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AQTJARIIM
Series III
Vol. IX. No. 4
April. 2002
FEATURES ^•'p c
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Editor's Babblenest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
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President's Message
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Silent Auction Rules (for April)
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My Jack Dempsey
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Post Operative Therapy Looking Through The Lens
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Photos from our March Meeting Wet Leaves (book review)
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Second Sight (Reprints) \ e'ffifie r||l|lll||i|f:1|
"Believe It Or Not" (BrooklynA.S.)
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Trivial Pursuit On-Line
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G.C.A.S. Happenings
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Fin Fun (Puzzle Page)
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Printing By Postal Press
Articles submitted for consideration in MODERN AQUARIUM must be received no later than the 10th day of the month, three months prior to the month of publication. Copyright 2002 by the Greater City Aquarium Society Inc., a not-for-profit New York State corporation. All rights 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 the publication are sent to the Exchange Editor of this magazine. Any other reproduction or commercial use of the material in this publication is 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 month and begin at 8:00 P.M. Meetings are held at the Queens Botanical Gardens. For more information, contact: Joe Ferdenzi (718)767-2691. You can also leave us a message at our Internet Home Page at: http: //ourworld. CompuServe. com/homepages/greatercity
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Baffle
Tut the Greater City Aquarium Society to work for you, hunting down that fish you always wanted! Rules 1. Only one person will be selected as the winner of the raffle. The drawing will be held at the June 2002 meeting of GCAS. 2. Each raffle ticket shall cost $5.00. Persons may purchase more than one raffle ticket. 3. If less than 50 tickets are sold, the raffle winner shall, at the discretion of the Board of Governors, either be awarded one half of the "Dream Raffle" proceeds (with the balance going to GCAS), or the dream fish selection. 4. The holder of the winning ticket shall be entitled to designate the "Dream Fish" of his or her choice, subject to the following limitations: a. Only fish which are lawful to possess in New York City may be designated. b. The GCAS Board of Governors will be the sole arbiters of whether the fish obtained shall consist of a single specimen, a pair or pairs, or a group. However, GCAS will endeavor to provide fish for which the cost shall approximate $50, but, in no event, shall GCAS be obligated to expend over $60 to obtain the designated fish. c. If the designated fish cannot be obtained within a reasonable time at the cost indicated above, GCAS reserves the right to award the winner a cash prize of $50. April 2002
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
MY JACK DEMPSEY by JOSEPH FERDENZi t was a typical Fall day in Beantown. The light had a suffused grey quality to it from the overcast sky. The winds raced down the Charles River. Most people don't know this, but Boston has wind gusts that, on an average day, exceed those of Chicago, the so-called "Windy City." This day was no different. And so, on this aimless and grey Saturday, seeking a diversion from the rigors of scholastic competition, I found one, inside a quaint little pet shop in the Back Bay section of Boston. The shop was called, fittingly, "Back Bay Aquarium." The store specialized in aquariums, but also dealt in some birds and reptiles. It wasn't a fancy store, but is was clean and orderly. The tanks seemed polished and well stocked; the fish appeared healthy. The lighting inside the shop was rather dim, but this only served to enhance the appearance of the tanks, which were individually lit, thereby turning them into beacons of light to which the viewer was drawn. I began my browsing at the front of the shop and worked my way towards the rear. In the back there was actually what seemed to be a small room, separated from the rest of the store by a partial wall with shelves. Set into these shelves, which did not face the entrance of the shop, were several unadorned aquariums of various sizes. They were unadorned in the sense that they contained no plants, gravel, or other decorations. However, they did contain fish. In that sense, they were adorned, and one in particular caught my eye. It was a solitary fish. It swam about in a confident manner, yet it projected a sense of longing. Or, perhaps, that's what I was projecting. I was attending a very competitive school for which you needed a great deal of self confidence, but I was in a city where I felt very much alone. My family, my future wife, and my old friends were all in New York. Just maybe, I saw something of myself in that solitary fish. Back at my apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, an empty ten gallon aquarium sat on a metal stand in the livingroom. I had brought the tank with me from home. In my first year at school, it had housed a typical community — some Cardinal Tetras, a pair of Kribensis, and a few Corydoras catfish. But, now, it was empty, and I thought I'd try something different. That solitary fish in the pet shop was going to have me for company, and vice-versa.
