modern aquarium

modernSeries III Vol. VI, No. 9 November, 1999

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Spawning Mops 3

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The Antiquarium 10

_______ 1999 Reader's Survey - Part II 11"./•.;':'Ga:r"ntii:''y:e^avffi;^

|i|||i ||i|!|iiiilll iili||i|lllii||||i||l Surfing the Pubs (Exchange) 13

Aquarist's Sketchpad 14

With Fingers Crossed 17

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|l|||;ii|||||||||||||il F«n Fun (Puzzle Page) 20Printing By Postal Press

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

by ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

This is another call for help. I've donethis before, as has Warren Feuer, theModern Aquarium Editor before me.

We make repeated pleas for volunteers to dosmall jobs, and for members to write newarticles. Virtually all of those pleas gounanswered or, even worse for my purposes ofplanning an issue, I receive "promises" of helpand/or articles that never materialize.

Yet, in spite of all that, the members seea new issue of Modern Aquarium every month,and probably think that we were just "cryingwolf and that we really did not need the help orarticles we asked for. I'm writing this beforethe rest of Modern Aquarium is finished for thismonth. At this point, I can honestly say thatI'm not 100% certain that there will even be anissue this month — so sparse has been membercontributions. This has got to change, andchange soon.

When I took over as Editor, I said thatI would try to let the members know of changesand developments in Modern Aquarium. Well, Iwant everyone to know now that, starting nextyear (maybe even sooner), our award winning"Surfing The Pubs" column will be replaced asthe "exchange" column by a page or two ofselected reprints from other publications andnotations made to articles originally printed inModern Aquarium that I discover were reprintedin the publications of other societies.

Yes, you read that right, we will have aregular reprint column. While some (includingseveral members on the Board of Governors ofGreater City) have suggested this as a means tofill pages left blank by the lack of submissions oforiginal articles from our own members, I haveresisted it until now. My reasons for resistingthis were not based on the quality of writing in

other societies (although I honestly feel that onlya few society publications have editing standardsin the same league as Modern Aquarium).Rather, I felt that the official publication of theGreater City Aquarium Society should reflect theinterests and accomplishments of the members ofGreater City.

While it's nice to read that Joe Blow inthe Lower Podunk Fish Club bred Bettasplendens, and here's an article on how he didit; I always felt that an article from a GreaterCity member on the same subject was preferable.First, as Editor of Modern Aquarium, I know thatevery article from one of our members is read byat least three, often four or five different people,who review it for accuracy, grammar, spelling,etc., before it's printed. There's only so muchI can legitimately do to fix mistakes on a reprint.

Second, if you have a question about thereprint article, are you going to attend a LowerPodunk Fish Club meeting or make a longdistance call to Lower Podunk to ask Joe Blowabout his article? I know I have asked membersto give me some more information after readingarticles they wrote. Whether you have done so inthe past, I always liked knowing that this was areadily available option.

Third, if Joe Blow's article did notdescribe in exacting detail what his waterchemistry was, how will you ever know whetherour local water is not significantly different inone or more respects — possibly different enoughthat duplication of Joe Blow's results would benearly impossible without adding an unknownquantity of water conditioners to our local water?

Finally, while winning the approval andmeeting the needs of our members should beenough, it's really nice to achieve recognitionfrom your peers. Modern Aquarium has, in arelatively short period of five years, won aconsiderable number of awards in direct head tohead competition with publications of otheraquarium societies. Reprint articles are noteligible for awards. Every reprint means one lessoriginal article that could have won an award.

There will be more changes in ModernAquarium, and I'll let you know about them inthe months to come. While I prefer to report onchanges that I believe enhance and improve ourpublication, I cannot honestly say that this, in myopinion, is one of them.

I've babbled enough this month, now Ihave to try to scrape together an issue.

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

by JOSEPH FERDENZI

S pawning mops are useful devices when breeding fish that, in nature, lay adhesive eggs in plants.Unlike plants, however, spawning mops are easily transferred from aquarium to aquarium, canbe stored in waterless containers, and, when made properly, will last a life-time. This article

will tell you how to make them.

The YarnSpawning mops are generally made from

knitting yarn. Use yarn made of artificial fibers(e.g., 100% Orion®). Do not use organic yarn,such as wool, because it will eventuallydecompose from prolonged exposure to water. Ihave mops made from artificial yarn that are over15 years old, and they still show no substantialsigns of disintegration.

