Catfish Cataclysm 2021 - The Ultimate Catfish Experience

[Megan McGuire]

Just 158 days until Cataclysm (137 to pre register and get in on the Sat BBQ and t-shirts)! We have a wonderful new venue this year - the Madison Marriott West. (https://www.reservations.com/hotel/marr ... frEALw_wcB)

Speakers this year include Jacqueline heijmen Bennett-Leaver from the Netherlands, Eric Thomas, Jeremy Basch and Chris Biggs (if the Canadian border ever opens :>).

We have tons of fish for the rare and popular catfish auctions on Saturday and the all species auction on Sunday. So far, we have 9 vendors registered - Swiss Tropicals, Freshwater Exotics, K&M Caves, Plecocaves.com, Tristan's Tropical Fish, Flip Aquatics, Gold Coast Aquatics, Fish Factory and Nationwide Aquatics. There will be silent auctions and raffles.

https://catfish-cataclysm.com

[bekateen]

Happening this weekend! Yesterday featured talks by Jeremy Basch and Stephen Tanner. Today, another presentation by Jeremy, one by Rob McLure, one by Ted Judy, and two by yours truly.

If you're here please stop and say hi. If you're not, why not?

Cheers,
Eric

[TwoTankAmin]

I am not because it is too far for me to drive there and back. I do not care to fly any more as they have made it it to unpleasant an experience. I stared flying commercial when the planes had propellers.

[bekateen]

I am not because it is too far for me to drive there and back. I do not care to fly any more as they have made it it to unpleasant an experience. I stared flying commercial when the planes had propellers.

[Andrewjw]

I was sorry to miss it!
Drove last time (6 hours each way)....but would have flown this time, but instead had to fly to Burlington Vermont, which was remarkably easy.
How were the fish?
What did i miss?
Andy in St Louis

[bekateen]

The Catfish were wonderful. Highlight for me was a group of 6

Brachyrhamdia thayeria

. I didn't win that bid, but I tried. Also wanted

Akysis prashadi

, but didn't get them either.

What did you miss?!? The talks! I gave the second best talk I've ever given!

Cheers, Eric

[Andrewjw]

Ah, the talks! ...I did indeed miss those, but hope to catch what may be your best ever talk (just let me know when and where you plan to deliver it!)
Andy

[MarcW]

I wanted to be there, but travel from the UK isn't allowed until November 1st!

Hopefully I'll make it to CatCon in Virginia next year at my second attempt, then Cataclysm the following, as things stand, the CSG convention is planned for March next year that'll be my first event for a long time!

Eric - Akysis are a great fish, if you make it over here again and still want some I may be able to part with a few, I still have a group of 24, what I believe to be

Akysis portellus

you can normally only see a few, as most bury completely under the sand, as soon as any food goes in they all show up very quickly!

Great to hear the convention went well.

[Marine590622]

Yes the talks, This year the catfish for the rare catfish auction where housed in the speaker room so I was able to hear most of the talks this time. I am hoping we can do that again next time. Eric, would you say having the tanks in the same room detracted from the talks? What about when we were rebagging the fish on Saturday morning?

[Marine590622]

On the topic of the fish...

Here is the list of the fish we auctioned on Saturday.

Corydoras duplicareus 6 fish
Tatia strigata F-2 4
Tatia reticulata F1 4 fish
Peckoltia sp. L-76 F1 6
Duringalnis perigiae F1 5 fish
Durinoglanis perigiae F1 5 fish
Hypan. zebra F2 4 fish
Hypan. zebra F2 4 fis
Duringlanis alta F1 4fish
Duringlanis romani F1 4 fish
Duringlanic romani F1 4 fish
Hypan. L280 4 fish
Cory sterbai F1 8fish
Duringlanis alta F1 4 fish
Lios. oncinus F-1 4 fish
hypan L280 4 fish
Hypan L333 4 fish
Hypan L333 4 fish
Cory dupplicareus
Hypan. L411 6 fish
Tatia reticulata F1 6 fish

