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modernAQUARIUM Series Vol. VI, No. 7 September, 1999

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F E A T U R E S

Editor's Babblenest 2

President's Message 3

The Fire Killie:

Handle Carefully - It May Burn You 5

1999 Reader Survey: Part I 6

New Experiences With An Old Friend 7

Do You Bowl? 8

News From the NEC 10

Our Scheduled Speaker: Rosario LaCorte . . . 11

FAASinations (FAAS Report) 13

The Antiquarium 13

Wet Leaves (Book Review Column) 15

Aquarist's Sketchpad 17

Life Lessons 19

G.C.A.S. Happenings 21

Fin Fun (Puzzle Page) 22

Articles submitted for consideration in MODERN AQUARIUM must be received no later than the 10th day of the month, three months priorto the month of publication. Copyright 1999 by the Greater City Aquarium Society Inc., a not-for-profit New York State corporation. Allrights reserved. Not-for-profit aquarium societies are hereby granted permission to reproduce articles and illustrations from this publication,unless the article indicates that the copyrights have been retained by the author, and provided reprints indicate source and two copies of thepublication are sent to the Exchange Editor of this magazine. Any other reproduction or commercial use of the material in this publicationis prohibited without express written prior permission.

The Greater City Aquarium Society meets every month, except during July and August. Meetings are the first Wednesday of the monthand begin at 8:00 P.M. Meetings are held at the Queens Botanical Gardens. For more information, contact Vincent Sileo (718) 846-6984.You can also leave us a message at our Internet Home Page at: http: //ourworld. CompuServe. com/homepages/greatercity

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by ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

The one thing that never seems to changeis the fact that change is inevitable.Starting this month, we have a new

President and Vice-President, as well as somechanges on our Board of Governors. I'vealready had several discussions with our newPresident, Jeff George, focusing on the role ofModern Aquarium in GCAS.

Modern Aquarium itself is constantlyundergoing change. Some of those changes area response to comments from our members.You'll see a few of those in the coming months,as we review the results of our Reader Survey.Some changes result from improved technology,which allows us to do more.

Finally, some changes happen becausewe can no longer do something, or not do it thesame way as before. An example of this is thatour printer and illustrator, Bernie Harrigan, doesnot have the time to continue his monthly cartooncolumn. So, "The Amusing Aquarium" cartooncolumn will no longer appear every month. (Butyou'll still be able to enjoy Bernie's excellentillustrations on our "Aquarist's Sketchpad" pagefor some time to come, as well as occasionalarticle illustrations by him.) However, startingthis issue, we have a new feature developed byour Photo and Layout Editor, Jason Kerner. Thisnew feature, "The Antiquarium," will showcaseadvertisements and items that appeared inaquarium publications many years ago.

I want to thank Bernie for his manycartoons and for his continuing contributions toModern Aquarium. I also want to thank Jasonfor "stepping up to the plate," so to speak, toprovide our readers with a feature that, while notintended to be "funny," should bring a smile ortwo, whether you're old enough to remember theoriginal advertisement or not.

In order to keep Modern Aquariumgoing strong, we continue to need original articlesfrom our members. One interesting thing youwill see in the analysis of the responses from ourReader Survey is that several members gave astheir reason for not writing articles a statement tothe effect that they are not good writers. I reallydon't know how to make you believe that whatyou have to say is more important than the wayyou say it. Just recently, an article was submittedto me by a person who has written for ModernAquarium in the past (and even won awards forsome of those articles) which, after I read it,raised questions in my mind as to the real intentof the writer. I brought my concerns to theattention of the author, who realized that in tryingto address one problem, the article used languagethat was so broad as to cause confusion. Theauthor made some small changes and cleared thematter up nicely. I mention this because I wantto let you know that all articles (even those frompeople with proven writing "skills") are carefullyproofread for style, grammar, accuracy (to theextent that we can), spelling, as well as "does itmake sense?" I will discuss major problems withthe author and automatically correct small ones.The article that appears in print will reflect theauthor's thoughts and experiences, and will be inthe author's own words, as much as possible.But the finished product will also be a credit toModern Aquarium, Greater City, and the author,and no one but you, the author, and I, will knowwhat it looked like in the beginning.

We also need people to join the EditorialStaff of Modern Aquarium. We need someonewith a computer (PC, Mac, or Amiga) who cantype in handwritten (and occasional taperecorded) articles and save them to disk. Weneed someone with Internet e-mail to "chase"authors (including some of the Officers ofGreater City) for promised articles andinformation. We need a "roving reporter" tointerview other members (in their home, byphone, via e-mail, or even by exchange ofletters), for a planned column featuring mini biosof our own members. We need someone to helpwith distributing Modern Aquarium at meetings.We need photographs suitable for ModernAquarium covers, and photographers willing togo to members' homes to photograph fish.Many of the improvements we are planningdepend upon getting more volunteers.

September 1999 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

President'sMessage

by JEFF GEORGE

Welcome back to the Greater CityAquarium Society after a long, veryhot, summer. We on the Board of

Governors are glad to see you all again, and hopeyou'll be as excited about the coming year as weare. Greater City has a lot planned to close outthe old millennium and get the new one started ina big way.

The big news is that Greater City will behosting a major aquarium show in the Spring.Leave the weekend of May 5, 6, and 7, 2000,open and plan to join us for our first show sincethe Diamond Anniversary Show in 1997. We'vereserved the beautiful new hall at the Queen'sCounty Farm Museum for the weekend - if youmade our Auction last Spring, you know what agreat site this will be for a fish show.