The thickness of the yarn is not criticalas long as extremes are avoided. The color ofthe yarn is a matter of personal preference. Ihave seen mops in use that were every color ofthe rainbow. A factor to keep in mind is that thelighter the color, the harder it is for adult fish tosee the eggs and, hence, devour them. However,that color factor also makes it harder for you tospot the eggs if you are picking them (as isstandard in killiflsh rearing, for example). Iprefer dark green shades — they look, if you'llforgive the apparent contradiction, more "natural"than other colors. I also find it easier to spot theeggs — I compensate for the fact that it is easierfor the cannibalistic adults too by using sufficientstrands of yarn so that the mop is full or "bushy"(see discussion on mop construction that follows),which helps to hide the eggs from roaming eyes.Lately though, I must confess, I have also takena liking to the look of bright lime-green yarn —in fact, many aquatic plants share this shade ofgreen.

You may have read or heard that youshould boil the mops in water before using them.This supposedly leaches out color dye that wouldotherwise pollute the aquarium. I have neverboiled a mop. Perhaps it was once necessary, butthe current artificial yarns and dyes do not seento require this old precaution.

The Construction — The Finer MethodThe finer method results in a mop with

very good symmetry and a tight construction thatprecludes strands from coming loose. They takea little more time to make, but they are worth theextra effort — remember, these mops will lastyou a life-time.

The first step is to get a narrow, woodenboard (a "2x4" is ideal) about 12 to 16 inches in

length. Then hammer a couple of 4 inch nailsabout one half inch into the board at oppositeends (see illustration no. 1). Tie a piece of yarnbetween the two nails so that you have whatlooks like a miniature old-fashioned clothes line.

YflRNNAIL

• |« 2 * «

Illustration 1

Next, get a book that is the same heightas the length you wish to make the mop. Usuallythe length of the mop will correspond to theheight of the aquarium (if it is to be a floatingmop — to be described later), or to the length ofthe aquarium (if it is to be a sinking mop). Windthe yarn around the book at least 50 completerevolutions (see illustration no. 2, below) —anything much less will result in a thin mopwhich will not hide or contain the eggs as well asa bushy mop — anything much more isunnecessary.

YRRN(58 TURNS>

BOOK

Illustration 2

When you're finished, cut the strand connectedto your spool (skein) of yarn. You should nowhave two cut strands dangling from the bottom ofthe book. Take your scissor and cut through thestrands wound around the bottom of the book(see illustration no. 3, on the next page). Oncethis is done, you should have approximately equallengths of all your strands of yarn.

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

This will produce a sinking mop. If you leaveexcess yarn after tying your center knot, and youtie the excess through or around a flotationdevice, you will produce a floating mop (seeexample in illustration no. 7, below).

KNOT

BflLL

KNOT

Illustration 7

If you prefer not to see the flotation device, youcan place your strands over the device, and thenuse a piece of yarn to tie the strands tightly at apoint just below the device (see illustration no. 8,below).

BflLLUNDERNERTH

KNOT

Illustration 8

The disadvantage of the quick method isthat the strands can become loosened over time,resulting in a loss of strands or an asymmetricalmop. Personally, I don't think they look asgood.

One InnovationAfter seeing mops that became virtually

useless because the strands frazzled over time, Idecided to take an extra step in my mopconstruction. That step consists of tying the endof each strand of yarn into a knot (see illustrationno. 9, below). This prevents the ends fromdeveloping the "frizzies," which would,otherwise, eventually work their way up theentire strand. Once this happens, the mopbecomes a tangled mess from which it is verydifficult to extract eggs. Granted, this is asomewhat time-consuming step, but, hey,anything worth doing is worth doing well.

Illustration 9

I hope this little mop making primer ishelpful to all of you future fish breeders. Manyfish — including goldfish, minnows, killifish,rainbowfish, and others — readily breed inspawning mops, so go make some.

All illustrations in this article were basedon original sketches by the author.

They were created by Alexander Priest,using an Amiga 4000 computer andDeluxePaint 4.


