Modern Aquarium December 2010

December 2010 volume XVII number 10

Series III ON THE COVER Our cover photo this month features two color variants of the popular gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus. For more information about this longtime hobby favorite, see Al Priest’s “A One-Species Community,” on page 10.

Photo by Alexander A. Priest GREATER CITY AQUARIUM SOCIETY

Vol. XVII, No. 10 December, 2010

In This Issue From the Editor Letter to the Editor President’s Message G.C.A.S. 2010 Program Schedule

Board Members

President Vice-President Treasurer Corresponding Secretary Recording Secretary

Dan Radebaugh Mark Soberman Jules Birnbaum Warren Feuer Edward Vukich

Members At Large

Claudia Dickinson Artie Friedman Ben Haus Leonard Ramroop

Pete D’Orio Al Grusell Emma Haus

Committee Chairs

A.C.A. Delegate Bowl Show Breeder Award

Early Arrivals F.A.A.S. Delegate Members/Programs N.E.C. Delegate Technology Coordinator

Claudia Dickinson Leonard Ramroop Warren Feuer Mark Soberman Al Grusell Alexander A. Priest Claudia Dickinson Claudia Dickinson Warren Feuer

MODERN AQUARIUM Editor in Chief Copy Editors

Exchange Editors

Advertising Mgr.

Dan Radebaugh Sharon Barnett Susan Priest Alexander A. Priest Stephen Sica Donna Sosna Sica Mark Soberman

Our Generous Members Last Month’s Bowl Show Winners Photos by Alexander A. Priest

The Cardinal Tetra Story

by Alan Mark Fletcher Introduction by Joseph Ferdenzi Postscript by Rosario LaCorte

A One-Species Community Trichogaster trichopterus

by Alexander A. Priest

Wet Leaves

by Susan Priest

To Build, or Not to Build That is the Question!

by Jules Birnbaum

My Favorite Catfish Corydoras punctatus

by Stephen Sica

G.C.A.S. Past Award Winners G.C.A.S. 2010 Award Winners The G.C.A.S. Author Award Program G.C.A.S. Breeders Award Program 2010 G.C.A.S. Happenings The Undergravel Reporter Giving Your Fish Some Gifts

Fin Fun (Puzzle Page) Name That Cory!

2 3 4 5 5 6 7

10 12 13 15

18 19 20 23 26 27 28

From the Editor

by Dan Radebaugh

J

oe Ferdenzi has written many memorable articles for Modern Aquarium, and when he told me a month or so ago that he had something very special in the works I naturally assumed that it would be something written by him. Well, so much for assuming. Instead, we are treated this month to an article by Alan Mark Fletcher, a true icon of the aquarium hobby, with an introduction by Joe and a postscript by another icon of the hobby, Rosario LaCorte. Both of these gentlemen are longtime friends of Greater City, and we are honored to include “The Cardinal Tetra Story” in Modern Aquarium.

Tonight is our annual Holiday Awards Banquet, and to keep you in suspense we don’t distribute this issue of Modern Aquarium until after the awards have been presented. For a recap of the winners, a salute to past winners, and a summary of our Author Awards Program and Breeder Awards Program, be sure and see the Awards section, which begins on page 18.

What kind of tank is best, single species or community? It’s an old question. 2010’s Author of the Year is the prolific and erudite Al Priest, who reminds us in his article, “A One-Species Community,” and with this month’s cover photo, that the familiar gourami makes it quite possible to have a species tank with the look of a community tank. The best of both worlds!

Another familiar dilemma is whether to have your tanks scattered about your domicile or to put all your eggs in one basket by setting up a fishroom. There are virtues to both approaches.

On the one hand the fish are there to see wherever you are in your home (or office), and you don’t have to exile yourself from your home and family to have the pleasure of your fishes’ company. On the other hand, past a certain number of tanks in a certain number of rooms (I’m very close to those numbers if not already beyond them) feeding and tank maintenance really start to become a chore, not to mention the stresses caused by the inevitable “water events.” So if you think you’re ready to go for it, Jules Birnbaum’s “To Build or Not to Build” gives us a clue about how to proceed.

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We’ve been on a bit of a roll lately with Corydoras articles, and Steve Sica keeps it going this month with his Favorite Catfish, Corydoras punctatus. Not ignoring us cichlid lovers, in Sue Priest’s “Wet Leaves” this month she reviews a splendid book on Lake Malawi cichlids. The Undergravel Reporter shows us how we can include gifts to our fish in our holiday spirit, and our puzzle, “Fin Fun,” returns to the Corydoras theme to end the issue.

Before closing, I send a warm Thank You to all our authors, who make Modern Aquarium possible. We all benefit from your insight and generosity. Happy Holidays!

Remember, we need more 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 gcas@earthlink. net, or just hand it to me at a meeting. However you get it to me, I’ll be delighted to receive it!

December 2010

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

...And To the Editor Dear Dan,

In the last few days, you had an eruption of contacts with daughters of “old GCAS” members: Linda Suppa, daughter of John Cillo, and Terri Kenny, daughter of Dan and Mary Carson. I’m Terri’s Mom.

I knew GCAS was still “there” because I corresponded with Marsha Repanes (wife of the late Nick Repines...late 60’s era).

When my Christmas letters were returned by the Post Office, I wondered if Marsha had moved, or if she had died. After I talked with another of my daughters, she tracked links through the computer and found GCAS. Marsha had died. She was a bit of a shy lady, but was always so gracious with my passel of kids...particularly one of the younger ones.

I don’t know if anyone, today, is aware of it but Isaac Azimov, the science-fiction writer, was Marsha’s brother.

I no longer have any involvement with tropical fish (other than those that are offered by the fish-market and broil well for dinner. Guppies on tooth picks never seemed practical.) My interest in the “fish stuff” was primarily from an artistic standpoint...making tanks an attractive three-dimensional work of living art. My cooking fish food was a side-benefit for Dan.

I must tell you that the job you have done on Modern Aquarium is marvelous! The artwork, the layouts, the whole general appearance is undoubtedly the finest magazine that GCAS has ever had. (In self defense, computers have added a new dimension to publishing.) Nevertheless, you

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

use the computer well. I’ve seen big name magazines that have produced layouts that are uncomfortable...seem to be done just because the computer could do it. You use the computers abilities most tastefully! Keep it up.

My daughter, Terri, tells me that you have invited me to the Christmas Party in December. I’ll put it on the calendar...but I won’t promise. There is much else going on in my life.

Dan and I divorced. I’ve remarried.

My husband, Warren, has been ill. I’ll see how he is by then. Maybe, if in good shape, I’ll bring him along. Between us, we have: 11 kids:. 8 spouses, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great grandkids.

Right now, my intention is to come to the party. If you have some really old-timers, they might remember the Elzers, the Ahlers, ...and other names that I can’t remember because I’ve gotten that much older myself.

However, know that it is flattering that you are reprinting articles from years ago. My suggestion...look for an article “oldie” titled “Deep In The Heart.” I think it was one of the best things I ever wrote.

Thank you for all the “thrill of connection” you have created.