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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
The fish in question was a very nice five inch Jack Dempsey (Nandopsis octofasciatus, formerly known as Cichlasoma biocellatum). It appeared to be in very good health; it was not full grown yet, but it was not small. At $10.99, it seemed a bargain find. Jack Dempseys, as the common name implies, are tough fish. (Jack Dempsey was an American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1919 to 1926.) This one was no different; it settled into its new home very well. Jack Dempseys are originally from Central America, and were one of the first cichlids to be imported for sale to tropical fish hobbyists. It is now bred in large commercial quantities, and is commonly available in most pet shops. While a Jack Dempsey can be maintained in a community aquarium with other large and robust fish, I chose to keep mine by itself (I never conclusively determined whether my fish was a male or a female, although my guess is that it was a male). In this way, the ten gallon tank was just big enough to house it comfortably. While ten gallons may not seem like a lot of water for a five inch fish, you have to recall that, at the time, it was my only aquarium. This allowed me to focus on it very carefully; the tank was subjected to a rigorous regime of regular water changes and filter cleaning. Plus, I never overfed it. Speaking of that, what I fed him became one of the more interesting facets of our relationship. As one might imagine, a large apartment building dominated by very transient tenants — Boston is full of part-time residents, known as students — might house a pest or two. Mine was no exception. Cockroaches ran amok. One day I decided to catch one and feed it to my piscine captive. Why I did this, I'm not sure. It wasn't that I was out of fish food. Perhaps, I was in a revengeful mood. I loathed those roaches. Maybe, I just wanted to experiment and see if Dempseys like insects (many fish do). Sure enough, when I plopped this brown roach on the water, the Dempsey attacked it as if it were a scene out of "Jaws." However, the Jack Dempsey, unlike the fearsome Great White or the smaller Piranha, swallows its prey whole. In an instant, the cockroach had been converted from pest to organic nutrition. Oh, if only the roaches had a news network like CNN to broadcast the horrific video of one of their own being devoured
April 2002
Post Operative Therapy by DOUG CURTIN
fter a serious operation, there is a period of adjustment. What better form of therapy than turning your attention to a meaningful and rewarding hobby: the keeping of tropical fish, that are both beautiful and interesting to watch. They can supply what is often needed after an operation. Why? Because the fish will depend on you for their survival. If done properly, there will be very little expense or maintenance. To start, you will need a ten gallon all glass aquarium that can be purchased at many pet shops for $9.99. The biggest expense will be the fluorescent light canopy to cover the aquarium that will cost about $24. Purchase ten pounds of #2 or #3 gravel. Use natural, not colored, gravel. You are going to create a balanced aquarium that will be maintenance free and beautiful to behold. You don't need a heater, unless you are an Eskimo and keep your rooms at 50 degrees ^-ii^jp Fahrenheit. A room temperature 1 of 68°-70° F. is fine for most tropical fish. Place your aquarium on a stand or table away from the window. Fill the aquarium with nine gallons of tap water. Next, take the ten pounds of gravel A 20 gallon planted aquarium and place it into a 2 gallon plastic pail. Bring the pail outside and fill the pail with water with your garden hose. Rinse the gravel until all the fine particles are washed out. Pour off the excess water and add the gravel to your aquarium. Smooth the gravel so that it is one inch deep in the front and two inches in the back. Put the fluorescent canopy on the top of the aquarium. Let the water age for a week. This will allow the chlorine to be removed and the water to reach room temperature. You are now ready for plants and fish. Buy Vallesneria, Hygrophilapolysperma and some Anacharis. These plants grow well and are excellent oxygenators. Plant the Vallesneriam the back. Plant the Hygophila and Anacharis in front in clumps on the right and left sides. Add
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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
some snails, preferably red or black Ramshorn. These will keep the aquarium clean of excess food and algae that may grow on the sides of the glass. Now you are ready for the main ingredient. Purchase four small fish. Guppies or Platies are good starter fish. Use Tetra-min®, Wardley®, or other good quality flakes to feed the fish. Open the bag containing the fish and pour them into the aquarium. The light should be on 12-14 hours a day to promote plant growth. Put the lights on a timer and you won't have to worry about turning lights on and off. If you use a timer, make sure the light has a starter. Don't buy a manual start fluorescent light canopy. No plant fertilizer is necessary, since the fish waste will supply the proper nutrients for plant growth. Feed the fish once or twice a day. Feed only small amounts that will be all be eaten in approximately five minutes. Don't over feed. The fish will not starve. Fish can live up to two weeks without getting fed. After a few weeks, and if everything looks well, you can add more fish, such as some Neon Tetras, an albino catfish, Photo by Doug Curtin etc. Buy fish that are peaceful and remain small. Remember, you only have a ten gallon aquarium. Once a month you can change some water. Take out two gallons with a siphon hose into a bucket. Fill the hose with water to start the siphon. Don't suck on the hose to start it. Fish water is not too healthy to swallow. Replace the siphoned off water with two gallons of water that have been standing for two days to remove chorine and bring the water to room temperature. One gallon plastic juice bottles, for example, are good for water storage. You are now into the second most popular hobby, and your therapy and healing will be enhanced by this thing of beauty that can be viewed at least 12 hours a day.