Melanochromis johanniby JEFF GEORGE

D escription: One of the smaller membersof the mbuna group (rock-dwellingc i c h l i d s of Lake M a l a w i ) ,

Melanochromis johanni is a fascinating species inwhich the male and female display verydifferent—but equally beautiful—color patterns.Female johanni, as well as juveniles of either sex,are a uniform golden orange in coloration.Mature males, on the other hand, are more typicalof the genus Melanochromis, with a velvety blackbody featuring two electric blue stripes from gillsto the base of the tail. The edges of the male'sdorsal, anal, caudal, and ventral fins are alsoedged in electric blue, and he has a blue "bridle"pattern across the faceand forehead.

them fat and happy. M. johanni is no exception,greedily eating most any live or prepared foodoffered. As an aw/wwc/zs-feeder, vegetable mattershould make up a substantial portion of thejohanni diet. I use a high-quality spirulinaflake as the staple diet for my mbuna,supplemented with cichlid pellets, earthwormflakes, and frozen brine shrimp. Johanni willalso eat plankton in the wild, so live baby brineshrimp are appreciated as an occasional treat.Foods very rich in animal protein, such as beefheart, should be avoided for these largelyvegetarian fishes, as they can cause an intestinalinfection popularly called "Malawi bloat," a

usually-fatal diseasemuch more easilyavoided than treated.

iiilMaintenance: Likemost mbuna, M.johanni should be keptin a large aquariumheavily landscaped withrocks, flowerpots, orPVC pipe to formnumerous caves andbarriers. Though thefish will tolerate watercloser to neutral, it ish a p p i e s t in anenvironment that is hard and alkaline. Bakingsoda and kosher salt can be added to approximatethese conditions, or use one of the manycommercially available cichlid buffers or saltmixtures. Water quality is just as important aswater chemistry when keeping rift lakecichlids—a combination of strong mechanical andbiological filtration and regular, large waterchanges are essential to maintain this otherwisehardy fish successfully.

Adult Melanochromis johanni are bestmaintained as a colony, with several females foreach male. If only a pair is available, theyshould be kept as part of a mixed community ofLake Malawi cichlids. Mbuna should never bekept as isolated pairs in small tanks, as onefish—usually the female—will almost certainlybe killed by its would-be mate.

Feeding: Most of the mbuna are very eager andflexible eaters, presenting little challenge to keep

^

Breeding: Johanni aresexually mature at 2 to2.5 inches, which theycan reach in six to tenmonths, depending ontemperature, waterquali ty, and theavailability of suitablefood. At this point,spawning is almostunavoidable, provided

both sexes are present. A maternalmouthbrooder, M. johanni spawns in the typicalmbuna fashion, with the act taking place withina cave. The female takes sole responsibility forthe brood, carrying from 10 to 30 eggs in hermouth for about three weeks. She can be left inthe breeding colony for at least half of thisperiod, then removed to release her brood in afive-gallon tank. She can be returned to thebreeding colony immediately upon releasing herbrood—recuperative time in another tank isusually not necessary.

When released, the fry are fully-formedfish, just over 1/4" in length and bright orange incolor. They readily accept newly-hatched brineshrimp, and quickly learn to recognize crushedspirulina flakes as food. The fry grow quickly,and can be safely introduced into the breedingcolony when they reach a length of an inch anda half.


Tankmates: Melanochromis johanni is one of thesmaller, less aggressive, mbuna species, and isbest kept with Malawi cichlids of similar size andtemperament. Among the mbuna, the variousspecies of the genera Labidochromis, Cynotilapia,and lodotropheus are the best companions forM. johanni; the peacock cichlids of the genusAuloncara also mix well with these smallermbuna. The bigger mbuna—such asLabeotropheus, most Pseudotropheus, and thelarge Melanochromis—will intimidateM. johanni, which often do not show well orbreed in their company.

Few non-Malawi fish are suitable formixing in a mbuna community. Some of thesmaller Tanganyikan cichlids, likeNeolamprologus brichardi and the variousJulidochromis species may last for a while, butthey will never thrive in the company of the moreactive Malawians. Among catfish, the mid-sizeSynodontis species and hardier loricariids (pieces)do well with mbuna, but other species should beavoided.

