fintastic - the angelfish society- fintastic 4 - page 4 of 15 there are many ways to design and...

FinTAStic The Angelfish Society Newsletter

February 2008

Issue 20
Highlights in
this issue: Message from

the president Importers DIY Overflow boxes Ice Storms Shipping Tips Hatching Brine Shrimp

Inside this issue Message from 2 the President

Global Aquatics Importers, Inc. 3 DIY Overflow Box 4 Hatch n’ Feeder 5 Shipping using Breather Bags 6 Surviving the Ice Storm 7 TAS Information 17

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Neme– J*Aren DoJimThJaBrDe

Hello everyone!! I hope all of you are off to starting a wonderful New Year!

First of all I would like to congratulate our new members to the standards committee. Congrats Doug, Isaiah and Robert! I look forward to working with all of you! I also wish a warm welcome back to the remaining members!! We have a lot to do this coming year and I look forward to getting it done! Looking forward to seeing some work turned in on the Platinum angelfish too. I have a few of these but nothing yet to document. Hopefully someone will soon turn some info in so we can begin discovering what is what.

I also wish to bring recognition to a member who has came back as of late, For those that don't know him , he is one of our past presidents, A very warm welcome to Wayne DesLauriers!! Wayne will be helping with the web mastering which brings me to mentioning that he also will be chairing the web design committee! Way to go Wayne!! Welcome back it is nice to have you here again!

We have plenty of areas we can use help in, if you have some extra time and are looking to participate, We can use a few good articles for our newsletter. We have a photo contest and are always looking for some great photos so come on and show us what you have!! If interested in helping on any of our committees speak up and we can find something for you to do to help out. I look forward to having another great year and hope we can accomplish many of the things we all wish for, number 1 on the list... Revamping the Tas website. We should have some great meetings ahead and some wonderful presentations to show you as well, Hope To See you all at the monthly Meetings!

Nancy Szidlowski * Bill Heist David Abbott * Winfield Frazeur Clare Frazeur Keith Black Bill Moreno * Don Mitchell * Carol Francis * Steve Rybicki * Sabas Escobar (Benny) *

w and returning TAS mbers November 1st anuary 31, 2008

sterick denotes ewal

ugall Stewart * Gianellis

omas Price son Jakubson uce Menditch * nnis Ramos *

Robert Radigan Thomas O'Connor *Jack Taylor * John Funovits * Anissa Macquire Jan Kesler Eric O'Brien

Paul Susi * Loyann Munyan Dean Schmude Dave Hlasnick * Vincent Congro Richard Brice * Jacek Jablonski Patricia Daugherty Elysha Agne Karen Boysen John Cairns

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accomGlobaO’HarAquatimporfish. Timporimmedother in a bu

typicaroom,

enteriSo offrepresare soDependiffereplecos

Alligator pleco

The whole business of importing has told Wayne, exporters will sopromised but will send replacemehigher even after the exporter haresults in fewer but larger fish pershipping on each box, fewer fish importer. Or the exporter will prowill sometimes sell to another buymade). This reduces Bill’s potensame amount of money. SometimRecently he had a shipment of pa

but what was sent were 4.5” fish. Bill received less fish in thewas surprising to him as they told him they rarely see this typ

I recently had the opportunity to pany Wayne Carlson from TAS to visit l Aquatics Import, Inc. located near e airport in Woodale, Illinois. Global ics Imports is a licensed ter/wholesaler of tropical and salt water hey’re one of four

ters/wholesalers located in that iate vicinity. They’re nestled among

businesses in warehouse type buildings siness park The front office greets all visitors. It’s a

l office setting, desk, computer, rest and a large show tank against one wall

Show tank in front office

just what you would expect from a business dealing with tropical fish. Bill Schlunz, an experienced fish keeper, is the new owner of Global Aquatics. His time is spent downloading exporter fish stock availability, contacting exporters, updating their stock lists, screening potential customers (all customers must have a business license) and assisting Francisco when shipments arrive. Bill’s wife helps in the office too and handles most of the billing and accounting. Francisco Rodriguez is the manager of operations; he manages the daily operations of caring for the fish. He’s what Wayne calls a “Master of Fish Husbandry”.