Sincerely,

Mary (Carson) Eckman

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President’s Message

by Dan Radebaugh

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ast month in my Editor’s column I mentioned receiving an email from the daughter of a former member, which in turn led to other emails, and stimulated me to reprint an article from an old issue of Modern Aquarium. Well, the email chain has continued and expanded, as you can see from Mary (Carson) Eckman’s letter on the preceding page. I’m of course writing this in advance of tonight’s meeting, but I have every expectation and hope that Mary, as well as her daughter Terri (Carson) Kenny and Linda (Cilio) Suppa, who sent me the original email, will join us here at our Holiday Awards Banquet. On behalf of Greater City, I am very gratified that these representatives of our club’s history have found it of value to reconnect with us. Welcome back!

An important order of business tonight is voting our approval of new Board members.

Warren Feuer and Mark Soberman have decided that it is time for them to step down and let someone else carry the baton. We deeply appreciate their service over the years,

and respect their decision. Now it’s time for other members to step up, and the people listed on your voting form have volunteered to raise their level of commitment. Please take a voting form, mark your approval or disapproval of our new candidates, and turn it in this evening. Thank you.

Our first meeting of 2011 will be Wednesday, March 2, at our usual meeting venue, the Queens Botanical Garden. My best wishes to you all for the Holidays, and I’ll see you in March!

Dan

Our Generous Members Each 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 Amely Mario Bengcion Jules Birnbaum Jeff Bollbach Carlotti de Jager Jason Kerner 4

Elliot Oshins Michael Macht Dan Puleo Dan & Marsha Radebaugh Ed Vukich

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GCAS Programs 2010-11

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t 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 December

Holiday Party!

January

Winter Break

February

Winter Break

March

La Monte Brown Native Fishes

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 gcas@earthlink. net. Copyright 2010 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 Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2010

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Last Month’s Bowl Show Winners

1st Place Winner: Jules Birnbaum

3rd Place Winner: Harry Faustmann

2nd Place Winner: Mario Bengcion

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December2010 2010 December

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

The Cardinal Tetra Story

by Alan Mark Fletcher with a postscript by Rosario LaCorte

Introduction

In the course of his studies of native Brazilian tribal groups, he often found himself in very remote parts of he cardinal tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi, is Brazil. We have benefitted greatly, because he netted undoubtedly one of, if not the most, spectacular fishes when he was in those places. He also had a freshwater fish ever introduced into the aquarium good knowledge of the Brazilian fish-collecting scene hobby. The story behind its discovery and naming has in general. HRA had visited Schultz in Brazil (along been shrouded in mystery and controversy ever since with Rosario!), so they must have been friends. its introduction in the mid 1950s. Here, for the first Schultz visited the U.S. as a guest of HRA, time, is the story as told to us and said that, among by two men of unquestionable others, he would like credentials. Alan Fletcher, at to meet me. I believe the time, was working with the he also spent time with legendary William T. Innes, Rosario on that visit. author of the classic Exotic So Herb arranged to Aquarium Fishes, and editor drive Schultz down to and publisher of the best-selling our humble dwelling The Aquarium magazine. Alan in Amber, PA on a was also working as an editor on Saturday. He arrived in that magazine. Alan knew just a powder blue Cadillac, about everyone who was anyone the largest model short in the hobby at the time. He was of a limousine, and a trained scientist, had gone on parked it on our front expeditions to South America, Photo of “Paracheirodon cardinalis” courtesy of Wikipedia lawn. He came dressed and was an accomplished author. in a suit and tie, and in his coat breast pocket he had Rosario LaCorte was (and still is) one of the five Corona Corona cigars, each carefully aligned so hobby’s most accomplished breeders of aquarium fish. that you could read the label. For those of you who He rightfully enjoyed a nationwide reputation, and was may not know it, Corona Coronas were Havana cigars friends or acquainted with virtually every prominent that sold for a dollar each―a lot of money for one hobbyist of the day, including Herbert R. Axelrod, smoke in those times. It was obvious that he was with whom he went on several collecting trips to trying to impress me with his prosperity, but I always South America. Like Alan, Rosario has also been a suspected that the Cadillac might have been rented, prolific writer of articles and books on aquarium fish. because it was early in his career, and he could not These two accomplished gentlemen have combined to have accumulated much wealth by that time. present this story. Enjoy.

Now for the cardinal tetra. I am sorry, but either I never knew, or I have forgotten, how the first Joseph Ferdenzi cardinals got from the Rio Negro collecting site to Paramount Aquarium’s plant in Ardsley, Westchester County, New York. Heiko Bleher gives one account in his cardinal article in Nutrafin Aquatic News, and eople have urged me to tell the story of Dr. Rosario says he got another story from Harald Schultz.

Herbert R. Axelrod’s (HRA) and Harald (the If I had to choose, I would correct spelling!) place more confidence in Schultz’s visit to our humble Rosario’s version.

Cape Cod cottage in the I would not be Philadelphia suburbs in the surprised if that first mid-1950s. shipment did come Harald Schultz was via Louis Chung, in a distinguished Brazilian Georgetown, Guyana, Ad appearing in the April, ethnologist. Fortunately for as Bleher claims. Chung 1956 issue of The Aquarium. our hobby, he was also an was Paramount’s agent in Guyana. I don’t believe avid tropical fish enthusiast. Alan Mark Fletcher* there was air service between Manaus and Georgetown

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at that time. Most likely, what happened was that Paramount’s own plane picked them up in Manaus and carried them to Chung’s establishment for a change of water, repacking, and a rest, before carrying them to Miami. That was a common practice when Paramount brought plane-loads of fish from the Amazon.

We received a phone call from Fred Cochu (president and co-owner of Paramount) saying that they had a new, more brightly colored neon tetra, and that he was going to send us some. He wanted us to find out if it was a new species or just a variant of the neon. Fred sent a carton of cardinals down to our house in Ambler, carried in Paramount’s delivery truck. Some of them went to Innes for his color plate, and I preserved some of them and sent them to Dr. George Myers, at Stanford University. (I believe I preserved them in formalin, because I knew that alcohol dissolves out red and yellow pigments.)

Months went by, and we heard nothing back from Myers. He probably just put them on his shelf for when he got around to it, as is commonly done.

One day Fred called again, saying that he had heard that HRA had gotten some of the cardinals, and that he was doing something with them through Dr. Leonard Schultz, at the Smithsonian. Could we please ask Myers to get going on his specimens? I called Myers, and he agreed to work on them immediately. I think it is likely that he actually passed them along to his graduate student, Stanley Weitzman. Stan could enlighten us on that. I have never asked him, but I understand that he has put the cardinal tetra affair behind him, and he does not talk about it. We all know that they found it to be a new species, and they named it Hyphessobrycon cardinalis. A paper describing the new species was written and scheduled for publication in The Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin.

Dr. Schultz also found it to be a new species, and he named it Cheirodon axelrodi. His paper appeared in Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH) magazine. As it worked out, the TFH article came out (supposedly) a day or two before the Stanford journal. Joe Ferdenzi has pointed out that it was the only issue of TFH that ever had a month-day-year on it. Everyone suspected that Herb had rushed a hand-folded copy of TFH to the Post Office to validate a date. In any event, the contested names went to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature for adjudication. The first decision that had to be made was whether TFH (at that time) was a legitimate publication, acceptable for a description of a new species. They ruled that it was.