9 Otocinclus Sp
8 Otocinclus Sp
8 Otocinclus Sp
6 Corydoras bethane CW006
6 Erethistes jerdoni
6 Erethistes jerdoni
6 Corydoras Eques Wild caught
6 CW127 Super parallelus wild caught
4 Akysis prashadi Wild Caught
4 Otocinclus cocoma
4 Otocinclus cocoma
6 albino Megalechis thoracata Tank raised
6 Corydoras aldolfoi
6 Corydoras aeneus "Venezuela"
6 Corydoras aeneus "Venezuela"
6 Corydoras aeneus "Venezuela"
6 Corydoras aeneus "Venezuela"
2 tank raised Ancistrus sp Long fin Green dragon
Tatia musaica 1 wild caught
6 tank raised Cordoras sp CS139
Trachelychthys exilis 4 WC
Farlowella vittata 4 wild caught
LDA25 Parotocinclus jumbo 3 wild caught
LDA25 Parotocinclus jumbo 3 wild caught
cw010 Orange Laser 6 wild caught
cw010 Orange Laser 6 wild caught
L204 pin stripe panque flash Panaqolus albivermis 2 in bag
Corydoras concolor 3
Corydoras loxozonus
L455 Tiger Chaetostoma Pleco 2 wc
Corydoras panda 6 wild caught
Corydoras panda 6 wild caught
Baryancistrus chrysolomus L047 Mango Pleco 1 wild caught fish
Hemiancistrus sp. L128 Blue Phantom 1 wild caught fish
Corydoras leopardus 6 wild caught
Corydoras leopardus 6 wild caught
Scleromystax prionotos 6 in the bag
L398 Pleco (Panaqolus tankei) wild caught
Corydoras splendens aka Brochis splendes 5 wild caught
Corydoras splendens aka Brochis splendes 6 wild caught
Hypancistrus sp. (L260) 2 wild caught Queen Arabesque
Hypancistrus sp. (L260) 2 wild caught Queen Arabesque
Loricaria simillima marbled whiptail 3 in the bag
L397 ALENQUER TIGER PLECO (PANAQOLUS SP.) red strip pleco 2 in the bag
L168 Dekeyseria picta 2 in the bag
1 Panaque cochliodon Blue eyed pleco
agamyxis pectinifrons
Loricaria cataphracta Linnaeus 3 in the bag
Platydoras armatulus 1 striped raphael
Megalodoras uranoscopus 1 Giant Irwins raphael catfish
albino Synodontis multipunctatus 1 in the bag
L191 Dull eyed royal pleco. 1 in the bag.
l499 Hypancistrus SP 2 in the bag
Spinipterus moijiri Otorongo Woodcat 3 in the bag
1 Corydoras gomezi and 5 Corydoras trilineatus
Trachelyopterus fisheri 1 males 1 females
l499 Hypancistrus SP 3 in the bag
corydoras armatus 5 in bag
Pseudohemiodon apithanos 2 in the bag
Pseudohemiodon apithanos 2 in the bag
Snow white Ancistrus sp 2 in the bag
Brachyrhamdia thayeria 6 in the bag
Corydoras bethane CW006 6 in the bag
2 tank raised Ancistrus sp Long fin Green dragon
2 tank raised Ancistrus sp Long fin Green dragon
Tatia musaica 1 wild caught
Tatia musaica 1 wild caught
Akysis prashadi 4 Wild Caught
l499 Hypancistrus SP 3 in the bag
Pseudohemiodon apithanos 2 in the bag
Otocinclus cocoma 4 Wild caught zebra Oto
LDA25 Parotocinclus jumbo 3 wild caught in the bag
LDA25 Parotocinclus jumbo 3 wild caught in the bag
Trachelychthys exilis 4 WC
Farlowella vittata 4 wild caught
L204 pin stripe panque flash pleco Panaqolus albivermis 2 in bag
L204 pin stripe panque flash pleco Panaqolus albivermis 2 in bag
Scleromystax sp. C113 (F1) 6 in bag
L455 Tiger Chaetostoma Pleco 2 wc
L455 Tiger Chaetostoma Pleco 2 wc
Hypancistrus sp. (L260) 2 wild caught Queen Arabesque
L398 Pleco (Panaqolus tankei) wild caught
L398 Pleco (Panaqolus tankei) wild caught
L397 ALENQUER TIGER PLECO (PANAQOLUS SP.) red strip pleco 2 in the bag
L397 ALENQUER TIGER PLECO (PANAQOLUS SP.) red strip pleco 2 in the bag
Loricaria simillima Marbled whiptail 3 in the bag
L168 Dekeyseria picta 2 in the bag
L191 pleco 1 Dull Eyed Royal Pleco
l499 Hypancistrus SP 3 in the bag
l499 Hypancistrus SP 3 in the bag
Platydoras armatulus 1 Striped Raphael
Trachelyopterus fisheri 1 males 2 females