Similar species: The "Johanni complex" includesthree other popular species—the Electric BlueJohanni (Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos), theBlack and White Johanni (Melanochromisperileucos), and the Chisumulu Johanni,Melanochromis interruptus—none of which haveyet been scientifically described. "Maingano"males closely resemble true M. johanni males,but females are colored like their mates, ratherthan being orange. In the Black and WhiteJohanni, the dominant males again resemble thetrue M. johanni, but the females are white withblack stripes. The females of the ChisumuluJohanni are indistinguishable from the trueM. johanni, but the blue markings on the malesare arranged as two rows of dots along the sides,instead of two complete stripes.

Never should two species of the Johannicomplex be housed together, as they readilycross-breed. Hybrid fry should not be distributed,but instead humanely destroyed (a bigHaplochromis or Cichlasoma is just the thing forthis task!).

A (Modest) Goal Reachedby WARREN FEUER

Recen t ly , Inotified GregWuest, co-

chair (along withCarlotti DeJager) of theGreater City BreedersAward Program that Ihad successfully bredtwo fish to add to mytotal Breeders Awardpoints. By myreckoning, this broughtmy total to over 100points, a modest goal Ihad set for myself aftermy first successfulspawning in 1993.Now to some of you,this may be no bigdeal, and I know thatseveral of our membershave amassed 2!/2 to 3 times as many points inone season, but to me reaching 100 points, andthe recognition that total merits, is a big deal.Let me tell you why.

First of all, let me start with myfish-keeping situation. Many of our members

have dedicated fishkeeping rooms andmany tanks availableto breed and grow outfry. On the other hand,I live in an apartment.In it, I have been ableto cram in 9 tanks,m any of t h e m"community" tankswith several differentspecies of fish in eachone. A communitytank makes breedingfish almost impossible.Over the years, as Ihave become moreselective in my fishkeeping I have begunto keep species onlytanks, and this has

enabled me to breed fish with greater success andfrequency.

I am not obsessed with breeding fish. IfI keep a species and it breeds, I am happy. Ifthey live in the tank and thrive, but do notspawn, that is fine with me. I consider breeding


a happy co-incidence of successful fish keeping,not a must. So I sometimes keep fish for a whilethat are not spawning, instead of getting rid ofthem for another fish that might spawn morereadily or quickly.

Because of my limited space availability,I have gravitated towards breeding Africancichlids, first starting with Lake Malawi mbuna,and lately, Lake Tanganyika residents. I find thatI can keep and spawn fish in the same tankwithout much fry predation. This is importantbecause I don't have much spare room for growout or isolation tanks to keep fry in. Some of mygreatest success has been with the dwarf shelldwellers from Lake Tanganyika, which I find Ican keep and breed in 10 gallon tanks and havea relatively large degree of success. In fact, itwas only recently, with Neolamprologusmeleagris, that I had to remove the parents fromthe tank to raise the fry. I found that once theparents had spawned, they would kill the previousgeneration of fry if any were in the tank. Youcan't blame them, they are just protecting theiryoung, but just the same, you can't ignore theirbehavior and do nothing about it.

Of the fish I've bred, I think I'm mostproud of my colony of Neolamprologus sp."daffodil" that I have watched grow from fivefish to well over 20. There are about 4 or 5generations of fish in the tank from fully matureadults to "teenagers" all swimming about inrelative harmony and within a defined hierarchywhere the dominant fish spawn and the othershelp raise the young. For a while there wereother fish in the tank with the "daffodils" and italways amazed me how the younger fish wouldhelp protect the fry against any potentialpredators. Eventually, I got rid of everything inthe tank but the "daffodils," and let them spawnin peace. Right now there are two Eretmoduscyanostictus living in the tank with the"daffodils" (hopefully only a temporary situation,although I don't know where I can possibly putthe Eretmodus), and I think their presence hascurtailed the spawning activity for now. That'sall right because there are plenty of "daffodils"in the tank. In fact, if you want any, let meknow.

And now back to the shell dwellingcichlids from Lake Tanganyika. Having spacelimitations, being able to keep and breed a colonyof fish in a 10 gallon tank is definitely a plus.For the most part these fish are relatively tolerantof each other and don't go out of their way to eatfry. There are some exceptions to this rule, as Ihave found out while keeping N. meleagris,which is beautiful, but rather aggressive. I guess

I was spoiled by my experience with N. brevis,which is a timid and mostly peaceful fish thatwill tolerate the presence of fry in their tank.