Since I’ve never visited a wholesaler before, I really didn’t know what to expect. Upon ng the building, the first thing that hit me was the high humidity and heat of 88 degrees plus! went my coat! I noticed large poster charts draped over doors and chairs. Each chart ented all the known species of various families of fish. From what Bill told me, bags of fish metimes sent from the exporters that are either not marked correctly or not marked at all. ding on the species, identification can sometimes be difficult as some fish are hard to ntiate from others within the same family. This is especially true of the Loricariidae family of. Within that family alone, there are 78 genera and 720 named species!

fish isn’t as easy as it sounds. As Bill metimes either not have the size of fish nts that are ½” larger and priced 50%

d already collected the money! This box. Since the airlines will charge in the box means less profits for the mise to send fish at a certain price, but er at a higher price (outside deal

tial profits as he receives less fish for the es this works in his favor though.

pa plecos that were suppose to be 3” shipment but the pet shops demand e of pleco available at 4.5 inches.

Continued on page 12


There are many ways to design and build an overflow box. From my experiences and successes, I have found the following to be the easiest way to make one and keep it running. To save time and give you a general guide I have included the lengths that work for me. Let’s start with the materials list:

- ½” PVC 90°(slip on type) elbows, qty 5 - ½” PVC“T”(slip on type), qty 1 - ½” PVC end plug (slip on type), qty 1 - 1½” PVC end plug (slip on type), qty 1 - 10’ length ½” PVC pipe, qty 1 - 10’ length 1½” PVC pipe, qty 1 - 1’ length of Clear vinyl tubing(ID= ¾” ) - PVC Glue, qty 1

Tools Required:

- Utility knife - Hacksaw - Tape measure - Marker pen

Ok, first off we need to figure out how tall to make our overflow box. We measure the inside of the tank we are building it for from the glass bottom to the very top of the plastic frame with the tape measure. Next measure the height of the tank to the desired water level you want. Remember to allow at least ½” over top of the overflow box, for water flow (you can make the overflow box shorter, if you don’t want to water levels to get this close). The height of the water we want in the tank will determine the actual length of the overflow box (1½” PVC). As a general guide I use the bottom side of the tank tops plastic frame as a desired level of my tank water. This still gives the room needed for the waters hydrostatic head to start the siphon of the overflow before it reaches the underside of the tank cover. To help simplify the measurements I have included the lengths I use for various tank sizes. - 20 gallon Tall tank, 1 ½” PVC length = 15 ¾” - 29 gallon tank, 1 ½” PVC length = 16 ¼” - 55 gallon tank, 1 ½” PVC length = 18 ¼” We measure out the length of 1½” PVC we need for the overflow box and mark it. Cut the PVC with the hacksaw, trying to keep the cut as square as possible but don’t worry if the cut ends up a little crooked. As you cut the PVC you will notice a burr will form on the inside and outside walls of the PVC. We cut off this burr with the utility knife after we finish the cut with the hacksaw. Make sure that all the burrs and cuttings are cleaned out of the inside of the PVC. Banging the pipe on the floor or blowing them out usually works.

Continued on page 9

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HATCH ‘N FEEDER – sold by most online pet supply distributors and

My first attempts at hatching bbs the “old fashioned way” were fine; but it cluttered up my kitchen and was a pain in the neck to harvest the bbs. Then there was the storage of unused bbs and measuring everything out to start up another batch. The Hatch ‘N Feeder fits right into the fry tank. It comes with a suction cup to secure it to the tank wall and flexible airline tubing. It’s simple to set up: attach the airline from the feeder to an air pump, put the feeder in the tank, fill it with water, insert it into the suction cup, turn on the air pump, add the salt, add the bbs eggs and wait. The eggs hatch in about 18 hours. The beauty of it is that the tiny bbs swim from the bottom of the hatcher up towards the tank light, which happens to be where the spout of the hatcher is. Unfortunately for them, swimming to freedom means swimming into the mouths of awaiting angelfish fry! It’s amazing how quickly fry will figure out where the bbs are coming from, and soon you’ll have them hanging out at the spout, waiting for their next meal. After a while, the fry begin to look like miniature robins with their big orange bellies. Some breeders use two hatchers in a tank to ensure an uninterrupted flow of bbs while a new batch of eggs is hatching, but if you don’t mind substituting some frozen

ill do just fine.