April 2002
The Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies 27th Annual Convention When: ApriM2-14, 2002 Where: Hartford Marriott Hotel Farmington, CT Exit 37 Connecticut I-84 Theme: "Roaring Twenties"
Tentative Schedule Friday, April 12, 2002 l:30pm: Registration Opens 2:00-4:00pm: AGA Discussion Group 2:00-6:00pm: Pet Store Tour 4:00-6:00pm: Rainbowfish Discussion Group 5:00-7:00pm: "Light Fare" Dinner 8:00pm: Convention Kick Off with Lee Finley & Wayne Liebel "History of the Aquarium Hobby" Saturday, April 13,2002 8:30-10:45am: Breakfast Cart 8:30:am Registration Opens 9:00-10:15am: Wayne Leibel ("Breeding Difficult Fish") Erik Olson ("Plants and Photography") 10:OOam-Noon: Non-Fishy Bingo 10:45-Noon: Dick Au ("Discus") Gary Lange ("Rainbowfish") 11:45-l: 15pm: A-la-cart Lunch 1:00-2:15pm: Labbish Chao ("Project Piaba") David Schleser ("Native Fish") l:30pm: Registration Closes 2:30-3:45pm: Doug Sweet ("Nutrition for Fish") Lee Newman ("So. American Cichlids")
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
Saturday, April 13,2002 - continued 4:00-5:50pm: Ian Fuller ("Corydoras Catfish") 5:00pm: Vendor Room Closes 6:00pm: Banquet Happy Hour, Cash Bar 7:00pm: Banquet Dinner - Tony Terciera, M.C. 1 l:00pm: Ian Fuller, Late-nite Special Sunday. April 14, 2002 8:30-1 l:00am: Breakfest Cart 8:30-9:00am: Drop Off Auction Lots 9:00am: Vender Room Opens 9:30-10:45am: Viewing of Auction lots 11:00am: Giant Auction begins Noon: Hotel Check-out time l:00pm: Rare/Endangered Fish Silent Auction For More Information, Contact: David/Janine Banks: (802)372-8716 Penny/Al Faul: (978) 534-3683 Aline Finley: (401)568-0371 Wally/Sue Bush: (860)276-9475 Or, visit the NEC website at: http://www.northeastcouncil.org
April 2002
Photos and captions of our March 2002 meeting
President Joe Ferdenzi gets jthe meeting off to a superb start. A special guest speaker appearance by Goldfish authority, George Clark, was a most delightful treat for all!
The GCAS extends a warm welcome to one of our newest members, Roger Brewsteri
George Clark, renowned Goldfish expert, generously passes along his wisdom, garnered from years of experience, to eager GCAS listeners.
We are so delighted to have Bob McKeand back with the GCAS!
Now there's the perfect duo ~ Tom Bohme and the apple of his eye, daughter Victoria Bohme.
Horst Gerber and Pat Coushaine, sharin some great fishkeeping techniques.
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April 2002
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
by Claudia Dickinson Like father, like son, is perfectly portrayed by Bill Amely and son, Bill, Jr. as they enjoy their Wednesday night outing together with the GCAS.
