Modern Aquarium June 2012

June 2012volume XIXnumber 4

ON THE COVERThis month's cover photo subject is Parosphromenus deissneri, a small, attractive, not-so-common anabantid popularly known as Deissner's licorice gourami. For more information on keeping and breeding this endangered little fish, see Al Priest's "Tiny Fish — Big Challenge" on page 19.

Photo by Alexander A. Priest

GREATER CITY AQUARIUM SOCIETY

Board MeMBers

President Dan RadebaughVice-President Edward VukichTreasurer Jules BirnbaumCorresponding Secretary Mario Bengcion Recording Secretary Tommy Chang

MeMBers at Large

Claudia Dickinson Pete D’OrioAl Grusell Ben HausEmma Haus Jason KernerLeonard Ramroop

CoMMittee Chairs

A.C.A. Delegate Claudia DickinsonBowl Show Leonard RamroopBreeder Award Warren Feuer Mark SobermanEarly Arrivals Al GrusellF.A.A.S. Delegate Alexander A. PriestMembership Marsha RadebaughPrograms Claudia DickinsonN.E.C. Delegate Claudia DickinsonTechnology Coordinator Warren Feuer

MODERN AQUARIUM

Editor in Chief Dan RadebaughCopy Editors Sharon Barnett Susan Priest Alexander A. PriestExchange Editors Stephen Sica Donna Sosna SicaAdvertising Mgr. Mark Soberman

In This IssueFrom the Editor

2G.C.A.S. 2012 Program Schedule

3President’s Message

4 Last Month's Caption Contest Winner

5Cartoon Caption Contest

6In Retrospect

7by steven hinshaw

Tiny Fish ― BIG Challenge 9Parosphromenus deissneri: deissner's Licorice gourami

by alexander a. Priest

G.C.A.S. Bowl Show Rules 11

Wet Leaves 12by susan Priest

A Fish Fit for a Desktop 14by Jules Birnbaum

Our Generous Members 16

Ten Tips for Beginners and Other Fishkeepers 17by susan Priest

Member Classifieds 18

Curaçao's Lionfish: Part One 19by stephen sica

Pictures from our Last Meeting 22by susan Priest

G.C.A.S. Happenings 24

The Undergravel Reporter 25Endangered Cheetos?

Fin Fun (Puzzle Page) 26Stop & Go

Series III Vol. XIX, No. 4 June, 2012

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)2 June 2012

From theEditor by Dan Radebaugh

This issue is all about fish, fishkeepers, keeping fish, and conservation, which in our context we might describe as

fishkeeping on a global scale.Our fishkeeper is Steve Hinshaw, whom

we know up to now only as a collector and chronicler of Exotic Aquarium Fishes. In a short retrospective of his first two historical articles for us, Steve provides a bit of history of his own fishkeeping, and even a glance at his future, which, it seems, will be deep in the heart of Texas.

Part of fishkeeping (part of everything?) in New York City and environs is perforce a consideration of available space, so fishes that stay small are popular choices. This month Al Priest (“Tiny Fish―BIG Challenge”) and Jules Birnbaum (“A Fish Fit for a Desktop”) both present us with very small and fairly uncommon species. Al introduces us to Deissner’s licorice gourami, a pretty (check out our cover photo) but challenging little anabantid. Jules also goes small, but with a striking little killifish, Epiplatys annulatus.

There’s an old aphorism about common sense being uncommon. Sue Priest has plenty of common sense, and for those times when we forgetful fishkeepers misplace our own, she gives us “Ten Tips” to help us out.

In her “Wet Leaves” column, Sue reviews another of this year’s conservation themed books. Her current selection is Edward L. McCord’s The Value of Species, and just reading Sue’s review of the book will help expand our consciousness of the issues involved in today’s conservation movement.

Since our April 2008 issue of Modern Aquarium, Steve Sica has been reporting on the spread of the invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans, a Pacific Ocean native, into the waters of the Caribbean and the southeastern United States. In this issue Steve gives us Part One of a two-part article on “Curaçao’s Lionfish.” As usual, expect some great photos.

Staying with the subject of conservation, leave it to the Undergravel Reporter to point out that there are some (seemingly inevitable) bureaucratic absurdities to be noted in many of the legal efforts to protect endangered species. Too often, alas, laws to “do good” aren’t drawn up with sufficient consideration of all facets of the situation at hand, including possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation. On this rather dualistic note, I’ll close by mentioning that the title of this month’s Fin Fun puzzle is “Stop & Go.”

* * *Remember, as always, we need articles!

Modern Aquarium is produced by and for the members of Greater City Aquarium Society. Our members are our authors, and with ten issues per year, we always, always need more articles. I know several of you are keeping and/or breeding fish that I would like to know more about, and I’m certain other members would be interested as well. Share your experience with us. Write about it! If you’re a little unsure about the state of your writing technique, don’t worry – that’s why there are editors.

If you have an article, photo, or drawing that you’d like to submit for inclusion in Modern Aquarium, it’s easy to do! You may fax it to me at (877) 299-0522, email it to [email protected], or just hand it to me at a meeting. However you get it to me, I’ll be delighted to receive it!

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) June 2012 3

GCASPrograms

2012It is our great fortune to have another admirable cast of speakers who have so graciously

accepted our invitation to join us throughout the coming season, bringing us their extensive knowledge and experiences. You certainly won’t wish to miss a moment of our prominent

guests, not to mention the friends, fish, warmth, and camaraderie that accompanies each meeting. I know I can barely wait to see you here! Enjoy!

Claudia

March 7 Meet the Experts of the GCAS

April 4 Felicia McCaulleyTips and Tricks to Aquarium Photography on a Budget

May 2 Jeff MichelsDwarf Cichlids

June 6 Rich LevyVirtual Fishroom Tours: Joe Ferdenzi and Jules Birnbaum

July 11 Rich LevyVirtual Fishroom Tours: Jeff Bollbach and Rich Levy

August 1 Silent Auction

September 5 Felicia McCaulleySeahorses

October 3 Rachel O'LearyFreshwater Invertebrates

November 7 Joe FerdenziGCAS 90th!

December 5 Holiday Party!

