Home on Rocky Cove Aquarium Club

Nadia Reyes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Organizer Handbook

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome & how to use this

Thank you for helping run Rocky Cove Aquarium Club. Organizing is a team effort, and you are never expected to do it alone. This handbook is the why and what, the principles and expectations. The Runbooks are the how, tick-box checklists you follow the week of an event.

Our north star

Every decision comes back to one question: will this help someone who has never been to a meetup feel welcome here? If yes, we’re on the right track.

Meetup Runbooks

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1 · Book a venue

Lock the room before anything else, the date depends on it. See the handbook’s venue criteria for what makes a good space.

Checklist 0/7 done

2 · Line up a session host

A confirmed venue makes it easy to invite a host. Remember: first-timers welcome, offer to help them prepare.

Tom Okada

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Volunteer with us

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Shrimp social & swap meet

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Our favourite night of the season: trade cuttings, colonies and coral frags, and meet the people behind the tanks.

Aquascaping night: planted tanks & CO₂

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Layouts, substrate, light and the great CO₂ question. Bring photos of your scape, or your plans for one.

New tank 101

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A gentle, hands-on introduction to setting up your first aquarium: tank size, cycling, stocking, and the mistakes we all made so you don’t have to.

Show & tell night in photos

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Some meetups are better shown than told. Here is June’s show & tell night, in pictures.

Doors at seven, and the demo tanks drew a crowd before the kettle had even boiled.

Riko’s two-year-old planted scape, the deserved star of the evening.

The swap table: cherry shrimp, cuttings, and more spare sponge filters than anyone will admit to owning.

New tank 101 recap: five tanks, zero panic

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Our biggest beginner night yet. Twenty new keepers, five demo tanks, and one very patient discussion about the nitrogen cycle.

The highlight was watching first-timers realize that a beautiful tank is mostly patience: cycle first, stock slowly, and let the plants do the work.

Thank you to everyone who brought spare equipment for the giveaway table, three members went home with their first complete setup.

Taken by the sea: notes from our first tidepool walk

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We traded our glass boxes for the real thing: a low-tide morning on the rocks at Rocky Cove.

The club that spends every meetup arguing about water parameters went very quiet in front of the first tidepool. Anemones, hermit crabs, and a sculpin doing its best impression of a rock: nobody’s tank has ever been this well aquascaped.

Half of us came home planning a brackish setup, and all of us came home humbled. The ocean has been running the perfect reef tank all along, no protein skimmer required.

Freshwater vs saltwater: what our panel actually agreed on

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We expected a rivalry; we got a love-in. Both panels agreed on more than they disagreed: stability beats gadgets, water changes beat additives, and the best tank is the one you’ll actually maintain.

The saltwater camp made their case with a rock-solid frag display; the freshwater camp countered with a carpet of Monte Carlo that drew audible gasps.

We’ll call it a draw, until the rematch.

Freshwater vs saltwater: the friendly debate

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Two panels, one question, zero casualties. What each side wishes the other knew.

Field trip diary: a day at the Vancouver Aquarium

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fifteen of us spent a rainy Saturday exactly where we wanted to be: in front of very large tanks.

Highlights included the kelp forest exhibit, a spirited discussion about sump design, and one member taking ninety-two photos of the same anemone.

We left inspired, humbled, and with a shared list of wildly unrealistic dream-tank plans.

Field trip: Vancouver Aquarium

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A group day trip to see how the professionals do it, and argue about which exhibit has the best aquascape.

About us

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rocky Cove Aquarium Club brings together aquarium keepers of every kind, freshwater, saltwater, planted, brackish, and the ones still cycling their first tank. We meet monthly to share what we’re keeping, learn from each other, and trade the occasional bag of shrimp.

No experience necessary. Some of our favourite meetings have been carried by a member’s very first betta setup.

This is a Hugo demo site

Rocky Cove Aquarium Club is a fictional community, made up to demonstrate the Popular Hugo theme. Replace this content with your own, every page here is an editable example.

Code of Conduct

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The short version

Be kind. Be respectful. Assume good faith. Rocky Cove Aquarium Club is a community of people with a wide range of backgrounds and experience, and we’re here to enjoy this together. Harassment and exclusionary behaviour are never acceptable.

Expected behaviour

Be welcoming, friendly and patient, especially with newcomers.
Be considerate in your speech and actions, and respectful of differing viewpoints.
Assume the person you’re talking to knows things you don’t, and vice versa.
Give others space and time to speak; make room for quieter voices.

Unacceptable behaviour

Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form.
Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, religion or experience level.
Unwelcome sexual attention, or deliberate intimidation, stalking or following.
Sustained disruption of sessions or other events.
Photographing or recording someone without their consent.

Reporting

If you experience or witness behaviour that makes you feel unsafe, tell any organizer at the event, or email hello@example.com. Reports are taken seriously and handled with discretion, and we will always protect the privacy of the person reporting.

Get involved

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Host a session

We’re always looking for members to lead a session! No experience necessary. Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, we welcome you, and we’ll help you prepare, rehearse, or even co-host.

Sessions run 20–30 minutes; show & tell spots are just five. Bring anything our community would love.

Suggest a session

Offer a venue

Have a room for 20–40 people, near transit, with step-free access? You can host our next gathering. Community halls, cafés and workplaces make wonderful hosts. See the venue checklist for what we look for.

Nadia Reyes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nadia founded Rocky Cove Aquarium Club after her third “one last tank.” She writes most of our recaps.