The event will feature an all-species fishshow, fascinating speakers, giant dry-goods andlivestock auctions, and a Saturday-night awardsbanquet with Ginny Eckstein as the keynotespeaker! Pete D'Orio and his lovely wife Robertahave stepped forward to organize the event, solet's all step up and help out to make this thebiggest, best show Greater City and the LongIsland tropical fish community has ever seen!

Our seemingly tireless and certainlycharming Programs Chairwoman, ClaudiaDickinson, has already lined up a tremendousarray of speakers for the coming year. We kickthings off with legendary aquarist RosarioLaCorte, as he recounts tales of his many decadesin the hobby. Later in the year, we'll be treated topresentations by those two doctors of cichlidology,Paul Loiselle and Wayne Leibel. (Has anyone elsenoticed that the good doctors rhyme?) In theSpring, our own Mark Soberman will debut a talkon those popular little fellows, the Corydorascatfish.

In addition to several other entertainingand informative speakers, we'll also enjoy ourtraditional Holiday Party and Silent Auction inJanuary and April. And if Claudia gets desperate,maybe she'll lower her standards enough to let meslip a night of Fish Wits in somewhere!

Most of us may not realize it, but runninga club with the size and activity level of theGCAS requires a tremendous amount of hard workand dedication by a handful of key people. Ofcourse, all of us owe a debt of gratitude to themany volunteers who keep our club moving, butI'd like to take a moment to offer a special thanksto a few special people.

With the conclusion of the 1998-1999season, Ben and Emma Haus and Pat Piccione re-tired from their posts on the Board of Governors.All of them served for more than a decade, Ben asVice President, Emma as Treasurer, and Pat asRecording Secretary. Their knowledge, exper-ience, effort, and good humor have helped leadand operate Greater City for many years, and theirpresence at Board Meetings will be sincerelymissed - though we will still see them at theregular meetings. Thanks to each of you: Pat,Emma, and Ben, for all you have done for us.

I'd also like to congratulate Vince Sileoon a successful two-year run as President of theGCAS. Vinny has run the club almost since Ijoined it, and will be a hard act for me to follow.Though Vinny has stepped down as President,he'll still be around - I managed to trick him intostaying on as my Vice President. With him toback me up, I feel much more confident about myown chances of holding things together.

I'd also like to thank Rosie Sileo andGreg Wuest, who are staying on in their posts asTreasurer and Corresponding Secretary. TheBoard of Governors for 1999-2000 will berounded out a great team of veterans: Mary Annand Joe Bugeia, Pete D'Orio, Carlotti De Jaeger,and Claudia Dickinson, as well as Mark Sobermanand Warren Feuer, who are both returning to theBoard after a couple years' sabbatical. Thanks toall of you for your confidence in me, and for yourloyal support and continuing dedication to the clubthroughout the coming year.

And finally, let me add a word about agroup of key players who do nothing but make theclub look great, and yet often get overlooked: AlPriest and the staff of Modern Aquarium. Al andhis team - Joe Ferdenzi, Warren Feuer, JasonKerner, Bernie Harrigan, Mark Soberman, andSusan Priest - are a self-running "black box."The President's involvement with the magazineconsists of this, most-likely irregular, column.Otherwise, Al and the MA machine just make themagazine happen. Thanks to the whole staff forproducing the greatest aquarium society journal inthe country, and taking on all the stress and painof that responsibility so we don't have to!

As you can see, we have a great yearcoming up. I'm looking forward to each andevery event, and I hope you are as well. I'll keepyou posted on what to expect through this columnand at the monthly meetings. And, of course, wealways need more help. If you can imagine anyway you can help make the club more like youwant it to be, don't be afraid to step up. Anyinput - be it advice, effort, good feeling, whatever- is most welcome. See you at the meeting!

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) September 1999

THE FIRE KILLIE:HANDLE CAREFULLY - IT MAY BURN You

by JOSEPH FERDENZI

One of the most strikingly coloredfreshwater fish ever created by naturehas to be the African Fire Killie,

Nothobranchius rachovii. This diminutivekillifish is the rival of even gaudy marine fish.Its coloration is so bold and unique that it is oneof the few killifish that has never beenmisidentified or confused with any other species.Obviously, its great beauty has made it a verysought-after fish with generations of aquarists.Ah, but therein lies a siren's tale — itsbeckoning appearance has led many an amateurto the shoals of disaster.

The Fire Killie is not a fish for thecasual aquarist. While it is small (the largermales rarely exceed two inches), and will livehappily in a five gallon tank (or even smaller), itdoes require a certain amount of dedication. Forone, the aquarist has to be dedicated to waterchanges. The Fire Killie, like mostNothobranchius, is very sensitive to poor waterquality (meaning water overloaded with organicpollutants). They will come down with "Velvet"(a protozoan infestation) quite easily. "Velvet"(named for the velvet-like sheen that envelops thefish) can be easily cured if caught early.(Malachite Green or other anti-parasiticmedications will usually suffice.) However,constants bouts with the parasite will, of course,impair the vitality of these fish. The causes andeffects of poor water quality are exacerbated bythe small volume of water in which you willusually house these fish — smaller tanks areeasier to pollute. Therefore, weekly 20% waterchanges (with one teaspoon of salt per gallon ofwater added) are highly recommended.