Articles submitted for consideration in Modern Aquarium (ISSN 2150-0940) must be received no later than the 10th day of the month prior to the month of publication. Please fax to (877) 299-0522, or email to [email protected]. Copyright 2012 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 January and February. Members receive notice of meetings in the mail. For more information, contact: Dan Radebaugh (718) 458-8437. Find out more, or leave us a message, at our Internet Home Page at: http://www.greatercity.org or http://www.greatercity.com


President’sMessage

by Dan Radebaugh

While our Greatercity.org web site has historically been mostly a bulletin board for coming events, and a way for people to know that we exist and where we meet (Marsha and I found the club this way), we have been adding more features. For

instance, 2011 issues of Modern Aquarium are now available online, with more issues to follow soon. As an example of unexpected ways the web site can connect us with the greater community, a visitor to the site recently sent us this note, which was forwarded to me by our Webmaster, Al Priest:

Hello GCAS,

My name is Steven Martin, and I teach computer classes at a homeless shelter. I'm also a life-long aquarium hobbyist, my specialty being freshwater planted tanks. I was able to get the director of the program to let me install a 55 gallon tank in the main office area about a year ago. I felt that having the tank would not only help bring life to the office, but would also spark an interest in some of the men and lead them to take up the hobby. This view is very biased on my part; I feel that every room could use a fish tank of some sort. Well, a year later everybody loves the tank, and it has become the conversation piece of the office. Also, I have been able to bring a few of the clients into the hobby and even rekindle the love in some.

Sorry, I did not mean to ramble on...

I have been given the okay to expand, and add a new tank to the office; the only catch is that I have to complete this tank on donations alone. We have been fortunate to have a 75 gallon tank and stand donated to the shelter, and I'm in the process getting everything ready. I was wondering if your society, or any of its members, would be able to make some donations to complete the setup of this new aquarium? If so, the shelter has tons of vans and moving gear, and we would be able to transport any items to the shelter.

The shelter residents, the staff, and I would be very grateful for any help, and would be able to give your society some publicity. I'm sure the director of the program would love to have you guys come over to the shelter for a tour and take a few pictures; we would be able to post them on our sites.

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thank you,

Steven Martin

This strikes me as the kind of project that we are well equipped for. If any of our members would like to chip in to help Steve outfit this tank, please let me know. I'll be glad to act as coordinator. If you can't get to me at a meeting, my contact information is toward the bottom of page 2 in this issue.

Dan

PS: Remember -- Next month's meeting is July 11th!


May's Caption Winner:Denver Lettman

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Read all About it! Wiki Leaks!

Kingfish Services.net(http://www.kingfi shservices.net/)

Good for theHobby – Organizations – Industry

Ray “Kingfi sh” LucasCelebrating 23 years in the business

(1989-2012) of participating at your events.


The Modern AquariumCartoon Caption Contest

June, 2012Modern Aquarium has featured cartoons before. This time though, you, the members of Greater City get to choose the caption! Just think of a good caption, then mail, email, or phone the Editor with your caption (phone: 347-866-1107, fax: 877-299-0522, email: [email protected]. Your caption needs to reach the Editor by the third Wednesday of this month. We'll also hand out copies of this page at the meeting, which you can turn in to Marsha before leaving. Winning captions will earn ten points in our Author Awards program, qualifying you for participation in our special "Authors Only" raffle at our Holiday Party and Banquet. Put on your thinking caps!

Cartoon by elliott oshins

Your Caption:

Your Name:


In Retrospectby Steven Hinshaw

First of all, I offer my thanks to Modern Aquarium for presenting my Exotic Aquarium Fish articles! It’s good that you are flexible in presenting all aspects

of the hobby. I think it keeps things fresh and well rounded! In retrospect, I probably should have created some charts simplifying the details. There is a lot of information, and unless the reader takes notes, it can all become somewhat confusing.

For me, writing up these articles has provided a nice bridge for my interests. You see, my wife has accepted a Critical Care Fellowship with the U. S. Air Force and the family will be moving to San Antonio, Texas this spring after 14 years in Sitka. Thus, all my aquaria have been sold or mothballed in preparation for our move!

However, there is one aquarium that gives us bragging rights to always having had a fish tank! Even before we met, both my wife and I have kept a fish

tank regardless of how long or where we have lived (literally, from a month to years) since we were children. One tank in p a r t i c u l a r is very s e n t i m e n t a l to us, and the longest maintained. It is an antique carboy we found in my

wife’s grandmother’s basement over 20 years ago. It was planted with a variety of Sagittaria and pond duckweed soon after.

We have moved with that jar from Maine, to Vermont, to Alaska, and it will go with us to Texas! It has hosted snails, leeches, guppies, freshwater shrimp, bettas, daphnia―just to name a few of the critters―and has generated almost four inches of soil over the years. It has been quite the biome. Depending on the political/environmental/cultural climate, it has had trash reflecting current social trends or toys from our children put in or taken out―so it has been a

dynamic art piece as well!

The most we have ever done to it is add a quarter cup of water every six months or so. The neck is so sloped that any transpiration/e v a p o r a t i o n condenses there and rains back down! I have debated with myself about dredging it, and this move may be the opportunity for that. It has never

really liked Sikta, and is not as lush or green as it once was. Hopefully it will like Texas! We started a sibling jar about ten years ago, seeded from this one, which has done very well and is quite robust! It lived in Juneau, Alaska for a few years with my brother before he moved back to the lower 48, and was a focal point at a local preschool for years after that. I gave that jar away the other day to a friend.

I’ve attached photos of both jars. The one on the right is our 20-year jar; the one with the jar-holding knot is the 10-year-old sibling.


ACA 2012Indianapolis

Welcome, Cichlid Fans, to the american Cichlid association 2012 Convention in indianapolis, indiana! the Circle City aquarium Club proudly presents the aCa 2012 at the Wyndham hotel July 11th – 15th, 2012. Mark your calendars, as you don’t want to miss out on being part of the greatest spectacle in cichlids! so reserve your room now, before its too late!

the aCa 2012 is shaping up to be one of the best conventions ever! We have lots of world class experts that are preparing excellent talks that will blow you out of your seat!http://www.aca2012indy.com/wordpress/

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) June 2012 9Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) June 2012 17

Scientific Name: Parosphromenus deissneriCommon Names: Deissner's Licorice Gourami, Licorice GouramiOrigin: Endemic to the island of Bangka located east of Sumatra, Indonesia. Southeast AsiaSpecial consideration: anabantoid (air breather)Standard Length: 1.5 inchespH: from 5.5 to 6.8 (acidic) Water hardness: 1 to 8° dGH (very soft) Temperature: 79° to 83° FReproduction: Submerged (cave) bubblenesterTemperament: Peaceful, but males display to other males; aggressive while tending nestsEnvironment: low-light tankNutrition: primarily small live foodsConservation status: “vulnerable” (C.A.R.E.S.)

