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AquaNewsAquaNewsA Minnesota Aquarium Society Publication JULY/AUGUST 2006
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3 President’s Message | Jen Kruckenberg
4 Membership News | Bob Carter
5 Darter Collecting ‘06 | Randy Carey
7 Cichlid Matters | Bob Randall
10 Fishroom Tour: Mike Fries | Dani Ellickson
13 How to Get Kids Interested in Fishkeeping
(or how to sneak more tanks into the house)
| Mike Harris
14 Planted Aquarium Substrates | Matt Proost
18 Aquarium Society Rules of Acquisition | Dale Skiba
19 Newsletter Exchange Report | Brentt Helland
21 Bowl Show Report | Bob Randall
22 Bowl Show 2006-07 | Tiffany Severson
23 BAP Report | Chris Smith and Randy Carey
26 HAP Report | Milo Squires and Dave Behler
AquaContents
FromTheEditor
Where oh where to begin? How about I start by saying hello! Anchor has passed his position as Aqua News editor along to me. I thank Anchor for putting in years of hard work and time to put together the Aqua News for our enjoyment and education. I can only hope I can live up to his reputation and do as great of a job as he did!
As I take on my position as the new editor and webmaster, I have some ideas that I plan on testing and put-ting in place. The fi rst and biggest change that I will be working toward will be to make the Aqua News avail-able as an online publication. With the talented design capabilities of Mr. Joe Lover, we will be providing a bright, colorful and wonderful online Aqua News. We are in an age where tech-nology can help us provide a beauti-
ful means of publishing our articles, photos and stories at a minimal cost. Let’s take advantage of the tools avail-able to us!
For a short time, I will be publishing the online version of the Aqua News alongside the normal print version that you are accustomed to having in your mailbox. I want to know what you, the membership, have to say about the new version of the Aqua News. Your comments, thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Please forward them to me at the new email address for the Aqua News editor:[email protected]
I do understand that some folks do not have access to the internet. When we do move to the online version, conces-sions will be made for those that do
not have the ability to read the news-letter online.
I’m also hoping to bring a tour of people’s fi sh rooms in each volume of the Aqua News. This will give us an opportunity to get to know our fellow members and provide insight to the many different ways that we can keep fi sh. If you are interested in having your fi sh room highlighted in an Aqua News, please let me know! I’m interested in all fi sh rooms and fi sh keepers, be they single-tank homes or ponds, or high tech rooms with hun-dreds of tanks!
I’m excited to serve as the new Aqua News editor! I hope I can continue to provide a high quality, interesting and educational news letter into the future!
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President’sMessage
Hello MAS members,
This is my fi nal message to you as your President. I’m sad because I so enjoy serving in this capacity, but I know Mike will do a fan-tastic job!! His leadership skills as Show Chair have been truly remarkable.
As a wrap up, I’d like to mention how wonderful it’s been to lead the club through this historic 75th year. We’ve had many interesting talks by nationally known speak-ers. We’ve had special gatherings on additional days besides Thurs-days. Our membership numbers continue to climb and I was very pleased to meet many new folks and exchange hundreds of emails and phone calls.
As Tom would say regarding the Prez position, “the buck stops here” but I prefer this quote “a chain is only as strong as its weak-est link.” I’ve been honored and appreciative to work amongst the dedicated committee chairs and current board of directors. These are creative, hard working people who challenge themselves and are drawn together by our one shared link...a love of fi sh. I’m sometimes amazed how long the BOD meetings last, but it’s only because we’re constantly striv-ing to improve each and every aspect of how the club runs and what we’re trying to accomplish. Please remember, no question is
considered small, no suggestion is disregarded. Remember too, for some BOD members, sending an email, a phone call or face to face dialogue at a meeting is the best way to communicate. Forums are wonderful places, but they’re not for everyone. Dani will be work-ing on setting up email addresses for the various chairs and direc-tors through the website.
As we go into the 76th year, we’ll not forget our history. We’ll acknowledge those who have “been there and done that” and we’ll encourage the next genera-tion (or those returning to the hobby) to “be all they can be.” We’ll continue to laugh, share ideas and educate and although the medium may be changing as we view the Aqua News, the mis-sion remains the same. Education and fun!! Please join us as we tour Koiacres in Scandia and catch trout/picnic at the farm in Star Prairie, WI on July 15th.
I thank you for your membership. Final quotes (and these are my two all time favorites!!) “Wheth-er you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” And “The difference between extraor-dinary and ordinary is that little extra.” Take these quotes and do some great things with your fi sh.
Jen K.MAS President
President* ........................................... Jenny Kruckenberg651-457-2302 .................................... [email protected]
Vice-President* (tie breaker only) ...... Carter McAninch763-784-4937 [email protected]
Treasurer* .....................................................Tom Gromek651-462-8223 [email protected]
Secretary* ................................................ Anchor Sarslow763-856-0940 [email protected]
Under-director* ............................................ Milo Squires952-448-4153 ................................... [email protected]
Director-2yr.* ..............................................Dani Ellickson............................................underwaterjewels@gmail.com
Director-2yr,* .............................................. Brad Hedlund............................................BHedlund@timesaversinc.com
Director-1yr.* ...................................................Jim Mathis952-432-7606 [email protected]
Director-1yr.* ....................................................Mike Fries651-489-2973 [email protected]
Aqua News Editor ......................................Dani Ellickson....................................................editor@mn-aquarium.org
Auction Chairs ................................................Chris Smith651-487-8073 ................................. [email protected]
Auction Chairs ........................................... Brad Swanson612-522-4399 [email protected]
BAP Data ....................................................... Ted Jolivette763-783-9416 ............................... [email protected]
BAP Spokesperson .......................................Randy Carey651-780-8068 [email protected]
Bowl Show Chair .................................... Tiffany Severson....................................................... [email protected]
Book Points Chair ...........................................Chris Smith651-487-8073 ................................. [email protected]
Darter Collection Chair ..................... Jenny Kruckenberg651-457-2302 .................................... [email protected]
Donations Chair .......................................... Dennis Drews952-529-3596 ................................. [email protected]
Exchange Editor ........................................Brentt Helland...............................................................brentt_@msn.com
HAP Spokesperson ....................................... Milo Squires952-448-4153 ................................... [email protected]
HAP Data ........................................................Dave Behler
Librarian ............................................................ Jon Heyer952-215-2043 .................................... [email protected]
MAS/ACA Liaison ...........................................Bob Randall952-432-6298 ................................... bobrfi [email protected]
MAS/FAAS Liaison ................................. Carter McAninch763-784-4937 [email protected]
Membership Chair ...........................................Bob Carter651-633-4351 ......................................... [email protected]
Program Chair ..............................................Randy Carey651-780-8068 [email protected]
Show Chair .....................................................Bob Randall952-432-6298 ................................... bobrfi [email protected]
Webmaster ..................................................Dani Ellickson........................................... [email protected]
Historian .................................................Rodger Anderson763-535-4364 .................................. [email protected]
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MembershipReport
Well folks, it is done. We’ve made it to the end of our 75th Anni-versary Year. Seems to me that it lasted quite a bit longer than a year. I am defi nitely proud to have been a part of it. This past year of speakers and programs has been incredible. I look back over the last year (much like we did at the last monthly meeting) and can not think of one single topic or speaker that did not grab my attention. I even appre-ciated the talk about clams. I will never be a saltwater fi shkeeper, but that was pretty interesting even to me. So who was the best? That is really hard to pin down. I’m sure that if you asked that question of ten members you would get ten different an-swers. Oliver Lucanus was won-derful at the show, and his topics for talks were incredible. But then again, I was really interest-ed by Mike Helwig, no wait how about Lee Finley. Oops – let’s try Bob Allen or Wayne Leibel. It was also nice to here from one of our own – Dean Hougan. And Chicago isn’t that far away so we can claim some Midwestern ties to Scott Davis. Ricky Cain’s talks were also of great interest to me and I enjoyed them as well. So I said you had to ask ten people and you would get ten differ-ent answers. Looks like I covered them all – no need to ask nine other members.I wish to offer a big thank you from me to anybody who had anything to do with making the 75th Anniversary year a truly memorable one. I won’t soon forget this past year.
Anchor’s participate bribery
tomfoolery is over and done. Congratulation Tiffany, Jim and Paul. I’m sure you will all put the gift certifi cates to good use. I would have asked for a MAS gift certifi cate to help defray some of my spending at the auctions and the BAP/HAP table.
Congratulations to our new board members Bob Randall and Anchor Sarslow. And to Mike Harris for volunteering to take over the Secretary role vacated by Anchor. Leading this group will be no cakewalk, but I’m sure that Mike will be up to the task. It looks to be an interesting year shaping up.
Last but not least, check your mailing label. The labels have your expiration date on them right on top of your name. If this date is highlighted this is the last AquaNews you will receive unless you renew. I will also be send-ing email out to those whose membership have expired or will shortly expire. We are creeping our way toward 2007; it would be nice to make it to that goal.
I’m constantly looking forward to the fi rst Thursday night of the month. I’ll have a couple of BAP and HAP submissions coming up soon. I might even work harder at getting stuff ready ahead of time so that I can enter more bowl shows. My plan is be there and participate. I hope you all will join me.
See you in the fi shroom,
Bob CarterMembership Chair
►ABOUT THE MASThe Minnesota Aquarium Society (MAS) is an incorporated, non-profi t organization of tropi-cal fi sh enthusiasts that was established in the 1930s. The MAS is one of the largest local level clubs in the U.S., averaging about 200 current members. MAS is a member of the Federation of American Aquarium Society (FAAS).
►MONTHLY MEETINGSMonthly meetings are held on the 1st Thursday of each month (note: there are no meetings in July) at 7:30pm at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 2300 N. Hamline Ave., Roseville, MN (at the NE corner of Hwy 36 and Hamline). Most meetings focus on a presentation by a speaker who is often nationally-recognized. Visitors are welcome to attend.
►BOARD MEETINGSMAS Board of Directors meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month, except for July, at the same location as our general meet-ings at 7pm and are open to MAS members.
►AQUA NEWSAqua News is a bi-monthly publication of the MAS. It has been recognized with national awards and is included with membership. Members are encouraged to send original articles and photos for publication. Submit them by sending to the MAS mailing address or to the editor via meetings or email. Electronic versions of the article are strongly recom-mended. Photo quality/resolution will deter-mine whether it is used. All articles are subject to editing.