some stores This handy little device has become popular with many angelfish breeders in that it provides lots of live baby brine shrimp with very little work from the breeder. And if time is important to you, at about $15, it is a real bargain.

bbs while the next batch of eggs is hatching, one w

The disadvantages with this device are minor and more of an inconvenience: 1) Water changes are a hassle. If you don’t slide the hatcher down and up along with the water level in the tank, it could tip over and spill unhatched eggs and make a mess in your tank. It’s happened at least once to just about everybody that has one. It’s not going to kill the fry, it’s just a pain when it happens. 2) It’s uncertain as to exactly how long the bbs will continue to hatch, so you need to keep an eye on it, keep some frozen bbs handy to feed while a new batch of eggs is hatching and learn when to reload with more bbs. One final tip: the thing gets pretty grubby after several days and requires a good rinsing, so don’t expect it to run continuously for weeks. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t try one sooner.

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For years we have been following the best possible procedures from all over the world on how to ship our Angelfish. Our first attempts were pretty good but we also had some major disasters. It has taken a lot of trial and error but we have worked out a solution that is in the best interests of the Angelfish. We have at the same time managed considerable savings using techniques that are more up to date than most of thearticles that we were able to find on this subject. Some of our colleagues are also having trouble finding a good solution and they asked that we may share our discoveries with others. We hope this helps to clear up some problems and save some Angelfish along the way.

Are We Using The Right Boxes? Shipping boxes are a bone of contention when it comes to shipping carriers. They would like you to use boxes that are crush rated for up to 200 lbs. force. We have found it is rated so high to cover the abuse that a package will normally go through while in their possession. To compensate you are asked to use expensive double walled boxes. Whether this is necessary or not, is still a question we ponder. We also wonder whether the carriers are taking enough responsibility for our packages while in their care. We have found that re-used boxes that are subjected to multiple shipments do not stand up well during the shipment process. To avoid the possibility of losing Angels due to box failure we use new single walled corrugated cardboard boxes from "Staples". We recommend you use good quality boxes from the start as well; it looks more professional and adds to the protection of the Angels during the shipment. We discovered by using cubed boxes (i.e.: 12"X12"X12"), the shippers are able to keep your boxes upright the way you want them. All you need to do is label the box well with "Live Tropical Fish" & "Fragile" and be sure the shipping label is secured on the top lid of the box. This last statement has become a big problem with a lot of hobbyists shipping fish. Policies of each contract shipper although almost identical does present someproblems. Using USPS you are allowed to ship Angels as long as the shipping post office master allows it. It all depends on how that individual perceives postal policies. So for USPS do not label as live fish but as liquid samples. As for Fedex, UPS, and DHL it is illegal not to label the boxes so be warned. NOTE: Please keep in mind that carriers charge for cubic footage as well as weight (they don't tell you this, it is built into the basic rate charges), so it is a good idea to use as small a box as possible.

Continued on page 15

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Article by Dee McFarland

By Dee McFarland

The last thing I expected was to loose power during the ice storm on 12-15-07. At first I expected the power to come on sometime during that same day, but that didn’t pan out. After talking to the electric company (who by the way had no clue) we still didn’t know an approximate day of restored power. Okay by this time I am starting to wonder how I’m going to keep the kids warm. Couldn’t send them to grandparents, they live in same town and didn’t have power either. Easy fix, get kerosene and run that heater as well as the oven since I have LP.

Wasn’t that easy, oh no. Either no one had kerosene or they had it in tanks underground of all places, and no electricity to pump it to the surface. (Figures) Anyway, the closest we could locate it where we could actually get it was an hour away. So off went my boyfriend and brother to try to acquire some. Three or four hours later they came back with 5 gallons at a cost of 42 dollars I believe.

We could have gone to a shelter, but with 3 kids that would have been a nightmare and who would take care of the fish. Someone to take care of the fish was also important. It wasn’t a real concern about the fish till the temperature started dropping on the fish tanks. I started doing water changes on the tanks, but due to medical problems I couldn’t keep that up for too long.