Parosphromenus deissneri

Tiny Fish - BIG ChallengeParosphromenus deissneri

Deissner's Licorice GouramiArticle and photo by ALEXANDER A PRIEST

Generally speaking, most anabantoids (thatis, fish having an accessory organ in theirhead that can utilize atmospheric air) are

easy to keep, but many species can be difficult tospawn in the home aquarium. Licorice gouramisare anabantoids thatare not very difficultto spawn in theaquarium. The trickis to keep them alivelong enough to do so!Added to that, raisingtheir fry to adulthoodrequires a majoreffort and a healthydose of good luck.

There are overa dozen species oflicorice gourami,nearly all of whichare classified aseither “vulnerable” or“endangered” on the“Species at Risk” listof the C.A.R.E.S.Preservation Program.1

The licorice gourami that I will describe hereis one of the most common, though still only rarelyseen in pet stores,P a r o s p h r o m e n u sdeissneri or Deissner’slicorice gourami. Thisis a small fish,achieving no more thanan inch and a half totaladult length. There isconsiderable confusionin the identification ofP a r o s p h r o m e n u sspecies. I have seenmany photographs ofwhat were claimed tobe Parosphromenusdeissneri but thatwere in fact Parosphromenus harveyi orParosphromenus linkei. I have it on fairly goodauthority that the species I have are the “true”Parosphromenus deissneri from the island ofBangka. Bangka (or sometimes Banka) is anisland lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Parosphromenus deissneri have twobrownish stripes running from the nose to the baseof the caudal fin on a pale yellow body. Thecaudal, dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins are nearlytransparent, with a thin light edge. Females are

slightly larger andless colorful.

All licoricegouramis require verysoft acidic water,c a v e s , p l a n t s ,exce l l en t wa te rquality, and live food.Here in l i e t hechallenges. In myexperience, even ift h e y c a n b econditioned to takedried or frozen foods,they do not do wellon them, and I havenever had themspawn on such a diet.However, on a diet oflive microworms,

whiteworms, and brineshrimp (but not live tubifexor blackworms, which, at least in my experience,they do not tolerate well), males will build a

bubblenest in a cave.Spawning almostalways happens out ofsight in the cave. Theonly hint you mayhave that a spawninghas taken place isseeing a male stayingin a cave and chasingaway any and all fishthat venture near,including the femalehe mated with. (Ihave never observed afemale guarding amale ’ s cave , a

behavior I have occasionally seen with somemouthbrooding Betta species.)

Successful raising of the fry is an evengreater challenge, as I have found that they alsowill only thrive on live food, and for these verytiny fish, that means daphnia, microworms,

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)10 June 201218 June 2012 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

paramecia, and newly hatched brineshrimp. Sinceonce the fry are free-swimming they receive noparental care, they should be separated from theadults. Usually it’s easier to catch and move theadults than to try to catch up to 100 fry (it has beenreported that from 40 to 100 eggs can be producedfrom a single spawning.2 Although I have neverseen more than a few dozen fry produced at onetime, that is still quite a lot of extremely tinymoving dashes to try to net out.

Very small (inch to inch and a half total adultlength) bubblenesting fish such as these cannot besubjected to rapidly moving water, even though thebubblenest is submerged in a cave, so box orsponge filtration is necessary. These filtersprovide excellent biological filtration. Box filterscontaining charcoal, peat moss, and certain othermaterials designed to absorb or neutralizeammonia and nitrogen compounds can alsoprovide chemical filtration. However, except fortrapping some fine free-floating particles in thewater, neither sponge nor box filters do a verygood job of removing physical waste products(detritus, dead plant particles, uneaten food, etc.).

Because of this, very frequent, small waterchanges are necessary to provide the pristine waterconditions these fish require. I stress “frequent”and “small” because you don’t want to disturbpossible bubblenests hidden from your view incaves. You also can’t stick a large powerfulsyphon into their tank, as you risk syphoning outnot only fry, but adults as well.

Cleaning the fry grow-out tank is an evengreater challenge. Even the most gentle syphoningwill almost inevitably result in sucking up some ofthe fry, until they have reached at least a half inchin length. However, maintaining good waterquality in the fry tank is even more important thandoing so in the adult tank.

Here are a two techniques I have developedto change water in fry grow-out tanks: For the firstweek or so I use an airstone attached to a length ofairline tubing. I put the airstone into the tank, andstart a syphoning action by sucking on the otherend of the tubing. Just as air bubbles come out of

an airstone, water can be sucked into an airstone.The advantage of this method is that there is zeropossibility of sucking up any fry. Thedisadvantage (and why it can only be usedexclusively for a limited period of time) is that theonly thing that gets removed is water; physicalwaste products remain and build up.

To remove physical waste, I take anaquarium filter bag (the kind you can buy in almostany pet store) or the net portion from a brineshrimpnet, and shove it part of the way into a syphontube, securing the rest of the net to the outside ofthe tube with a rubber band. Now when I syphon,water passes through the net, but physical particles(as well as any fish) are trapped in the net. I justopen the net in a shallow container of tank water,and separate out any accidentally caught fish fromthe detritus.

Aside from small live foods and very cleanwater (anything but zero ammonia, nitrite, andnitrate levels can result in a total disaster),Parosphromenus deissneri need a tank with a lotof hiding places, especially caves. Even thoughthey are cave spawners, floating plants should beprovided, as they also like subdued lighting.Although I have seen mention that they can beraised in neutral pH water, for them to show theirbest (and to set up the optimal conditions for themto spawn), they should have soft, acidic water.Driftwood, dried Indian almond leaves, and/or peatin their box filter will all help reduce pH to createan acidic environment. Most likely, yourParosphromenus deissneri will show their bestwhen their tank water is the color of weak tea. Ifyou are one of those fishkeepers who does not likethat look, then it might be best if you do not trykeeping these fish. Parosphromenus deissneri aremost definitely not for everyone (and mostcertainly not for beginners!).

But, if you are up to a challenge, want tokeep an endangered species (if so, please considerparticipating in our society’s C.A.R.E.S.Preservation Program), and have the time,patience, and space, then I heartily recommendParosphromenus deissneri.

