So, if you had to name one person who has seen more LED designs over the last few years, who would it be?

Well I know who first came to my mind…The senior editor of ReefBuilders.com, Jake Adams!

Well, guess what? UTMAS is bringing Jake to SLC so you can see and hear his brand new presentation on LED aquarium lighting based on all his years of examining and testing various LED systems. Jake says this is not going to be any lightweight fluffy presentation and that you should come with beverage in hand and find a comfortable seat…it is going to be one of the best presentations of the year for sure!

So, where and when can you come hear this great presentation? Well at the next UTMAS meeting of course! It’s being held February 17th at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy at 7PM. I suggest you come a little early as this will be a crowded meeting for sure!

And if that is not enough, this presentation is open and free to everyone, young or old, member and non-member alike.

So, mark your calendar, and come down for a great presentation!

Jake Adams is a professional, practicing aquarist who has been an active participant in the national marine aquarium community for about 15 years. Jake has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Science and he is the senior editor of ReefBuilders.com.

Well, we told you that 2011 was going to be an awesome new year for UTMAS with more fun, learning, and opportunities to grow in the hobby…and here is the first example.

This photo was taken while I was doing research on living echinoids and crinoids in Palau (Jan 2010). The animal in my hand is the crinoid (feather star) Oxycomanthus bennetti

At our meeting on January 20, 2011 we will be featuring an awesome talk from none other than the starfish and urchin expert himself, Forest Gahn.

Forest is an invertebrate paleontologist that specializes in the evolutionary ecology of marine life, especially echinoderms. After completing his PhD at the University of Michigan and a post-doc in the Smithsonian’s Department of Paleobiology, he joined the geology faculty at Brigham Young University—Idaho (2006). While at BYUI, he was asked to oversee the installation of a 125-gallon reef aquarium, which provided his introduction to the “hobby.” Forest has integrated his newfound passion for reef aquaria with his research interests, and has successfully kept all five classes of living echinoderms. Moreover, he has an active research program involving captive echinoids and crinoids (sea urchins and feather stars). His work has been published in Integrative and Comparative Biology, Paleobiology, PNAS, Science, and featured in National Geographic, MSNBC, Science News, and Smithsonian magazine.

Forest will be addressing the general biology of echinoderms and his experience with the captive care of all five echinoderm classes, including feather stars, sea stars, cucumbers, and urchins. In addition to general physiology, he will discuss feeding, reproduction, and the pros and cons of keeping various echinoderms in aquaria.

So, make sure not to miss this meeting, it is going to be awesome!

(click here for more meeting details)

Well our December meeting is less than two weeks away so I thought I would give the preview of what will be going on. First off, let’s discuss the importants stuff:

• FOOD
• CORALS
• COOKIES

Not necessarily in that order!

But seriously, to celebrate the holidays, UTMAS will be sponsoring a ton of great, old-fashioned finger foods (BBQ meatballs, Deviled Eggs -from our free-range chickens, Wraps, Fruit).  This will be the kind of stuff no one ever wants to admit they really like!

In addition to the food, as always we will have an great coral raffle and three free door prizes will be raffled off. We still have quite a bit of coral in our UTMAS frag tank that I will be bringing in like zoos, chalices, montiporas, and much more. Also, I am sure that our sponsors will be kicking in some sweet raffle items as well. For those that purchase their 2011 UTMAS membership at this meeting, there will be an additional 10 raffle tickets as a special promotion!

And, the best part of the evening is the 1st Annual UTMAS Cookie Exchange. Everyone knows that it is fun to bake Christmas cookies…at least the first couple of dozen…but then can get tiresome and you really only have a couple of varieties to enjoy. The cookie exchange solves that problem. Just bring in a couple of dozen (or more) of your favorite Christmas cookies and we will lay them out with all the others. Then, near the end of the meeting, everyone can go to the table and take a few cookies from others that have brought in. Basically you come in with 24 of one type and leave with an entire plate of all types! Even if you don’t bring cookies, you are welcome to participate, but it is always better the more variety we get.

And now for the mundane…hehehe

So, what will be the topics this month? Well since I had a mini-mishap or two over the last month, I thought it would be good to make our main topic this month be Disaster Preparedness and Avoidance. Find out all the things you should be doing and have on hand for when that disaster happens…and if you plan on being in this hobby for more than one year, it WILL happen…

In addition to this, I am asking everyone to submit to me via PM their “Gear of the Year” or “Specimen of 2010″…in other words, one thing you got for your aquarium this year that changed your life so to speak and/or one coral, fish, or invert that made your year.  Let me know what they were and why they were so great. I will be assembling everyones into a presentation and going through it at the meeting.

UTMAS Fragtacular

7:00PM on 10/28 at The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy

Well the time is almost here for a coral-buying opportunity like none you have ever seen! UTMAS is busy already preparing for a great event that will be LOADED with gorgeous corals that will be fragged, seasoned, and packaged like you have never seen before.

Not only will we be having entry-level corals, but also gorgeous high-end corals as well. All corals will be fragged at least a day before the event, and packaged up just before the event starts. This assures that there will be less risk for buyers as compared to events where the corals are fragged up just before bagging them. We have a dedicated 135 gallon frag tank (72″x36″x12″) just for this purpose. Soon, right here, you may even see a live cam of the goodies that will be going into it!