Once I had a large spawn, I decided toremove the parents and raise the fry alone,something I had never done before. It has beena wonderful experience. I have been able towatch the fry grow without worrying about anydanger to them from adult fish. I now haveabout 18 fry rapidly approaching the "saleablesize". I plan to bring some to Greater City'sauction, and donate the rest to one of themagazine's advertisers to sell. Then I'll decidewhat fish to keep next in the soon to be emptytank (a true rarity in my house).

One of the fish that I am keeping in thehope of getting a successful spawn isAltolamprologus calvus. I purchased 7 veryyoung fry about one and a half years ago, hopingto grow them out and get at least one pair out ofthe group. So far, they are all getting along well(at least, I see no signs of aggression), but I havenot seen any signs of pairing off as yet either. Ihave been told that calvus is a "two year" fish, soI guess I have another six months to wait beforeany sort of spawning activity starts. As I havesaid before, if they spawn, great, if not, I am stillenjoying keeping this fish.

It is my belief that one should alwayshave goals to aspire towards. Having reached thegoal of getting one hundred breeder points, whatis next for me? The next notable level is 300points, and I don't really see that happening untilI am able to set up a separate fish room. Untilthen, I plan to continue learning and improvingmy fish keeping skills, and enjoying the fish Ikeep. And really, isn't that what it is all about?

Some corrections on last month's article:Trinidad, Land of the Guppy:

The corrrect spelling of the Amerindians isArawak, not Arawacks.

Columbus discovered Trinidad in 1498, not1492.


News From:

The Northeast CouncilOf Aquarium Societies

by CLAUDIA DICKINSON

I t's Showtime!

Fall is here! With a big thank you to our fellowenthusiastic and energized NEC aquarium societies, there areplenty of shows to attend. A query from our star performer TomMiglio as to NEC show point values made me aware that now isthe time to take a closer look at the NEC show point rewards system.

The Northeast Council holds an exhibitor competition for which show points are tallied fromJanuary 1st through the end of December. Your membership in the GCAS automatically makes you amember of the NEC. All of your show points for the year, in any GCAS or sister society show, areeligible and entitled to be included in the competition.

The Point Values are as follows:5 Points for the first entry in a sister society show.2 Points for each additional entry in a sister society show.2 Points for the first entry in his/her own society show.1 Point for each additional entry in his/her own society show.50 Points for Best of Show at any sister society show.40 Points for Reserve of Show at any sister society show.25 Points for First Place at any sister society show.20 Points for Second Place at any sister society show.15 Points for Third Place at any sister society show.100 Point Bonus for showing at every member society show.

The GCAS, as your home society, will receive 1 Point for each entry that you show. Thiswould mean that, through your efforts, the GCAS would have more chances to win the NEC awardpresented to the society with the most entries in NEC shows!

The time, energy, and patience that so many of you put into showing your fish is admirable.Having fun is what it's all about, and ribbons or not, your efforts make the GCAS honoured and proudto have you as a member!

Coming Events!Now that we are all set to show, following is a list of the upcoming events to be hosted by

sister NEC societies:November 7th: Boston Aquarium Society Auction.November 21st: Aqua-land Aquarium Society Auction.December 5th: NEC General Meeting ~ Special Guest Star ~ Chuck Davis! You are

welcome and encouraged to join in this great fim-filled afternoon!February 13th: Pioneer Valley Aquarium Society Auction.March 17-19: NEC 25th Annual Convention.April 30th: Monadnock Region Aquarium Society Auction.May 5-9: Greater City Aquarium Society Show & Auction.Have Fun!!!

NEC 25th Annual Convention!Big plans are underway for the grandest celebration ever! Our incredible convention team has

an unbelievable speaker line-up that includes Wayne Leibel, Lee Finley, Ginny Eckstein, Stuart Grant,Ad Konings, Claus Christensen, Mike Schadle and more to come! I'm so excited, I can barely wait!

Until Next Month .


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

the exchange column

by ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

This month's editorial indicates thatModern Aquarium will soon have a newexchange column, based on more

traditional lines and including reprints from otherpublications. That does not, however, mean that"Surfing the Pubs" will stop — only that it willno longer serve as an exchange column. It willcontinue to be a column in which I review thehappenings and activities of other societies, asreflected in their publications.

