Several of the areas are in the process or organizing tank tours.    Tank tours are events where club members spend an afternoon visiting eachothers tanks.  You don't not have to be showing a tank to attend a tour.

For more information please read the following forum threads:

• Cedar Rapids Tank Tour (Oct. 19th)
• Waterloo/Cedar Fall Tank Tour (Oct. 26th, Tentative)

We incourage you to join us for these very informal, fun events.

The 2008 Reef Conference is less then 3 months away and we need you!

We are looking for some volunteers to help with the conference with marketing & planning.  If you would like to help sign up in the thread in the GIRS members forum.

As time draws closer we will also need people to help set up & clean up.

This is going to be an event you do not want to miss so why not be a part of making it happen!

Now that the club has elected its new Board of Directorys for 2008, we are moving on to the process of nominating local trustees for the 4 main regions of the club.  Trustees play an important role in supporting the GIRS BOD and making sure that each region is well represented in the club.  If you would like to nominate someone (or yourself) please do so in the following discussion threads:

• Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Nominations Thread
• Des Moines Nominations Thread
• Quad Cities Nominations Thread
• Waterloo/Cedar Falls Nominations Thread

The club has just completed it's Board of Directors election for the 2008 Calendar year.   The results are:

• President - Billy Greenlee (bgreenlee)
• Vice-President - Sone Loval (slovan)
• Secretary/Treasurer - Jeremy Meyer (waverz)

For those who are just entering the hobby and those who are experienced.  There is a new resource now available to the home reef aquarist.  A company is now offering online courses to aid the home enthusiast in our efforts to create natural aquatic environments.  “Maco” has designed a series of course ranging from Reef Chemistry to Reef Husbandry.  Here is a complete list of currently planned courses and their associated syllabuses.