Secondly, Fire Killies will generallyignore anything but live food. Therefore, thededicated aquarist must be willing to purchase orraise (or both) a constant supply of live food —tubifex worms, black worms, blood worms,daphnia, or brine shrimp. Fortunately, as to thelast, adult Fire Killies will eat evennewly-hatched brine shrimp. This is a relativelyeasy to raise live food.

If you give these fish good food andpristine water quality, they will breed. In fact,this is the one area where the amateur will notencounter any significant problem. When itcomes to sex, Fire Killies are virtual breedingmachines. Adult rachovii will lay eggs just about

every day of their adult life. However, thereason behind that driven sex life gives rise toanother aspect of their maintenance that makesmost amateur aquarists cringe — they areannual fish.

Annualism is a trait of certain killifishthat is shrouded in mythology — few people areprepared to deal with it, or so they believe. Inactuality, the raising of annual fish is not all thatdifficult (albeit, again, it does require dedication),and it is one of the most rewarding experiencesany tropical fish enthusiast can have. Theessential features of breeding annual killifishinvolve providing a small bowl into which isplaced the spawning medium (usually peat mossor a gardening clay known as Green Sand),collecting the eggs and storing them for two tothree months, re-immersing them in water, andwatching the resulting bloom of fry. The detailsof the process are beyond the scope of thisarticle, but they can be learned from any goodkillifish book, joining the American KillifishAssociation, or talking to any aquarium clubmember who has bred annuals.

Lastly, the Fire Killie really should havean aquarium dedicated to itself. While it is smalland peaceful, it is not an ideal community tankresident because of its relative shyness. It willusually be out-competed for food by swifter ormore aggressive fish, and, in a well decorated orplanted tank, it will tend to hide, therebydepriving the aquarist of the full enjoyment of itsmagnificant colors.

I have refrained from describing itscolors because words (especially mine) wouldnever do it justice. But, get out any standardreference work on tropical fish and you willundoubtedly find a photo of it. I know once yousee it you will say "Wow!" Remember, however,that while this piscine beauty may give rise to afire in your heart, it may cause your hopes forsuccess to go up in flames.

To become a member of the American KillifishAssociation, send $24 to:

AKA Membership Committee% Joe Bulterman14939 Ashfort Ct.Laurel, MD 20707


1999 Reader Survey: Part Iby ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

From February through May this year, I passed out, publicized, and had available ModernAquarium Reader Surveys. There was also a raffle as an additional incentive to complete theSurvey. Despite all this promotion and incentive, participation was still below what I would

have liked to see. Three years ago, Joe Ferdenzi (the then current Greater City President) conducteda Member Survey. The questions in the two surveys were different, as the surveys themselves haddifferent purposes. While it is possible to make some comparisons (as I am about to do), pleaseunderstand that two surveys with different questions, given to two groups of similar but not identicalindividuals, and given years apart, cannot be exactly compared. In addition, some people only indicatedtheir most favorite article topics in the 1999 Survey, making an analysis of the Reader Survey difficult.

Topic InterestsIn 1996, the topics our members

indicated that they were interested in having aspeaker address were: Plants, Cichlids, and NewWorld Catfish. Three years later, the articletopics Modern Aquarium readers indicated thatthey are most interested in are: Plants (a clearfavorite by a wide margin), "How To,"Livebearers, and Tetras.

The following article topics were alsovery highly rated, and of about equal interest:Anabantoids, Angelfish, Catfish, Cichlids,Guppies, articles on aquarium history, Killifish,and coverage of GCAS Shows. Of moderateinterest to most readers are articles on: Bettas,Loaches, Ponds, non-GCAS Shows, and coverageof the GCAS Breeders Award Program. Of someinterest to most of our readers are the topics of:Discus, coverage of the activities of both theFederation of American Aquarium Societies(FAAS) and of the North East Council (NEC) ofAquarium Societies, Goldfish, andReptiles/"Herps."

Some topics neatly split our readers intodifferent camps. The percent of members "VeryInterested" in articles on Discus was exactly thesame as those who are "Somewhat Interested,"which was exactly the same as the percent "NotAt All Interested" in Discus articles. Of course,another way of looking at this is that thoseinterested to some extent in Discus articlesrepresent two thirds of our membership. Thetopic "Ponds" also had over two thirds of ourmembers interested in articles to some extent.While about half our readers want articles onReptiles/Herps, the other half are not interested inthis topic at all.

The Greater City Breeders' AwardProgram, Shows (Greater City's and others), andthe activities of both FAAS (the Federation ofAmerican Aquarium Societies) and the NEC(North East Council of Aquarium Societies) allreceived more positive than negative votes.

Only two topics could be said to havereceived clearly "negative scores" (which is tosay that the majority of our readers indicated thatthey had no interest at all in reading articles onthese topics). These are: Marine Fish and MarineInvertebrates. Neither of these topics receivedeven one vote for "Very Interested" and their"not at all" votes clearly exceeded the votesshowing even the slightest bit of interest. This isconsistent with the 1996 Member Survey, whichshowed that Marine Fish, Amphibians, and ReefAquariums were the speaker topics our memberscared least about.