The commission then ruled in favor of Schultz’s paper, solely on the basis of the publication dates. Members of the commission later told either Innes or Myers that the commission was well aware that something shady had gone on, but they had no direct evidence of it.

They had to rule on what was presented to them. If only Dr. Myers had gone to work on those specimens the day he had received them!

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I had thought that we might never know how those first cardinals got from Paramount to Sol Kessler’s fish shop in New Jersey, to Axelrod, but Rosario LaCorte’s remarkable article which accompanies this piece sheds light on this part of the story. Herb admitted in some of his earlier writings that they had come from Kessler.

In his later writings he told a grandiose story about how he had discovered them on a trip to the upper Rio Negro.

I have written elsewhere that Fred Cochu had gone to his grave resenting that “his” fish was named for someone who had nothing to do with its discovery or introduction. Considering that Fred had gone to so much trouble to bring in the fish, and that it turned out to be one of the most popular aquarium fish of all time, I think Fred’s bitterness about it is understandable.

Some have suggested that Fred’s attitude was just ego, but it could not have been, since several aquarium fishes carry the scientific name cochui.

So that’s it. And, oh yes, in an exquisite twist of fate, Myers’s graduate student, Dr. Stanley Weitzmen, succeeded Dr. Leonard Schultz as Curator of Fishes at the Smithsonian!

Alan Mark Fletcher

Cover of the April, 1956 issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist

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From page 43 of the same issue of TFH, a footnote thanking Sol Kessler.

Contents page of April, 1956 TFH (cover on facing page) showing “Scarlet Characin” article. Note “February 20, 1956” date.

Postscript

S

ol Kessler, whom I knew very well, was the owner of the Irvington Fish Bowl. He had a very nice store―it was neat, and he always had some interesting fish, which was not common in other stores. Sol told me that he had a deal with a number of wholesalers, that whenever they Rosario LaCorte** got unusual fish, or “oddballs” collected as “by-catch,” they would place them in a holding tank and save them for Sol. He would pay them some extra money for the consideration. Paramount contacted Sol when they received the first shipment for resale. Sol was a good businessman, and when he bought anything he would purchase a sufficient quantity to make a good first impression. Vic Hritz, of Crystal Aquarium, was another store owner who had a good business sense in knowing the importance of displaying numbers. In other words, a tank of several hundred cardinals or neons, rather than say twenty of the same fish, would impact the first-time viewer with, “Wow! Look at that!”

Upon purchasing the cardinals, Sol contacted Bill Vorderwinkler so that he could pick up some for the TFH office, which at the time was located in Jersey City. Bill lived in Elizabeth, NJ at the time (as did I), so he was not very far from the Fish Bowl, and it was quite easy for him to pick up the specimens for Herb.

I was closely associated with Herb at that time, and I used to bring fish to his office at least twice a month for him to photograph (I was not yet into photography).

Many of my fish appeared in his publications, though not once with the notation, “courtesy of R. LaCorte.”

Shortly after the naming of the cardinal, I asked Herb why he had not had a species of fish named after him by Leonard Schultz, since they were so closely associated.

His exact words to me were, “Schultz offered to name a fish earlier, but I will select the fish that I want when I see it.” Upon receiving the cardinal, he purchased an airline ticket to Washington, DC, and with fish in hand, flew to DC, and showing Schultz the specimens from Sol Kessler, said, “This is the fish I want named after me.” That’s how the cardinal got its name.

Rosario LaCorte

*Photo by Claudia Dickinson **Photo by Jules Birnbaum

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A One-Species Community Trichogaster trichopterus Article and photos by ALEXANDER A PRIEST his article is about one species of fish that Depending the color morph, they may have could create a “community tank” all by two large dark spots – one in the center of the flank itself.

This species is Trichogaster and the other at the caudal peduncle (base of the trichopterus, commonly known as either the gold tail fin). The third spot in the three-spot variety is gourami, the blue gourami, the Cosby gourami, the the eye, although some references, primarily opaline gourami,, the British, discount the lavender gourami, or the eye and refer to the three-spot gourami, two-spot Gourami1 It appears the depending on the color original (i.e., first morph. described) color Trichogaster morph of Trichogaster trichopterus are native trichopterus was the to the marshes, swamps, blue gourami, which canals, and lowland is the same as the wetlands of Southeast three-spot gourami.

Asia where they inhabit The opaline gourami shallow, sluggish, or is a color variant of standing water with a lot the three-spot (blue) of aquatic vegetation. gourami, with darker During the rainy season, blue pattern markings they migrate from instead of distinct body spots. The Cosby gourami, permanent water bodies into flooded areas. During named after the American fish breeder who first the dry season, they migrate back to permanent produced it, has a water bodies. similar marbleized In their natural Scientific Name: Trichogaster trichopterus dark blue pattern on habitat, they feed on Common Names: Blue gourami, Cosby gourami, a light blue body. zooplankton, Gold gourami, Opaline gourami, Lavender The gold gourami crustaceans, and gourami, Three-spot Gourami, among others lacks spots, and has a insect larvae. (There Special consideration: anabantoid (air breather) gold coloration. is a classic photo of a Since these are Blue Gourami spitting Standard Length: 5" all the same species, at a fly, trying to pH: Will tolerate from 6.0 to 8.8 a gold gourami can knock it into the (optimum is 6.8 - slightly acidic), breed with a blue water.)1 Water hardness: 5 to 35 dGH (very soft to soft) In the aquarium, gourami (or with an Temperature: 73° to 82° F they will eat almost opaline gourami, a Reproduction: Bubblenester anything, but painful lavender gourami, Temperament: Peaceful, but males will experience has taught etc.), and since there actively defend their bubble nests me not to feed blood, are likely no pure Environment: low-light tank with floating plants tubifex, grindal, color morph strains, Nutrition: omnivore white, or most any it’s anyone’s guess (plant-based food recommended) other type of worm to as to what will result. gouramis. I have had (The drawing of the best results with plant (algae) based food and live fish on the Singapore postage stamp in this article adult brine shrimp. shows both body spots and marbleized patterning.)

Trichogaster trichopterus have a laterally Thus, you can have a whole community of compressed (flat), oval-shaped body and long differently colored and patterned fish, all of which thread-like pelvic fins (Trichopterus means hair are the same species (so you don’t need to worry fin). They use this “hair fin” to feel their about cross-breeding, because in this case that’s surroundings, as well as other fish. acceptable!).

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A male gold gourami (note the long and pointed dorsal fin)

A female gold gourami (note the shorter, more rounded dorsal and wider body)

They are large enough to be considered a food fish in their native habitat. While I have seen references to them attaining six inches in length, I have never seen one over five inches.

They are omnivorous, and will accept almost any food offered (they are sometimes used to clear a tank of hydra). They tolerate a wide range of water conditions. While they do best in a slightly acidic environment, they can adapt to and survive in very soft to very hard water (but I would not expect much spawning activity in hard water).