►EXCHANGES + REPRINTINGExchanges with other non-profi t groups are welcomed. Articles may be reprinted provided proper credit is given to the author, the MAS, and AquaNews. Two (2) copies of the publica-tion containing the article must be sent to the exchange editor at the address below. Any other reprinting is by permission of the author only.
►MINNESOTA FISH KEEPERS FORUMThe Minnesota Fish Keepers Forum is a great local online resource for fi sh keepers of all kinds. Stop by and share fi sh knowledge with fellow fi sh keepers in Minnesota! The MFK is endorsed by the MAS. www.minnfi sh.com.
►E-MAIL GROUP LISTMAS has a monitored e-mail announcement list available to all members. Messages are sent to all members on the list. If you’d like to broad-cast a message or subscribe to the list, send your request to [email protected].
►DISCUSSION GROUP LISTMAS maintains a monitored discussion list through yahoo groups. MAS members can subscribe at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mnaquarium/.
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Hello everyone who signed up for darter col-lecting in May. I thought I’d write to everyone and summarize our produc-tive Saturday. The crew met at the traditional parking lot in Welch. Lee Finley and I arrived early and scouted the area so we would have a game plan by our 9:45 start time. Cannon River – Green Banded Darters Yes, the Cannon was higher and moving much too rapidly to go out into the middle, or to most areas where we have col-lected in the past. But we found a side channel that averaged about three feet in depth, so we tried it. It was quite productive yielding over two dozen green banded darters. These specimens were a bit on the small side and lacked their intense spawning colors. Still, we were able to identify males and females. A couple of Johnny Darters
were found in the mix.
The river was high and swift, but the channel shown above was work-able – and quite produc-tive
Then we moved to Belle Creek. Lee and I found a new collecting area that
was ideal. We drove well past our normal stopping place, parked along the road, and walked to a fairly fast moving stream that was crystal clear and between one and three feet in depth. Our most productive spot was a side channel. We could have pulled out dozens of Fantail Darters here. We found mature speci-mens (ready-to-go) of both sexes. Along side the fantail channel was the wide and faster part of the stream. It was here that we caught about a half dozen brilliantly-colored, adult Rainbow Darters. These obviously were from last year’s repopula-tion project. As requested from Konrad, we released these after taking photos.
In the same waters, we
‘06‘06
In the same waters, we pulled out two brilliantly-colored male Green-Banded Darters. We kept those for pairing with the females we that we were taking from the Cannon.
Collecting Rainbow Darters
One of the more spectacular fantail specimens
Darter Darter Collecting Collecting
By Randy CareyBy Randy Carey
cont. on page 6| 5 |
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pulled out two brilliantly-colored male Green-Banded Darters. We kept those for pairing with the females we that we were taking from the Cannon. We did walk up the stream nearly a quarter mile and sampled along the way. We pulled a few more fantails here and there, but the productiv-ity was nothing like that of the small side channel. We divvied up the Belle Creek Fish, had lunch in Welch, and then divvied up the green bandeds from the Cannon. Marine on St. Croix – stream of rainbows
Everyone was so im-pressed with the Rain-bows that the whole crew wanted to go to Marine on St. Croix. Fortunately, I had cleared that location a day earlier with the DNR, so we took the 75 minute drive up. As usual, the collection of Rainbow Darters in this short stream was fairly easy. The colors of these specimens were not as spectacular as what we found on the Belle Creek rainbows, but there were nice. Males and females were easily distinguished. We also netted trout and what we thought was eel pout. I brought a photo tank and have photos sam-pling all species – except for the rainbows of Ma-
rine-on-St.-Croix because my camera battery died at the end. I’ll be submit-ting photo to the MAS web site and to the AN. The group broke up a little after 6:00 pm, after an 8+ hour day of enjoying great weather, exploration, and frater-nal camaraderie. Lee was impressed with the experience, and he plans to write an article for his club’s publication.
Two of the Rainbow Darters we netted in the Belle
Our guess was “eel pout,” but no one knew for sure
Collecting the fantails
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Cichlidmattersby Bob Randall
NEWS
Let us take a few mo-ments to mourn the loss of our past AquaNews editor, Anchor Sarslow. I was so broken up over this lose I did not write a column last issue. An-chor saved me when he re-published a column. Thanks Anchor. Thanks for serving as editor Anchor. Our new editor is Dani Ellickson. Welcome to AquaNews Dani.
Expo 2006 recently held in Des Moines and hosted by Midwest Cichlid Asso-ciation was a great event. This cichlid convention was the closest cichlid convention to Minne-sota since MAS hosted an American Cichlid Associa-tion (ACA) convention in 1993. We heard Rusty Wessel talk about cich-lids from Honduras and Mexico. Ad Konings gave us presentations about collecting fi sh in Lake Ma-lawi and Tanganyika. Lar-ry Arnold told us about Synodontis (these are not cichlids). Willie Goh and Jack Taylor showed us their discus and hatchery. However, the presen-tation that seemed to capture everyone was a surprise. Mo Devlin’s Con-fessions of a Middle Aged Cichlaholic was clearly enjoyed by all. Expo 2006 show classes were cichlids and catfi sh. Willie Loh,
yes MAS’ own Willie Loh won Best in Show with a beautiful discus, Mandarin I think. Jen Kruckenberg, another MAS cichlid keeper, took home a few trophies herself. Dani and her nephew, Nick Ellickson were present as was Tif-fany Severson (our new Bowl Show Chair). There were numerous wild fi sh in the auction on Sunday. I successfully bid on a pair of Neolamprologus mustax and picked up some tiny blue labridens. Of course Jen, Dani and Tiffany also were success-fully in bringing home some unique cichlids and catfi sh too. It was a great weekend. Look-ing forward to next year already.
As much fun as Expo was, the three ring circus of cichlids will open 19 July in Chicago. It is ACA 2006. There will be 14 speakers (some speaking twice) from Africa, Europe and North America speak-ing. Randy Carey (BAP chair and Programs Chair) is one of the speakers. ACA2006 will include an all-cichlid show with over 200 entries. There will be three separate oral auc-tions and two-day silent auction. One of the oral auctions is to raise money for Endowment Funds sponsored by ACA. Any-
one may donate cichlids to this auction. Another auction will feature new hard goods donated by Ray Lucas’ sponsors. The big auction on 23 July will offer hundreds of bags of cichlids. I have not attended an ACA convention that did not have at least 500 bags of cichlids available. In addi-tion, there will be excur-sions for fi sh wives and fi sh husbands. There will be dozens of exhibitors showing off their prod-ucts. There will be a toga party. And there will be
cichlids, lots and lots of cichlids to buy and sell all over the hotel. If you are going have fun and please do not buy too many fi sh.
CICHLID HEALTH
Not long ago on Minne-sota Fish Keepers forum there was a lot of talk about fi sh and disease. I want to use this soap-box for some remarks about that subject. When disease is mentioned, the fi rst thought that comes to many cichlid keep-
cont. on page 8
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by Bob Randall
ers’ minds is infectious disease. However, there is another type of disease that I would like to dis-cuss. That is environmen-tal disease or stress.
What is stress? Stress is a physiologic response to environmental condi-tions. Stress can be rec-ognized in cichlids that refuse to eat, healthy cich-lids are vora-cious eaters. A cichlid that becomes hyperactive is also show-ing signs of stress, as are cichlids with labored breathing. What is hap-pening inside our cichlids during stress? Cortisol levels go up, kidney and gut activity go down, red blood cell concentration rises, white blood cells decline and blood ammonia levels increase.
There are two types of stress, acute and chronic. A number of experts agree that stress is the most important factor in preventing infectious disease also. The reason is that a stress free cich-lid has active defenses against infectious organ-
isms. However, if a cichlid is subjected to chronic stress, infectious disease has a chance of infect-ing one or many fi sh. The greater the chronic stress, the greater the risk for infectious disease. Or a fi sh that has adapted to chronic stress may be
healthy and then a sud-den acute stress is added to equation resulting in either immediate death or infectious disease to occur.
Stress presents a particu-lar problem to cichlids that are algae eaters. First, these cichlids are often under chronic stress due to territorial disputes amongst each other. It takes a lot of algae to feed one of these cichlids and thus their feeding territory is
going to be large. The result is constant chasing of each other back and forth through the tank. In these cichlids, the gut is perhaps ten times as long as the fi sh itself. This long gut contains food and our vegetar-ian cichlid suffers a new
acute stress. This results in decreased gut motility. In turn, gut protozoan that are normally in check now fl ourish, attack the gut wall, breach it and infect the abdominal cav-ity with gut bacteria and protozoan. Even if the gut is free of protozoan, anaerobic bacteria will begin to fl ourish. These bacteria can also breach the gut wall leading to abdominal infection. In addition, these bacteria release hydrogen sulfi de, a cellular poison.
Cichlids can be kept disease free if proper maintenance is followed. So what determines proper maintenance? First is water quality. One parameter of water qual-ity is oxygen; water must contain 6 ppm or more. At 3 ppm expect fi sh
death. Next is carbon dioxide, levels of 3 ppm or less is consistent with health but levels of 15 ppm or higher result in fi sh death. Nitrate con-centrations are also im-portant. Less than 1 ppm and fi sh will remain healthy vs. 100 ppm,
which is lethal. The list goes on with tem-perature, pH, ammonia, nitrite, chlorine, heavy metals, organics, hydro-gen sulfi de (possible with deeper substrates), etc… all affecting water qual-ity. Each of these factors has been discussed in previous columns and will be again. Population density is another factor in regards to mainte-nance. Cichlids kept in crowded conditions will begin to fi n nip or worse
Cichlidmatters
cont. on page 9
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by Bob Randall
perform bodily damage to each other. There are exceptions such as an mbuna only tank, but even here there may be damage. Just as other animals have space issues, so do cich-lids. Tank size is also an important consider-ation when considering stress to a cichlid. It should be noted that environmen-tal stress elicited by water quality affects all cichlids within a tank. Population den-sity and tank size may or may not elicit stress in a given tank resident.
Think about those fac-tors that determine water quality, note there is a range between what is healthy and what elicits death. Consider popula-tion density and tank size, these two have rang-es from healthy to death. Chronic stress is what lies in the middle between a healthy parameter and death. We have already discussed the effects of stress on cichlids. What can we do about it?
Removal of chronic stress returns our cichlids to an optimum state of health.