I ended up putting the kerosene heater in the room with 5 of the tanks as close as I dared. The other tanks were in a room that was getting some heat from the oven. Next was air, what to do about that? I ended up taking a cup and dipping out and pouring it back in several times. Fish didn’t like it but was better than nothing. All that was left was hope and pray they would survive. I guess the fish in IA must be as tough as the people because the tanks all got down to 50 degrees and only lost one juvie. I withheld food for the most part till the day after the power came back on, and just left them alone
Continued on next page


Surviving the Ice Storm from previous page

till the tanks warmed up. Needless to say I would rather not do that again. During the whole power outage learned about a couple of people in town that well, needless to say don’t think of others. Both houses had generators and neighbors with small children, but didn’t invite them over to even warm up the kids. I know one couple who had 2 young ones ages 2 and 3 who I invited over to warm up because they had no heat at all and no car to go anywhere, to warm up and have something warm to eat. You learn a lot about people at times like this. It was funny because my brother was at a friend’s house that has a small child, and they were so bored they thought about going to the neighbors and disconnecting their generator. But they too nice of a family to actually do that. Another trial during a power outage if you have children is entertainment. Now day’s kids rely so much on electronics. We actually got out board games. The kids do have hand held games, at least till the batteries run out. For all those with cordless phones, it helps to keep a corded phone in the closet just in case. The one son spent a lot of time on the phone. An the kids seemed to take turns sleeping, which was a good thing since I didn’t sleep but a couple of hours due to running the kerosene heater full time. Of course this house is old and has plenty of unwanted ventilation. The outside cats and I shared the same view of the weather. If you live in an area where power outages in the winter are a possibility, then I would suggest trying to get a generator, or at least a couple of kerosene heaters, and hope for a lot of luck.

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DIY overflow box from page 4


Now we have to figure out how long a piece of ½” PVC we will need to get the loop up over the top of the plastic tank frame. Remember when we measured the inside from the glass bottom to the top of the plastic frame, we can use this now. We subtract ½” off this measurement and this is the length we require for the first piece of ½” PVC. Again I have included the lengths I use for various tank sizes to save you some calculations. - 10 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 11½” - 20 gallon Tall tank, ½” PVC length = 15 ¾” - 29 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 17 ½” - 55 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 17 ¾” Ok hope you are still with me? I measure from one end of this piece 1¾” and make a mark. This will be where the top of the 1 ½” PVC overflow box will be glued to this piece of ½” PVC. We need to cut a second piece of ½” PVC to the same length as the last piece. This will be for the outside of tank loop and will hold the overflow box tight to the side of the tank. Measure the PVC to the required length, mark it, and cut it with the hacksaw as before. Remove and clean out the burrs and cuttings from each cut. The riser is the last piece of the overflow before it goes through the Air Stack “T” and off to the drain. This piece should be less than ½ the length of the overflow box (1½” PVC). Again I have included the lengths I use for various tank sizes for your convenience. - 10 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 5¼” - 20 gallon Tall tank, ½” PVC length = 7 ¾” - 29 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 8” - 55 gallon tank, ½” PVC length = 9” The last pieces we need to measure and cut allow us to attach two of the 90º elbows together to form a 180º “U”, as well as the two pieces on each end of the “T”. There are actually two 180º “U” s required for this box design. To keep things simple I use the same 1½” length of ½” PVC for all four ofthese pieces. Remember that all burrs and cuttings need to removed and cleaned out of the PVC before we glue anything together.

Putting It All Together First piece to glue is the ½” piece of PVC with the mark on the one end to the inside of the 1½”(Overflow Box) piece of PVC. Generously add PVC glue to outside of the ½” piece of PVC from the mark, length wise down to the bottom (the short end to the mark is to be considered the top). It is not necessary to glue the entire outside of the ½” piece, only where the ½” piece will make contact with the 1½” piece PVC. While waiting for the overflow box to set up(give it 12 hours to set properly), glue two 90º elbows together using a 1½” length piece of ½” PVC. The glue sets up quick (15 to 20 seconds), so make sure they line up to form a perfect “U” before the glue sets. We need to construct two of these “U” s for this project. We can also glue the two 1½” pieces of ½” PVC to the “T” at this time and leave all these pieces to set over night.


Riser piece

Here you can see how far down the 1½” PVC is glued onto the ½” PVC.