With of all the cichlids in his wife's tanks, it is actually the Goldfish that are amongst Brad Dickinson's favorite fish. He particularly enjoyed tonight's presentation, and may have a few good pointers for his wife on the drive home! Bill Amely brings in another Blue Ribbon in the Bowl Show with his Turquoise Blue Delta Tail Betta splendensl
President Joe Ferdenzi always has time for those who seek out his advice after the evening's program.
Charles Loweth is pleased with lots of great finds in the evening's auction to add to his fishroom.
We know we're in for a wonderful "Wet Leaves" book review, as Sue Priest is the proud winner of the "Fancy Goldfish" book Door Prize!
President Joe Ferdenzi also always has time to share a special greeting with GCAS members, such as Sarah and Horst Gerber!
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
April 2002
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WET LEAVES A Series On Books For The Hobbyist by SUSAN PRIEST hink back to when you were a kid and you went to a birthday party; how many ways did you have fun? Wearing a party hat, playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, taking home a "goody bag," to name but a few. Best of all was, of course, the cake. Now think back to one of your own birthday parties, when the cake had your name written on it. That is what winning the door prize at a GCAS meeting is like! You are having fun in lots of different ways, when suddenly that little hope that lingers in the back of your mind each month becomes a reality, and your l:f|ii!!Jl!|i!^ name is pulled as the winner. The prize is always a beautiful book chosen to coordinate with the topic of the evening's program, and generously donated by Claudia and Brad Dickinson. Fancy Goldfish, A Complete Guide to Care and Collecting: the three "C" words in the title are barometers of what you will find inside. It is very much like two books in one. The first half of the book is written by a veterinarian. Many books written for aquarists about fishkeeping include information about the care of fish. Dr. Erik Johnson, D.V.M. takes the concept of "complete care" to a whole new level. Diagnostic Techniques, Pathogenic Threats, Environmental Concerns, Formulary, Symptoms and Solutions, and even Surgery are clearly presented. Basic microscopy describes how to prepare specimens for microscopic examination. This includes slide preparation, such as staining of cells, fluids, mucus, etc. There are also throughthe-lens photos. Turn to page 36 if you would like to see what one "Ick" looks like. The formulary (that's medication to those of us without a medical degree) is very detailed. Treatments administered by means of baths, topical applications, injections, as well as orally, are described. Here is an excerpt from the chapter on Symptoms and Solutions. "Symptom: abdomen mushy. Causes: bacterial infections in the abdomen, starvation caused by liver damage, cancer. Solutions: if the fish otherwise appears
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healthy, increase numbers and amounts of feedings with nutritional foods. If the fish appears sick, inject it for a bacterial infection." I feel it is safe to say that much of the information presented can be readily transferred to many of the other fish we keep. It will be clear when the information is specific to goldfish. For example, when Dr. Johnson recommends an increase in nutritious foods, he lists such choices as krill, green peas, and bloodworms. We have to make it our responsibility to know which foods are proper choices for our own fish. There is one "C" word you have to supply for yourself; do you have the Confidence to give your fish injections or perform surgery on them? You won't know until you read this book. We now move on to Part Two, Keeping and Collecting Fancy Goldfish. This section is written by Richard E. Hess. He opens his presentation with commonly asked questions, and, of course, his answers for them. I find this format to be a very effective means of communicating information. Example, "Q: What kinds of rocks and stones are safe to use in decorating my Goldfish aquarium? A: It is very important that decorative rocks and stones are smooth so that your goldfish don't injure themselves. Pieces of granite and slate are the best choices." There is a mini-glossary of goldfish characteristics. Example, "nacreous pattern: a scalation pattern that combines metallic and matte scales." There is also an essay in words and photos describing the identifying features of many of the fancy varieties. Example, "Shubunkin: of Japanese origin with calico coloring and nacreous scales. Single-tailed and reaching a length of 12 inches." (The American, Bristol and London Shubunkins are described in even greater detail.) The next two chapters compare and contrast Chinese versus Japanese varieties. Historical and cultural contexts frame these chapters. The book wraps up with a chapter on breeding Ranchus. There are fabulous photos, detailed drawings, and a skeleton to illustrate how the shape of the vertebrae affect the shape of the fish. From charts to artwork, from fry to yearlings to adults, and from beginning to end, these authors have given us as complete an accounting of the world of fancy goldfish as one volume possibly can.