If stress is not removed, fi sh must adapt. Adapta-tion is only suffi cient for low levels of stress or for short time periods. If chronic stress levels are not kept low or if they continue for longer time periods, then cichlid grow declines; the fi sh begin to darken in color. Tis-sues between fi n rays of caudal, anal and pectoral fi ns may begin to disap-pear, resulting in a frayed fi n appearance. Cichlids that are displaying this appearance may have adapted to chronic stress, but any acute increase in stress will kill the fi sh. It can no longer adapt. This
is also true for cichlids that are not displaying external signs of chronic
stress; an acute stress that is great enough will result in a dead fi sh that looks healthy (hmm, dead fi sh looks healthy).
Returning to infectious disease... Chronic stress may allow sub-clinical infections to arise. Here our cichlids are carrying a virus or bacteria and appear to be healthy but physiologically they are stressed by the sub-clinical infection. Thus, the cichlid is exposed to chronic environmental stress allowing a sub-clinical infection to occur. Cichlid looks and acts healthy. Now add an
acute stress, including us-ing a net in the tank, and the infection goes from
latent sub-clinical to obvious infection where the fi sh ap-pears sick.
We do not induce disease in our fi sh deliberate-ly, we are well inten-tioned but never-theless, something happens resulting in sick and dying
cichlids. I suggest we can prevent sick cichlids if we study the factors lead-ing to stress. We take steps to reduce stress to greatest degree pos-sible. Some day, when we least expect it, when we cannot control it, some unexpected acute stress will happen. When that occurs, will our cichlids adapt or will this be the end?
Pseudotropheus polit photography by Tanya Sabby
Cichlidmatters
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As the new editor bring-ing in an online Aqua News, I thought a nice feature would be to highlight fi sh rooms of fellow MAS’ers, especially since we can show photos in color! I encourage everyone to share their fi sh rooms with the rest of us. It doesn’t matter if you keep one two-gal-lon tank, or hundreds of tanks! I would love it if folks would write up an article and send me pic-tures of their fi sh rooms. This is a great opportuni-ty to shine and show off your fi shy world. If you’re interested in having your fi sh room highlighted, please contact me.
Our fi rst fi sh room tour is of our incoming Presi-dent, Mike Fries. Mike has been keeping fi sh since college in the 70’s. He shared a tank with his roommate and has kept at least one tank up and running ever since. His longtime passion has a signifi cant impact in his
life, so much so that he and Sue bought their cur-rent house with the vision of building a fi sh room in the unfi nished basement.
Their current fi sh room took over two years to build. With the help of family and friends, they fi nished their basement to prepare for the build out of the fi sh room itself. Our own fellow MAS’er Brad Swanson built the fi sh room and plumbed the tanks for
ease of maintenance. (Mike says THANKS for doing a fantastic job Brad!) Highlights of the room are that half of the tank lights are on a timer
and each tank is plumbed individually for water changes (I’ve personally had a chance to use that
feature when babysitting their fi sh while on vaca-tion, it’s SCHWEEEET!). There is an R/O unit and holding tanks, a brine shrimp hatchery, an air exchanger to help with humidity and a HEPA fi lter to help with air quality through the rest of the house.
As you can see, they have a lot of tanks! They have sixteen ten-gallon tanks, nine fi f-teen-gallon tanks, fi ve fi fty-fi ve-gallon tanks,
twenty-seven twenty-gallon tanks, a sev-enty-two-gal-lon bowfront (which houses some lovely discus!), a thirty-fi ve-gallon hex, a 125-gallon tank, a turtle tank and their
alarm system who goes by the name of Jingles. Jingles is also the fi sh food vacuum cleaner!
FISH ROOM TOUR
cont. on page 11
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Mike keeps a wide variety of fi sh, ranging from African rift lake cichlids, to Apistogrammas, to Knight Gobies.
I asked a few questions of Mike to give us a chance to know him better as a fellow fi sh keeper.
Favorite fi sh: Elephant NoseMost frustrating fi sh: Celebes Rainbowfi sh and Knight GobyOnly named fi sh: A puffer named The CrusherNicest thing about having drilled tanks: Being able to save hours and hours of time spent on tank maintenance by being able to perform water changes more often in less time.Area that needs the most work: Not very good with plants. Still need help in
that areaFuture goals: A pond in the back yard. To reach
the 500-point level for BAP (almost there!). To learn more about live
foods. To get more into fi sh photography. (Cur-rently Mike photographs
cont. on page 12
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his fi sh and Sue uses the photos to make cards.)Favorite Fish Story: Our grandson had his sev-enth birthday party at our house. He brought all the kids to the fi sh room to see the fi sh. All of the kids wanted to go home with fi sh! Each kid went home with a bag of Endlers Livebearers. The parents were in shock to see the fi sh room, but they were happy that the kids went home with the Endlers.
What sage advice would you give someone new to the hobby: Buy the biggest tanks that you can afford. Check that your spouse or signifi cant other enjoys your fi sh before you get in too deep. Warn your kids and spouses when you put worms and live food in the fridge!
FISH ROOM TOUR
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By Mike Harris
Having four kids in the house and 14 tanks set up made getting the kids interested in our hobby a little easier, but it wasn’t always that way. I’ve come up with a few ideas that may help get your kids and grandkids interested in keeping their own fi sh. Hopefully providing them a life-long hobby that they can someday pass along to their kids.
1) Dead fi sh aren’t fun to play with. Although it may seem very boring at fi rst, it’s imperative that they know the basics of fi sh keeping. Water just isn’t water when it comes to fi sh keeping. Hard water, soft water, drink-ing water, acidic water, black water, there are a lot of different terms that would make any kids eyes glaze over, but at the very least they should understand that water out of the kitchen sink is ok for us, but will kill the fi shies. Help them choose what kind of decorations the new fi sh’s home is go-ing to have. I recommend some fake plants for the fi sh’s sakes but if they want Sponge Bob or Hello Kitty decorations they should get them. It is their tank after all. Most impor-tantly they need to know about the Nitrogen cycle and
why it’s needed. It’s best to just start off with a couple of fi sh, more can be added later to get the cycle started. Besides what kid doesn’t think talking about poo is funny?
2) It’s a fi sh eat fi sh world out there. Take the little tyke to the fi sh store to see what types of fi sh are available for their fi rst tank. Have them write down the types of fi sh that they think are cool or pretty and they’d like to have in their room. Do not buy fi sh on this trip. After the fi sh store, stop at the local library and check out some books on the fi sh that they like. My kids had to read at least three books, kid books not grown-up books, on the types of fi sh they liked before they got to buy the fi sh. The reasons behind making them do a little research before a purchase are these; it may not be a fi sh you’ve kept before so you don’t know a whole lot about them
yourself, it will help them understand that some-times impulse purchases can be bad decisions, you can read the book to them or they can read it themselves if they’re old enough, it’s quality bonding time, you can discuss why or why not a fi sh might not be a good choice if it’s a community tank, plus it also gets kids reading which is always good.
3) Fishies don’t like bubble baths. After the fi sh get home, it’s a good idea to help the kids with feeding the new fi sh and cleaning out their tank. You should do this with the child until you feel comfortable letting them do it on their own. We’ve all heard or experienced stories of kids dumping whole cans of fi sh food into tanks before. It hap-pens. But with guidance, the likelihood should be at a bare minimum. Also be truthful with the kids. These are living animals and death is a part of the life cycle. Don’t try to replace the fi sh with another without their knowledge, they’ll know if it’s a different fi sh. If the fi sh dies, talk about
why it died and have a nice little funeral service in the garden for it.
4) Sex in the kid’s room. Baby fry are in my opinion one
of the best ways to keep the kids inter-
ested in their fi sh tank. Babies also keep my wife interested in the hobby, but that’s a whole dif-ferent article. It’s a great way to get kids talking about their fi sh. Pointing out where mommy fi sh laid her eggs and watch-ing them do a little fi sh mating dance is all funny, but they are learning and staying interested. Keep this in mind when help-ing them select their fi sh. Most common fi sh are pretty good at making babies. You also need to think of what you’re going to do with the fry. It may become a sticky situation later on if the child doesn’t want to give them up.
5) Fishin’ buddies. Once the kids are old enough, MAS meetings, bowl shows, the big fi sh show and auctions are all great places for kids to be exposed to other fi sh-keepers, see cool new fi sh they’d like and may just make new friends who also like to keep fi sh. They might just also fi nd a new area of the hobby they like that you may not, such as an interest in keeping live plants or a particular type of fi sh.
Long story short, do what it takes to get them involved. I’ve found that my kids really like keep-ing their own fi sh. And sharing a hobby as a fam-ily is just more fun!
How to Get Kids Interested in Fishkeeping(or How to Sneak More Tanks Into the House)
| 14 |
It seems one of the most commonly asked ques-tions when someone is starting a new planted aquarium is “what kind of substrate should I use?” This is for good reason. It is one of the fi rst decisions one needs to make when starting a new planted tank. Grant-ed the substrate is only one piece of the planted aquarium puzzle and by itself will not make or break your success with aquatic plants. But, a good substrate can make growing healthy plants a lot easier. It can pay off in the long term to invest some time researching and invest a little extra money on a good sub-strate. It is a one-time expense and changing out the substrate after the tank is established is very diffi cult or impos-sible in some cases. I hope to help with the research portion of that here. First, I will try to briefl y explain what makes a good substrate. Then, I will list some of the com-monly available quality substrates and additives in the Twin Cities, their attributes, and where you can buy them. Finally, I will also give some sug-gestions on which I would recommend.
What is a planted aquar-ium substrate? Simply, it is the stuff you put in the bottom of the tank to plant the plants in. Usu-ally, it is a gravel or sand-like material. Just like house or garden plants that grow best in a good soil, your aquatic plants will grow best in a good substrate.
There are several fac-tors that make a good substrate:
1.Grain size: Anything from a coarse sand texture to a fi ne gravel texture works best. If the grain is too large, it will be diffi cult to keep plants down and most people think large grain gravel does not look very nice in a planted aquarium. If it is too fi ne it can compact. That will limit the avail-ability of oxygen to the roots and toxic gases can build up in it. Don’t count on gravel vacuuming to keep a fi ne substrate turned. It is generally not advisable to vacuum the gravel in a planted aquarium. You want the detritus to build up in the substrate; your plants will feed on that stuff. Besides, if all goes well it will be diffi cult to get at the substrate because of the plant cover.
2. Porosity: You want a material that is porous. It gives places for the bene-fi cial bacteria to colonize to process the detritus and places for the root hairs to take hold.