[bekateen]

Eric, would you say having the tanks in the same room detracted from the talks? What about when we were rebagging the fish on Saturday morning?

Hi Randy,

No, most of the time, having the tanks in the same room was not a distraction. During some talks, I did notice a few members of the audience would wander to look at items instead of sitting and listening, but I thought it was okay since at least the people stayed in the speaker hall, as opposed to leaving to go to different rooms (as contrasted to people who left to go to the vendor room; and the vendor room was busy enough that I definitely wouldn't combine that into the speaker hall, although when the vendor room was open, vendors didn't get to hear talks). My reasoning is that if the audience members really aren't that interested in the talk, they either would have left the room (and in that case they might not become interested in the talk in case it gave them a good impression in the middle of the talk) or they'd be doing something else in their seats, like being on their phone or chatting with a neighbor in the lecture hall. Either of these scenarios could have been even more distracting.

The only time I sensed any real distraction was when everyone was bagging up fish Saturday in preparation for the catfish auction. There was a small amount chatter among the workers (and I would expect so) as they discussed what to do with fish from one tank or another, and of course the hustle and bustle of the activity generated a little noise too. The sounds carried in the room, but they weren't too loud.

I don't know how the audience perceived the sounds, as I was pretty loud myself when presenting (the P-A system was good, and I really appreciated that the mic could be removed from its mount and used as a walk about mic, since I rarely stand still when speaking). Actually, the most "distraction" I sensed was for myself. I was unaware of what was going on when the fish were being rebagged before the auction, and in the middle of my talk, I glanced over and saw everyone with bags, and I wondered if new fish were arriving. That made me want to rush over and see the fish in case any new species were added.

Put it this way: There will always be a love-hate relationship between competing activities at a convention. I felt that positioning the fish, the raffle stuff, and the speakers in one large room helped to bring people together and promote cohesion, which I thought was especially important given that COVID-19 put a modest dent in attendance. And the room was very big, so it did create a bit of a buffer space between the competing activities. I would have no qualms about putting them all together again next time, but if you made any changes I would simply say try to schedule activities like bagging for times outside the speaker schedule. Of course, I realize you folks had so much to do (and you did a GREAT job), so it could be that there just wasn't a better time to do the bagging.

One other relatively trivial item I'll give you is about the website's schedule page (https://catfish-cataclysm.com/schedule-1/). Since the source code uses a calendar function to display the daily schedule, the calendar updated daily. Thus, as days past, people couldn't look back on what they missed. For example, if I visit the website now and look at the schedule, it is blank (see pic). Anyone visiting the website now won't be able to see what the schedule was. I would recommend changing the web page's source code to a static schedule rather than a calendar-based format so that visitors can see the whole calendar.

If you want other feedback on the weekend, contact me by email or PM.

Cheers,
Eric

[Marine590622]

Eric

Thanks for the feedback.

... but if you made any changes I would simply say try to schedule activities like bagging for times outside the speaker schedule. Of course, I realize you folks had so much to do (and you did a GREAT job), so it could be that there just wasn't a better time to do the bagging....

As far as this the fish came in Friday midday and we unbagged them and got them in the tanks. I could have opted to rebag them Friday evening, but decided I wanted them to have as much time as possible before we rebagged them to let them destress.

Looking forward to putting together 2023 already.

[bekateen]

As far as this the fish came in Friday midday and we unbagged them and got the in the tanks. I could have opted to rebag them Friday evening, but decided I wanted them to have as much time as possible before we rebagged them to let them destress.

Looking forward to putting together 2023 already.

I agree with the plan to give fish as much time out of bag as possible. I would also want to avoid rebagging Friday night.

Cheers, Eric