Frans Vermeulen
Frans Vermeulen is a renowned killifish expert who has done numerous expeditions into remote parts of Central and South America in search of exciting and unknown fishes. Frans has cultivated extensive knowledge about killifish, has published a number of books and maintains the excellent website itrainsfishes.net
Frans will give two talks at the AKA 2026 Convention
Killifish of South America: Learn about the dazzling killifish Frans has spent much of his life studying.
Running My Fishroom: Learn how a renowned killifish expert cares for some of the world’s most beautiful fish.
Michi Tobler, PhD
Dr. Michi Tobler is a Professor in Zoological Studies at the University of Missouri, St. Louis as well as the Senior Scientist at the Saint Louis Zoo. Dr. Tobler oversees a huge fish research facility at UMSL, with over 400 aquariums. His research seeks to understand the biological secrets of how and why species diversify.
Dr. Tobler’s lecture at AKA 2026 will be,
Fish Ecology, Evolution and Conservation: Fish seem to keep changing and evolving to fit in every wet ecological niche, no matter how inhospitable. Learn some about how fish keep performing these evolutionary magic-tricks, and how humans can help preserve the amazing array of fishes nature has managed to come up with.
Brendan Tubbs
Brendan is a keystone member of the Michiana Aquarium Society and prolific fish tubber, i.e., someone who keeps fish in outside tubs in order to promote natural breeding behavior from fish. Outside tubbing can be an effective way to breed numerous species of fishes, especially rice fish.
Brendan’s lecture at AKA 2026 will be,
Rice Fish and Tubbing: Learn the tip and tricks on one of the most efficient methods of turning a few happy little fish into an army of happy little fish.
Andrej Spec, MD
Dr. Andrej Spec is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Washington University and a leading expert in fungal infections. However, Dr. Spec’s aquatic claim to fame is being one of the premier horticulturist at the Missouri Aquarium Society (MASI). He maintains an extensive collection of rare and beautiful aquatic plants and is MASI’s vice Horticultural Award Program chair.
Dr. Spec’s lecture at AKA 2026 will be,
Propagating Aquarium Plants for Killifish: while acrylic yarn spawning mops are a reliable method for inspiring killifish to breed, live plants can be just as efficient, more natural and come with a ton of other benefits for your fish! Find out how to grow live plants to get the most out of your killifish!
Mike Hellweg
Mike Hellweg is one of the most successful fish breeders in the country! He has spawned over 400 species of fish and propagated over 300 species of aquatic plants. Mike has spread his vast knowledge in many ways, from lecturing all over the country, writing countless articles in tons of fish keeping publications and authored several highly sought after books, like Culturing Live Foods : A Step-by-Step Guide to Producing Food for Your Home Aquarium
Mike’s lecture at AKA 2026 will be,
Cultivating Live Foods for Killifish: One of the most important things in breeding any fish is good food. Ask any killifish, and they will tell you that the best food around is anything live and wiggly that fits in their mouth. From the freshest fry to the chunkiest adult, learn what live foods are the best, and easiest, to maintain at home and feed your fish!
Live Food cultures will be available for purchase after the talk!
Daphnia/Moina – $10
Other Live Food Cultures – $5