3. C.E.C. Cation Exchange Capacity quantifi es the ability of a substrate to provide a nutrient reserve for plant uptake. Sub-strates with a high C.E.C. actually store nutrients when they are in excess in the water column and release it to the plants when levels drop in the water column. This is added insurance for you liquid fertilizer regime and seems to really help plants that are heavy root feeders.
4. Nutrient content: Some substrates also come with benefi cial nutrients built-in and are consid-ered “rich” substrates. It is helpful to have a substrate that is high in Iron and other neces-sary micro-nutrients. In addition, some substrates include some macro nutri-ents (Nitrogen, Phospho-rous, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium). Having nutrients available out of the bag is not a necessity, but is an added plus of the better substrates.
5. Aesthetics: It’s a visual hobby; it should look good to you. I prefer substrates that look like natural gravels, sands, or even that look like soil.
6. Weight: It is a benefi t to have a heavier sub-strate so it stays in place and holds the plants down.
There are three basic groups of substrates, the “Brand Name” substrates, the “soil conditioners” and the plain gravels and sands. The options I listed below are generally easily obtained and are the ones that I have tried except for the ADA soils. I have only seen those in action in other people’s tanks. If you are connect-ed to the internet, some of the images below have links built into the images to larger images to show detail. Ctrl+click on those images to enlarge.
“Brand-Name” sub-strates
The fi rst group is the “Brand Name” substrates. These are some the sub-strates manufactured or marketed specifi cally to aquarists through your local fi sh store (LFS) or online aquatic supply stores. All of these will
Planted Aquarium
SUBSTRATESby matt proost
cont. on page 15
| 15 |
have a high C.E.C. and excellent porosity. I will include some VERY ap-proximate LFS prices and web (online store) prices including shipping based on what I have seen at a small sampling of stores. You may fi nd different prices, but they should be close. I suggest purchas-ing these items at your LFS if they have what you are looking for. The cost difference is usually minor and in my opinion it is better to support the local stores when you can. Call some local stores to see if they carry the product you want or if they can order it in. Most stores will only carry one or two of the “name brand” substrates. This is by no means a complete list, but just the common ones I have used or the ones I could fi nd enough good info to include in this list.
Seachem Flourite ($25-29 LFS; $21-25 web): available in a 7 kg bag, enough for a 10 gallon. Available in regular (nat-ural mixed gravel look) or Flourite “Red” that is a solid clay red color. It has a varied somewhat coarse grain size. It is high in Iron and other micro-nu-trients making it a “rich” substrate. It does not con-tain any macro nutrients. It’s heavy and can mixed with up to 50% natural gravel or one of the soil conditioners described below to save some money on a large tank. This is one of the most popular substrates and
many, including myself, have used it with great success.
Carib-Sea Eco-Complete ($28-35 LFS; $27-31 web): available in a 20 lb bag enough for a 10 gal-lon. Packed in a liquid that according to the manufacturer contains “Heterotrophic bacte-ria” to aid in cycling. It is a black substrate with a grain size that varies from coarse sand to fi ne gravel. It almost looks like soil in the aquarium. It is high in Iron, a wide range of micros, and contains some macro nutrients. The texture is excellent to plant in and fi ne foreground plants grow well in it. Personally my favorite substrate, the black color emphasizes the greens and red of the plants. But, it is also very expensive. It can be mixed with Soilmaster Select Charcoal discussed below; black 3M color quartz, or even coarse black sand.
Red Sea Flora Base ($30 LFS; $28-30 web): avail-able in a 12 lb bag enough for a 10 gallon. Produced from natural volcanic ash-based soil, it is a solid brownish color. It is high in iron and mi-cros. It also buffers Ph to 6.5-7.0, which is preferred by aquatic plants. When it is fully saturated it has an almost spongy tex-ture, and it is rather light making it a little more diffi cult to plant in. It can be capped with a layer of natural gravel to help
hold down the plants and break up the uniform color if desired.
ADA Aqua Soils ($45-50 web(Dallas, TX)): available in a 9 liter bag enough for a 20 gallon. Available in Amazonia(black), Malaya(light sand), Africana(dark sand).These are the substrates mar-keted by Takashi Amano and sold in the U.S. only by Aquarium Design Group at http://www.adgshop.com/. High in iron, micros and some macros. This also buffers ph to slightly acid, which benefi ts the plants, espe-cially diffi cult acid loving plants. Easy to plant in and nice fi ne texture. Because of their unique characteristics they do not mix well with other materials. In my opinion the best substrate. There is no need to purchase the entire ADA substrate system, unless you want to. The Aqua soils work great by themselves.
Soil Conditioners
The next group is the Soil Conditioners: These are fi red clay products that are sold as terrestrial soil conditioners, but are useful as plant substrates. They are signifi cantly cheaper than the “name-brand” substrates. The soil conditioners are all chemically similar because they are all made from basically the same mate-rial. They all have a very high C.E.C., and are high in available iron. But, I do
not consider these rich substrates because they only contain iron. They are chemically inert so they will not affect ph. They are all generally light in weight at fi rst, but they are hydroscopic and absorb lots of water and seem to weigh down over time. But, they never achieve the same plant hold down ability of the plant-specifi c substrates or regular gravel. The dif-ferences in the soil-condi-tioners are in size, color and where you purchase them. As far as I know none of these are found at traditional LFS’.Schultz’s Clay Soil Con-ditioner ($19.99 local large garden centers) is available in a 40 lb bag enough for a standard 55 gallon. It is a somewhat solid orange/brown color, and has a varying grain size like natural fl int gravel. It can be helpful to cap the Schultz’s with similar sized natural grav-el to help hold the plants down and break up the uniform color. Excellent substrate for the price. Schultz’s Aquatic Plant Soil is the exact same ma-terial sold with pond sup-plies in smaller bags for a higher price per pound. I have used quite a bit of the Schultz’s product with good results.
Pro’s Choice Soilmaster Red or Brown, and Soil-master Select Charcoal and Red ($16-20 at lesco) are available in a 50 lb bag enough for a stan-dard 75 gallon. The regu-lar Soilmaster Red and
cont. on page 16
| 16 |
Brown are a somewhat solid red/brown color, and have a varying grain size like natural fl int gravel or Flourite. Soilmaster Select is available dark charcoal color or clay red color and has a fi ne rather uniform grain size. The Select is preferred for fi ne fore-ground plants and I think the texture is nearly per-fect for planted aquaria. The Select charocoal can mixed with Eco-complete or capped with black 3M color quartz. The red can be mixed with Flourite or capped with fi ne regular gravel. Available only at Lesco dealers, www.lesco.com, they may have to order it in for you, but there is no charge for that. I have also used both the Soilmaster Red and Select Charcoal with good results.
Regular Gravel and Sand
Fine Natural gravel and sand have been used for years in successful plant tanks, usually with a substrate additive like laterite in the bottom layer. They are gener-ally not the best option because they have a low or no C.E.C. and usually do not contain any Iron or other nutrients. Also, some gravels and sands are not porous at all so there is limited area for the bacteria to colonize or root hairs to grab hold. But, with the laterite addition and good water column fertilization it can be an effective substrate. A good option for black sand is 3M color quartz.
There are too many op-tions for natural gravels and sands to list them here. Sources for natural gravels and sands can be from a supply house, LFS, or even a home improve-ment store. Just make sure it is fi ne enough to effectively hold plants down and look good. But, not too fi ne so that it will compact. Also, try to get something that is at least a little porous. Sealed or coated gravels are not recommended.
Substrate Additives
These are the things that can be added to a sub-strate to add nutrients, usually high iron and micro nutrients or organic carbon and bacteria.
Laterite is the original and most common sub-strate additive. It adds a lot of iron, and some other micros. It is avail-able in several brands and types. I recommend the pelletized types that look like gravel. The pow-dered types can be a mess when you uproot a plant. Laterite is usually mixed into the bottom layer of the gravel. Many success-ful planted aquaria over the years have used this simply mixed with gravel. It can also be used as added insurance under the “rich” plant specifi c substrates.
Fertilizer tablets are individual tablets that are added periodically into an existing substrate to add nutrients. Most add just iron and micros,
but some add macros. I prefer the ones that just add Iron and micros. The ones that add macros can be very effective, but can also throw off your nutrient balance if you accidentally pull one up with your plants. Tablets are excellent for add-ing a boost under heavy root feeders like Sword plants. They are diffi cult and expensive to use as a sole source of substrate fertilization because you have to continually re-plenish them. The brands I have tried are Seachem Flourish tabs and a similar tablet by Aquarium Phar-maceuticals. They both work as advertised and so should the other brands.
Fine Peat Moss and Mulm are recommended as a base layer of any planted aquarium sub-strate. The peat moss adds an organic carbon source and a nutrient source for your benefi cial bacteria to feed on until detritus can build up in the substrate. Mulm is a source of the bacteria to help give your tank a jump start and minimize any cycling. Mulm is the cruddy looking stuff you get from cleaning your fi lters or a deep gravel vac of a healthy tank. Mulm can be collected in a few ways: You can squeeze out the fi lter media (foam, fl oss, etc) from a healthy tank in a bucket of tank water or deeply gravel vac a healthy tank saving the water. Then, either let it settle out and siphon off
the clear water or fi lter it out with something. Try and get it as thick as pos-sible, because you do not want the peat moss to fl oat. Then, as with any planted aquarium, fi ll the tank as slowly as you can. If not, you will have peat moss fl oating all over the tank.
Other Substrates
There are many other substrates that people have used that include kitty litter, soil mixes, zeo-lite and countless other things. Kitty litter and soil are a little risky because it is diffi cult or impossible to know exactly what you are adding and are not recommended unless you feel like experimenting. I have not tried Zeolite or anything else, so I cannot provide an opinion on them.
Substrate Prep and tank fi lling
To rinse or not to rinse? That is the question, and it is really up to you and your tolerance for some suspended particles. Per-sonally, I do not rinse the “Name-brand” substrates at all, specially Eco-Com-plete, which is meant to be added liquid and all. All that dusty stuff in the others is usually high in nutrients and you did pay by the pound for it. The soil conditioners can be especially dusty so some rinsing may be necessary, although I do not. I get around a murky tank by just rinsing the top 1/2” or less, fi lling very slowly, and doing a 100% water
cont. on page 17
| 17 |
change right after fi ll-ing it the fi rst time. The immediate 100% water change will remove most of the particles that are going to become sus-pended in the water. It also takes less time than rinsing all that substrate. Then, fi lter fl oss or a micron fi lter will remove the rest. Besides, rinsing a lot of substrate can be very time consuming.