The older (and larger) they get, the easier it is to determine their sex. Generally, males have a longer dorsal fin, which is more pointed at the end.

Females have a shorter, rounder dorsal fin, and usually have a rounder body, due to the presence of eggs.

Spawning begins with a male building a nest of bubbles among plants floating at the surface of the water, and then swimming back and forth under it, flaring his fins to attract a female. A female approaches a male at his nest and nudges him on the side to indicate her readiness to spawn.

To encourage spawning, floating plants should be provided. Since the male’s nest consists only of bubbles and mucus, powerheads, power filters, spraybars, and other filtration methods that produce water surface agitation or movement should be avoided. Raising the water temperature and lowering the water level will also help trigger spawning activity.

The spawning act is similar to other bubblenesting anabantoids. The male curves his body around the female, the pair shake as the male presses inward, and fertilized eggs float up to the nest. This is repeated many times in a one or two hour period. The male then chases the female (and any other fish) away and tends his nest. He may sometimes put eggs in his mouth and look as though he is eating them. but he usually returns those eggs to the nest. While generally peaceful with similar sized fish, a male guarding his nest can be very aggressive and territorial, so I’d recommend removing the female now.

After the eggs hatch (usually within a day or two), the wrigglers float upside down beneath their yolk sacs. Do not feed them at this point, as the yolk sac provides all the nutrition they need.

However, this is the time to remove the male. A day or two after the fry have hatched, the yolk sac is absorbed, and they are free swimming. Now they are ready for you to feed them. If you don’t have infusoria, microworms, or vinegar eels handy, extremely powdered flake food will do.

As are all gourami species, Trichogaster trichopterus is an anabantoid, meaning that adults primarily rely on an accessory organ in their head to extract oxygen from air gulped at the water’s surface. Since anabantoids can survive outside of water for extended periods of time, as long as their bodies do not dry out, jumping into surrounding wet grass or mud to avoid a predator is hard wired into their being. So anabantoids should always be considered a jumping risk in the aquarium, and tight fitting covers are essential.

This is a great choice for the beginning aquarist, but remember that they get fairly large, and an adult pair needs at least a 20 gallon tank (a “20-long” is even better). One or more varieties can usually be found in a local fish store. They are hardy, easy to feed, and come in a variety of colors and patterns. They will breed in the home aquarium (while at least one classic reference book3 indicates that breeding is very difficult, this is decidedly a minority view).

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References Vierke, Jörg, Bettas, Gouramis and Other Anabantoids, TFH (1988), p. 18 - photo by Ruda Zukal 1

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Dawes, John, The Concise Encyclopedia of Popular Freshwater Tropical Fish , Parragon (1999), p. 178 3 Linke, Horst, Labyrinth Fish - The Bubble-NestBuilders, Tetra Press (1991), p. 137

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explicit as well as the exquisite. The text is nothing short of encyclopedic. A brief quote or two couldn’t possibly exemplify the scope of detail presented to us by Mr. Konings, as he draws from over 900 hours of underwater observations. “All photographs in this book [are] by the author unless otherwise credited.” (Without having made a A Series On Books For The Hobbyist diligent search, I didn’t come across even one photo which was so designated.) Virtually all of

by SUSAN PRIEST the photos of fish were taken within lake Malawi. his book is on loan to me from one of our The photography not only serves identification members. You all know him. He is at every purposes, but is truly a work of art. meeting, and his name The paper is of a heavy is Tommy Chang. Tommy weight, and with a glossy Malaëi Cichlids has many extraordinary finish. The feel of it under in their natural habitat challenges to cope with in his your fingers compels you to

By Ad Konings life. One of these challenges linger over each page. The Cichlid Press, 2001 has made it necessary for him result of this is that you will to give up his much beloved spend more time reading collection of Malawi cichlids. and/or viewing the This doubles my task. First I must describe the photographs. Otherwise stated, you will become fish themselves, and what makes them so special. more thoroughly immersed in the world of these Then I have to tell you about the book. I guess I fish than you thought you might. I know I did. had better get started.

If I were viewing All of the features an individual fish, I of tropical fish which know that I couldn’t drew you to this hobby possibly identify its in the first place, and species (Latin names have kept you interested only), based on the and involved for many thickness or thinness of years, can be found in its stripes or the the population of markings on its anal Malawi cichlids. fin, but I am sure that I Strikingly colorful, they would want to, and are beautiful in every equally sure that I detail. Even though a would know where to first glance through the find out. At a list price pages of photos may of $49.00, it could fall give you the impression into the category of an that many of them are investment for many of similar to the point of you, but since there is a being almost identical, 4th edition available, when you spend a little investing a bit of time more time and look a in some savvy little more closely, the shopping might serve individuality of each you well. species will become Tommy, I hope apparent. that your circumstances These fish are will evolve to the point maternal mouthbrooders. where you will be able Most of the males have distinctive egg spots on to maintain as many aquariums full of Malawi their anal fins, which helps to ensure that cichlids as your heart desires. Until that time fertilization takes place. Their already bold comes, I know you will be visiting with them in the coloration takes on even more intensity when these pages of this beautiful book. fish don their breeding dress. Most species will readily breed in your aquarium.

Since this is supposed to be a book review, I think it is time for me to move on to the book itself, which is well suited to connoisseurs of the

T

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

December December 2010 2010

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

To Build, or Not to Build?

That is the Question!

by Jules Birnbaum Why build a fishroom?

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

A central place to watch your fish?

One air pump to run many sponge or box filters instead of many pumps?

One central room heater instead of individual heaters in each tank?

Built-in lighting instead of many lights on each tank?

Easier water changes and other tank servicing?

Have more and larger tanks without your wife going nuts?

Breed a number of different fish and still have homes for all the fry?

Have a place to get away from this mad, mad world?

Receive more visits from friends and relatives who will want to see what’s going on?

You’ve visited some local fishrooms, and were impressed by what these people had accomplished?

T

he answer is all of the above, and probably more. If you have decided to build the room, the next question is where? An upstairs room is not usually a good idea due to the weight. A gallon of water weighs approximately 8.34 pounds, and then you have the weight of the tank and the gravel. I found this out after I had put fourteen tanks (some small) in an upstairs den. I had nightmares about the ceiling collapsing.

from a fishroom supply house such as JEHMCO in New Jersey. The racks can be put together with deck screws, and 4” X 6” shelf supports can be notched for added strength.

You can also use heavy duty metal racks, which can be purchased at a local Home Depot, or online. I have found that there are heavy duty metal racks made to hold 2,000 pounds per shelf, but they are more expensive than wood, and they only come in standard sizes. Over time metal racks usually rust, and since we are dealing with water that could be a problem.

If there is no room in the basement, or if you don’t have a basement, look at your garage. I had noticed that many of our neighbors were using their one-car garages not for cars, but for storage. Keep in mind that your car is waterproof, so it can be left outside. This was my choice when I recently built my own 9’ X 11’ fishroom.

Jules and son-in-law Brian Horton, setting up a tank.

The least expensive way to go is to section off a small area of the basement. You can easily frame out a small room and insulate the walls. The walls and the insulation should be a high R rating to maintain the heat. The R rating of the wall is a measure of its thermal resistance. The standard recommended R rating for homes is lower than that required for a fishroom . Tanks should be covered to help control humidity.