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) June 2012 19

1http://www.carespreservation.com/?FAST=1&merge=priority_list_&SEARCH_SPECIES_ID==A&doc=priority_list.html2 http://fishprofiles.com/profiles/marine/Labyrinth_Fish/Parosphromenus_deissneri_/

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) June 2012 11Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)6 March 2010

BOWL SHOWRULES

There is a Bowl Show at every GCAS meeting, except our Silent Auction/fl eamarket meeting and our Holiday Party and Awards Banquet meeting (December). These shows are open to all members of GCAS. Rules are as follows:

Only current GCAS members may enter fi sh in the Bowl Show.• There is a limit of 2 entries per member per meeting.• Unlike some other clubs, every month is an “open” Bowl Show at the GCAS (i.e., there is no “theme,” • such that one month cichlids are judged, the next livebearers, the next anabantoids, etc.).Any fi sh that wins any prize (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) may not be entered again in the same meeting year.• The current Bowl Show Coordinator is Leonard Ramroop, who usually also serves as judge (although • guest speakers are often asked to do the judging honors).2.5 gallon containers are available for use (brought to the meetings by the Bowl Show Coordinator), • but entrants are responsible for providing enough (and suitable) water for their fi sh. For a fi sh too large (or too small) for those containers, entrants must supply a suitable container, • which must be clear on at least three sides.Only one fi sh per container (i.e., no “pairs”).• No plants, ornaments, or equipment (fi lters, airstone, etc.) are allowed in the judging tank (an external • mirror, or opaque cards between containers is acceptable, as is a cover that does not obstruct side viewing).Points are awarded: 5 points for 1st Place, 3 for 2nd Place, and 1 for 3rd Place.• Ribbons are awarded: blue for 1st Place, red for 2nd Place, and green for 3rd Place.• The person with the most points at the end of the meeting season receives the Walter Hubel “Bowl • Show Champion” trophy at the Awards Banquet.The decision of the judge(s) is fi nal.• A running UNOFFICIAL total of the points awarded is printed in • Modern Aquarium. Only the tally of points maintained by the Bowl Show Coordinator is offi cial.In case of ties• :1• st Tiebreaker – most 1st Places2• nd Tiebreaker – most 2nd Places3• rd Tiebreaker – most entries


The Value of SpeciesEdward L. McCord

Yale University Press, 2012

a Series On Books For The Hobbyistby SUSAN PRIEST

My first impression (as well as my secondand third impressions) was that this bookstarted out as a thesis for an advanced

degree of some sort. After graduation a talentededitor got his or her hands on it, and shortlythereafter it had an ISBN number. There is noreason for me to believethat this is what happened.It is just that the text hassuch a scholarly feel to it.

Some of the chaptertitles are: “To anInquisitive Mind Open toHonest Reflection, theValue of Every Species is Incalculable,” “PropertyOwnership and the Desire for Money Work Againstthe Interests of Species,” and “What Kind ofHumani ty do weEmbrace?” These arethe titles of chapters one,f i v e , a n d e i g h t ,respectively.

T h i s a u t h o rproposes that theintelligence of humanbeings can and mustdefine the value weplace on species otherthan ourselves. All tooof ten the humanapproach begins andends with the question“What economic benefitdo you have to offerme?” In every instance,ME is of course areference to the short-sighted and self-servingcreatures that are US.

{Sometimes I will beparaphras ing , andsometimes I will beeditorializing. Whenyou come acrossitalicized text, that is myinput.}

Right up front, and very frequentlythroughout, Mr. McCord confronts us with a

question. “Did you notice when the natural worldfirst grabbed your attention?” or to paraphrase him,what part of the natural world first grabbed yourattention? Invariably this happened early in eachof our childhoods. For our author, who grew up innorthern Florida, it was carnivorous plants. WhenI posed this question to myself, I was surprised todiscover that it was nightcrawlers, which are aparticularly large variety of earthworm. I used toharvest them from the worm bed next to ourhouse for my grandfather to use as bait when hewent fishing in a large lake in New Hampshire.So, what was it for you? Perhaps you will also besurprised when you discover what it was!

In Chapter One the author was bouncing somany ideas off of me thatI found myself quite at aloss to understand thepoints he was making. Isoon realized that I wasbeing impatient with him.

One of the mainp o i n t s w h i c h h e

repeatedly discusses is the ownership of “privateproperty,” and the conflict which arises betweenthe value of said property to humans vs. the value

of those species whichinhabit it. “A personcannot own naturallyoccurring species.”

Our author wouldlike us to think aboutthis question: “Whenwe hear the captain call‘Iceberg ahead!’. . . willall the money in theworld save us?” Bythen it will of course betoo late to beg, borrowor steal a solution tothe problems facing theenvironment. Thisbook does not purportto offer solutions to anyspecific environmentalchallenges.

One example ofhow two widelydispara te spec iesdepend on each othergoes like this: farmersi n K a n s a s k i l lcutworms whichdestroy their crops.Consequently, the well-

being of grizzly bears in Wyoming is threatenedbecause they eat cutworm moths. THEN thedepartment of Fish, Wildlife and Parks raisedobjections to listing the grizzlies as endangered


CONSERVATION ALERT

I will be reviewing the CARESpreservation program later in the year. If you arenot currently participating in that, or you feelotherwise disconnected from efforts to benefitconservation efforts, I would like to make asimple suggestion. BIRTHDAY CARDS!

Even if you pay your bills through yourcomputer, or you are umbilically attached to yoursmart phone, you will occasionally be callingupon the USPS to deliver a birthday card to yoursister or brother, niece or nephew. When theseoccasions arise, choose a “Save VanishingSpecies” semipostal stamp. A semipostal stampis one which costs slightly more than standardfirst class postage, with the “profits” going toworthy causes.

A semipostal stamp was issued inSeptember 2011. The sale of these stamps willbenefit one of five conservation funds which areprotecting threatened species. The stamp bears avery distinctive image of an AMUR tiger cub.The cost is 55 cents (ten cents more than currentfirst class postage). You can buy them in mostpost offices. They are also available atwww.usps.com

So, you know that your grandmother’sbirthday is coming up soon. She is alreadywatching her mailbox for a card from her favoriteperson (that’s YOU!). You can accomplish twogood deeds at one time by putting a “SaveVanishing Species” stamp on the card. If youwant to do a good deed for the postal service aswell, then put one on your Con Ed bill instead ofpaying it electronically! The more often you usethese stamps, the more you are aidingVANISHING SPECIES.

because they would no longer be able to collectrevenue from the sale of hunting licences. I’ll stophere, but the chain just goes on and on. “No effortto protect other species can ignore the competingvalue of money.”

Now for a really tough question. “Wouldyou lay down your life to protect another species?”Would you forfeit the ten or twenty years you haveleft to insure that another species can survive for20,000 years more? If so, what species? Wouldyou be willing to die tomorrow in order to savepandas? How about pigeons? Would you take afinal dive to save killifish? What about Venusflytraps, or earthworms? The impossibility ofenabling outcomes such as these frees us all tohave a good night’s sleep.