I recommend a layer of fi ne peat moss (no lumps) and mulm under any planted aquarium substrate. Though not necessary, I have found them very useful in new plant tanks to help the plants get a jump start and minimize any cycling. If it is going to be a low-maintenance, low-tech, non-co2 enriched tank, use ½ to 1” of peat moss. If it is going to be a CO2 fed tank, use only a fi ne dusting of peat moss on the bottom glass below substrate, just enough so that you can still barely see through it. The ad-dition of the acidic CO2 gas could break down the peat moss and cause a ph crash if you use too much in that type of tank. It is helpful to mist the peat moss to moisten it before adding substrate to help keep it in place. Then, add as much thick mulm as you can collect without making the peat moss fl oat. Finally cover with the substrate of your choice.
Then fi ll the tank VERY slowly without disturbing
the substrate. Use a col-ander with small holes or a low dish to slow down the fl ow. Also, you can use wet paper towels or wet newspaper to cover the substrate to keep the dust down. But, either way fi ll the tank as slow as you can.
All of this seems like a lot of extra work and will add an extra 30 minutes to an hour to you tank setup time. None of the above is required. But, it will help get your tank going and can easily save you hours of dealing with cycling and algae issues due to the plants not be-ing established as quickly.
Substrate Recommendations
Any one of the substrates above can be a part of properly balanced healthy planted tank.
What do I suggest?
Buy the best substrate your budget will al-low. Remember, it is a one-time expense and you will have a good substrate for years. This especially applies if you are looking for a some-what low-maintenance tank and do not want to do frequent water column fertilization. The rich substrate will provide nutrients that you are not adding via the water column. This also applies to high-tech, frequently fertilized tanks. If you are frequently fertilizing the water column, the substrate is less critical.
But, a quality substrate will be a small additional cost in that type of setup, so why not buy the extra insurance. Also, some of the most diffi cult to grow plants prefer an acidic substrate, so buying one that buffers to slightly acid will make things eas-ier. Overall, I prefer natu-ral looking substrates. Especially the dark ones, they show off the colors of the plants best. Un-natural colored gravels just don’t look right in a planted aquarium. It is a visual hobby after all. Here are my suggestions for certain situations:
Budget is no object high-tech, CO2 enriched tank: The ADA soils. These are simply the best available, and are the best looking in my opinion. Second best in my opinion is Eco-complete because of its texture and appearance. But, it does not buffer to acid. A very thin dusting of fi ne peat moss and mulm are benefi cial un-der either of these.
Low-tech, low mainte-nance, non-co2 tank: 100 % Seachem Flourite or Eco-complete with a ½”-1” layer of fi ne peat moss and mulm under the substrate.. Since you probably won’t be fre-quently (or ever) adding liquid fertilizers a “rich” substrate is critical to your success.
Nice general plant tank: Eco-complete or Seachem Flourite. The Eco-com-plete if fi ne plants are
in the plan. Flourite for general plants, espe-cially if your plans include things like swords and crypts. 100% is best, but in larger tanks or bud-get limited tanks both of these can mixed with other materials. But, if mixing with plain gravel and sand, I suggest mix-ing these with no more than 30% of the plain sand or gravel. Other wise, mixing with one of the soil conditioners is great way to save some money. As above a thin dusting of peat moss and mulm will help here to. If it is still too expensive, try….
Large or budget limited tank: If you have a large tank, sometimes it is hard to buy several bags of substrate at $25+ per bag. Then, try one the soil conditioners, capped with a layer of one of the “name-brand” substrates or natural gravel/sand. Yep, peat moss and mulm are recommended here too.
Keep in mind these are just my opinions based on my experiences and research. I hope this helps you make your own deci-sion about what substrate to choose.
If you want more advice, there are several large aquatic plant specifi c forums available with many knowledgeable people who are willing to help. Do not assume your questions are too basic or stupid; everyone
cont. on page 28
| 18 |
At all the society meetings, and especially the auctions, I always felt a strange mood of nostalgic deja-vu. The sub culture, the dealing, the general atmosphere. I’ve seen it someplace before. It took a while, but I fi nally fi gured it out. It was from a TV series some years ago. Quark’s bar at Deep Space Nine.
I know you may be scoffi ng at this, but in addition to all the weird creatures at the meetings (yes, some even humanoid) they were always talking about the rules. Let’s check those rules and see if they fi t:
#3 Never pay more for an acquisition than you have to. #18 A MAS member without aquariums is no MAS member at all.#21 Never place friendship above fi shkeeping.#23 Nothing is more important than your health... except for your aquariums. #41 Aquariums are their own reward. #89 Ask not what your aquariums can do for you, but what you can do for your aquariums. #97 Enough ... is never enough.#109 Dignity and an empty aquarium is worth the aquarium. #117 You can’t free a fi sh from water. #141 Only fools pay retail. #218 Always know what you’re buying. #239 Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
In addition to the Rules, there were the fi ve Stages of aquisition: 1. Infatuation 2. Justifi cation 3. Appropriation 4. Obsession 5. Resale
Can there be any doubts?
- Dale Skiba
Aquarium Society Rules of Acquisition
| 18 |
| 19 |
Newsletter Exchange ReportRecognition
Tim Rutz’s article, “Black Emperor Tetras Made Easy”, was REPRINTED in the January/February 2006 issue of the South-western Michigan Aquari-um Society’s SWAM. Ken Balfanz’s article, “Linear Air Pump Cen-tral Air Systems”, was mentioned in the De-cember 2005 issue of Michiana Tropical Times, the Michiana Aquarium Society Newsletter; was mentioned in the Janu-ary/February 2006 issue of SWAM; and was RE-PRINTED in the April 2006 issue of the Eastern Iowa Aquarium Association’s FIN FLAP. “Culturing Vin-egar Eels” by Ken Belfanz was mentioned in the October/November 2005 issue of Tank Topics, the offi cial publication of The Greater Akron Aquarium Society. And Ken’s article, “Fish Tank Fry Boxes”, was mentioned in the March 2006 issue of Mi-chiana Tropical Times. Bob Randall’s column “Cichlid Matters”, about “Cichlasoma nigrofascia-tum, the Convict Cichlid, as a beginners’ cichlid” in the September/October 2005 issue of Aqua News was mentioned in the November 2005 issue of FIN FLAP. In the Febru-ary 2006 issue of Fins & Tales, Zenin Skomorows-ki, Kitchener-Waterloo Aquarium Society’s Ex-change Editor, told KWAS
members to “Check it out!”- “Cichlid Matters” column by Bob Randall in the January/February 2006 issue of Aqua News.
Bob’s “Cichlid Matters” column in the Janu-ary/February 2006 issue of Aqua News was also mentioned in the March 2006 issue of the Greater Detroit Aquarium Soci-ety’s Tropic Tank Talk and the February 2006 issue of FIN FLAP. Marti Horan, EIAA’s Exchange Editor commented, “His column is always an interest-ing read.” Bob Randall’s “well written” column, “Cichlid Matters”, which “gives a good introduc-tion to the colour and behaviour of Mbuna” in the March/April 2006 issue of Aqua News was mentioned in the April 2006 issue of the Kitch-ener-Waterloo Aquarium Society’s Fins & Tales. This “Cichlid Matters” column by Bob Randall was also mentioned in the March 2006 issue of Michiana Tropical Times. Pam Chin mentioned Bob Randall’s article in the May/June 2005 issue of Aqua News on Cyphotilapia which “starts out with a good explanation of the latest nomenclature changes for this group of cichlids as well as the basics for frontosa/gibberosa repro-duction” under “Cichlids in the News” in the Feb-ruary/March 2006 issue of the Pacifi c Coast Cichlid Association’s CICHLIDAE communique. “...he
didn’t hesitate to think ‘outside the tank’ and feed some night crawlers that were left over from a fi shing trip. He was rewarded not only with fry, but also was able to observe their unique spawning behavior.” Randy Carey’s article about the Piaba Project and Randy’s preparation for travel to Brazil in the January/February 2006 is-sue of Aqua News as well as Randy’s website, www.characin.com/home.html were mentioned in the February 2006 issue of Fins & Tales. “The Piaba Project” by Randy Carey was also mentioned in the February 2006 is-sue of FIN FLAP and the March/April 2006 issue of SWAM. Richard J. Goodkind’s “excellent article that helps in the understand-ing of water chemis-try and how it affects plants”, “How to Achieve a Flourishing Plant Tank”, which was published in the Volume 8 No. 2 issue of the Aquatic Gardener and can also be seen at http://ww.aquatic-garden-ers.org/plant_tank_how_to.html was mentioned in the February 2006 issue of FIN FLAP. “How to Achieve a Flourishing Plant Tank” by Richard J. Goodkind was also men-tioned in the February 2006 issue of Fins & Tales. Dani Ellickson’s “humor-ous story,” “My Name is
cont. on page 20
| 20 |
Lucky!”, was mentioned in the November 2005 issue of FIN FLAP. “Discus- The Other Way” by Paul Garrity was also mentioned in the No-vember 2005 issue of FIN FLAP. And Jenny Kruckenberg’s “enthusiasm for her ‘Trip to the WAKO 25th Annual Show’” in the January/February 2006 is-sue of Aqua News and at her Aquaforums thread, http://www.aquafo-rums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4539, were mentioned in the March/April 2006 issue of SWAM. Other News
Jim Mathis and I fl ew to Newark Liberty Airport and attended The Annual Convention of the Ameri-can Livebearer Associa-tion, April 28th -30th, in East Hanover, NJ. High-light of the trip for me was meeting and asking Dr. Paul Loiselle questions about the conservation status of endemic fresh-water fi shes of Madagas-car for about one and one-half hours while visit-ing the New York Aquar-ium. Dr Loiselle showed a room with tanks, containing several spe-cies of rainbowfi shes and killifi shes from Madagas-car, to a group of people that included Jim and me. Dr. Paul Loiselle also
showed a live specimen of Paretroplus polyactis. Having attended the last two ALA Conventions with Jim Mathis, I was surprised this year to see many more rare Xiphoph-orus species which were obtained from the Xi-phophorus Genetic Stock Center in San Marcos, TX. At this ALA Convention, I was also happy to learn that a group of scientists in Mexico City claim to know a location where a small population of Zoo-goneticus tequila, a spe-cies which was previously thought to be extinct in the wild, exists in the wild. Other good news- Kees de Jong, one of the speakers at the conven-tion, informed me that Allodontichthys polylep-sis, a Goodeid that is likely extinct in the wild, has been maintained by aquarists in Europe for 20+ years. I was able to acquire Girardinichthys viviparus “Chapultepec Park”, a Goodeid that is critically endangered, and Pachypanchax sakaramyi, a critically endangered Malagasy killifi sh, at this convention. Being a collector of books, I was thankful to have the opportunity to purchase a copy of “Lebendge-barende Zierfi sche”, a rare German book on livebearers, with dust jacket in fi ne condition from Mike Schadle. And as always, it was a joy
to talk with and learn from other friendly and knowledgeable aquarists, including Jim Langham-mer, at the convention.