Our Overall Readership RatingAll of our readers rated Modern

Aquarium as either "Excellent" or "Very Good"with a majority rating us as "Excellent." Onlyone person indicated a preference for ModernAquarium issues without a "theme." Most of ourreaders responding to the survey indicated thatthey liked both theme and non-theme issuesequally, with a small percentage preferring themeissues. Interestingly, neither on the question ofgiving Modern Aquarium an overall rating or onthe issue of "theme vs. non-theme" did anyoneindicate "no opinion."

What's NextAt least two more articles on the Reader

Survey will follow. One will be devoted to thefeatures our readers like and dislike most. I willalso try to address how I intend to use the resultsof the Survey in planning future issues.

One article will be devoted, at least inpart, to issues raised that go beyond ModernAquarium. (Some who completed the Surveyalso made comments about Greater City.) I willenlist the aid of our new President in respondingto those.


New ExperiencesWith An Old Friend

by WARREN FEUER

One of the great things about belonging toa tropical fish club such as Greater Cityis access to the latest and most desirable

fish. Often, members can obtain fish throughauctions and donations that are not availableelsewhere. For example, several years ago, JoeFerdenzi successfully bred Archocentrusnanoluteus and distributed fry among themembers while it was a hot and highly desirablefish. Quite often, many of the most desirablecichlids, catfish, killies and rainbow fish that areeither prohibitively expensive or just not availableanywhere else appear atour auctions, almostalways for extremelyreasonable amounts.

For a change,however, I would liketo write about a fishthat I have beenkeeping that is bringingme a great deal ofenjoyment, is extremelyinexpensive, availableeverywhere and requiresa minimum of care.

I promise, Iwon't make you readthis whole article tofind out what fish I am writing about, I'll tell youright now, it's the good old guppy, Poeciliareticulata, as we Latin buffs call it. Or is itLebistes reticulatal Either way, it's a classicthat's been around for years and years and almosteveryone has kept it, even if just to feed to otherfish!

Like most of us, I kept Guppies as oneof my first fish many, many years ago. Since Istarted keeping fish again about 10 years ago,I've mostly been obsessed with cichlids andfancy catfish. I never considered a fish asplebian as a Guppy. However, in a recent visit toCameo Pet Shop I noticed some really beautifulGuppies and my eyes were drawn to someSnakeskin guppies that were there.

Once I got the fish home, I acclimatedthem to their new home and let them loose. Oneof the benefits for me in buying fish at Cameo isthat our water conditions are the same, so fish

don't have to go through any major adjustmentsto get used to the water conditions in my tanks.The fish are in a 10 gallon tank that contains alarge amount of Java Moss, some Java Ferns anda rather large Anubias plant. I am not doing anyactive isolation of pregnant females or using abreeder trap to collect and protect babies, so it ismy hope that the plants will afford the babiesenough shelter to allow as many as possible toescape predation from the adults in the tank. Iam sure that a fair deal of predation exists, as Isee many newborns and not as many seem to

grow to maturity.Enough have survived,however, that I wasrecently able to bring abunch to Cameo forsale.

To further limitpredation, I try to feedthe fish at least twice aday, giving them smallmeals each time. It ismy hope that thisfeeding schedule willdistract the fish fromeating babies, as well asallow more rapidgrowth of the fish.

As exciting as I find my exotic catfishand the spawning and fry raising of my cichlids,I have really been enjoying keeping guppies.There's something interesting and fun aboutwatching live bearers, and I understand why somany aquarists keep them. The "natural" set upthat I am keeping them in has allowed me toobserve the fish behaving more as they would inthe wild than keeping females in a breeder trapjust to obtain a maximum spawn.

While it is always exciting and fun tokeep a new and rare fish, sometimes re-visitingan old friend can be just as rewarding andstimulating. Next time you see one, don'toverlook it right away!


DO YOU BOWl?by VINCENT SILEO

No I'm not talking about that gamewhere you throw a big black ball at abunch of white pins. I'm talking about

the Bowl Show. The Bowl Show isn't aTupperware Party or program preceding theSuper Bowl. The Bowl Show is your chance toshow off your most beautiful fish at our regularmeetings. This is an aquarium society and we allenjoy seeing some nice fish displayed at themeetings.

Just pick out some of the mostbeautiful, healthy fish in your collection andbring them down to the meeting. Once at themeeting, set your fish up in the 2.5 gallontanks provided by the Society and enter thenames of the fish followed by your name inthe bowl show book. That's it. That's allyou have to do.

The fish don't have to have been bredby you, this isn't the Breeder's Award Program.In fact, there really isn't anything stopping youfrom picking up some fish at your local pet shopon the way to the meeting and entering them intothe bowl show. How would we know?However; I wouldn't recommend it. Fish at thelocal pet shop are usually over crowded andmany have only recently been transported to thepet shop. All this stress will take its toll on thefish and the fish will not be at its best.

HOW TO BE A WINNER!

Decide which fish you want to enter into theBowl Show a week or two before the meeting.

Don't wait until the last minute to look at yourfish and choose which looks best. Under thatkind of pressure many people decide just to giveup and not participate at all.

Catch the chosen fish and set them up in aseparate aquarium.

Separating these fish into another aquarium doesfour things:

• First, they are less crowded and lessstressed;

Second, it eliminates the chance that thefish will be damaged by another fish inthe same aquarium;

Third, the fish will be easier to catchjust before the meeting, again providingless stress on them and on YOU!

• Fourth, this will allow you to give theselected fish some extra Tender LovingCare.

Feed these fish carefully.