Use a paint meant to resist the humidity created by all that water.

The racks can be made of 2X4’s (these actually measure 1.5” X 3.5”), and plans and help can easily be acquired from some of our expert members or Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

A garage! Yeah! There’s the ticket!

I convinced my wife that she could have a new laundry room, an extra refrigerator, and a separate storage room as part of the project. JEHMCO, the fishroom supply house, also helped me select the correct pump, hoses, manifolds, and valves to run 20 to

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30 tanks of varying sizes. They also sold me a simple, inexpensive water changing device that eliminated lifting buckets of water. You can also construct a permanent PVC pipe system attached to the racks that make water changing a snap.

The room presently contains 20 tanks, and has one central piston air pump to run sponge and box filters. We used 4-foot shop lights on a timer, hung above the tanks, which saved some money. All the lights are kept on 11 hours per day, but sometimes I manually shut them off for one day each week. All my plants are low-light varieties.

An additional extravagance was installing a Mitsubishi heat pump, offering heat and air conditioning in one unit. The unit also removes excess humidity. The tanks are mainly 20 gallon or 29 gallons, .but there are also a few smaller and larger tanks. There is also a 19� HDTV to watch my beloved (ha!) Mets (and the Yankees), and an extension phone so that I can conveniently be reached.

The room has been fully operational for a few months, and it’s all I imagined when I was dreaming about the project. During our hot summer it was a cool place to be, and now that the weather cooled off the heat pump is easily providing enough heat to maintain the tanks at 76 degrees.

What mistakes did I make? The first was that the electrical outlets should have been installed higher up. However, we were able to correct this by using

The beginning.

buses, or power strips, to give me outlets at the correct height above the tanks. The second mistake was that, when designing the rack, we should have paid more attention to standard tank sizes. Custom-sized tanks can be purchased from a tank manufacturer such as Glass Cages, but this is more costly than using standard sizes.

If you like this hobby enough, or would like to enjoy it more fully, a fishroom is a great way to go.

Whether for just a few tanks or for 20+, a dedicated room will make everyone happier. There are experts in the Greater City Aquarium Society who can help you make the project a success. Build it. You won’t regret it.

Carpenter Mario Recinos, with assistant Jose on ladder.

Mario, assembling and installing the racks which were cut outside from my design.

Two men from All Seasons Air Conditioning are shown installing the heat pump just outside the fish room.

The result.

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December 2010

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

My Favorite Catfish Corydoras punctatus Story and Photos by Stephen Sica

O

n an early September weekday morning Donna and I were driving west along the Jericho Turnpike when she said, “Look, the pet shop is closing!” I didn’t have time to turn my head, but she told me that there were signs in the window that everything was on sale. I said that I would check it out for bargains, but so far I haven’t. But it did bring back recollections of a visit that I had made there two or three years ago when the shop sported a different name.

My ancient 15 gallon tank had sprung a leak. Rather than try to repair it, I decided to use the occasion to upgrade to a twenty gallon long, so I purchased a new tank.

After transferring my fish, I decided that the new tank needed some catfish. Of course, they had to be my favorite catfish; Corydoras or nothing!

One day soon after our drive, I decided to take the day off from work. I was determined to visit several local pet shops to search for some attractive but inexpensive corys. My first stop was this soonto-be-defunct (but hopefully to rise again under yet another owner) pet shop. I spent some time browsing every tank in order to amuse myself for a few minutes.

Then I began studying the catfish. Eventually, I saw two “spotfin” or “spotted” corydoras that were labeled as punctatus. They were cute (doesn’t that describe all small fish?), attractive, and fairly inexpensive. I don’t remember the exact price, but less than three dollars each. In fact, they were priced less if you purchased the fish in pairs.

I waved to the clerk; he began to catch and bag the only two punctatus that were left in the tank.

While he was bagging the fish, I noticed another lonely looking punctatus hiding out with a different Corydoras species, so I purchased all three. Besides, who wants a school of only two catfish? Three are a lot better―okay, a little better.

I acclimated my new fish to their new home, and to this day all three live a happy, social life. They share their home with small danios, rasboras and white Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

clouds. Of course, if anyone would like to give, sell, or direct me to additional specimens, I am sure that some additional relatives would make my three catfish even happier!

Unfortunately, I think that this fish may be uncommon in the hobby. I haven’t been searching for them since my initial purchase, but I’ve never seen them in a local pet shop. Regrettably, since my attendance at the GCAS Corydoras catfish lectures

by Ian Fuller and our own Mark Soberman, I always scrutinize my “exotic” corys with caution, never knowing for sure if it is the fish that it claims it to be.

I suppose it’s not the fish’s fault, but when you’re in a certain mood you have to blame someone, and your fish are always readily available. Besides, they don’t seem to mind.

Anyway, how can you be angry at your favorite fish?

I researched the internet and my catfish reference books. Internet photos of their punctatus and mine appeared to differ, until I found a site showing various subtleties in the head and dorsal fin among a wide selection of individual fish. But in my reference books, the punctatus photos appeared similar to my fish.

Anyway, here is some information from the web about Corydoras punctatus: in the family Callichthyidae, this fish originates in the Suriname River basin in Suriname, and the Iracoubu River basin in French Guyana. Some also inhabit Venezuela. The species is covered with black spots extending from the head to the end of the caudal fin, with a black spot on many individuals near the tip of its dorsal fin. It prefers to live small, shallow creeks with sandy or muddy bottoms. Some fish that live on darker substrates usually have more and larger spots. Male pectoral fins are longer.

A well-planted aquarium would be welcome for this smaller Corydoras species that averages about two inches in length. In its native habitat it feeds on small worms, crustaceans, and insect larvae. In the hobby it accepts all sorts of dry sinking food, frozen foods

December 2010

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such as bloodworms, and live worms. Soft, acidic to slightly basic water with a pH to 7.2 is preferred, with water temperatures between 72 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit. A few sources claim that they are bred in captivity, but the majority state that either this fish is not bred, or is very difficult to breed.

My three catfish are robust, and appear to be healthy and happy. When at rest, they hang out with two adult Corydoras hasboras. The size disparity is amusing. Anyone who has kept Corydoras catfish knows that they are community oriented, playful, and easy to keep. They are a striking addition to any fish tank; or as I like to say, they’re just plain cute!

Postscript: About a month later, I drove by the pet shop. It was closed, and everything had been cleaned out. I hope I’m wrong, but it doesn’t look like another pet store will be opening there. The property is too

16

large to support a pet and pet supplies store, though the prior store had carried every pet imaginable, and lasted for about five years.

December 2010

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Member Classifieds EQUIPMENT: 1 Eheim 2217 Canister filter $125 1 Emperor 400 Bio-Wheel HOB Power Filter $30 1 Coralife Turb Twist 18 watt with 3 extra (never used) UV bulbs $50 1 Coralife Superskimmer 125w/ pump $100 2 Solarmax 36� HO double-T5Lighting System w/Moonlight $159 ea (new) All nearly new, in original boxes.