The Fish Fancier is the publication ofthe Houston Aquarium Society. It comes outevery other month in a 5Vi lfx8" booklet format.This is an extremely well put-togetherpublication. Itfeatures color covers(both photographsand cartoons), aswell as some insidecolor artwork. I'm guessing (based on the factthat I have two copies of the same month and thecolor covers are a bit different in shading andsmoothness) that at least the cover pages aredivided among several members with colorprinters.

The publication's layout and overalleffect is very smooth and professional. I'm alsoimpressed with the quality of the editing. Manyof the most common errors found in otheramateur publications have not found their wayinto this one. It's also nice to note that this isone of the few publications I know of thatregularly provides "author's copies" when theyreprint an article.

Here's what I discovered about theHouston Aquarium Society (HAS) from thispublication. Like Greater City, HAS hasmonthly door prizes (but their door prize islimited to members only), and an annual holidayparty (which, unlike Greater City, is apparentlyunrelated to their Awards banquet). They alsohold an annual picnic at which they apparentlyjudge and award prizes for desserts (nice workfor a judge, if you can get it) and a "homeshow."

Houston Aquarium Society

Both HAS and Greater City aremembers of the Federation of AmericanAquarium Societies (FAAS). And, just asGreater City is a member of a regionalassociation, the Northeast Council of AquariumSocieties (NEC), so also HAS is a member ofFOTAS (the Federation of Texas AquariumSocieties) which, like the NEC, also holds anannual convention with speakers, banquet,auction, etc.

In addition to a Breeders AwardProgram (BAP), the HAS also has anHorticultural Awards Program (HAP). The rulesapplying to their BAP and HAP are in theirmembership handbook. (Greater City'smembership handbook mentions our BAP, butthe details of it are in a separate booklet.)

This issue of Modern Aquarium containsthe second report on our Reader Survey. TheHouston Aquarium Society distibuted a surveywithin The Fish Fancier also, but it was gearedto getting the opinion of members regardingsociety activities.

The HAS also gives out awards for"Writer of the Year" and for "Reserve Article ofthe Year." While Greater City has only one

class of membership,t h e H o u s t o nAquarium Societyhas four: Individual($10), Family ($15),Junior ($7), and

Corresponding ($7).Among the things the Houston

Aquarium Society is involved with is setting upand maintaining aquariums for schools and seniorcitizen centers. This is an area of activityGreater City might wish to explore. Not onlydoes this present the society in a very positivelight to the public, but it also providesopportunities for education on the hobby and forrecruiting new members.

This is clearly an active society withoutreach programs to the larger community, withmany activities for its members. Its publicationis visually attractive and very interesting. Infact, when Modern Aquarium's reprint columnstarts, I expect that several of the articles chosenwill be from The Fish Fancier.

As with all exchange publications, issuesof The Fish Fancier are available for review orloan to any GCAS member upon advancerequest.

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) November 1999 13

In the year 2000, you'll see many "Y2K Millenium Ultimate (etc., etc.)" fishshows announced. Only one will be held by Greater City, one of the oldest (78years young by show time) & most respected aquarium societies in the nation!

Queens, New York City - NYproudly announces its

At the Queens Farm Museum: 73-50 Little Neck ParkwayBetween the Grand Central Parkway and Union Turnpike

HERE'S WHAT TO EXPECT <AT A WORLD>CLASS SHOW LIKE OURS:

F\sh & aquatic plant competition - trophies awardedAuction of home-bred and raised fish and plantsAuction of aquarium supplies/drygoodsTop name speakers/workshops

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL FlfslO OMLY ATGREATER CITY'S SHOW:

Show held at a "working" farm museum with toursavailable for a real family fun day!

Treasure hunt competition - compete for fun and prizes!

AND EVEN MORE TO COME!Visit the Greater City website

http://ouiworld.compusepve\E-Mail us at: north228@a(|.oOr contact Show Chairperson

89-32 118th Street-Rich

ojj [email protected] D'Orio:

HI, NY 11418 (718)847-2030

mdated information at:%)mepages/greatercity

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S.(NY) November 1999 15

With FingersCrossed

A series by "The Under gravel Reporter"

Der Aberglaube ist die Poesie des Lebens(Superstition is the poetry of life) — Goethe

Next to professional ball players,fishkeepers are probably the mostsuperstitious group around. Oh, what's

that? You don't agree? You don't think youare superstitious when it comes to your fish, andyou haven't seen evidence of superstition amongyour fish keeping acquaintances?