The East Coast Guppy As-sociation held its Show in the same hotel, the same weekend as the ALA Convention. I was not surprised that New Jersey, at one time, had the highest male newborn circumcision rate in the United States after Bob Larsen, “a mentor and legend in the NJ hobby,” who spoke about “Gup-pies Then & Now” men-tioned guppy breeders’ practice of cutting the tails of male fi sh...Other than, momentarily, being reminded of humankind’s cruelty to animals and children, my two other greatest disappointments were no swimming pool in hotel and $45 one-way shuttle for two people from airport to the hotel.Jim Mathis was rec-ognized with Century Breeder award, having bred over 100 species of livebearers, at the ban-quet. Jim also won Best of Show-Goodeids with a male Characodon sp. “Guadalupe Aguilera”.
Be sure to congratulate Jim when you see him next. Also, note this is Jim Mathis’ third year win-ning Best of Show-Goo-deids at the ALA’s Annual Convention.
Newsletter Exchange Report
| 21 |
August 2005Class 1 True Bony Fishes (knife fi sh, elephant nose, rainbows, gobies, blennies, snakeheads, arowanas, spiny eels, puffers, pipe fi sh)
1st Melanotaenia maccullochi, common dwarf rainbowfi sh shown by Dani Ellickson
2nd Glossolepis dorityi, location Jaiquim shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Iriatherina werneri, common threadfi n rainbowfi sh shown by Dani Ellickson
Class 2 Pond Plants - maybe grown emerged but roots have to be in the pond
September 2005Class 1 Killies - peat spawners
1st Nothobranchius korthausae, lo-cation Rungungu TAN 02-11 shown by Jen Kruckenberg
2nd Nothobranchius foerschi, shown by Craig Rees
Class 2 Killies - mop spawners
1st Chromaphyosemion riggenba-chi, location Dibeng shown by Jen Kruckenberg
2nd Fundulopanchax marmoratus, shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Aplocheilicthys luxopthalmus, common lampeye killie shown by Milo Squires
October 2005Class 1 Ugliest fi sh
1st Aplocheilus lineatus gold, shown by Jen Kruckenberg
Class 2 Prettiest fi sh
1st Acanthicus adonis, common polka dot lyretail pleco shown by Tiff Severson
2nd Dario dario, common scarlet badis shown by Carter McAninch
3rd Tateurndina ocellicauda, com-mon peacock goby shown by Jen Kruckenberg
(Class 1 and 2 to be determined by membership vote)
November 2005Class 1 African cichlids
1st Pundamilia nyererei, Makobe Island shown by Jen Kruckenberg
2nd Aulonocara sp. “lwanda”, common name redtop peacock shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Labeotropheus fuelleborni shown by Dani Ellickson
Class 2 Non-African cichlids
1st Symphysodon aequifasciatus axelrodi, Rio Alenquer shown by Jen Kruckenberg
2nd Microgeophagus altispinosus shown by Dani Ellickson
December 2005Class 1 Plants grown aquarium immersed
1st Vesicularia dubyana, java moss shown by Jen Kruckenberg
Class 2 Red and green fi sh
1st Paracheirodon axelrodi, cardi-nal tetra shown by Jen Kruckenberg
2nd Hemigrammus bleheri, rummy nose tetra shown by Jen Krucken-berg
January 2006Class 1 Perch
1st Etheostoma spectabile, orange throat darter shown by Jen Kruck-enberg
2nd Badis badis shown by Milo Squires
Class 2 Freshwater invertebrates
1st Atyopsis species, African wood shrimp shown by Milo Squires
2nd Caridina japonica, amano shrimp shown by Milo Squires
3rd Marisa rotula, red ramshorn snail shown by Jen Kruckenberg
February 2006Class 1 Smallest fi sh
1st Boraras brigittae shown by Carter McAninch
1st Microsynodontis batesii, African bumblebee shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Paracheirodon innesi, neon tetra shown by Mike Harris
3rd Pseudepiplatys annulatus, clown kille shown by Milo Squires
Class 2 Largest fi sh
1st Amphilophus citrinellus, midas cichlid shown by Bob Randall
2nd Barbus fi lamentosus, black spotted barb shown by Jen Kruck-enberg
March 2006Class 1 Labyrinth fi sh excluding Betta splendens (aquarium strains)
1st Betta albimarginata, shown by Peng Lee
2nd Microctenopoma ansorgii, shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Trichogaster leeri , pearl gourami shown by Tiffany Severson
Class 2 Betta spendens (aquarium strains)
1st shown by Susan MacMillan
2nd shown by Susan MacMillan
3rd shown by Jen Kruckenberg
Junior
1st shown by Amy Marvin
April 2006Class 1 Livebearers (platys, guppies, mollies, swordtails, half beaks, four eyes, goodeids)
1st Phalloceros caudimaculatus shown by Carter McAninch
2nd Xiphophorus montezumae, Montezuma swordtail shown by
Sue MacMillan
3rd Poecilia reticulate, red guppy shown by Jen Kruckenberg
Junior
1st Zoogoneticus tequila, crescent goodeid shown by Brianna Harris
2nd Poecilia reticulate, guppy shown by Brianna Harris
Class 2 Cyprinidae (sharks, gold-fi sh, algae eaters, minnows, barbs, danios, rasboras)
1st Boraras maculates, dwarf ras-bora shown by Carter McAninch
2nd Barbus titteya, cherry barb shown by Jen Kruckenberg
3rd Barbus tetrazona, tiger barb shown by Mike Harris
Junior
1st Barbus conchonius, rosy barb shown by Brianna Harris
May 2006Class 1 South American catfi sh
1st Ancistrus punctatus, starlight bristlenose pleco, L 182 shown by Dani Ellickson
2nd Peckoltia ucayalensis, bola pleco, L 146, L 232, LDA 30 shown by Tiff Severson
3rd Hypancistrus sp. unknown, queen arabesque pleco shown by Dani Ellickson
Junior
1st Hypostomus punctatus, com-mon pleco shown by Amy Marvin
Class 2 non South American catfi sh
No awards, exhibition only.
June 2006Class 1 Loaches (includes botia)
Class 2 Characins (tetras, head-standers, hatchet fi sh, pencil fi sh, piranhas)
Bowl Show ResultsMINNESOTA AQUARIUM SOCIETY
| 22 |
My name is Tiffany and I’m taking over the bowl show. Bob has moved on to run-ning the big show this year and I’ve stepped into his shoes to run our monthly little show. Many things about our bowl show will remain the same but a few changes are in store. I’m adding on a third class to help promote the show. In researching other clubs bowl shows, I found that many have a third class that seems to be devoted to entertain-ing the club members. I thought it might be fun to give it a try in our show. We tend to have more entries on our goofy classes, such as the ugly/pretty fi sh and the red/green fi sh than in our other classes. Also thrown into the mix will also be a couple chances that ONLY members under 18 can have an entry in. If there is enough adult interest the over 18-ers can also play. I am also adding in more plant categories this year to help draw some of you plant growers into the fold.
It’s time to refresh some interest in our club’s bowl show. On average we have fi ve entries per month with the same core group enter-ing fi sh each month. I feel like a telethon host saying it, but here goes. My goal this year is to have each person bring one fi sh to one meeting. Not one fi sh to
every meeting, but one fi sh to one meeting in the year. You can bring more, you’re more than welcome to enter fi ve a month if you want to, but please try to bring one. This is your chance to show off what you have without any entry fees. It’s also a good time to surprise people by bringing in what people never thought you’d have or keep. *See the month of June.
As always, the classes are subject to change and any input is appreciated and will be taken into consideration. If I see we are having a speaker with a specialization in an area that we have a class for, I may switch some months around so that we can show the speaker we do have an interest in that area. Heck, I’ll add on an extra class for the month if need be. I’ve tried to set it up where you have more than one chance to bring a fi sh in. For instance a Killie that doesn’t make it in Sep-tember could be brought in October, December, Febru-ary, or even April. The rules regarding how to show the fi sh will remain the same un-less it is specifi ed in the class.
As always, Have fun with your tanks and keep on fi shin’.
Tiffany aka Saltydapleco
August 2006Class I True Bony Fishes - (knife fi sh, elephant nose, rainbows, gobies, blennies, snakeheads, arowanas, spiny eels, puffers, pipe fi sh)
Class II Pond Plants - grown emerged but roots have to be in the pond
Class III Corydoras and Brochis
September 2006Class I Killies - With enough entries, this class will be split in to peat and mop spawners.
Class II Characins - (tetras, head-standers, hatchet fi sh, pencil fi sh, piranhas
Class III Fish art - Photos, illustra-tion, artwork, etc…It must have been created by you. No time frame except done at some point after you were born. **
October 2006Class I Ugliest Fish **
Class II Prettiest Fish **
Kids Class Decorate your bowl for Halloween. Round bowls, sub-strate and decorations are allowed. At least one fi sh or invertebrate must be present in tank to win. Halloween/Harvest colored fi sh and decorations are encouraged. All “bowls” must be under fi ve gallons and not leaking (I say this because I have fear one or more of you might carve a pumpkin and try to get a fi sh to live in it). **
November 2006Class I Livebearers - (platys, gup-pies, mollies, swordtails, half beaks, four eyes, goodeids)
Class II Cyprinidae - (sharks, gold-fi sh, algae eaters, minnows, barbs, danios, rasboras)
Class III Anabantoids
December 2006Class I Floating plants *
Class II Rooted plants *
Class III Red and Green fi sh. **
January 2007Class I Old World Cichlids
Class II New World Cichlids
Class III Oddballs - Gobies, puffers, and any other fi sh we don’t have a bowl show class for.
February 2007Class I South and Central American Catfi sh
Class II Non-South American Catfi sh
Class III Bowl Beautiful - Miniature planted tank competition. All tanks must be less than fi ve gallons and contain at least three varieties of plants and two types of fi sh and or invertebrates. This is an aquascap-ing competition. Miniature species are encouraged. **
March 2007Class I Biggest Fish
Class II Smallest Fish (Fish must be an adult. No fry allowed.)