Provide them with a variety of prepared and livefoods two or three times a day. This will allowthem to fatten up and make sure they are gettingthe nutrients they need to really show off theirbest colors and finnage.

Change 10 - 20% of the water every day.

This will take a few minutes out of every day butthe results are well worth it. With the specialfeeding routine your fish will be processing morefood and with it comes more waste elimination.The filter can't take out everything and anywaste in the water will cause ammonia to riseand the pH to drop. This in turn will preventyour fish from showing their best color andfinnage. Of all the steps mentioned, this one isthe most important. Water quality is everythingto a fish!

Use buckets to transfer your fish to themeeting.

Preferably, use a bucket with a cover. Using abucket does two things. First, it allows you tobring enough water to fill the 2.5 gallon tank;thereby not having to fill in with water of adifferent chemistry, or leaving your fish withoutenough water to adequately show their size andfinnage. Second, you could leave most fish in athree or five gallon bucket for a couple of dayswithout having to worry about loss of oxygen.

Don't forget to complete the Bowl ShowBook!

You must fill in your name and the name of yourfish in the bowl show book, or your fish won'tbe judged. Even if you have labels, signs andvideo presentations next to your bowl, if you'renot in the book, you're not in the competition.You don't need to know the scientific name ofthe fish, the trade or common name will do. And


even if you're not sure of the name of the fish,I'm sure that someone at the Society will beable to help you out. So please don't let thatstop you from participating.

HERE COMES DA JUDGE!

Some people believe that their fishwon't stand a chance because someone willbring in a more colorful or larger fish. But thetruth is that your fish will not be judged againstthe other fish in the bowl show competition.Yes, you read that correctly, your fish will not bejudged against the other fish in the bowl showcompetition.

W h a t i t ' sbeing judged against arethe ideal specificationsfor your fish. So eventhough your fish mightnot be as colorful assome others, if it isshowing the correctcolors for its breed, itmay still win. And ifyour fish is an inch andhalf long but its idealsize is only an inch anda quarter, your fish willbe judged to be anoutstanding specimen.So don't be intimidatedby all those colorfulAfricans, bettas andguppies. And don't beintimidated by thoselarge cichlids andcatfish. Just beconcerned with yourfish and its ideal type.

Now I'll betaking over as Bowl Show Chairman this seasonand I will personally judge all the entries. If youreally want a shoe-in to win, please bring a pintof ice cream to the meeting. Whose ever flavorI like best will win. Seriously, we usuallyrequest that our guest speaker judge the bowlshow for us. The obvious reasons being that theyusually know a great deal of knowledge on alarge variety of fish and perhaps even moreimportantly, they have no idea whose fish theyare judging and can give us an accuratejudgment.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

First, Second and Third place ribbonsare given at each meeting, providing promptrecognition of the best fish in that Bowl Show.This is in addition to showing your fellowmembers that you really do know how to keepfish! You will also be competing for cumulativepoints. The competitor with the most pointsreceives the Bowl Show Champion trophy at theJanuary Holiday Party and Awards Dinner.

Starting this Bowl Show Season(September 1999 to June 2000), we will alsorecognize those participants whose cumulativepoints came in second and third places with acertificate, to be awarded at the January, 2001

Holiday Party andAwards Dinner. Webelieve that thosem e m b e r s w h op a r t i c i p a t e d a n dcompeted all year longshould be given ther e c o g n i t i o n t h e ydeserve.

S ince theBowl Show Seasoncoincides with ourM e e t i n g S e a s o n(September throughJune) The awards givenat the January HolidayParty and Awardsdinner are for thepreceding season. Sodon't be surprisedwhen we don't giveour second and thirdplace certificates at theJanuary 2000 meeting.The awards given atthat time will be for the

1998-1999 Season.

So will you be "bowling" with us thisseason? The season has just begun and it'sanyone's race who cares to be in it. I hope youwill.

ili||


News From:

The Northeast CouncilOf Aquarium Societies

by CLAUDIA DICKINSON

Welcome back to the beginning of what promises to bea great new season for the countdown of themillennium coupled with the 25th anniversary of the

Northeast Council! Two days after I saw you at our June meetingI was in Connecticut representing the GCAS at the NEC delegatemeeting. There was a lot of discussion to be had with big plansunderway in celebration of such a special year ahead!

£re€It has crossed my mind that many of you

have heard of the Northeast Council, but possiblyare not sure of just what the Council is all about.I thought I might take a moment to tell you aboutthe council itself.

• The NEC is an organization made up ofmember aquarium societies throughoutthe Northeast. There is a board ofdirectors, much like the GCAS directors,and there are delegates from each clubwho convene every three months inHartford, Connecticut to exchangeinformation and ideas. Each year theNEC plans and hosts a HUGEconvention, which brings together all themembers such as you to enjoy aweekend full of friends, speakers,events, a tremendous auction and loadsof fun.

The NEC is available to assist andstrengthen member clubs in any waypossible and to help out in obtainingprogram material.

The NEC facilitates the exchange ofinformation among member clubs.

• The NEC sets standards for judging andin fact has training courses for membersto become qualified as judges.

• The NEC has established resources ofmaterial, which are available to GCASas a member club.

The NEC is available to assist withrevitalizing existing clubs.

The NEC spends much effort to promotethe hobby in general and to assistmember clubs in publicizing theiractivities, such as annual shows andauctions.