Also, for UTMAS members, we will be allowing people to reserve frags of corals ahead of the event as we post them in threads in our members-only section. Then, you can just pick them up when you arrive to the event! Membership has its privileges!

Oh, and one more member benefit — All new memberships will be 2011 memberships so you get at least two free months of membership AND all 2011 members get 50% off on ALL corals! So, become a member or renew your membership and SAVE SAVE SAVE!

Stay tuned for more details and pictures! Go to the forums to find out more. Buy a membership to get access to coral reservations in the members-only forum!

Our next Meeting is this coming Thursday, September 16th and begins at 7:00 P.M. Sharp at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. We have some great content planned and as always there will be tasty snacks, a great raffle, and cool corals from our sponsors.

This week we will feature:

– AQUASCAPING by Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson will be showing how to get the most out of your aquarium real estate and build the sweetest-looking rock stack that is also stable. Dave has been creating awesome giant saltwater aquariums for years (search anderson family reef on youtube) and he is also the creator of the giant tanks in all the Last Samurai restaurants along the Wasatch Front.

– The now famous monthly UTMAS raffle with corals and dry goods.

– Lots of Garden-fresh Salsa straight from the last picking of tomatoes and jalapeños in Terence and Nancy’s garden

– Tons of fun talking fish with other reef enthusiasts.

We really look forward to seeing you all at the meeting. REMEMBER , the meetings are FREE for everyone and everyone is welcome.

WHEN:  7:00PM, Thursday 9/16 (make sure to show up on time to be included for the free door prize raffle)

WHERE:  The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy

Our next Meeting is this coming Thursday, August 19th and begins at 7:00 P.M. Sharp at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy.

This months meeting agenda:

Tank of the Month presented by Nick Cardona

Coral of the Month
Terence Fugazzi will give a short presentation on the fungia coral. This unique coral is a mystery for many people and can really light up the sand bed. Terence will discuss the different varieties, the husbandry requirements, and other tips on keeping fungia corals.

Coral Fragging Demonstration
See how to glue animals to rocks!   Meet some of Utah’s elite coral propagators and ‘home growers’. Learn their tricks and ask them questions. We will have demonstrations on how to fragment, cut, glue and propagate corals.

UTMAS sponsors will also be there offering great deals on all sorts of amazing corals, inverts, and fish.

Raffle

Set your calendar, and show up early, there will be a special door prize raffle with each person getting a FREE TICKET and having an equal chance. The door prize will be drawn at 7pm sharp.

UTMAS Meetings are held every third Thursday of the month at The Living Planet Aquarium. Meetings are FREE to everyone.

Our next Meeting is Thursday, May 20th

7:00 P.M. Sharp at

The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, UT!

Here is what will be discussed/presented:

- As always there will be a free door prize given away.

- UTMAS member Dave Anderson (dca22anderson) will be doing the Fish/Coral Spotlight presentation.

- THE MAIN EVENT: AQUARIUM PHOTOGRAPHY – TIPS AND TRICKS :: UTMAS member Nick (CardNick) will give us a presentation on how to get great shots of your prized fish and corals. Learn the little things that can make a big difference between a washed out blurry image and a tack-sharp colorful representation of your livestock. And, this is not just for those with deep pockets and heavy DSLR cameras. Most of the tricks can be done with many of the point and shoot cameras out on the market today! If you don’t have a camera yet, Nick will also tell you what features are key to getting great aquarium shots.

- Open Q&A – Tell us what you want to see UTMAS do. Ask a question about your aquarium problem. Every question is welcome. Come prepared and help us make UTMAS the best it can be!

- We will have a great raffle as always – We will have stuff donated from Marine Aquatics, ReefKingdom, Cerameco, Corals4Reefs, and much more…and still this month, 2 for 1 raffle tickets for UTMAS members – so get your membership!

- There will be great coral deals available from our sponsors http://www.ReefKingdom.com and http://www.Corals4Reefs.com

Set your calendar, and show up early, there will be a special door prize raffle with each person getting a FREE TICKET and having an equal chance. The door prize will be drawn at 7pm sharp.

Come to the meeting and to see what all this UTMAS buzz is about!

The Living Planet Aquarium
725 East 10600 South
Sandy, UT 84094-4409

Just a reminder to make sure to come out this Thursday to our meeting at 7PM at the Living Planet Aquarium. We are going to have some great content. Burt will be doing a talk about the importance of flow in your tanks and how to best get some…

I will be doing a short preso on the importance of having an aquarium controller and I will also demo the Fulana 12 with auto-top-off controlled by an Aquacontroller Apex.

Be sure to make it!

Meeting Details can be found here

Just a reminder, our next meeting is next Thursday at 7:00 PM. More details can be found here. http://www.utmas.com/utmas-info/meetings/

Huge news everyone!

As a favor to UTMAS, our founding sponsor The Living Planet Aquarium is allowing us to have an exclusive sneak-peek of their new penguin exhibit ahead of the general public! So, now you have yet another reason to come to the meeting tomorrow night. Here are the details in case you missed them. Remember, the meeting is FREE and open to everyone!