Next day start off by gluing on the 1½” PVC plug cap to the bottom of the overflow box (1½” PVC pipe). Glue the “T” to the fifth 90º elbow, make sure the elbow is facing 180º from the open part of the “T” as it is in the picture. Glue the Riser piece (1/2” PVC tubing) into the bottom side of the elbow. Glue the last long piece of ½” PVC tubing into one of the 180º “U” s. Attach the to end of the overflow box to the end of the “U”. When you attach these two pieces dry fit them first over the top of the tank where you want the overflow box positioned. This way you can set how tight the box fits to the tank. Then add alignment marks to the PVC joint pull it off the tank and glue. Now add the bottom “U” to the bottom side of the long ½”marking it with alignment marks on the joint. Position thisdirection of drain then glue it. The last piece to connect spiece, again use alignment marks to make sure it is pointYour overflow box should look similar to the one pictured here. The last thing we do is attach a piece of vinyl tubing from the “T” to the drain pipe. Priming the Siphon of theNow that we have the box built the last thing we need to siphon for the overflow to work. We do this by removing vthe end. Don’t push it on too tight as you will need to remremoved from the overflow siphon. I attach a water hose . I made an adaptor that has a garden hose union on oneThis way I can slip it into the top of the “T” and were readoverflow box is in the sink when you do this as the water you will see air bubbles come out the overflow box, just kbubble of air come out then shut off the water. Remove thas possible. If you don’t remove both, the siphon will suckyou will have to re prime the siphon again.

p

PVC tubing again dry fitting it first then connection so that it points in the general hould be the bottom of the “U” to the Riser ing in the right direction before gluing.


Overflow Box do is prime or remove all the air from the inyl tubing and slipping a ½” PVC plug on ove it quick once we have all the air from the sink to the top opening of the “T” end and a ½” PVC tubing on the other. y to turn on the water. Make sure the will flow out pretty fast. As the water flows eep running the water until no more e supply hose and the end cap as quickly air back up into the top of the loop and


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When you get it all done keep the overflow box standing up to prevent it from draining. Add the clear vinyl tubing back onto the T and slide the box into the tank. Make sure vinyl tubing is in the drain or you will end up with water everywhere as soon as the box top drops below the water level. I attached a cut away view of the overflow box so you can visualize the explanation.



Global Aquatics Importers from page 3

reqanbewitchthe

As a result, he was able to charge a much higher price for the fish and all were quickly sold. So how does the process work from the time the fish are caught, to the time they reach

the importers? This is how Bill explained it to me: The native fisherman or trapper is the low manon the end of the process. These are native villagers that make their living catching wild fish in the rivers of South America. They catch fish either mechanically (nets) or chemically (tranquilizers/poison) and place the fish in baskets all along the river. The brokers are the middlemen. They negotiate with the fishermen the sales to the exporters. In turn, the fisherman receives pennies per catch. But, if the broker has not received any orders for a particular fish that are in the baskets, the fisherman does not get paid for his time and efforts.

Redtailed Catfish

Most of the wild caught fish that Global receives are coming out of Columbia, Thailand (Malaysia is the main broker for Thailand), and Peru. The broker makes his money by collecting these fish from the fisherman and then selling to the exporter. The price paid to the broker, is added into the price of the fish. However, the importer, such as Bill, pays for shipping the fish to the exporter who is usually located a distance away from where the fish are actually caught. For instance, all fish coming out of Columbia are shipped to Lima, Peru. Additional shipping charges are then paid
by Bill to get the fish out of Peru, to either Florida or NY. The arrival port is determined by the exporter. Once they’ve arrived, customs checks each bag in every box to be sure that what is in the bag is on the invoice and that fish totals are accurate according to the invoice. Then after the fish clear customs, shipping is paid again to get the fish to, for Global Aquatics, O’Hare airport. This is where Fish and wildlife get involved and these people are experts in identification and what classifies as legal and illegal imports.
Francisco

There are other fees uire a customs bond that

nually. There are import f renewed annually. On sith and without prior noticeecking the customs forms shipment. Everything m

Fish and Wildlife is very strict on illegal imports whether done intentionally or not. Sometimes an exporter misidentifies the fish. Other times they’ll use an endangered fish to fill up space in the box not knowing that the fish is classified as endangered in the US. Full boxes are the goal as shipping charges are paid several times on each box depending on how many stops that box makes. When FWS sees an illegal caught fish in a box, stiff penalties could be imposed on the importer. This in turn could be bad news for the exporter as they are at risk for losing their license by their respective counties or at the very least, develop a bad reputation among importers.