My first impression has followed methroughout. As I reach the end, I am wondering ifthis was a lawyer writing a thesis as he studiesphilosophy, or a philosopher writing a thesis as hestudies law. In either case, to my mind the resultresembles a DNA helix, that is, the most basicelements of every species being intertwined andinterdependent, or, to use the author’s words, “therelated harmony of forms of life.”

Perhaps the fact that our fishes depend on usin very many ways makes them of more interest tous than the squirrels or blue jays in our backyards. Perhaps getting our hands wet makes usfeel more connected to the future.

I liked this book because it posed manyquestions which I had never pondered. Some ofthem were simple, basic questions, and some werestartling. Whether or not they were designed to doso, these questions help the reader sort out theethics of environmentalism for themselves, or, asthe author so succinctly asks in the final sentenceof the book, “Can we at last begin to see that afailure to appreciate other species of life on earthis a failure to appreciate ourselves?”

The particularly engaging cover photo is of tide pool kelp.


A Fish Fit for a Desktopby Jules Birnbaum

Let me tell you a story about a little fish that is well worth trying. At one of our monthly meetings a few years ago Harry Faustmann

handed me a bag of some very, very small fish. Harry packs his fish like no one else in this area. There was a picture of the fish and the full scientific name printed clearly on the bag.

I never found out why he handed me this small bag of fish, but it turned out to be one of the best gifts associated with this hobby that I have ever received. Could it have been because Harry wanted me to develop an interest in killies? Harry gave me some instructions on how to care for them, and off I went.

Epiplatys annulatus, or clown killifish (among several other common names), come from the swamps of the west coast of Africa. They are egg layers, that will attach their eggs to plants, making Java moss or water sprite good plant choices. The long, narrow, torpedo-shaped body is a cream color with black vertical bands. The males’ fins are longer than the females’. The caudal fin is pintail shaped, meaning the inner-most rays are longer. The caudal fin also has some red in it. The males are usually larger than the females, and have longer anal fins. There is a distinctive bright spot on top of the body behind the eyes. This is easily spotted when observing the fish from above. I’m not sure that anyone really knows if this spot has a purpose, but it might have something to do with attracting their diet of live food is attracted near to the surface, where they can gobble it up. It might also disguise them from predators while these little fish are waiting for their next meal.

I placed my fish in a 10 gallon tank, which is a large amount of water for these little fish―when mature, they are no longer than an inch. I picked up some Java moss from one of our auctions, and added just a small layer of fine gravel to cover the bottom of the tank. After about a month I looked in the tank one day and saw a few eighth-inch fry that looked exactly like their parents. As fate would have it, I developed an interest in other fish (I never met a fish I didn’t like), and the colony died out.

Now fast-forward to Harry bringing another bag of Epiplatys annulatus to one of our 2011 meetings.

At about the same time there was a tank sale going at a local pet shop, and I purchased a new 2 ½ gallon tank (the only tank size not on sale), and had a glass top made for it. I should mention, these little fish are great jumpers, so the top is essential.

The only place for such a tank where I could observe such small fish was my desk. Thus, every time I paid a bill or did some other distasteful bookkeeping chore, I could relax by watching these little fish. No kidding―it works!

Tonight I fed them their daily brine shrimp and counted fourteen E. annulatus of all sizes. They prefer moving food. In their natural habitat they hang out just below the surface, waiting for small insects to land on

the water, so flake food is not a favorite.

Breeding is fairly easy. Give them the right conditions and they will do the rest. Their tank was the 2 ½ gallon with a glass top. Some killie breeders use plastic shoe boxes instead of tanks. Since these fish for the most part use the top part of the water, a low, long tank like the type used

for turtles would also be a good choice. My pump is the smallest five-dollar air pump, running the smallest box filter. I prefer box filters, because you can see what is going in the filter, and it can be used to gradually buffer the water. If you are worried about fry getting caught in the box filter, it can be operated with the top removed. Sponge filters are also useful in the breeding setup, and I do use them. In my experience they are not as maintenance free as most aquarists think. The sponges do hold microscopic food that newly born fry can get a start from. Either type filter works well.

These fish don’t like a lot of water movement. Some killie breeders use no filtration, preferring instead to use heavily planted tanks and frequent water changes with very well aged water. My water’s pH is approximately 6.4, which is on the acid side. The gH is slightly on the soft side.

I installed a fifty watt heater to maintain a temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The only plant is water sprite, covering from top to the bottom so the larger fry can’t easily make a meal out of their smaller siblings. The parents don’t seem to bother with the fry. A breeding mop can be used in lieu of plants. A desk lamp with a compact fluorescent bulb is kept


on about 10 hours per day, but subdued lighting is preferable when breeding most killifish. I don’t feed my fry anything other than brine shrimp, since their first food is microscopic live food living around the plants. You can also culture infusoria by placing some lettuce in a plastic container and allowing the water to cloud up with microscopic life. Vinegar eels are also very good fry food, since they stay near the surface. I’ve also used microworms, which normally head for

the bottom, but some get caught in the floating plants so the fry can get at them.

Some authorities say that these fish do better in old, aged, water on the acid side. Once a week I siphon the bottom and replace 50% of the water with aged water from one of my larger tanks. This keeps the fish in top shape. There also are two juvenile Aspidorus catfish for cleanup work. These are wonderful catfish that also are only a little over an inch long when fully grown. I feed the killies very fine flake food in the morning, which is mostly ignored, and brine shrimp in the evening, which is gobbled up.

Much of whatever you find on the internet, books, magazine articles, our meetings, and our club’s experts are from personal experiences. For the most part, these men and women are not scientists doing controlled experiments, but aquarists, just like us. Thus, as they say, “whatever works for you.” If you give this fish a try on your desk, you will find, paying bills a little less of a drudgery.


Our Generous MembersEach month a blue sheet is located on our auction table where those members who donate items to the auction can indicate their donations if they wish to do so. Due to the immense generosity of those who donate, we have no shortage of items to be auctioned. A warm thank you to the following members and others who so generously contributed, making last month’s auction the bountiful success that it was:

Bill AmelySharon BarnettJules BirnbaumCarlotti de JagerPete D'Orio

Rod Du Casse Warren FeuerJoe GraffagninoDan PuleoDan & Marsha Radebaugh

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Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY) June 2012 1718 June 2012 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)

by SUSAN PRIEST

1When you are choosing the location for an aquarium, pretend you are looking for a spot where youmight put a baby’s crib. In particular, avoid a place with a chilly draft, or direct sunlight. Also stayaway from an area with a lot of foot traffic. You will, of course, need a nearby electrical outlet.

