Is having exotic fish as a pet something that excites you? Have you ever dreamed about owning a big beautiful aquarium? Do you love learning about the aquatic world? Then a new Estevan initiative is for you.
Three avid fish keepers, Regan Bouchard, Dave Florizone and Ashley Flynn, have recently started a new aquarium and fish club called Estevan Aquarium Enthusiasts. The first club meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on June 23 at the Trojan Play Park, where there is a playground for kids to play and a picnic table to be used for the sake of the event. Everyone is welcome to join the group. There will be coffee and donuts for those who show up.
Lifestyles talked to Bouchard about their startup and plans for the club.
“It’s just a few friends of mine. We all keep fish and thought that there are lots of other people in the area that do, but there is nowhere for anyone to really get together, share information and stories and whatnot,” said Bouchard.
She personally has six tanks with shrimp, various South American cichlids, corydoras, which are a type of a catfish, and many other species and breeds, but her colleagues have even more.
“Ashley, I think, she is up to 13, and Dave, I think is getting close to 10 (separate aquariums),” said Bouchard.
Like with any other pets, keeping fish is a lot of work, but it’s definitely rewarding.
Between the three of them, Bouchard, Florizone and Flynn have quite a bit of experience. But knowing that there are some people in Estevan that probably have a lot more, they decided to fill the gap and create a space where like-minded people could exchange information and share their love for the aquatic world.
“A lot of the bigger cities have pretty well-established aquarium clubs, so we thought we would try to get one going down here in Estevan,” said Bouchard.
Estevan Aquarium Enthusiasts received some tips and borrowed some knowledge on getting started and potential events and activities to host in the future from the Regina Aquarium Society. So now they have a better understanding of what they could do within the club.
“We definitely want to have an informative section to it. Maybe in the future have swap shows where you could bring used equipment and trade. Maybe even show off the fish tanks that we have at home,” Bouchard said.
They also plan to look into possibilities of some educational involvement with Estevan schools.
The club is inclusive and is open to all family members.
“We are kid friendly … so all our meetings will be at locations where you can bring your kids. We all have children ourselves and we know it’s hard to get out and do things,” said Bouchard.
She noticed that Estevan pet stores and merchandise zones have expanded their fish and reptile departments, which means the interest in this type of nonhuman companions is growing.
So far there are a little more than 20 people who joined the Estevan Aquarium Enthusiasts’ group on social media, and Bouchard hopes to see all these people and more joining them at the first meeting.
“We want as many people to show up as possible. If you have a fish tank, or you’ve been thinking about one, or anything, we’d love to have people come out and just get a feel for who is out there and what people want.”
During that meeting, they will introduce themselves, get to know people willing to join the club and will also see what members expect out of it. The results will help to plan for the rest of the year.
“In the next year, we want to have a meeting every four to six weeks or so, depending on how much interest we get. We are going to switch up the meeting spots to various locations,” said Bouchard, noting that for now, they will use some public areas, and once they get a better feel for what is out there, they may get a permanent location.
The best way to contact the club with any inquiries is to find the Estevan Aquarium Enthusiasts Facebook group, where they post information about their meetings and share knowledge and passion.
