Calgary Aquarium Society celebrating 75th anniversary

The Calgary Aquarium Society has been around for 75 years, with members of the group helping to re-populate endangered species.

The Calgary Aquarium Society (CAS), which is made up of people who share the same passion of keeping fish in their homes, is marking its 75th anniversary in 2025.

Membership has fluctuated over the years, currently sitting at 99. In its heyday in the 1970s, the society had close to 700 members, making it the largest aquarium club in the world.

Ben Mueller, CAS membership director, says it has a diverse membership.

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“I would say it is a place for like-minded individuals to come together regardless of skill level,” he said.

“If you’re new to the hobby, you can come meet up with people who’ve been in it 30 or 40 years and pick their brain; they can guide you.”

Mueller says there is ample information about fish and home aquariums to be found on the internet, but the society members know Calgary water and what fish and plants need to survive and thrive in it.

“Nothing’s more helpful than getting advice from local fish keepers and what works for them in our water right,” he said.

“People take pride in (their aquariums) and not only that, in the fish they’re breeding, the colouration they’re achieving, even the fact that they can breed the fish.”

Fred Guy first joined the society when he was 13 years old in 1964. He’s been in and out a number of times over the years and now has 20 tanks at home. That’s down from the 100 he used to have.

“The fish themselves are often quite gorgeous,” he said. “Then they get the opportunity to breed them and it’s sort of creative in that sense, even though the fish are doing all the work.”

Guy says the true benefit to being a CAS member is that everyone meets every second Tuesday and at the end of the meeting, there’s an auction where members buy and sell fish and plants from each other.

“Firstly, there’s obviously the social aspect and the chance to share expertise and experience (by being a member),” he said.

“But also, it gives you access to a lot of different fish and plants that you would not normally see because you end up exchanging them. There’s a network of aquarium clubs that keeps in touch with each other.”

Curtis Jerrom, CAS president, says the society also hosts a number of guest speakers from all over the world to speak at the meetings.

CAS is also involved in freshwater fish conservation through CARES species preservation program and the Goodeid Working Group.

Jerrom says hobbyists are called into action to help breed endangered species.

“We’ve brought back fish where there only were two left (in the world) and we got them from the Toronto Zoo,” he said.

“The curators there gave them to the hobbyists and we had more success with breeding them than they had in the zoo environment and we were able to (breed) some of these fish and now (they number) in the thousands.”

Corinne Langford has only been a member for a few years and says you can make the hobby as expensive as you want. She says the time commitment is about four hours a week to feed the fish, maintain the water quality and clean the aquarium.

“Whether it’s just sort of like weekly maintenance and kind of a quick water change or whether it’s needing to do a bit more like cleaning the filters and doing a bit more with the plants,” she said.

“I know sometimes people kind of talk about the amount of work with it, but I mean it doesn’t feel like work, that’s what makes it a hobby.”

Langford says her home aquariums bring her joy.

“It’s very relaxing and it’s very calming I have to say,” she said. “Being able to create a world and then just sitting and watching them, it’s been nice to have something that has nothing to do with life, work or the kids and have something new to learn.”

Learn more about the society on its website.