Baby Arrowana’s

involved with importing fish. Customs is charged either per order or paid ees, and FWS requires an import license to e inspections are conducted periodically . Their job is to inspect records by cross with the original invoice that accompanies ust be in order or else fines can be issued.


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Freshwater Stingray

Global Aquatics Importers from previous page

When fish arrive at Global, the activity increases ten fold. This is where Francisco really shines in his knowledge of acclimating and treating the wild caught fish. I didn’t have the opportunity to actually see the operation when fish arrive but Wayne has assisted them. When the fish arrive at the airport and have cleared FWS, Francisco and Bill pick up the fish and bring them back to the warehouse. All the tanks have been prepped ahead of time for the arrival of the wild caught fish with D/I water (40 micoseimens). Buckets are set up and drips are started on all buckets. If there are DOA’s, photos are taken and indicated on the invoice so that the importer can be compensated for the price of the fish only (excluding shipping) In most cases; credit is given by the exporter, not monies refunded.

Global Aquatics is unique in regards to the species of fish that they supply to pet shops. You won’t find tanks of guppies or mollies when you enter the large fish room. Bill specializes in exotics and hard to find species such as arrowana, fortune flowerhorn, wild caught discus, true altums, pirrahna, stingrays, all types of Loricariidae and corydorus. You will also see themore common varieties such as angelfish, and domestic discus when available from local breeders. These domestic bred local fish are much healthier as their already accustomed to the local water conditions surrounding the Chicago area.

The fish are dripped for at least several hours, then released into the tank once its determined by Francisco that the fish have acclimated to their water parameters. Francisco routinely adds neomycin as a preventative on all the tanks to prevent secondary infections. He will also use other medications such as meth blue and formalin, as necessary. Since the fish have been in transit for about 76 hours, they’re fairly stressed. Francisco’s job is to relieve their stress to prevent fish loss. Over the next week, he will gradually increases the amount of municipal water into the tanks. Once the fish are fully acclimated to flake feedings and city water, the fish are then ready to be sold.

African Cichlids

Clown loaches

Pet shops are sent updated stock lists on a regular basis as new fish become available. Buyers representing these shops are allowed to purchase fish only on Tuesdays and Thursdays of every week. Normally the buyers will net the fish themselves as Franciso is kept very busy prepping bags with O2 and hand writing invoices.

What I saw when I went into the fish area were not only racks and racks of tanks, but a huge 10,000 gallon holding tank of D/I water. This is mixed with city water as needed as the acclimation begins. Francisco routinely wipes down the insides of the tanks with a rag dipped into a heavy salt solution for the freshwater tanks.

This prevents the transfer or growth of parasites and bacteria. A net bucket of disinfectant sits on the floor. These nets are ready to be used, all dirty nets are tossed into a sink. Their automatic water change system is a gravity flushing system. I had never seen one work until Francisco demonstrated how it operates. The force of the incoming water pushes the tank water out along with debris that has collected on the bottom of the tanks. I was told that they do 25% water changes twice daily on all tanks.



Global Aquatics Importers from previous page

Racks of tanks

Wild caught oscars

They also carry imported tank raised koi from Isreal. These koi are unique in that they have been inoculated against fish pox. They are a bit more in cost because of this. These are housed in large rubber tubs. Other Japanese koi are also sold; these cost less as they’re not inoculated. When I peered into the vats, all sorts of colorful koi swam to the surface looking for a meal.

They do carry salt water fish also. One of the puffers raced up and down the front of one of the marine

tanks. It took many pictures on my part to finally get a head on shot of it. Tank raised varieties of clown fish were in abundant. Live rock and blooming colorful coral are also available.

This article has only touched on the surface of what goes on inside Global Aquatics Importers

operation. The photos that I’ve included will hopefully finish the story.