Call (631) 563-1404 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Filters: Eheim 2076 (for tanks up to 90 gallons) $200 Marineland C-160 (tanks up to 30 gallons) $50 Call Temes: 718-468-1569

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2010

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GCAS Past Award Winners JOSEPH FERDENZI ROLL OF HONOR Gene Baiocco Claudia Dickinson Joe Bugeia Charles Elzer Mary Ann Bugeia Joe Ferdenzi Dan Carson Warren Feuer

Herb Fogal Paul Hahnel Ben Haus Emma Haus

Jack Oliva Al Priest Susan Priest Herman Rabenau

Marcia Repanes Nick Repanes Don Sanford Mark Soberman

DON SANFORD BREEDER OF THE YEAR (Since 1981) 1981-83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ginny & Charlie Eckstein 1994-95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1983-85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rich Sorensen 1995-96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1985-86 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yezid Guttierez 1996-97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Soberman 1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff George 1987-88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Piccione 1998-'00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1988-89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 2000-01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Soberman 1989-90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francis Lee 2001-02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander Priest 1990-91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 2002-05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anton Vukich 1991-92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dominic Isla 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warren Feuer 1992-93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 2007-09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Bollbach 1993-94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi GENE BAIOCCO AQUARIST OF THE YEAR (Since 1990-91) 1990-91 . . . . . . Diane & Harold Gottlieb 2000-01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bernard Harrigan 1991-92 . . . . . . Doug Curtin & Don Curtin 2001-02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Kerner 1992-93 . . . . . . Mark Soberman 2002-03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlotti De Jager 1993-94 . . . . . . Warren Feuer 2003-04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Traub 1994-95 . . . . . . Steve Sagona 2004-05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claudia Dickinson 1995-96 . . . . . . Alexander & Susan Priest 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anton Vukich 1996-97 . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Al Grusell 1997-98 . . . . . . . Claudia Dickinson 1998-99 . . . . . . Vincent & Rosie Sileo 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Radebaugh 1999-00 . . . . . . Pete D’Orio WALTER HUBEL BOWL SHOW CHAMPIONS (Since 1983-84) 1983-84 . . . . . . . . . Tom Lawless 1991-92 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1984-85 . . . . . . . . . Tom Lawless 1992-93 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1985-86 . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1993-94 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1986-87 . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ferdenzi 1994-95 . . . . . . . Carlotti De Jager 1987-88 (tie) . . . Mark Soberman 1995-96 . . . . . . . . Mary Eve Brill and Mary Ann & Joe Bugeia 1996-97 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1988-89 . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Ryan 1997-98 . . . . . . . . . Steve Sagona 1989-90 . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 1998-99 . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio 1989-90 . . . . . Eddie Szablewicz 1999-00 . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Miglio

2000-01 . . . . . . . . . Pat Coushaine 2001-02 . . . . . . . . William Amely 2002-03 . . . . . . . . . Evelyn Eagan 2003-04 . . . . . . . . William Amely 2004-05 . . . . . . . . . Evelyn Eagan 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ed Vukich 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . William Amely 2009 . . . . . . . . . . Mario Bengcion

GCAS PRESIDENTS (Post 1945 — number in parenthesis = consecutive terms) 1946-49 Elliott Whiteway (4) 1968-70 Walter Hubel (2) 1981-84 Brian Kelly (3) 1950-51 Robert Greene (2) 1970-72 Dave Williams (2) 1984-86 Jack Oliva (2) 1952-53 Robert Maybeck (2) 1972-73 Dan Carson (1) 1986-97 Joe Ferdenzi (11) 1954-55 Leonard Meyer (2) 1973-75 Herb Fogal (2) 1997-99 Vincent Sileo (2) 1956-57 Sam Estro (2) 1975-76 Richard Hoey (1) 1999-00 Jeff George (1) 1958 Leonard Meyer (2+1) 1976-77 Ted Tura (1) 2000-08 Joe Ferdenzi (11+8) 1959-64 Gene Baiocco (6) 1977-78 Gene Baiocco (6+1) 2009-10 Dan Radebaugh (2) 1965 Andrew Fazio (1) 1978-79 Louis Kromm (1) 1966-68 Charles Elzer (2) 1979-81 Don Sanford (2)

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December 2010

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Greater City Aquarium Society

— 2010 Awards — To be awarded December 8, 2010

GENE BAIOCCO AQUARIST OF THE YEAR AWARD PETE D’ORIO

DON SANFORD BREEDER OF THE YEAR AWARD JEFFREY BOLLBACH

WALTER HUBEL BOWL SHOW CHAMPION ALEXANDER PRIEST

AUTHOR AWARD PROGRAM (AAP) AWARDS Only authors making contributions printed during 2010 (or who received AAP points as a result of NEC and/or FAAS publication awards announced in 2010) and whose AAP levels changed are listed below.

Jules Birnbaum . . . . . . . .

Jules Birnbaum . . . . . . . .

Tommy Chang . . . . . . . .

Alexander Priest . . . . . . .

Author Correspondent Author Senior Grand Master Laureate

Dan Radebaugh . . . . . . . . . .

Marsha Radebaugh . . . . . . .

Marsha Radebaugh . . . . . . .

Stephen Sica . . . . . . . . . . . .

Columnist Writer Essayist Senior Laureate

Alexander Priest is Author of the Year for 2010!

BREEDERS AWARD PROGRAM (BAP) AWARDS Breeders who achieved significant plateaus this year are: Alexander Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . Master Breeder Edward Vukich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grand Master Breeder Mark Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior Grand Master Breeder

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

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December 2010 December 2007

11

e are very pleased to welcome Tommy Chang to our family of authors this year.

Also, unprecedented until last year, this year we again had two members who moved through two award levels in the same year.

Congratulations for this feat to Jules Birnbaum, who has moved up in the rankings to Author and then to Correspondent, and (once again) to Marsha Radebaugh, who moved from Correspondent through Writer to Essayist. Congratulations to all of our winners, and we hope to hear more from each of you in the months and pages ahead.

W

Overview The GCAS AAP awards points for contributions to Modern Aquarium. Persons acquiring a specified number of points will receive additional recognition in the form of a certificate for having reached designated Accomplishment Levels. (See “Accomplishment Levels.”)

Each person making a qualifying contribution to Modern Aquarium (and that includes writing for our “Anonymous Fishkeeper” column!) receives points, as well as chances for a Prize Drawing at the Annual Holiday Party.

Eligibility Any member of Greater City who makes a contribution to Modern Aquarium is automatically a participant.

Points Five points will be awarded for an original article of 500 words or less.

Ten points will be awarded for an original article of 501 words and over.

Five points will be awarded for an original photograph, drawing, or illustration submitted with, and as part of, an original article. If more than two photographs, drawings, or illustrations are submitted with a related article, only two will be given points (this is in addition to the points awarded the article, based on its size).

Ten points will be awarded for an original color photograph that is used on the front cover.

Photographs must be the work of the member submitting them, and must not have been previously published, or submitted for publication, in any commercial or amateur publication.

Two or more related photographs or illustrations submitted with captions, and occupying one or more pages, will be counted as two photos (10 points) and as an article over 500 words (10 points), for a total of 20 points. An example would be a photo spread with captions.