I know of one breeder who insists thatthe order in which certain foods are fed to hisfish makes a difference. Food "A" must be fedbefore food "B" so that "A" can be properlyabsorbed. Now, it makes absolutely nodifference to this breeder that this information hasapparently never been presented in the amateur orprofessional literature, or even in the commercialhype for these foods — he knows what heknows.

For those of you who enter fish incompetition at local and regional society fishshows: do you avoid selecting exactly which fishyou are going to take to the show until the lastminute? I know a few aquarists who do just that,fearing that if they "named" their selection toosoon, something bad would happen to the fishthey prematurely selected.

Do you know anyone who routinely puts"just a pinch" of salt, or some other substance,into each and every tank and bowl, regardless ofthe pH, DH, and other water chemistry needs ofany given fish? I most certainly do. "It can'thurt," is what I'm usually told when I questionthis practice. Usually, the amount of salt or othersubstance is so slight, it probably couldn't help,either — but that seems to make no difference.When I point that out, I'm usually toldsomething like, "I haven't had a case of 'ick' inthe 20 years I've been doing this, so it must be

working." While I could respond that "and youhaven't had an elephant stampede through yourliving room during that period of time either, butthat doesn't mean your pinch of salt keepspachyderms away as well," I usually just walkaway, leaving that person with his or hersuperstitions.

I know a breeder who spent weekstrying to duplicate the biotope environment ofsome fish he intended to spawn. When I pointedout to him that the fish he was trying to spawnwere, in fact, spawned by another hobbyist wholived about 20 miles from him and that his timewould be better spent in trying to duplicate thatother fishkeeper's tank, he looked shocked. Hestrongly believed that tank raised fish would bemore inclined to breed in a "natural" environmentthat they had never known, than under conditionssimilar to those they had known all their lives.If that isn't superstition, I don't know what is.

Do you have a favorite sweat shirt or teeshirt you wear when entering a fish show, be it amonthly bowl show or a major regionalcompetition? Sure, you like that shirt and yes, itprobably doesn't look bad on you — but are youalso sure there is not even the least hint ofsuperstition attached to it?

Aside from those who maintain reeftanks, need full spectrum bulbs for a vivariumcontaining reptiles or amphibians, or want speciallighting to bring out the color of certain fish, areyou one of those people that have thesuperstitious belief that only certain types oflights are suitable for an aquarium? No less of aplant authority than Dorothy Reimer herself said,at a Greater City meeting, that the type of lightdoesn't matter and that she replaces her bulbsonly when they blow out. I've been using thecheapest hardware store bulb I could find over alarge bunch of live plants in a large communityaquarium for quite some while. The fish andplants are both flourishing, and my wallet is allthat much happier.

Well, that's it for this month.Remember that it's not too soon to start thinkingabout the Greater City show in May 2000. Ofcourse, if you don't tell me exactly which ofyour fish you intend to enter into competition,I'll understand.

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

Fin FunIVIetol

The glare reflected off the body of a fish often gives it a metalic look. So, it's no wonder that severalfish have common names that are metal related. See if you can pair up the scientific names of someof these fish with their common "metalic" names.

Scientific name

Barbus schwanefeldi

Metynnis argenteus

Noemacheilus barbatulus

Aphyosemion aureum

Corydoras aeneus

Oncorhynchus mykiss

Rohtee alfrediana

lodotropheus sprengerae

Common name

Stone Loach

Copper Minnow

Bronze Cory

Rusty Cichlid

Tinfoil Barb

Silver Dollar

Steelhead Trout

Gold Killie

Solution to Last Month's Puzzle: Who Eats Better YOU, OT YoUT Fish?

FOOD ITEM

Spinach

Spirulina

Corn Flakes

Color Flakes

Shell Steak

Sinking Carnivore Pellets

Jar of Baby Food

Fry Bites

Large Shrimp

Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp

Catfish Filet

Algae Wafers

Mallomars

Aquari-yums

Spaghetti

Tubifex Worms

Yogurt

Livebearer Food

Tortilla Chips

Guppy-Min

Price per pound

620

$30.97

$1.33

$22.98

$3.99

$63.94

$1.98

$31.84

$7.99

$91.04

$4.99

$20.98

$3.99

$24.90

890

$111.68

$1.38

$34.90

$2.34

$38.34

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

modern aquarium

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