April 2002
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
econd Reprints deserving a second look This month's reprint appeared in the January/February 2002 issue of Aquatica, the publication of the Brooklyn Aquarium Society. The opinions and "facts" in this article are the responsibility of the author, John Marks, and I make no comment, other than to point out that this article is being reprinted in our April issue, where I feel it is most appropriate. John Marks BAS
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Believe
It Or Not by John Marks, BAS
hink you know all there is to know about the tropical fish you keep? I bet you don't! It's a credit to the hobby that there are so many well informed aquarists out there but, even so there are many obscure historical facts associated with the fish you see every day in aquariums around the world that few people are aware of. I've compiled some of these "facts" from sources near and far and would like to share them with you. Did you know that centuries ago, a pastime of some primitive South American Indian tribes was a game which required a certain tropical fish to play it. This was a big thing back then
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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
culminating each year in inter-tribal competitions akin to our world series in baseball or the super bowl in football. It seems that the object of the game was for the contestants to hurl the fish as far as possible, with the individual achieving the longest toss being the winner. Many a chieftain's daughter was wagered over these games. In fact, the game survives to this day. What was the tropical fish? The Discus. The game, of course, was the Discus Throw. The primitive drawings found on the walls of prehistoric mans' cave dwellings have revealed some amazing things about early civilization. For
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fish apparently have medicinal properties. Extracts from old explorer journals explain how tribal medicine men would pull the teeth from the jaws of piranha and dispense a small handful to be swallowed by natives needing a diuretic. The dried ventral fins from the freshwater angelfish Pterophyllum were ground up and smoked for the hallucinogenic effect it produced. Supposedly, users got so "high" on the stuff that they claimed to see angels, hence "angelfish" the common name of the fish and "angel dust" the slang term for the hallucinogen. I have suggested that there is still some unorthodox use of tropical fish by those who practice fish healing. The kissing gourami, when combined with ripe bananas in a blender, produces a powerful aphrodisiac. Be especially careful when consuming banana based drinks such as the banana daiquiri, when prepared by a stranger, lest you find yourself suddenly enamored of an individual you wouldn't otherwise be in the same room with. I am told you can't taste the gourami at all once mixed with the bananas. During the "Roaring Twenties" when Prohibition banned alcohol, certain knowing entrepreneurs made money and found a way around the ban by using the Rummy Nose Tetra. When mixed with pineapple juice, this tetra releases alcohol into the liquid. One tetra would add the approximate equivalent of one shot of alcohol. Unfortunately,
the tetras used for this purpose made the ultimate sacrifice in the process, but they were so blitzed at the time that the end was painless. Wild fish were imported into the country in countless thousands, with the authorities never suspecting the ultimate use for them. As with any knowledge that gives power, there were a few unscrupulous individuals that abused it. Some of the Rummy Nose Tetras had especially intense coloration and as a result proved to be extremely intoxicating. In some areas they were nicknamed "151 Tetras." How many an unsuspecting young lady adventuress ("flappers" as they called them during the era) woke up the next morning with her fringes in disarray as a result of being slipped a few "Mickey Fins?" As I review what I've written thus far, I think I have an inkling as to why little if any of this information has been released to the general public. In the wrong hands, what was originally intended for good could be used for nefarious purposes. So, maybe it is better that I don't tell you which three tropical fish, when ground up together in certain proportions, produce a mixture similar to gunpowder or, which tropical fish the ancient tribe of female Amazon warriors used to turn their male captives into industrious workers by day and yet left them most accommodating to their "home from the day's battle" captors each evening. No, some things are better left unsaid!
