ANGFA Life Membership was awarded to Adrian in 2016. Adrian Tappin was a founding member of ANGFA. Together with Graham Heidke and members of the Eastern Districts Aquarium Society native fishes study group they were instrumental in the formation of the association in 1982. Together they promoted the idea of forming a national association of aquarists interested in the keeping, propagation and study of the freshwater fishes of Australia and New Guinea.

Adrian became a member of the national committee in October 1994 and served until October 2000. He was subsequently elected to the position of ANGFA Bulletin Editor in October 1995 until December 2000, and during that time was instrumental in raising the profile of the newsletter. In 2000 he switched to become the Editor of In-Stream, the newsletter of ANGFA (Qld), until finally retiring in 2015.

Adrian Tappin has been a significant contributor to the promotion of the aquarium keeping, conservation, study and propagation of the rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea. In 1996 ‘Rainbowfish On-Line’ was created on the World Wide Web, which resulted in increasing the popularity of rainbowfishes both nationally and internationally. Each month a new page would be added to the website. In late 1997 ‘Home of the Rainbowfish’ was created and incorporated Rainbowfish On-Line. In January 1998 the website was selected for inclusion in the National Library of Australia digital archive of Australian online publications. These digital archives can be viewed on the National Library of Australia website. Anyone who has participated in any of the online forums involving native fishes would recognise that Adrian has been a treasure trove of information, providing voluminous detailed answers to many questions.

In 2010 Adrian published probably one of the best books every written on fish keeping, and certainly the most comprehensive on rainbowfishes specifically. Available as a free pdf download, ‘Rainbowfishes ~ Their Care & Keeping in Captivity’ is a amazing illustrated guide to the remarkable rainbowfishes found in Australia and New Guinea. The book provides a tremendous amount of information for anyone from beginner to experienced keeper on just about everything needed to keep and breed rainbowfishes successfully (indeed the information is ideal for keeping just about any group of fishes). A comprehensive illustrated species section is also provided. This was followed by a second edition in 2011 which is almost 200 megabytes in size! Despite this great size, the document is highly accessed and downloaded which is an indication of its popularity and significance.

Adrian has made an extraordinary contribution to the keeping and propagation of the rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea and educating and encouraging the next generation of fish keepers.