Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society, Inc.

February 2015 GPASI Regular Meeting
Friday February 27th, 2014

Tim Gross: Keeping Live Plants in the Aquarium

I started keeping aquariums at the age of 12.  One of my first aquariums was a 29 gallon African cichlid tank with an abundance of aquatic plants.  Luckily, the cichlids left the plants alone.  They seemed to thrive from all of the excess waste produced by the fish in my overcrowded African cichlid tank.  I really loved the lush growth of the plants and often received compliments from family and friends about my attractive natural looking aquarium.  Since then, I’ve been eager to grow as many species and varieties of aquatic plants as I can, and acquired a deep lifelong passion for natural planted aquariums.

In past years, I’ve acquired over a decade of experience working in and managing aquarium retail outlets, fish rooms and hatcheries.  I was always willing to spread my knowledge of aquatic plants to owners of these shops, which helped some of them build a nice quality selection of live aquatic plants.  Currently, Oddball Pets still has the largest selection of aquatic plants in Pittsburgh.

In 2004, a couple of friends and I considered organizing a club dedicated to the fast growing hobby of natural planted aquariums.  We founded the Pittsburgh Area Planted Aquarium Society (PAPAS) in 2005.  I have held all officer positions within PAPAS and am currently President of this prosperous club going into its tenth year.   I have also been co-chair of the Aquatic Horticultural Award Program (AHAP) with the Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society Inc. (GPASI) since 2005.  I have given numerous lectures on the many aspects of planted aquariums at PAPAS meetings and have written many articles for local aquarium related newsletters and websites on the subject of aquatic plants.

I have also contributed many photos to the Plantfinder identification guide on aquaticplantcentral.com and have had numerous photos published in the Aquatic Gardener Associations quarterly journal.

At present, I keep over 100 species/varieties of aquatic plants in my eight aquariums at home and have been able to get my hands on and propagate over 300 species of aquatic plants.  I am interested in all aspects of planted aquariums and continue to grow as a hobbyist and contribute whenever I can.

March 2015 GPASI Regular Meeting
Friday March 27th, 2014

To Be Announced

April 2015 GPASI Regular Meeting
Friday April 24th, 2014

Liz Marchio: Forest Fishes of the Peruvian Amazon

Liz will be presenting her talk entitled “Forest Fishes of the Peruvian Amazon” which will feature her recent international fieldwork in the Madre de Dios region of Peru and includes the biodiversity of fish, other animals, gold mining/conservation issues and more. . If you’re interested in international fieldwork and taking a peek into the more scientific realm of ichthyology, this talk is not to be missed!

Liz has been keeping fish all through childhood but never seriously until 2000. She has worked in every fish-specific aquarium store in Columbus, Ohio where she became intimately involved in the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts (CAFÉ). During that time she bred and maintained many fish taxa but most notably livebearers, small cichlids, rainbowfish, and shrimp. While living in Columbus she maintained 200+ gallons of aquaria and earned many HAP and BAP awards.

In 2010 she completed her degree in Zoology at Ohio State University then obtained her Master’s of Science in 2012 at Southeastern Louisiana University studying Ichthyology. She is now working on her Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. Currently she keeps wild-caught livebearing fishes from the highlands of Mexico.

Liz’s current studies are how the public and biological sciences interact. Once her talk is over, feel free to come and tell her your fish-related stories!

Her website is www.lizmarchio.com and e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

May 2015 GPASI Regular Meeting
Friday May 22th, 2014

Matt Bielski: Building a LED Strip Light Workshop

Past President of the Michiana Aquarium Society and long time hobbyist, Matt Bielski, is going to give us a hands on workshop for building your very own LED strip light at the meeting! Made from white vinyl gutter with 3 rows of LED lights, these will fit many of the full hoods on the market today. We are limiting it to one strip light per person so Matt will have time to do some pre-assembly to make sure we all have time to make them all. We do need to know what size strip light you will want to build and a pre payment will be needed ASAP with the cut off date being at the end of the January monthly meeting. Even if you aren’t going to build one at the workshop meeting, you’ll still be able to learn how to build one yourself at home.

Here are cost pricing for building your lights including all wiring and power supply: 20"-$9 ~ 24"-$10 ~ 30"-$13 ~ 36"-$15 ~ 48"-$19

Contact Eric at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call him at (412) 491-0311 if you are going to want to build a strip light or have any questions.

In addition, Matt is accepting orders for custom built lights; you can contact him directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.