the cost of servers for the AquaristSpecies.net site.
Craig is now working on a new CaresSpecies.org site targeted for launch as a beta site in April 2026. It will feature a searchable species database, species photos and descriptions, and provide support for CARES hobbyists and club liaisons registering and tracking their CARES species. Beta users welcome!
We also have our usual meeting activities. You may bring any fish or plants you are submitting for the BAP or HAP for auction. You may also bring up to 3 lots for a Buck-a-Bag auction. We plan to have refreshments, a raffle and a short business meeting.
The address of our Wednesday meeting is 19 Mohawk Drive, Riverside, Rhode Island. Mohawk Drive is directly off of Rt 114, the Wampanoag Trail in Riverside. Route 114 is a divided road at the entrance to Mohawk Road. If you are coming from the North you need to go past it to the next turnaround, which is on the left just past the "Welcome to Barrington" Sign. After you turn around, Mohawk Road will be on your right a short distance past the "Anchor Bay Assisted Living" sign. There is a Blue and White sign at the entry of Mohawk Road for the Riverside Sportsmans Association. The building is at the end of the road.