NASSAU DISCUS • • • • •
QUALITY DISCUS MANY VARIETIES (call) ALREADY QUARANTINED ALREADY CONDITIONED SOLD DIRECT TO HOBBYISTS ONLY (appointment required)
Mark Rubanow 205 8th Street, Hicksville, NY 11801 (516) 939-0267 or (516) 646-8699 (beeper) morgansfin@aol.com
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
April 2002
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JU days and counting until Greater City's 80th Anniversary Show
i^ini i 3 C DnriD I In.' J~J, LUUL Queens County Farm Museum 73-50 Little Neck Parkway ~ Floral Park, NY The Farm Museum can be reached from Points within New York City and Long Island by: Bus: Q46 bus to the Little Neck Parkway stop and walking north 3 blocks Train; E or F subway to the Union Turnpike Station, take the Q46 bus (above) Car: Grand Central Parkway to the Little Neck Parkway exit, then south about a 1/3 mile on Little Neck Parkway. The Farm Museum will be on your right.
To Throgs Neck Bridge
Long Island Expressway 495 Grand Cental Pkwy
Cross Island Parkway H W
MLittle Heck Pkwy FRRM HUSEUf
ion Tpke.
Hillside Aver
Jericho Tpkf
To JFK and LGA Airports
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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
Jamaica ^f
April 2002
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Trivial Pursuit On-Line A series by "The Under gravel Reporter"
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ust about every week, someone sends me an email with some Internet hoax or another. You know what I mean — chain letters ("send this to ten people or risk a case of terminal dandruff), phoney virus warnings ("don't open any email with a vowel in the subject line"), bogus offers ("Bill Gates needs beta testers for the latest version of Windows and will pay you $1,000 a day to quit your job and stay home playing video games on your computer"),and useless or totally incorrect "facts." (I just got one email that claims the word "golf derives from an acronym: "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden.") You would think that people smart enough to use the Internet could do a bit of research to determine the truth before hitting the "Send" button on their email program. Anyway, in spite of the wrong information available, there really are a lot of interesting, and often bizarre, facts about fish and the aquarium hobby on the Internet, and here are a few examples. On "Tim Benjamin's website" at: www.execpc.com/~tben/fun_useless_info.html I learned that a pregnant goldfish is called a twit. The Fun Trivia website at: http://www.funtrivia.com/Humans/Sex.html tells us that, in the state of Texas, it is illegal to have sex with a fish. In the state of Florida, it is illegal to get a fish drunk. And, apparently the state of North Carolina must have thought that both of these laws were so good that it is illegal to have sex with a drunken fish in North Carolina! While we're on the subject of silly laws concerning fish, Tim Benjamin's website (mentioned above) also had the interesting fact that topless saleswomen are
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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
legal in Liverpool, England — but only in tropical fish stores! It is a known fact that watching fish in an aquarium has beneficial effects, such as calming a person and even lowering blood pressure. But, were you aware of the intellectual benefits resulting from the hobby? No, I don't mean the ability to communicate in Latin or being able to convert centimeters and millimeters into inches mentally. What I mean are the intellectual benefits described on the "Dive Into Fish" website at: http://www.diveintofish.com/fish_facts.htm There we are informed that students who are fish owners score the highest on both math and verbal SAT examinations, with a combined score 200 points higher than non-pet owners. In addition, this same website informs us that high school students who keep fish or other pets have an average grade point average (GPA) of 3.5, as compared to an average GPA of 3.2 for non-pet owners. Now, if I could only convince my spouse that my IQ increases with every new aquarium I start and maintain, I could prove that this hobby is really a "smart idea." On the website called "Thee Fish Bowl" (yes, that's "thee," not "the"), which is located at: http://www.theefishbowl.eom/f/fbizarre.html we are informed that the smallest fish in the world is one third of an inch long and lives in the Chagos Archipelago. While this website does not identify the fish, a bit of additional research revealed that it is the Trimattwn nanus. "Thee Fish Bowl" website also had the following two facts about goldfish: The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light, and goldfish lose their color if kept in dim light, or if they are placed in a body of running water, such as a stream. The National Aquarium in Baltimore's website at: www.aqua.org/information/media/tetrafc.html states that, overall, one in ten households—more than 11 million of them—keep fish as pets. I also learned on this website that almost half of the home aquarists have been active hobbyists for five years or more; that almost 40% of home aquarists have two or more aquariums; and that, as a group, fish owners are married, middle-aged (between 35 and 44) homeowners with children living at home in households of four or more members. I don't know (or even want to know) how the National Aquarium in Baltimore determined that: "Some fish owners give their fish gifts — especially at Christmastime and birthdays." But, if you gave "Goldie" a Passover or Easter gift this year, you are not alone (possibly a little strange, but at least not alone).