Kids Class My favorite fi sh. Bring in your favorite fi sh or two or three. No species just one that you’re REALLY fond of.
April 2007Class I Egg layers, school or family - Group of at least six fi sh, parents plus six fry or a combination of six adult and juvenile fi sh (If you are showing juveniles with adults, you can bag the juvies and BAP them after the bowl show). *
Class II Livebearers, school or family, Group of at least six fi sh, parents plus six fry or a combina-tion of six adult and juvenile fi sh. (If you are showing juveniles with adults, you can bag the juvies and BAP them after the bowl show) *
Class III ...........................................Freshwater invertebrates - Snails, crabs, shrimps, etc… You may also bring an amphibian ONLY if it spends the majority of its time underwater.
May 2007Class I .............................................
Bowl Show 2006-07MINNESOTA AQUARIUM SOCIETY
cont. on page 28
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BAPBAPBAP BAP
BAP
Breeders Award Program
I think most MAS regu-lars will agree that the 75th anniversary Blitz programs (BAP and HAP) were successful. At every meeting we had one or two dozen bags of Blitz submissions.
One reason I liked the Blitz programs was that it allowed us to return to some species we’ve bred or propagated before – perhaps many years earlier. These two award programs aim to introduce people to the practice of breeding and propagating. Unfortu-nately, often a partici-pant will focus so much on points and “ranking” that he stops working with a species once he successfully obtains a spawn. OK, this is natural if one is to be a regular in BAP, but I feel a serious breeder ought to fi nd a few species to work with over several spawns.
When I researched the expert breeders like Zu-kal, Richter, et al, I read between the lines and realized three practices
that seems to be missing from many of us. [1] The expert breeder is often a witness and could de-scribe the spawning act. [2] The expert breeder works with the species over successive spawns. [3] The expert breeder can describe the devel-opment of the offspring from fry to viable adults.
Some argue that we should try to socially en-gineer the participants in BAP. We should establish rules that provide strong incentive to pursue fi sh breeding the way we think they should. I’m re-sistant to such intentions. For one thing, who am I to impose my perspective of what is valuable about fi sh breeding. I found what I feel is valuable to me, but those are often different values from what other hold. For a second thing, I like simple programs. Most people like programs that are easy to understand. Our BAP point system is in-credibly simple compared to all that it covers. If we try to socially engineer
them, then the rules might expand like the tax code.
I argue for simplicity of the rules. And I argue for simplicity of the program’s intentions. The point of the program is to encourage members to try breeding fi sh and to try various species and fi sh groups. Once someone becomes a fi sh breeder, he or she will have to decide for him- or herself just what kind of breeder he or she will be.
Did you catch the poor wording in the opening of as my second para-graph? I said the Blitz “allowed us to return to some species…” Baloney! No one has been stop-ping us from returning to species we’ve bred years ago. BAP prob-ably got you started, but don’t revere it so much that it stops you. I hope you still feel the thrill of the spawn, even after all those years.
Notes:
BAP will be holding a
BAP meeting open to any MAS member. Here is your chance to tell what you like or don’t like about BAP. We’ll listen. Attendees are welcome jump in and debate – as long as the banter stays pleasant J. If you have some sugges-tions or requests to bring up, please email them to me (Randy) at [email protected]. We’ll be announc-ing the day, time, and place via the email list. If you want to get on that list, email a request to join it using [email protected].
The BAP committee is preparing to debate two issues: [1] what is our criteria in accepting non-fi sh species like snails and shrimp (and should we accept them), and [2] how can we support some form of species maintenance program. My thanks to Brent Hel-land for bringing up spe-cies maintenance at the June meeting. It’s time we at least discuss it.
cont. on page 24
| 24 |
►BAP Rookie Breeder of the Year (2006)◄
Breeder Ends Points SpawnsEllickson, Dani 03/2006 250 24Johnston, Brian 02/2006 105 11Robb, Chad 03/2006 60 6Benson, Brandon 01/2006 45 6French, Will 12/2006 30 3Hutchinson, Melissa 10/2006 15 2Carter, Bob 05/2006 15 2Hansen, Kim 12/2006 10 1
►BAP Rookie Breeder of the Year (2007)◄
Breeder Ends Points SpawnsMacmillan, Sue 02/2007 45 5
►Awards Earned in May and June 2006◄
• Will French has earned the 25 Point Beginner Award.• Steven Morrison has earned the 250 Point Intermedi-
ate Award.• Ron Hansen has earned the 750 Point Expert Award.
►Species BAP’d in 2006◄
Date Species Points
Ellickson, Dani05/06 Poecilia wingei 1005/06 Ancistrus punctatus L182 2004/06 Moenkhausia pittieri 1504/06 Sciaenochromis fryeri 1004/06 Protomelas sp. steveni taiwan 1004/06 Corydoras pygmaeus 1504/06 Trichogaster trichopterus 1003/06 Pomacea bridgesii 503/06 Neolamprologus multifasciatus 1003/06 Zoogoneticus tequila 1003/06 Protomelas taeniolatus 1003/06 Poecilia reticulata 503/06 Synodontis petricola 2501/06 Aulonocara stuartgranti, Ngara 1001/06 Neolamprologus brichardi, Fulwe Rocks 1001/06 Melanochromis joanjohnsonae 1001/06 Labidochromis chisumulae 1001/06 Bedotia geayi 15
Randall, Bob 06/06 Neolamprologus marunguensis 1006/06 Labidochromis caeruleus, “White Morph” 1006/06 Haplochromis nubilus 1005/06 Poecilia wingei 1005/06 Archocentrus sajica 1005/06 Pundamilia nyererei, Python Island 1004/06 Callochromis pleurospilus 2004/06 Neolamprologus pulcher, Isanga 1004/06 Geophagus sp. orange head tapajos 1004/06 Pseudotropheus sp. acei, Nkhata Bay 10 04/06 Melanochromis joanjohnsonae 1004/06 Neolamprologus hecqui 1004/06 Pseudotropheus sp. acei, Tanzania 1003/06 Thorichthys sp. blue mixteco 1002/06 Geophagus sp. bahia red 1002/06 Labeotropheus fuelleborni 1001/06 Protomelas sp. steveni taiwan 1001/06 Pundamilia sp. crimson tide 1001/06 Ptychochromis oligacanthus, Anjingo 15
Fries, Mike 06/06 Apistogramma hongsloi 1506/06 Melanotaenia lacustris 1005/06 Ataeniobius toweri 1004/06 Julidochromis transcriptus, Kissi 04/06 Melanotaenia boesemani 1004/06 Archocentrus septemfasciatus 1004/06 Ancistrus sp. unknown 1004/06 Chilatherina bleheri 10
Hansen, Ron 05/06 Maylandia hajomaylandi, Cobue 1005/06 Haplochromis sp. golden duck 1005/06 Thorichthys meeki 1005/06 Pseudotropheus sp. Msobo higga reef 1005/06 Tramitichromis intermedius 1005/06 Oreochromis tanganicae 1005/06 Labeotropheus fuelleborni 10
Sarslow, Anchor 04/06 Carinotetraodon tra-
►BAP Breeder of the Year (2006)◄
Breeder Points SpawnsEllickson, Dani Spawns:18 Pts:210Randall, Bob Spawns:19 Pts:205Fries, Mike Spawns:8 Pts:85Hansen, Ron Spawns:7 Pts:70Sarslow, Anchor Spawns:4 Pts:65Smaciarz, Rich Spawns:4 Pts:60Chronakos, Tom Spawns:4 Pts:50Macmillan, Sue Spawns:5 Pts:45Morrison, Steven Spawns:3 Pts:35French, Will Spawns:3 Pts:30Mathis, Jim Spawns:2 Pts:25Balfanz, Ken Spawns:2 Pts:25Ekstedt, Chuck & Rita Spawns:2 Pts:20Hirsch, Jim Spawns:2 Pts:20McAninch, Carter Spawns:2 Pts:20Johnston, Brian Spawns:1 Pts:10Kruckenberg, Jenny Spawns:1 Pts:10Carter, Bob Spawns:1 Pts:10Benson, Brandon Spawns:1 Pts:10Hansen, Kim Spawns:1 Pts:10
BAPBAP BAP
BAP BAPBAP BAP
BAP
BAPBAP BAP
BAPBAP
BAP BAPBAP
BAPBAP BAP
BAP
cont. on page 25
| 25 |
vancoricus 2504/06 Melanotaenia parva 1003/06 Dario dario 1502/06 Moenkhausia pittieri 15
Smaciarz, Rich 04/06 Neolamprologus tetracanthus 1003/06 Corydoras sp. red stripe 1501/06 Ophthalmotilapia boops, Nkendwe 2001/06 Corydoras pygmaeus 15
Chronakos, Tom 05/06 Callochromis pleurospilus 2004/06 Nimbochromis venustus 1003/06 Aulonocara stuartgranti, Cobue 1001/06 Pseudotropheus fl avus 10
Macmillan, Sue 06/06 Lamprologus ocellatus 1004/06 Betta splendens 1004/06 Poecilia reticulata 503/06 Xenotoca eiseni 1003/06 Ancistrus sp. unknown 10
Morrison, Steven 06/06 Poecilia wingei 1004/06 Ptychochromis oligacanthus 1503/06 Geophagus crassilabris 10
French, Will 05/06 Aulonocara stuartgranti, Cobue 1002/06 Pseudotropheus sp. polit 1001/06 Pterophyllum scalare 10
Mathis, Jim 06/06 Neocordia denticulata 1006/06 Characodon sp. Guadulope aquilaria 15
Balfanz, Ken 03/06 Melanotaenia parva 1001/06 Glossolepis pseudoincisus 15
Ekstedt, Chuck & Rita 04/06 Otopharynx lithobates 1004/06 Tanichthys albonubes 10
Hirsch, Jim 06/06 Poecilia reticulata 506/06 Melanotaenia duboulayi 15