An original article on a fish in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program will receive double points (i.e., 10 points for an article of 500 words or less,

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and 20 points for an article of 501 words or more).

Photos and drawings of a C.A.R.E.S. eligible species will also receive double points.

Five points will be awarded for an original puzzle which is used on the “Fin Fun” page of Modern Aquarium.

Points are awarded only once for an article, drawing, puzzle, or photograph. No points are awarded for subsequent reprints, regardless of whether the original article was awarded points in the AAP previously. To be eligible for AAP points, a contribution must first have been submitted to Modern Aquarium. However, if an article previously published in Modern Aquarium is significantly revised by its author (as a result of new information or developments), and if such a revision is first submitted to Modern Aquarium, it will be treated as a new article. Points are awarded in the year the article is printed.

An article deemed unacceptable by the Editorial Staff of Modern Aquarium for reasons of appropriateness of topic, suitability, or possible violations of copyright or libel laws, will be ineligible for participation in the GCAS AAP. Decisions of the Staff are final.

Points credited to an author may not be carried over or credited to subsequent calendar years for the purposes of raffle prize chances or “Author Of The Year” designation.

Bonus Points If, in the year following its publication in Modern Aquarium, an article is given a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place award by the North East Council of Aquarium Societies (“NEC”) or by the Federation of American Aquarium Societies (“FAAS”), an additional 10 points will be awarded if the author is a GCAS member in the year the NEC or FAAS award is announced. This applies only to articles (not to drawings, columns, cartoons or photos).

These bonus points are credited in the year that the award is announced, not the yearfor which it is awarded.

Prize Drawing For every 5 AAP points earned in a calendar year, the recipient is given one chance in our “Authors/Contributors Only” Raffle.

Author of the Year The person with the most points in a calendar year receives a certificate as “Author Of The Year” for that year. This is our most prestigious award, and the winner truly exemplifies the high value which they place on the contribution of experience and knowledge to the aquarium hobby at large.

December 2010 December 2009

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

Accomplishment Levels For the accomplishment levels specified below, points are cumulative over the life of the AAP program.

Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 to 45 pts Correspondent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 to 95 pts Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 to 145 pts Essayist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 to 195 pts Journalist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 to 295 pts Columnist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 to 495 pts Laureate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 to 745 pts Senior Laureate . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 to 995 pts Master Laureate . . . . . . . . . . 1000 to 1495 pts Grand Master Laureate . . . . . 1500 to 1995 pts Sr. Grand Master Laureate . 2000 to 10000 pts Editor Emeritus . . . . . . . . . . . . over 10000 pts

Author Award Program Report A Status Report - Points Awarded March to December 2010

Author

Art Work (in points)

Number of Articles1

Awards

Photo/ Drawing (up to two per article)2

500 words or less 5

Bonus3 Points

Current Year Total: March to December

Raffle4 Chances

10

10

2

10

2

4

60

12

25

5

over 500 words 5

William Amely 1

Total Points

Prize

Sharon Barnett

5

Jules Birnbaum

20

Tommy Chang

5

1

2

Claudia Dickinson

75

4

11

20

225

n/a

Joseph Ferdenzi

30

1

2

30

85

17

10

2

10

10

2

1

30

45

9

Warren Feuer

1

Bernard Harrigan Elliot Oshins

5

Alexander Priest

140

2

9

50

340

n/a

Susan Priest

20

5

6

50

155

n/a

3

50

80

n/a

20

60

12

10

15

3

30

170

34

30

80

n/a

10

10

2

Dan Radebaugh Marsha Radebaugh

40

Jannette Ramirez Stephen Sica

1 60

Undergravel Reporter

8 10

Michael Vulis 1

Points are doubled for each article on a fish in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program.

Points are doubled for each photo or drawing of a C.A.R.E.S. fish used on the cover.

3 Bonus points are awarded to participants for awards (other than Honorable Mention) received from the Federation of American Aquarium Societies (FAAS) Publication Awards, and The Northeast Council of 2

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

December 2010 December 2009

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Aquarium Societies (NEC) Article Awards, in the year these awards are announced, not in the year for which they are awarded.

4 Modern Aquarium staff members are ineligible for the Raffle. Family members of staff ARE eligible.

5 Editorials and President’s Messages are excluded.

Here are the total AAP points for all GCAS members as of December 2010.

If you have questions, or feel that there are errors, please contact Dan. William Amely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Sharon Barnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Fred Bellise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mario Bengcion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Steve Berman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Jules Birnbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Tom Bohme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Victoria Bohme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Jeff Bollbach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Roger Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Tommy Chang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Donald Curtin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Doug Curtin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Carlotti De Jager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Les Deutsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Brad Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Claudia Dickinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,175 Al DiSpigna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pete O’Orio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Rod Du Casse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Evelyn Eagan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Frank Fallon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Harry Faustmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Anita Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Francesca Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Joseph Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,245 Marisa Ferdenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Alison Feuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Warren Feuer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Michael Foran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Artie Friedman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Peter Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Jeff George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Horst Gerber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Steve Giacobello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Joseph Graffagnino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Steve Gruebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Al Grusell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Bernard Harrigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,800 Jason Kerner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Denver Lettman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Rich Levy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Bill Luckett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 John Malinowski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Desiree Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Tom Miglio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Jackleen Minassi-Haftvani. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Temes Mo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

22

34

Jerry O'Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Elliot Oshins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Jim Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Margaret Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Alexander Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,280 Susan Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,880 Dan Radebaugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Marsha Radebaugh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Jannette Ramirez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Leonard Ramroop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Mark Rubanow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Charley Sabatino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Donna Sosna Sica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Stephen Sica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Vincent Sileo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Danielle Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ilyssa Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Robin Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mark Soberman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Jack Traub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Undergravel Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,110 Anton Vukich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Edward Vukich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Michael Vulis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Greg Wuest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

December 2010 December 2009

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

GCAS BREEDERS AWARD PROGRAM 2010 NAME

JEFF BOLLBACH

SPECIES BRED

Points 1st - GCAS

CERT # RHADINOCENTRUS ORNATUS 1773 1774 PARATILAPIA POLLENI 1775 1776 1777 1785 1796 1797 1798 1799 1803

MELANOTAENIA PYGMAEA APHANIUS MENTO PSEUDOCRENALIBRUS NICHOLOSI PSEUDOMUGIL GERTRUDAE PACHYPANCHAX PLAYFAIRI MELANOTAENIA GOLDIEI RIVULUS HILDEBRANDI GLOSSOLEPSIS MULTISQUAMATUS TELMATHERINA LADIGESI