2When you are setting up a new aquarium and need to establish the nitrogen cycle, start with one ortwo fish, and add a cup of gravel from a mature tank. A friendly (and smart) salesperson in a pet storeshould be glad to supply you with some. He or she knows that if they help you make a good start ofit, that you will surely be back to purchase more fish. Friendly is much easier to pick out than smart,

but you can use this as a kind of test. If the salesperson is not smart enough to give you a little ripe gravel,then they probably won’t be smart in answering your fishkeeping questions either, and you might want tomove on!

3 NYC tap water has a pH of 7.0 (neutral). Most freshwater tropical fish will adjust to this. However,you owe it to each of your fishes to do a little homework, and find out what level of acidity they willdo best in. Don’t mix acid loving fishes with those which prefer alkaline water. For example, if youmix livebearers, most of which prefer acid conditions, with certain of the cichlids which prefer

alkaline conditions, then neither of them will be happy. (See tip #9.)

4 If a fish somehow finds its own way to the floor, the best “tools” to use in picking it up are your ownwet hands. Don’t reach for a towel or a fishnet or a dustpan or a paper cup. Just scoop it into yourhands, you know, like that Allstate guy on T.V. I’d be willing to bet that he is a fishkeeper too!

5 If you are a gardener, or even if you have houseplants, don’t let the water from your tanks go downthe drain. Fish water is loaded with “stuff” which is beneficial to African violets and philodendrons,tomato plants and petunias, as well as pretty much any thing else that grows in soil. A convenient

method of transferral is to siphon the water from a tank directly into your watering can. If you want to giveyour plants a super double whammy, add some of your favorite terrestrial plant fertilizer to the fish water.I have been using Miracle Grow for many years with observable benefits. Make sure that the soil aroundyour plants is already moist before you fertilize, as this will help with absorption (kind of like a sponge thatwon’t soak up water unless it is already wet). Important: If the tank water has salt in it, do not put it onyour plants.

6 A tightly fitting lid is every fish’s friend. Most fish are jumpers to one degree or another, and thiswill protect them from their own instincts. It will also keep things from accidentally falling in.(Pretzels and the occasional beer bottle have been known to end up in a tank.)

7 If the Baensch Atlas advises that your particular species of fish would benefit by the presence offloating plants in their tank, do not fear. If you are afraid that too long of a photo period willoverheat the water or, worse than that, create an algae bloom, relax. If you likewise dread the thought

of paying any amount of money for floating plants which will not thrive because you are holding back onlighting due to fear #1 and fear #2, once again, you can rest easy. The solution to your problem is in a boxunder one of your aquariums. Just pull out all of the plastic plants which you have long since retired.Detach them from those “V”shaped thingys that are designed to be buried in the gravel as an anchor. Thencut the “plants” into any sized pieces you want, and toss them into your tank. Voila! You now havefloating plants that don’t need any light at all! They will provide just as much shelter to fry as salvinia.They will harbor just as much infusoria as duckweed. They will also make your fishes less likely to takea leap, thereby reducing the likelihood that you will need tip #4. Since you don’t have to go out and buythem, they are basically free, and you can boil them or soak them in bleach if they start to look funky (ofcourse, your fishes won’t notice if they do).


Member Classifieds

EQUIPMENT:

Lifeguard AquaStep UV Light Hang-On -- 25 Watt $30Reaction 4 Model DFU with built-in UV for up to 150 gallon cannister filter $40Vortex Diatom Filter -- Model D1 $30Marineland BioWheel Pro Hang-on filter -- rated up to 400 GPH $25Pro Clear Skimmer -- Rated to 150 gallons $40Call Warren: 631-563-1404------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fish:

Salvini cichlid fry -- Various sizes 3/$5Call Herb 718-225-9648

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY) June 2012 19

8Your mailbox is probably just as full of aquarium supply catalogs as ours is. If you are setting upfilters, then I’m sure you have seen the prices they want for filter media. Yikes! Here is a tip to saveyou some money. Every discount or dollar store sells hair curlers. (For some reason they are always

pink.) Some of them are foam and some of them are hard plastic with about a million little fingers on them.They are especially good when it comes to providing a large surface area for the colonization of beneficialbacteria, but they also serve admirably as a means of mechanical filtration. You can use them in canisterfilters, box filters, and even some power filters. If you shop around you will have no problem finding alarge package of these things for $1.00. You can buy different sizes and slip one inside of another to geteven more bang for your buck. Even if you buy them in a grocery store where they cost a little more, youwill still be saving a bundle!

9Build a library. Nowadays, the first thing anyone does when they want to know something aboutsomething is turn to the internet. Internet “search engines” have their place, but they can’t replacea solid set of reference books. If they could, then Amazon.com/books (as well as other internet booksellers) would show up as a blank page on your computer screen. Slightly used books are very

affordable, and the variety of available titles is much larger than you will find in a bookstore. So, let yourfingers do the shopping as you fill your bookshelf.

10Find a fish friend, you know, someone to shmooze with about anything and everything fishy.Someone to help carry buckets, someone you can “borrow” filter floss from, someone whohas already built their library. If you are lucky like me, your best fish friend lives in the samehouse with you. Or, if you have found your way to the GCAS, and are reading this copy of

Modern Aquarium, then you have a fish friend or two sitting right next to you. Nothing enhances theenjoyment of the tropical fish hobby like someone to share it with, so enjoy already!!


Curaçao's LionfishPart One

Story and Photos by Stephen Sica

It was our first visit to Curaçao in many years. Donna had wanted to visit there for the past two years to observe coral spawning. Most corals spawn

during twilight or at night, and those around Curaçao are no different. Curaçao’s corals predominantly spawn during or near the full moon in September, so the window of opportunity is only two or three nights. Fortunately, Donna decided to start our visit to the island on November 30th to coincide with her birthday and our anniversary, so we missed the coral spawning. Since corals spawn at night, diving to observe them is inconvenient. You usually miss dinner, and it always seems wetter and colder at night. Also, who wants to rinse the dive gear in the cold dark after you’ve already missed dinner? Even the tropics are cold at night, especially when you are wet! You can definitely feel the difference in the water temperature after the sun sets.