With this in mind, we will now move onwith the monthly reports with possibly a betterunderstanding of what they mean to you as aGreater City Aquarium Society member.

There's a lot to plan for this fall withthe NEC sister societies hosting loads of eventsfor us to enjoy!

September 10-12: Tropical Fish Society ofRhode Island Show and Auction

September 19th: Danbury Area AquariumSociety Auction

October 1-3: Norwalk Aquarium Society Showand Auction

October 8th: Brooklyn Aquarium SocietyAuction

October 10th: New Hampshire AquariumSociety Auction

October 22-24: North Jersey AquariumSociety *Extravaganza* Show and Auction

Please bring those NEC Breeders Awardcredit slips with you as you bring your fish toauction! I have plenty available and am happy tofile them for you and to answer any questions!The points belong to you and it's easy andFUN!

September 26th will be the next generalmeeting for NEC delegates and the GCAS will beat the Queens County Museum Fair doing ourannual Aquarium Beautiful display and Bettasale. It will be a difficult decision as to whichevent I shall attend! Hmmm...Let's see...MaybeI can drive up to Queens on Friday for theSaturday portion of the fair and then up toConnecticut for the meeting?..

Take care!

10 September 1999 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

Our Scheduled Speaker This Month:

THE G.C.A.S. PROUDLY WELCOMES

SPEAKING ON:

"A PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH ROSARIOTHROUGH THE WORLD OF TROPICAL FISH"

by CLAUDIA DICKINSON

It is a great privilege and honor to present toyou Rosario La Corte ~ a legend in thetruest sense of the word, looked up to and

revered by all. His legacy has been narrated soperfectly by Roger W. Langton in the Journal ofthe American Killifish Association, March/April- Volume 29, No. 2, 1996. Rather than attemptto outdo what has already been done toperfection, I pass along a reprint of this to you onyour chairs this evening.

It is the Rosario that I have been sofortunate to come to know whom I shall tell youof. A man whose kind and gentle spirit radiatesthroughout his home, his family and all of thosewho have the good fortune to cross his path.This peaceful spirit emanates throughout hisfishroom and surrounding forest, where the leavesrustle from tall trees casting their dancingshadows over the streams and ponds where he isoften out cultivating live foods for his fish.

Rosario, along with his lovely wife Jean,welcomed a dear friend and myself into theirhome with all of the charm, grace and warmthone could imagine. Over china cups of delicioussteaming hot tea and coffee, and platters ladenwith a delectably delightful assortment ofcrumpets and cakes, prepared by Jean in herseemingly effortless style, we comfortablyengulfed ourselves in a lively hour of fishyconversation. We went from collecting trips toBrazil, to the first ever captive spawning ofPterolebias peruensis by Rosario and on to talesof adventures with the likes of Ross Socolof,Pierre Brichard, Alan Fletcher, Harold Schultz,and Stan Weitzman.

It was then time to descend into themagical world of Rosario's fishroom. My firstvision was a fifty-gallon tank that seemed toilluminate the entire room by the brilliance of thehuge school of Emperor tetras housed there.

I'm certain my mouth had fallen ajar as I stoodin awe and heard of Rosario's line breedingthese beautiful creatures for 40 years! I wasoverpowered by the mystical aura as I walkeddown the aisles, peering into tank after tank ofthe loveliest tetras, barbs and killifish. The soundof Rosario's voice in the background, describingthe history of each species, melded with mytaking in and digesting as much as I could of thefiltration methods and appropriate plants andgravel used for spawning. Many species wererare, most were line-bred by Rosario ~ all werein beautiful condition and reproducingprolifically.

It was all I could do to depart such adream, but when Rosario spoke of salamandersand newts under the rocks outside, I could barelycontain my excitement! He patiently humoredme by taking us behind the house where wepeaked carefully under every promising stone andslab of slate, exhilarated by the idea ofdiscovering one of these lovely creatures. It ishere where Rosario showed us his ponds, streamsand pools of water where he raises daphnia,worms, and larvae. These, as well as other livefoods harvested inside, are all fed to his fish ona regular basis. He believes this, along withregular water changes, is a key to successfulfishkeeping.

It was time to be on our way. As Iturned to take in one more glimpse, I knew. Thiswas a maestro, conducting a glorious symphonyin true harmony with his orchestra. This wasRosario La Corte.

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) September 1999 11

The Federation of AmericanAquarium Societies

by ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

The "May/June-July/August" issue of theFAAS Report (FR), the publication of theFederation of American Aquarium

Societies, has nothing new to report. (There wasno March/April issue.)

There was no mention of the 1998 FAASPublication Awards, nor of the FAAS Logocontest. FAAS President Maxine Gorsline wrote:"By the time you read this FR there should be anew slate of officers, members of the board, andcommittee chairpeople." The new FR Editor,Randy Seufert, wrote: "Yes, the computer age ishere, and it not only makes it easier for getting apublication like this ready, but also makes it easyto get information out to others. Based on thosestatements, I went to the official FAAS website at:http://www.tomgriffm.com/FAAS/index.html tofind out who the new officers and committeechairpersons are. But, the FAAS website had notbeen updated since 9/14/98! (The prior Editor ofFR was still listed as Editor and the new officersand committee chairs were nowhere to be found.)