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G.C.A.S. HAPPENINGS Welcome New Members: Roger Brewster and Anton M. Vukich And, Renewing Members: Raymond Albanese, Harry Boutis, Robert McKeand, Marty Silverstein Bowl Show winners last meeting: No Bowl Show next month (April) ••^/Bi^Am^^:Betta.spiCf:-^.fi^ 2) Doug Curtin - "Moscow Blue" Guppy v 3)- Carlotti De Jager - Albino: Shark ; • ; " ;; ; . , V ,' ; • : ' . . . . v . ; : • ^ ; ' ' ^:^ij^^^ September 2001 - June 2002 Season unofficial totals to date: lll^iivi^ 1) William Amely (24 pts) 2) Claudia Dickinson (11 pts) 3) Carlotti DeJager (9 pts) 4) Pete D'Orio (3 pts.) 5) Doug Curtin, (4 pts.) 6) Rich Levy (1 pt.)
March's Door Prize: Fancy Goldfish by Erik L. Johnson, D.V.M., and Richard E. Hess was won by Susan .Priest;^ ;;;;:::; . : w\ : • : ' " • v ' ' ]M ; : • • • v:. ; :: - .;. ; : ;;3||||if |g|;; ' "; . \ ' :; - • • ;.;• - • ; : . % • ± • • : , j Here are meeting times and locations of aquarium societies in the Metropolitan New York area: GREATER CITY AQUARIUM SOCIETY Ifilt MeelWil May 1, 2002 Speaker: Rosario LaCorte Topic: Celebrating 50 Years with the Master Aquarist 8pm: Queens Botanical Garden il-50 Main St., Flushmgffff Contact: Mr. Joseph Ferdenzi Telephone: (1 1 8) 767-269 1 e-mail: GreaterCitv(5}compuserve.cbm : * http://www.greatercity.o®
:-Meen of; ; .^pril 12, 2002 % Speaker: Joe Yaiullo "%, T Buikling a 20,000 Gallon llifef f ank 7:3ppm: Education Hall, N.Y. Aquarium Sfirf Ayl & West 8th St., Brooklyn, W1 Cditlct: B AS Events Hotline .Telephone- " ! | / 837-4455 http" | \ v v ---iO', 'klynaquariumsociety .org
Big Meets: 8:0§ P.M. - 1st Thursday of eacl ^montfcffflS^uelnf^btanical Garden 1 Contacts: Jeff GeoMb / Gene Baudier Telephone | ; ; .^-£190 / (516)345-6399
Guppy Club
month at the If ililns Botani c a i 1 \i Contact: Mr. Donald CuiSih ! eleniione: (718) 631-0538
Nassau County Aquarium Society
L Meets: 8 :Qd p!Mi -3rd Friday of ea^h month (exceplf 1|| and August) at: . : Ijll The Holtsviilfe Park anildQ Jii 249 Buckley R^o|d~ Holtsville^ 1M April 19: Joe Ka^talek "The Pond £uy" Contact: Mr. Vinny K' e\r Telephone: C516) 938-4066
Veterans B: cl M.> ^apequa, M? .::::.:.Mayili|(;:fflii::"& Doug Ciirtin speaking on "Aquatic Plants" Contact: Mr. Ken Sniith Teiepnone^i 6) 589-0913
North Jersey Aquarium Society
Norwalk Aquarium Society
Meets: 8PM - 3rd Thursday of the month at the American Legion Hall, Nutley, NJ (exit 151 Garden State Pkwy., near Rt. 3) Contact: NJAS Hotline at C20n 332-4415 or e-mail: tcoletti@obius.jnj.com April 7 - Spring Auction (details on page 8) April 18 - To be announced. Consult the NJAS website at: http://njas.net/
Meets: 8:00 P.M. 3rd Thursday of each month at the Nature Center for Environmental Activities, Westport, CT
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
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April 2002
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Contact: Mrs. Anne Stone Broadmeyer Telephone: (203) 834-2253
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