McAninch, Carter 04/06 Hemichromis cristatus 1004/06 Phalloceros caudimaculatus 10
Johnston, Brian 02/06 Pseudotropheus sp. acei 10 “Black Phase”
Kruckenberg, Jenny 05/06 Aplocheilus lineatus “Gold” 10
Carter, Bob 04/06 Xenotoca eiseni 10
Benson, Brandon 01/06 Puntius conchonius 10
Hansen, Kim 01/06 Archocentrus sajica 10
Participant Points SpawnsCarey, Randy 2590 191Mathis, Jim 2055 189Ancheta, Lenny 1350 112Randall, Bob 1250 106Sarslow, Anchor 1190 96Smaciarz, Rich 1170 85Nordby, Ken & Sharron 1100 93Peterzen, Pete & Carol 1075 88Kruckenberg, Jenny 915 86Garrity, Paul 795 67Hansen, Ron 785 66MacNabb, Larry & JoAnne 780 70Swanson, Brad & Nancy 730 67Rees, Craig 655 62Gromek, Tom 640 62Ruzek, Kenneth V. Jr. 630 54Byers, LeeAnne 555 47Nab Dahl, Barry 495 50Scepurek, Terry 480 45Hougen, Dean & Teague, Cynthia 465 40Fries, Mike 435 41Jolivette, Kris & Ted 425 35Ellickson, Dani 340 31Squires, Milo 335 29Berglund, Ken 320 29Lowe, Jay 310 30Wilson, Zack 300 23Chronakos, Tom 295 27Weber, Robin 270 26Morrison, Steven 250 22Marchan, Edward 245 23Nystrom, Steve 235 22Balfanz, Ken 230 19Turley, Paul 225 14Robertson, Terry 205 19Heinen, Shane 205 19Lucken, Robby 195 17Hallett, David W. 185 17McAninch, Carter 180 17Ekstedt, Chet 180 14Alegre, John N. 175 14Engelking, Robin 160 13Bradbury, Richard 150 14Kalvig, Peggy 150 16Ekstedt, Chuck & Rita 140 14Schoeler, Karl 135 14Steffensen, Jerry & Shana 120 10Hirsch, Jim 120 12Johnston, Brian 105 11Stemper, John 95 10Smith, Christopher
►Species BAP’d in 2006◄ ►Species BAP’d in 2006◄
►BAP Standings as of June, 2006◄
cont. on page 26
| 26 |
90 8Methven, Paul 90 5Routh, Bruce 85 8Mechtel, Chuck 65 7Heyer, Jon 60 6Robb, Chad 60 6Loh, Willie 60 4Lowe, Mike 50 5Brobst, Curtis H. 50 5Philstrom, Richard K. 50 5Benson, Brandon 45 6Trembly, Lisa 45 5Macmillan, Sue 45 5Meuret, Patrick 40 4Newton, Bruce 40 4
►BAP Standings as of June, 2006◄
HAP Horticultural Award Program
Bishop, Dava 35 4Rossa, Ron 35 4French, Will 30 3Rankins, Ted 20 2Stowe, Chris 20 2Carlson, Jan 20 2Behler, David 15 1Carter, Bob 15 2OGara, Debbie 15 1Hutchinson, Melissa 15 2Helland, Brentt 10 1Siegel, Bob 10 1Lauer, Richard 10 1Hansen, Kim 10 1Christopherson, Karen 10 1Dale, Andrew 5 1Doyle, Chris 5 1
►HAP New Members◄
Bob CarterAmy HonseyMelissa HutchinsonMatt Proost
►HAP New Awards◄
Bob Carter – Beginning Aquatic HorticulturistMatt Proost – Beginning Aquatic HorticulturistTroy Brantner – Beginning Aquatic Horticulturist
►HAP April and May 2006 Entries◄
Brent Aitchison 10 Hygrophila corymbosa
David Behler20 Anubias barteri var coffeafolia10 Ludwigia repens
Bob Carter 15 Cryptocoryne wendtii “Green”10 Hygrophila corymbosa5 Lemna minor
10 Najas indica10 Pistia stratiotes10 Rotala indica5 Vallisneria americana5 Vesicularia dubyana
Amy Honsey10 Phyllanthus fuitans5 Vallisneria spiralis
Melissa Hutchinson 10 Anubias barteri var nana (fl owering)
Bob Paulsen 10 Anubias barteri var nana (fl owering)10 Aponogeton crispus (fl owering)10 Rotala indica5 Ceratopteris thalicroides
Matt Proost10 Blyxa japonica10 Hygrophila difformis10 Limnophila aromatica10 Lysimachia nummularia10 Mayaca fl uviatilis10 Rotala rotundifolia
Troy Brantner10 Microsorium pteropus5 Vallisneria americana5 Vesicularia dubyana
cont. on page 27
| 27 |
Robert Fink5 Ceratopteris thalicroides15 Echinodorus ‘Ozelot’10 Echinodorus ‘Ozelot’ (fl owering)5 Hygrophila angustifolia10 Hygrophila corymbosa5 Hygrophila rosaeneruis10 Lysimachia nummularia10 Rotala rotundifolia
►HAP April and May 2006 Entries cont.◄
Name Entries Points
Brent Aitchison 10 85Leonard Ancheta 16 180Dat Au 5 45Tyler Barth 2 20David Behler 42 455Jay Bickford 8 70Dava Bishop 1 5Richard Bradbury 28 335Troy Brantner 5 45LeeAnne Byers 17 160Bruce Cameron 34 365 Randy Carey 9 95Jan Carlson 3 35Bob Carter 8 70Pat Chowen 75 870Andrew Dale 4 50Chuck Domeier 31 315Dennis Drews 6 35Charles ‘Chet’ Ekstedt 2 25Chuck Ekstedt 8 70Lisa Ekstedt 11 85Robin Engelking 26 255Robert Fink 21 195Will French 4 40Paul Garrity 139 1475Tom Gromek 13 115David Hallett 32 285Bill Heaney 8 55Shane Heinen 38 390Amy Honsey 2 15C Teague & Dean Hougen 4 25Melissa Hutchinson 1 10Ted & Kris Jolivette 31 330Peggy Kalvig 4 45Jenny Kruchenberg 17 155Robby Lucken 1 15L & J MacNabb 16 120Chad & Tina Mastbergen 22 175Jim Mathis 66 725Carter McAninch 3 20
►Standings thru May 2006◄
Chuck Mechtel 12 80Barry Nab Dahl 85 980Bruce Newton 3 20S & K Nordby 13 105Steve Nystrom 16 130Bob Paulsen 9 85Richard Pelkey 11 105Pete & Carol Peterzen 1 10Richard Philstrom 69 800Matt Proost 6 60Sigrid Rademacher 18 175Dennis Riebesell 27 300Terry Robertson 19 190P & H Rosa 40 450Ron Rossa 3 15Ken Ruzek 49 515Robin Ryan 6 55Anchor Sarslow 51 550Janet Sarver 14 150Larry Scales 5 35Terry Scepurek 4 35Cindy Schneider 6 50Karl Schoeler 145 1730Gary Schultze 2 30Rich Smaciarz 10 120Milo Squires 103 1065John Stemper 30 315Jason Stevens 4 60Chris Stole 3 25Geoff Stone 1 15Brad Swanson 16 155Brian Thinnes 5 50Jodi Tripp 1 10Paul Turley 9 115Robin Weber 1 10
Name Points Start End
*Robert Fink 125 3/05 2/06Bob Paulsen 85 11/05 10/06
* = 1st year in HAP program completed.
Name Points Start End
Bob Carter 70 4/06 3/07Matt Proost 60 4/06 3/07Troy Brantner 45 2/06 1/07Will French 40 3/06 2/07Amy Honsey 15 4/06 3/07Melissa Hutchinson 10 4/06 3/07* = 1st year in HAP program completed.
►2006 HAP Rookie of the Year Standings◄
►2007 HAP Rookie of the Year Standings◄
cont. on page 28
| 28 |
has started somewhere and has probably had the same question. There is also the Minnesota Fish Keepers forum at www.minnfi sh.com. There are many members of MAS that are regular contribu-tors there and are more
than willing to help if you need it. You can get your questions answered by someone you can meet at the meetings or at the show. Maybe your knowl-edge can help someone else? Like me, I regularly have questions about
keeping/breeding certain types of fi sh.
If time permits I will be writing comprehensive follow-up articles on starting a new-tank with pictures and posting them on www.minnfi sh.
com for feedback be-fore submitting them to Aquanews.
Pikes and Perches - This class will also include all native fi sh. This is also a good reminder that the Darter hunt is coming up.
Class II Pond fi sh - What fi sh you will put in your backyard or patio tub this summer?
Class III Aquarium Plants
June 2007Class I I bet you never thought.
This is the “showoff /stupe the other club members” class. Bring in your fi sh that no one would ever think you keep, or still keep. Names will be posted of who is participating separate from the fi sh. Club members will try to match the owner to the fi sh. The owner with the least amount of correct answers wins. More than one entry per person is allowed. (Hey Anchor, bring out some acei
you have stashed away!)
Class II Best of the Bowl Show - Want to bring back your winner? If your fi sh has gotten a bowl show ribbon this year bring it back for the bowl show version of the playoffs.
Class III Fish art! - Photos, illustra-tion, artwork, etc, it must have been done by you. No time frame except done at some point after
you were born. **
Kids Class To be determined.
* These classes will be combined if there are not enough entries to make up two classes.
** The winner of this class will be voted on by the members of the club present at the meeting,
►2007 Horticulturist of the Year Standings◄ ►Horticulturist BLITZ Final Standings◄
Points Plants Member
125 13 Robert Fink70 8 Bob Carter60 6 Matt Proost55 6 Bob Paulsen45 5 Troy Brantner40 4 Will French30 2 David Behler15 2 Amy Honsey10 1 Brent Aitchinson5 1 Melissa Hutchinson
Member Points
Anchor Sarslow 75+Bob Randall 25 Brent Aitchison 75+Dave Behler 75+Milo Squires 75+Randy Carey 75+Matt Proost 75+Rich Smaciarz 10Robert Fink 75+
Planted Aquarium Substrates, cont. from page
Bowl Show 2006-07, cont. from page
HAP, cont. from page
June ended the 10 month celebration of MAS’s 75th year and along with it ended the with the drawing of the Participation Awards The awards were granted as follows” $50 – Awarded to Paul Garrity!$100 – Awarded to Jim Mathis!And the Grand Prize of $350 went to Tiffany Sever-son!
Congratulations to the three of you! Just a note to show you could have won on very little work… None of the 3 winners had more than 20 entries out of 550 to 600 individual participations.
~Anchor
Participation Awards!
| 29 |
Membership application form
Minnesota Aquarium Society P.O. Box 130483
Roseville, MN 55113-0016
http://www.mnaquarium.org
Todays Date__________________
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The following information will not be used beyond the Minnesota Aquarium Society
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Are you Up to Date with your Membership?