T h e" P r e s i d e n t ' sMessage" in the lastFR listed ninecommittees in needof new chairpersons(Sales, DelegateLiasion, Elections,Nominations, Legislation-USA, PublicationAwards, and Statistics). The list of chairpersons inFR indicated an additional vacancy for the chair ofthe Convention '99 Committee. However, itappears that the member societies will not knowuntil the September/October issue of FR how manyof those positions have already been filled.

When more information on existing andvacant Oficer and Chair positions is available (and,of course, when information on the PublicationAwards and Logo Contest is finally made known),I will report to you.

TH^.n aJvertisemen! from Aquaaiic1 Life

i $ne. June 1933

Do the fishes get these NecessaryVitamins at the Bottom of the Sea ?

THEY CERTAINLY DO!VITAMIN A: The Eye Vitamin—promotes generalgrowth and builds resistance to various disease organ-isms.VITAMIN B: The Nerve Vitamin—improves bloodcirculation, prevents stunted growth, poor blood con-dition, and paralysis.VITAMIN D: The Sunshine or Bone Vitamin—causes the two principal bone, blood, scale and finmak-ing materials, CALCIUM and PHOSPHORUS, to becompletely utilized and assimilated.VITAMIN E: The Reproductive Vitamin—promoteslarger, stronger, and more fry when breeding egg-layingor live-bearing varieties.

Every grain of RELIANCE FISH NUTRITIONis warranted to contain VITAMINS A. B, D, and E,and other important food elements that will maintainthe health and improve the color, style and pep of yourfish.

The Reliance ProdUCtS CO., 323 Grove Road, South Orange, N. J.

Your dealer can supplyyou. Accept no substitute.Write for free pamphlet." K E E P Y O U R F I S H" H E A L T H Y".


WET LEAVES

A Series On Books For The Hobbyist

by SUSAN PRIEST

One of my favorite things to do is pokethrough the "bargain" books available atmost larger book stores. Somewhere

between the cook books and the biographies ofCivil War heroes, I found this treasure. Thisbook was not written for aquarists, but anyonewith a serious interest in fishkeeping will enjoyand benefit from it.

This book is a publication of theAmerican Museum of Natural History in N.Y.C.Mr. Maisey is the curator of vertebratep a l e o n t o l o g y ,paleontology being "thebranch of geologyconcerned with thestudy of the fossil remains of animal and plantlife." He feels that fossils provide "tantalizingglimpses into pre-history."

Fishes are a type of vertebrate known ascraniates. The difference between a vertebrateand a craniate is that the word vertebrate refers tothe backbone, which is absent in most primitivefishes. Humans and fishes share (among otheranatomical features), a brain with severalchambers surrounded by a skeletal cranium.

The development of jaws was the mostimportant evolutionary step in the history ofcraniates. Unique to the anatomy of jawed fishesare paired fins (pectoral and pelvic). With arecorded history of 450 million years, sharks arethe oldest group of jawed fishes that still existtoday.

Those who claim to know such thingssay that fishes appeared on the earth almost 500million years ago. "The oceans are 4 billionyears old, but they have held fishes for less thanone eighth of that time." Fresh water accountsfor only 2.5% of all the water on the earth.Astonishingly, this 2.5% includes the polar icecaps. Forty to forty five percent of all fishesinhabit fresh water. This small percentage offresh waster must also meet the needs of all the"tetrapods" (that includes us humans!).

Throughout the text, Mr. Maiseyrepeatedly returns to the theme that humans havemany similarities to fishes. Another favoritetheme is the discussion of evolutionary success.How is it measured? He concedes that fossils

cannot reveal all of the details, however hebelieves that fishes represent "evolution'sgreatest success story." We are also offeredclues to the methods used by paleontologists.For example, "finding the bones of one species[of fish] in the stomach of another indicates thatthey lived together rather than having beenwashed together after they died."

The artwork, photographs, and drawingsin this book are arresting, fascinating, and yes,even tantalizing. I wanted to reproduce onealong with this review, but my editor informedme that even if I was meticulous in giving propercredit, I would be in violation of copyright laws.Maybe it is just as well because I can't imaginehow I could have chosen just one.

The glossary is modest. By that I meanthat there are a large compliment of scientificterms familiar mostly to paleontologists andzoologists. This book was written for laymen

(that's us), and (we)would have benefittedby a little extraattention in this area.

With each turnof the page I was hoping to find a familiar face,or a latin name that I had learned from the pagesof Modern Aquarium. There were Lungfish andBichirs, Gars and Perches. However, I found nofossil of a Frontosa, or artist rendering of anArowana. The fishes in this book are theancestors of the ones we are keeping in our livingrooms. This does not mean, however, that thefishes we are keeping are the most advanced.Evolution is a very unorderly process.

Illlllilll|||li||||||||l||

Please honor our request for two additionalcopies of any issue of your publication in whichyou reprint an article from Modern Aquarium.This is in keeping with current practices in theHobby. We will, upon request, provide amateuraquarium hobby societies complying with thisguideline with articles on disk or via e-mail.

Please direct all correspondence about ModernAquarium to:

Alexander A. Priest1558 McDonald StreetBronx, NY 10461-2208

Or, you can send us e-mail at:[email protected]


Bernard Harrigan, Artist; Warren Feuer, Research

Scientific Name: Nannacara anomala

Common Name: Golden Eyed Dwarf Cichlid; Golden Dwarf Acara

Adult Size: 31/2"c? — 2"?