Puffer

Wild caught scalare

Imported angelfish

Papa pleco

10,000 gallon water holding tank

Flame angel and Damsel

Imported Koi

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Hybrid Flowerhorn

Wild caught Discus Upside down catfish

Catfish

Flowering coral

Shipping with breather bags from page 6

Are We Using Internal Insulation? The primary reason for the insulation layer is to keep the content's temperature as stable as possible for as long as possible, regardless of the external temperatures the package maybe exposed to. Remember the cargo areas of most aircraft are not temperature controlled. Even in the middle of summer it is not uncommon for the cargo space to drop below freezing in transit. At the same time temperatures on the tarmack during loading and unloading can be as high as 120 Fahrenheit. The internal layer (insulation layer), can be constructed of a number of materials. Some use pink fiberglass (like the stuff used to insulate your house walls and ceilings), with phenomenal results. However it does cause the person packing and unpacking some skin irritations. We also have wondered whether or not the dust from the fiberglass can cause problems with the Angels health later in its life. We use Styrofoam to play it safe with the Angels health and avoid skin irritations to ourselves. We were using one-piece form molded Styrofoam insulated boxes with great success. With the new bags by kordon, these boxes do not allow enough air to enter into the compartment where the breather bags are. This was defeating the purpose of the breather bags. With urgings from a fellow colleague, we went back to our custom-built insulation layers made out of sheets of 3/4 inch Styrofoam we get from Home Depot. These offer the same insulation properties as the form molded ones and as they have cut edges instead of sealed, the air is allowed to enter where it is needed. We also feel that it serves as an additional cushioning layer for the Angels during the shipment.



Shipping with breather bags from previous page

During the colder winter months we use UniHeat 40 hour heat packs to help keep the inside temperature warm enough for standard over night delivery. We have found that all heat packs only keep temperatures high enough to be utilized properly for only 75% of their actual advertized length. We use ice packs in place of the heat packs during the hot summer months to keep the Angels from baking.

Are We Using The Right Bags? With recent developments by Novalek Technologies on plastic bags, we have entered a new era on shipping. The old way of using plastic leak proof bags from plastics manufacturers has out lived its day. The new bags are offered by kordon (breather bags) and are available through a wide source of on-line aquatic supply companies. They offer the ability to release carbon dioxide and allow oxygen to enter through the The internal layer (insulation layer), can be constructed of a number of materials walls of the bag while filled with water. The list of benefits are incredible and the results are even better. So we invite you to be the judge as to whether these revolutionary shipping bags are all they claim to be. Use them on your next shipment of Angels or ask for your next shipper to use them. Your Angels will thank you! What we have learned about these bags from our experiences are incredible. We use smaller bags requiring less water for shipping. Which means a reduction in the costs to ship the fish. It's a win win situation. The fish are able to gain the air they need to breath with out a limitation on supply. As you are probably aware, the old typical plastic bags needed to pressurized with enough oxygen so that they would be able to survive until the receiver was able to open the bags. This also left room for the fish to be sloshed around and further traumatized. With no need for an air pocket there is no sloshing in the bag, further preventing injury and stress. With the old conventional leak proof plastic bags, we had to use 3 or 4 bags for each fish to ensure that the bags would not be punctured by the dorsal spines of the adult Angels. The new bags are more flexible and according to other sources apparently will re-seal themselves. Although we have not experienced this first hand, we do believe it to be possible. We still do double bag, its a hard habit to break

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Disclaimerof the authoreprints with

ewsletter Committee

Nancy Martens Isaiah Jenkins

Amanda Wenger

l thanks to the following article ributors. Without you, this tter wouldn’t have happened:

Don Mitchell

Dee McFarland Wayne Carlson

Kathi Fluck

: Opinions expressed herein are those rs and not necessarily from TAS. No out TAS and the author’s permission.

• Newsletter submission: Send articles and

announcements by email to Nancy at [email protected]

• Meetings: Will be held on the third Sunday of each month except as follows: January will be on the 4th Sunday; June will be one week early to avoid conflict with Fathers Day; December will be one week early to allow time to complete Board of Directors elections before Christmas holidays.

• Meeting time: 9:00 Eastern Time • Meeting Location: TAS Chat Room

Instructions for attending meetings are on theTAS website at

http://theangelfishsociety.org/meetings.htm

• Meeting Place: All of the meetings will be held in the TAS meeting chat room. Check TAS website for instructions to access the chat room.

• Annual Dues: $5.00

• Membership: To become a member of The Angelfish Society, or to renew your membership for the current year, please send your $5.00(U.S. Funds) membership fee via check or money order payable to “The Angelfish Society” at the address below. If you pay by Paypal, use this address, [email protected]

TAS - Nancy Martens 4118 124th Street

Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158

mailto:[email protected]

http://theangelfishsociety.org/meetings.htm

mailto:[email protected]

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