We had snorkeled, but never had dived this island, so we were very curious as to what we would find. Our schedule was to make two morning boat dives four days in a row. The dive shop had several locations, one of

them being at our resort, where it offered one shore dive per day from the boat dock. Late in the afternoon on our last diving day, Donna and I made one dive from the dock. About one hundred yards away, the water was a hundred feet deep at a pile of wrecked cars that had been placed there as an artificial reef. We have seen enough old cars back home, including our own, so we declined to visit that spot. Instead, we swam around the reef at a depth of thirty to forty feet. The dive shop required that every buddy team or dive group pull a buoyed dive flag along the surface. Since I wanted to take photos, Donna volunteered to handle the flag, which is by no means an easy feat if you have never done it before. She had to unreel and then reel back the line to avoid too much slack. The dive flag buoy tugged her up and down as I tried to signal her to release more line to stay level. Ultimately, she swam the buoy into a heavy boat mooring line floating on the surface. This line was attached to a large boat buoy, so Donna‘s tugging was never going to untangle the crossed lines. After I did so, the water became extremely dark. Having no doubt that it must be raining up above, we headed back, and


upon exiting the water we rinsed our gear in a heavy downpour.

Here are my general impressions about Curaçao, both above and below the sea. It rained. Quite a bit. We knew that it was the rainy season, but we experienced an awful lot of rain. Curaçao’s annual rainfall is less than twenty-five inches, so we assumed that any rain would be a passing shower, but it was not so! They told us that we were in a stalled front from South America. Curaçao is sixty-five miles off the coast of Venezuela. When we were underwater we knew when it was raining because the seascape became very dark. Our last day, a non-diving day, was sunny. It also was extremely hot for me, but not for Donna, who having no body fat, is almost always cold.

The best dive sites are close to shore, usually only a few hundred feet―even less for some. There are many smaller fish and schools. The fish life reminds me of Florida. The undersea topography of Curaçao, at least close to shore, has a few walls, but most sites slope down into the abyss at about a forty-five degree angle―neither too steeply, nor gently. You can wander down these hills and not realize it as you search for interesting animals, so diving to ninety feet or more is easy to do. The water was fairly clear, with visibility in the sixty-foot plus range, and even more when the sun was shining to brighten up the ocean. The rain didn’t hinder the visibility. The divemasters always instructed us to stay in the sixty-foot range, with greater leeway if you had a computer, which most divers now carry as standard equipment. I went to the eighty to ninety-foot range a few times to follow photo subjects. Otherwise, we tried to stay within the instructed guidelines.

Here are some observations about the sea life. There was more coral, both hard and soft, than around

most islands that I had previously visited. I was impressed by the number of hard corals.

As you know, corals are becoming increasingly endangered worldwide. My experiences indicate that hard corals are dying at a faster rate than are soft corals. A few places in the Florida Keys and Nassau, Bahamas still have exceptional soft corals. Also, I cannot recall seeing as many varieties and specimens of brain corals as in Curaçao. Some were fairly large in size. I saw many anemones, which are among my favorite photo subjects because they don’t move! Feathery tubeworms are all over the place. I saw several free-swimming eels. Grenada, Domenica, and Key Biscayne, Florida are the only locales where I can recall seeing a free-swimming eel. Occasionally in other islands and Florida I have seen an eel swim from one hiding place to another in a coral reef, but in Curaçao I saw at least three free-swimming eels!

There are no groupers in Curaçao; they were fished out many years ago. I suppose the local people, and perhaps a few tourists, had a delicious meal. On

principle, I have never eaten grouper, but I have been told that it is quite tasty. I hope no one choked on a bone.

You will note that I have so far not referred to lionfish. I assure you that Curaçao does have lionfish. In fact, compared to my observations in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Florida, Curaçao is infested with lionfish! Some are even out in the open, albeit usually

with a wall behind them. In one space the size of your outstretched arms I saw five lionfish of various sizes hovering in the water column! We did nine dives in four days, and saw at least one lionfish on eight of those dives. During the shore dive we saw only one lionfish. Between Donna and myself, I estimate that we saw at

Donna unreeling our surface buoy and “divers below flag.”

Donna poses by dive shop logo.


least forty to fifty different lionfish of all sizes. If we both saw the same fish, I am counting it as one sighting. In addition, I can only guess at how many we must have swum past without noticing. Literally, they are all over the place! These fish were all sizes―from juveniles to full grown adults. I had never seen so many juveniles. They hung out with the adults. There was always a space of between one to three feet between the fish that hung out together.

Many of Curaçao’s lionfish had a personal space issue, and would retreat when I approached to take a photo. As a result, I missed many opportunities to photograph exceptional specimens. Some would hover in open water, but as I have mentioned in previous articles, they like to be by a protected nook or crevice. At times I would carefully push my camera forward into a crevice and hope that the flash would not bleach

out the photo, or my movements disturb the sand and any particles in the water to silt out the shot. This is a bane to photographers. The divemasters had told us stories about tourists and even dive professionals who had been stung, so I tried to avoid their mistakes. Sometimes there would be two or three lionfish in a confined space as I angled my camera to photograph one and avoid the others. Finally, there was always a good chance that my camera would malfunction; it did fairly often when I had lined up a really good shot!

Here are several photographs of Curaçao’s lionfish and other sea life. The lionfish photos are self-evident, so I concisely captioned the others. Next month I’ll briefly describe how dive personnel treat their lionfish, and show more of the island’s sea life.

Symmetrical green brain coral, Diploria strigosa, and blackbar soldierfish, Myripristis jacobus.

Magnificent feather duster worm, Sabellastarte magnifica, with white Christmas tree worm, Spirobranchus giganteus, in foreground.

The small yellow fish appear to be juvenile bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum. The two dark fish are bicolor damselfish, Pomacentrus partitus.

Sand diver, Synodus intermedius, partially buried in sandy bottom.

Giant anemone, Condylactis gigantea, with lavender/blue tips.

Stoplight parrotfish, Sparisoma viride. This is specimen displays adult coloration.

Giant anemone, Condylactis gigantea, with bluish tentacles.

Symmetrical green brain coral, near boulder size, Diploria strigosa.


Speaker Jeff Michels with GCASPresident Dan Radebaugh

Frequent visitor Mark Denaro

GCAS C.A.R.E.S. Chairman,Tommy Chang

We had a full house!