Native Habitat: Guyana, Africa

Water Conditions: pH 6.5-7.0; temperature 72°F-80°F

Degree of difficulty to keep: 2 (easy)

Degree of difficulty to breed: 2 (easy)

GCAS Breeders1 Point Value: 15

Last Bred in GCAS: September, 1998

Articles about this fish in Modern Aquarium:

"Breeding Nannacara anomala" by Jose Perez - 5/94

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S.(NY) September 1999 17

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LifeLessons

A series by "The Under gravel Reporter"

|

iliift

Here are a few lessons for life, derived fromwatching the fish in my aquarium:

• If you are interesting enough, or cute enough,people will seek you out, even if you hide in acave all day.

Sometimes it's fun to move against thecurrent.

• If you get right out in front and do your bestto get attention, you'll get fed.

• School is much more fun when you have morefriends along with you.

• The best way to adjust to a new situation is tofloat outside for a while and get a feel for thesurroundings, before jumping in.

• Study every pebble and rock on your way.You never know what you may find that youmissed the first time.

• Keeping clean is the most important step tokeeping healthy.

• Changes may not seem very pleasant whilethey are happening, but without them you'llstagnate and die.

• Too much change too fast can be stressful andharmful to your health.

• Leaping without looking first can leave youhigh, dry, and stranded.

When a member of the opposite sexapproaches, it never hurts to show a little flare.

Whether you build it with stones or airbubbles, it's how well you tend your nest thatmatters.

• Sometimes running around in circles isprogress, if it keeps the bigger guys from gettingyou.

• Don't bite the hand that feeds you. *

• Sample everything you can, whenever you can.

• A Bavarian castle does not a king make.

• When someone with a big mouth appears, it'soften just best to leave quietly.

• There is no substitute for clean, pure water.

• Don't depend on chemicals to keep you inbalance.

• Being a big fish in a small tank isn't as muchfun as you might think.

• Sometimes you have to travel away from hometo be appreciated and admired.

• Home is where you feel safe, even if it lookslike a cave or drainpipe to others.

• There's nothing like a few plants to improveyour surroundings.

• Sometimes, cleaning up is a scum suckingj o b — but someone's got to do it.

• Be it smoke, oil, or water, just because itpassed through a filter does not mean it's clean.

• A change of appearance is one way to let theopposite sex know your're interested.

• If you don't plan ahead, too much rearrangingcan have everything come crashing down on you.

• Just when you thought you reached the end ofyour journey, you find you have to turn aroundand start all over again.

• Never underestimate your foe. Small backbiting attacks can be just as bad as a major battle.


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Come see our large Aquarium Plant display and receiveJ ONE FREE cultivated plant, just for stopping by!

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All Major Credit Cards Accepted


G.C.A.S. HAPPENINGSLast Month's Bowl Show winners:

1) Tom Miglio - Fundulopanchax gardneri

The standings to date are:Sept '98 — June '99 Bowl Show:

1) Tom Miglio - 38 points2) Bob Wranovics - 11 points3) Howard Berdach - 9 points,,::;;:;:;:: "'*****%&&.*..,..,..4) Leonard Ramroop - 5 t?mhts5) (tie) Pat peciSne and Jejf Georgelift6) Tsu Ypng Ko - l^poinil •

2) Tom Miglio - Red Guppy

The winner of the Hobbyist's Guide to the Natural Again iii, by 'Biff 'Chip Andrews:::tTetra Press) was Leonard Ramroop ., |l|?O::x: ::'' • ||i;|;||- :;|.

- 1 999 ''Oi|pe Prize Winner: ,s^K^'S^ \r of an Aqua Clear 200 power

Our C?!por Prize for October is scheduled tp:::SSfes%;!- ;;;i;%he Complete Aquarium Probl;e;rn-!glolver, by

.:::::::::::::::::::::tO attend tllC meeting tO^^ligible for this

lp liBoyd. Remember, you onlft|Ip

meeting times and sociel||| lli||| "pletripjjiolitan New

Next'Meeting :Spi||||i;. BasilTopic : " FflhrQoirns and :lickouts

Garden

. com

^ Association

of l:

month aif::l|:::Queeril§fGj||^ IIIContacts: JeHi;|Jeorge ?''ili||:::gau(iier wTelephone: (7l!l28-7190 / "(I

Long Island

Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Friday ofmonth at Holtsville Park and Zoo, 249Buckley Rd. Holtsville, NY 11801Contact: Mr. Vinny KreylingTelephone: (516) 938-4066

North Jersey Aquarium Society

Meets: 8PM - 3rd Thursday of the month atthe American Legion Hall, Nutley, NJ (exit151 Garden State Pkwy., near Rt. 3)Contact: NJAS Hotline at (201) 332-4415or e-mail: [email protected]

Societyti|f September 1 7

' ':^;

, N.^; ;pjuariurri -. & 8 t h ; ,

: BAS Events: (7 1 8)

P.M.fmonth a||je^Contact :x'|||.:g|pri(l

63 l-

Nassau 0gy||gpiquarium Society|jjiii!xl::W':p!M. - 2nd Tuesday of eachmonth at the William M. Grouse Post 3211V.F.W., Rte. 107, Hicksville, NYContact: Mr. Ken SmithTelephone: (516) 589-0913

Norwalk Aquarium Society

Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of eachmonth at the Nature Center forEnvironmental Activities, Westport, CTContact: Mrs. Anne Stone BroadmeyerTelephone: (203) 834-2253

Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) September 1999 21

modern aquarium

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