Why i joined OVAS - feel free to post your reason

[charlie]

I thought i should share my personal experience with my fellow hobbyist, i first stumbled on OVAS a  few years after i restarted keeping aquariums in Canada, this great hobby was first introduced to me as a young boy back in my country of birth, where keeping tropical fish was common due to the readily available resources but less techy back then  .
I registered  on the forum after lurking for a couple of months as a guest, it was not long after that it became apparent to me that this club which offered the opportunity for me to have somewhere for me to visit & learn from other hobbyist was a valuable asset to me and as such was aiding in keeping my passion alive & fresh, i found that people were very willing to share knowledge , this perked my interest in planted tanks after several failed attempts to keep that red plant that just kept getting my attention everytime i visited the LFS, but it would always die  , thanks to reading here , coupled with bombarding some veterans like BigDaddy, Jetstream & Toss  i was finally able to keep that red plant and in so doing i have met some great people and made some great friends.
I realised that such a club needs to have something in return , as such i had no hesitation in subscribing to a annual membership, after a few years doing so , i wanted to give back some more , so i volunteered to help the other hobbyist that strive to make this club a better one.
That red plant is Alternanthera reineckii 
Regards

[RedFish]

I'll start by thanking Errol, for starting this thread and for helping me during my early days.  Also BigDaddy, Toss and Rockgarden, and I am sure I am missing several others, who have answered my questions through the years.

I started off wanting a fish tank, lurked about on this forum and others, and purchased a used 10 gallon off an ovas member.    I learned how to cycle the tank from ovas,  started off with fake plants and when I wanted to go to real plants, I found out how from ovas threads and members, got free plants from generous ovas members and somewhere around there I joined ovas officially.

I am down to two smaller tanks, and really don't participate much at all.   But I renew my membership to help support the club, and I still give away my plant clippings to others that need them.

I've even been able to help a couple of newbies with questions!   It's a great club, and when my work takes me into a house where the people have aquariums, I always tell them about ovas.

Thank you to all who support ovas and may it continue for many years to come.

[Brine]

I first got here because of KWAS. I had moved to the Kitchener area for work and my gf bought me a tank. After a while I joined KWAS and met some fantastic people and learned so much. It was a no-brainer to look for a local aquarium club when I moved back here a few years later. I was not disappointed when I met the OVAS crew. There are so many knowledgeable people here who are willing to help. As for paying for a membership, what is $20 compared to what I spend on my hobby? I think it is a bargain.

I miss Babblefish and Succinctfish and Paleofishgirl and the others who've moved on.

[woof99]

Well I joined because I had using this site to "Save" my sick fish over the past 2 years and felt kinda guilty of using the site, the expertise of all the wonderful people but not giving back by joining OVAS! So, I joined and have since been rewarded because of the discount I get at Big Als!! 
I have yet to come to a meeting but am looking forward to coming to Big Auction!!!
Thank you everyone for all the help and great advice!

[dan2x38]

Years ago I had a small tank. After being unable to work any more I was losing what was left of my mind. My son wanted a fish for his birthday so we got him a Betta. Within a couple weeks things exploded I bought a 29 I was off and running.

Like Charlie I always admired those red plants plastic plants just didn't cut. I was reading TFH, USA Aquarium, other mags/books, and of course the web. After searching for something a link to OVAS was displayed and I clicked. Within a couple weeks of reading I joined.

Thanks to guys like Charlie, BigDaddy, BabbleFish, FischKopp, Toss, and many more I got help with plants and much more. Yes, I miss those that have moved on but you newcomers ease those losses.  Thanks everyone for joining and renewing you all make this club what it is today a success and awesome place to meet people and learn more about our great hobby - all sides of it!

[RoxyDog]

A few years ago when I lived in Windsor, I had goldfish and my LFS actually gave me the proper advice on how to take care of them!  I moved, sold the tank and went fishless until I started working for SuperPet Kanata.  I was in another department yet I ALWAYS wandered over to the fish section admiring the goldies and talk with "squeeker" and she introduced me to OVAS.  I got a tank, some goldies and some good advice.  I them moved onto africans and SW, and got more great advice along the way, thanks everyone.    Eventually I decided to support a club that was filled with fish geeks like me and become a member, and then I figured I could give a bit more even and joined the Exec 3 years ago.   

[Hookup]

I joined because I was directed here from a friend at work.  I stayed because I kinda feel like it's my back-yard community and I've met nice people.  I'm learning loads from just about every thread I see, and try to help out where I can.  This kind of forum is better than the bigger national/international sites, because it's local, and local experience counts.  I also like the interaction from the sponsors, i love it when they tell me what's coming in this weekend, etc...

[zima]

Few years ago I bought a 20 gallon complete setup for $25 at a garage sale. I was writing my dissertation back then, so I didn't have time to set it up. Therefore, I filled it up with books and articles (was running out of space for those). When I finished my dissertation, I decided to fill it up with water and introduce some fish in there. Uncycled, the setup and its habitants didn't last very long. I then googled and started reading about how to keep fish alive. Concurrently, I came across an add on usedottawa about someone selling sinking pellets for half the price in the store; that was zippity, who told me about OVAS. Wow, that was a total eye opener - a wealth of information and ridiculously affordable goodies in the classifieds. I contracted a bad case of MTS, and within weeks acquired 6 more tanks! Got my first red plant from charlie (which, accidentally, was Reineckii alterna as well), which didn't last for long. Since then, OVAS has grown in me, as did my plants in my tanks. I just love the idea of a local, both virtual and actual club filled with wealth of knowledge and nice folks. $20 annual membership fee is a joke compared to what I save using it in stores. But besides the savings, I am just happy to be able to support a local community club that I care about (even thinking of helping out in the exec with time)!

[Nerine]

I joined OVAS because I missed the aquarium club back home. My grandparents and mother were very involved in the clubs and showing fish.

I think one of the first club members here I met was Charlie! I had found OVAS and was a lurker for a very long time!! and then finally one day something caught my interest and I posted!!

I let my membership lapse a few months but now I'm back!!

I have a strong desire to promote aquatic life to the community and would some day like to see a huge aquarium in the city I live in!! Or maybe I'll just move to montreal and have the biodome haha

Can't say I've saved a lot of $$'s on using the membership for supplies because I'm pretty much set for things, but I do like attending the meetings and hearing all the speakers. Speaking of which, Karen Randall should be back now from Project PIABA. I don't think any OVAS members went though   But how many people get the chance to meet these speakers and to help out on projects like PIABA?? We often don't hear about them in the local newspaper...you'd have to go digging for this information and OVAS just puts it at our fingertips!!

I'm very happy to be part of a wonderful club such as OVAS where I can learn and help others learn!