Al Priest

Ed Vukich

Sue Priest Jules Birnbaum

Dan Radebaugh

Pictures from our

NEC Article Competition Winners


Ruben Lugo, Jr. Robert DeBonis Andrew Jouan

1st Place: Bill Amely

2nd Place: Rich Waizman 3rd Place: Bob Hamje

Dan Puleo

last meetingPhotos by Susan Priest

Welcome to our newest members:

Bowl Show Winners

Last Month’s Door Prize Winner


GCAS Happenings June

Here are meeting times and locations of some aquarium societies in the Metropolitan New York area:

GREATER CITy AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: July 11, 2012Speaker: rich LevyTopic: Virtual Tour of the Fishrooms of Jeff Bollbach and

Rich LevyMeets: Meets the first Wednesday of the month (except

January & February) at 7:30pm: Queens Botanical garden 43-50 Main street - Flushing, NY Contact: Dan Radebaugh (718) 458-8437Email: [email protected]: http://www.greatercity.org

BIG APPLE GUPPy CLUBMeets: Last Tuesday each month (except Jan, Feb, July,

and august) at 7:30-10:00pm. Alley Pond Environmental Ctr.: 228-06 Northern Blvd. Contact: Donald Curtin (718) 631-0538

BROOkLyN AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: June 8, 2012 Speaker: todd gardnerEvent: Getting Started In Marine AquacultureMeets: 2nd Friday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30pm: NY aquarium - education hall, Brooklyn, NYCall: BAS Events Hotline: (718) 837-4455Website: http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org

LONG ISLAND AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: June 15, 2012Speaker: tBa Topic: TBD Meets: 3rd Fridays (except July and August) 8:00pm. room 120 in endeavor hall on thestate University at

stony Brook Campus, stony Brook, NY Email: Margaret Peterson - [email protected]: http://liasonline.org/

EAST COAST GUPPy ASSOCIATIONMeets: 2nd Tuesday of each month at at 8:00 pm. Alley Pond Environmental Ctr.: 228-06 Northern Blvd. Contact: Gene Baudier (631) 345-6399

NASSAU COUNTy AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: June 12, 2012Speaker: Topic: Fish Jeopardy!Meets: 2nd Tuesday of the month (except July and August)

at 7:30 PM Molloy College - Kellenberg hall ~1000 hempstead ave -

rockville Centre, NYContact: Mike Foran (516) 798-6766Website: http://www.ncasweb.org

NORTH JERSEy AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: June 21, 2012Speaker: Joseph graffagnino Topic: Breeding Fish for beginners Meets at: the Lyndhurst elks Club, 251 Park avenue, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 Contact: NJAS Hotline at (732) 332-1392Email: [email protected]: http://www.njas.net/

NORWALk AqUARIUM SOCIETyNext Meeting: June 21, 2012Speaker: gary Lange Topic: RainbowfishMeets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of each month at:

earthplace - the Nature discovery Center - Westport, CtContact: John Chapkovich (203) 734-7833Call our toll free number (866) 219-4NASEmail: [email protected]: http://norwalkas.org/

A speciAl welcome to new members robert Debonis, AnDrew JouAn, AnD ruben lugo, Junior!

Last Month’s Bowl show Winners:1 William amely Copper Halfmoon Betta

2 riCHard Waizman WHite & red Halfmoon Betta

3 roBert Hamje KriBensis

UnoffiCial 2012 BoWl sHoW totals to date:roBert Hamje 9 jerry o'farrell 5 William amely 5 riCHard Waizman 5 Carlotti dejager 3


In spite of popular demand to thecontrary, this humor and informationcolumn continues. As usual, it doesNOT necessarily represent theopinions of the Editor, or of theGreater City Aquarium Society.

EndangeredCheetos?

A series by The Undergravel Reporter

In the Federal Register of May 4, 20121 therewas an announcement of a petition to list thedwarf seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae, as

threatened or endangered under the EndangeredSpecies Act. On the face of it, this would seem tobe a “no-brainer.” We know all seahorses areendangered, and the amount of seagrass, a criticalhabitat for dwarf seahorses, is steadily declining.2

But, now for the other side of the coin.While there is still time for comments (thecomment period ends on July 3, 2012), here aresome points from comments already submitted bySeahorse Corral, a commercial seahorse breeder.

“I have been captive breeding the dwarfseahorse, H. zosterae for the past 4 years.Although it fluctuates, I would estimate we ship

around 200 individuals a month locally, nationallyand internationally.”

“Because we comply, and continuously provewe can comply with all these rules, we feel we arein no way detrimental to the survival of the dwarfseahorse. Indeed, we and our customers believe weare helping reduce pressure on wild stocks bysupplying seahorses that are healthy, far bettersuited to tank life and thrive in a captiveenvironment.”

“Whilst I cannot tell you whether or not thedwarf seahorse has declined in its wild habitat, Ican categorically tell you that in our tanks itbreeds well and prodigiously, does not suffer withdisease, and does not seem to form themonogamous pair bonds that larger seahorsesdo.”

“Currently, it seems there is no mechanismwithin this legislation to let captive breeders whohave an established business continue with theirwork, although we feel we have the same goal asyou, which is to protect and preserve the wildpopulation.”

Clearly, any law to protect endangeredspecies needs to lookat the broader pictureand, with respect toaquatic plants andanimals, take intoc o n s i d e r a t i o ndedicated hobbyistsand conscientiousb r e e d e r s a n dexporters.

This brings met o a u n i q u econservation effortinvolving Cheetos®.Yes, that cheesy snack(I prefer the puffyones) has found itsway into an on-lineauction to benefit the

Florida reefs.The Cheeto pictured above went for ONE

HUNDRED dollars, with the proceeds going toReef Relief in Key West. I wonder what I can getfor a potato chip with an image of the Statue ofLiberty on it? (OK, it looks more like a burn mark,but, hey, why not give it a try?)

1 https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/05/04/2012-10845/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-dwarf-seahorse-as2 http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/fish/dwarf_seahorse/pdfs/Dwarf_Seahorse_Positive_90_da.pdf3 http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2012-0101-0002


Fin Fun

In the 1984 move “Starman” an alien from another planet takes the form of a young widow's husband. Byspeeding her car through a red light he caused several accidents. When questioned as to whether he knewthe rules of the road on Earth, the alien told the widow, “I watched you very carefully. Red light stop,green light go, yellow light go very fast.” Let’s see if you have a better grasp of the difference betweenred and green as you indicate which of those two colors completes the blank space on each row below:

Common name Scientific Name Red Green

_____ belly piranha Pygocentrus nattereri

_____ catfish Brochis splendens

_____ terror Aequidens rivulatus

_____ snakehead Channa micropeltes

_____ tailed shark Labeo bicolor

_____ Texas cichlid Cichlasoma carpentis

_____ eye tetra Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae

_____ devil Cichlasoma labiatum

_____ fire tetra Aphyocharax rathbuni

_____ spotted cichlid Theraps bifasciatusSource: http://fins.actwin.com/

Solution to our last puzzle:

Cichlid Dwarf Giant

Pelvicachromis taeniatus X

Apistogramma agassizii X

Cichlasoma synspilus X

Nanacara anomala X

Cyphotilapia frontosa X

Aequidens rivulatus X

Dicrossus filamentosa X

Astronotus ocellatus X

Microgeophagus altispinosa X

Apistogramma nijsseni X

Documents

Modern Aquarium June 2012