Please join the Tropical Fish Club of Burlington on Thursday September 11th for an illustrated lecture by renowned tropical fish expert Steve Lundblad of Portland, Oregon. The lecture, entitled Bringing the Unique to Your Aquarium, will be presented at 6:30 pm at the VFW is Essex Junction, 73 Pearl st. Fish keepers with all levels of experience, from beginners to seasoned hobbyists are welcomed, free door prizes and there will be a small auction. This lecture is free and open to the public.
Mr. Lundblad has been in the aquarium industry for over three decades. He is widely known as an expert in the freshwater tropical fish species found in Africa and has maintained tanks of more than thirty African species for well over twenty years. He has given many presentations to aquarium clubs across the nation and internationally and has received numerous awards for his breeding and conservation efforts. Recently, on his latest trip to Lake Malawi, Africa he assisted in the reintroduction of Pseudotropheus Saulosi to the Taiwan reef where the species is nearly gone due to the popularity in the aquarium hobby and overfishing.
As a young man, he decided to blend his hobbyist passion with an entrepreneurial dream by creating a business importing, breeding, and selling tropical fish. In many cases he travels to the locations where the fish are captured from the wild and builds strong relationships with the local suppliers in Malaysia, Singapore, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Africa, and the tropics of the Amazon River. He has logged over eighty-five dives in Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika (African Rift freshwater lakes) alone. His trips have increased his knowledge of fish by observing them in their natural habitat.
His passion for tropical fish has grown into two thriving businesses with over a thousand aquariums and twenty employees. He owns and operates The Cichlid Exchange Inc., a freshwater wholesale business of nearly 30 years, as well as a large retail tropical fish store in Portland, The Wet Spot Tropical Fish, the largest specialty freshwater fish store in the country. Both businesses are known as a source for purchasing new and unusual species.
Steve is very active with the American Cichlid Association, has been on their Board of Trustees, and is currently the Show Judging Chairman. He is also on the Board of Trustees with The Greater Portland Aquarium Society. To learn more about his company history and to view some great fish photos visit his websites at www.wetspottropicalfish.com and www.cichlidexchange.com .