15 30

U

15

U

15

U

CARES

Ì

DATE

3/3/2010 3/3/2010 3/3/2010 3/3/2010

10

3/3/2010

15

U

6/2/2010

15

U

8/4/2010

15

U

8/4/2010

15

U

8/4/2010

15

U

10/6/2010

15

Number of species 11

U Total Points

11/3/2010 175

CLAUDIA DICKINSON 1794

GEOPHAGUS IPORANGENSIS Number of species

25 1

U Total Points

6/2/2010 25

WARREN FEUER 1772 1784

NEOLAMPROLOGUS SIMILIS ANCISTRUS SP. "KINGFISH" Number of species

JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO 1778 1795

15 2

THORICHTHYS MALCULIPINNIS LETHRINOPS SP. "RED CAP" Number of species

3/3/2010

15

6/2/2010 Total Points

20

30

U

3/3/2010

10 2

8/4/2010 Total Points

30

AL PRIEST 1786 1787

MACROPODUS (SPHECTI) CONCOLOR BETTA MIDAS Number of species

15 115 2

6/2/2010 U Total Points

6/2/2010 130

MARK SOBERMAN 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793

RIVULUS DELTAPHILUS CORYDORAS SCHULTZEI CORYDORAS SP. "MAZARUNI" ASPIDORAS C118 ASPIDORAS ALBATER CORYDORAS PYGMAEUS Number of species

15

U

25

U

6/2/2010 6/2/2010

15

6/2/2010

15 25

6/2/2010 U

6/2/2010

15 6

6/2/2010 Total Points

110

EDWARD VUKICH 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1800 1801 2-Jan

PSEUDOTROPHEUS SALOUSI XIPHOPHORUS VARIATUS HAPLOCHROMIS SP. 44 "RED TAIL" STEATOCRANUS CASUARIUS BRACHYDANIO RERIO NANNOSTOMUS BECKFORDI XIPHOPHORUS VARIATUS PSEUDOCRENALABRUS NICHOLOSI Number of species

10

4/7/2010

5

4/7/2010

15

4/7/2010

10

4/7/2010

5

4/7/2010

15

10/6/2010

5

10/6/2010

10 8

10/6/2010 Total Points

75

U��indicates first recorded breeding of the species in the GCAS Breeders Award Program ��indicates a species at risk that is listed in the C.A.R.E.S. Preservation Program

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

December 2010

23

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

24

NAME POINTS # BRED JEFF BOLLBACH 1,490 111 JOSEPH GRAFFAGNINO 935 64 ANTON VUKICH 910 70 JOSEPH FERDENZI 905 59 TOM MIGLIO 865 66 MARK SOBERMAN 805 42 STEVE SAGONA 655 47 WARREN FEUER 645 41 JOHN STORA 540 47 JOSE ARANDA 505 47 EDWARD VUKICH 505 41 JOHN IANNONE 485 45 THE ECKSTEINS 455 39 CARLOTTI DE JAGER 440 33 CLAUDIA DICKINSON 435 27 RICHARD SORENSEN 420 33 FRANCIS LEE 390 28 GERALD GORYCKI 370 41 CHARLEY SABATINO 360 20 THE REPANES 355 27 JACK OLIVA 345 42 HAROLD KETTERER 335 30 AL PRIEST 330 8 THE LOMBARDIS 325 32 GREGORY WUEST 310 30 DON SANFORD 310 25 TED KURDZIEL 295 24 TONY FERRARO 275 23 THE BUGEIAS 270 31 DOMINIC ISLA 235 20 STEPHAN ZANDER 230 14 YEZID GUTIERREZ 206 20 PHILIP INGENITO 205 13 ROD DU CASSE 190 14 THE DONATONES 175 18 JOHN MORAN 170 11 LOUIS KROMM 170 16 JEFF GEORGE 165 17 DICK MOORE 160 5 JEAN BRAUDE 155 12 BARRY LYNCH 150 18 SHARON MIRABELLA 135 10

43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84

December 2010

NAME POINTS # BRED THADDEUS TURA 135 9 JOE CUCINIELLO 135 9 JORGE RODRIGUEZ 135 9 HARRY EVANS 125 11 KEN BRUST 120 15 FRANK GANNON 120 16 JERRY SCHULTZ 120 11 THE KELLYS 115 12 GEORGE MAROTI 115 8 JOE MANCUSI 115 8 HERB FOGAL 100 13 JERRY MAYER 95 7 JOE FLANAGAN 95 12 DENNIS EGIELSKI 95 4 BRIAN KELLY 90 6 PETE D'ORIO 90 9 ROBERT MC KEAND 85 5 EDWARD SZABLEWICZ 85 7 NOEL RODRIGUEZ 85 7 BOB KUHLKE 80 7 LEONARD RAMROOP 80 11 BRADLEY PLOTKIN 80 6 JOHN LEE 75 5 DOUGLAS CURTIN 75 12 JOSE PEREZ 75 6 TOM BOHME 75 7 BOB RADAMACHER 70 9 DONALD CURTIN 70 10 PAT PICCIONE 70 7 SARA MONHEIT 65 6 CHARLES KUHNE 60 8 JOEL FORGIONE 60 4 BOB DU BOIS 55 5 HORST GERBER 55 4 BOB WRANOVICS 50 4 MIKE CASSANO 50 5 WARREN BURKE 45 7 BRUCE WEILER 45 3 WILLIAM BRANDOFINO 45 4 CHARLES SHATAKA 40 5 CHARLES BENEFATTI 40 7 BRIAN STERN 35 4

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111

NAME POINTS # BRED ARTHUR MAYER 35 3 BARRY CENTER 35 3 THE MARTINS 35 5 VINNIE RITCHIE 35 3 AL PHANEUF 35 5 BRUCE WELLER 30 3 MICHAEL VILLANO 30 4 ROGER BEAULIEU 30 2 THE STEGMANS 30 3 ROB ALTONEN 30 2 GENE BAIOCCO 30 4 STANLEY WEGLARZ 25 4 VINCENT BABINO 25 2 EMMA JORDAN 20 3 DANNY SHEPARD 20 3 GUNTER HORSTMANN 20 3 STEVEN MILLER 20 1 PETER SCHLEISMAN 20 2 ARNOLD FREED 20 4 STUART KRICHEVSKY 20 3 JOE ARONNE 15 2 IGNACIO ARENCIBIA 15 1 THE FERNANDEZ 15 1 WILLIAM SADERA 15 1 DAN GAWIAK 15 2 KATHY BUSBY 10 1 ABE COOPER 10 2

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136

December 2010

NAME POINTS # BRED BILL ARONNE 10 1 DAN RADEBAUGH 10 1 DIANNE SPELLMAN 10 1 JOHN MC CAFFERY 10 2 JERROLD MEYER 10 1 HORST MIEHLBRAD 10 1 FRANK FALLON 10 1 WALTER ROSTOWSKI 10 2 JASON KERNER 10 1 JAY LIEBOWITZ 5 2 ADAM KLEINROCK 5 1 EDYTH MONSOUR 5 1 KATHY FERNANDEZ 5 1 THE QUINNS 5 1 WILLIAM STALZER 5 2 JAMES BROOKS 5 1 RICHARD WALSH 5 1 BILL SMITH 5 1 DANNY CIRNIGLIAR 5 1 GEROLD COCH 5 1 BOB FUCHS 0 1 PETER SAGINARIO 0 5 DEAN ABRUMSON 0 1 VINCENT MASCOLA 0 3 JOHN HILL 0 1

25

GCAS Happenings

December

Last Month’s Bowl Show Winners: 1 Jules Birnbaum 2 Mario Bengcion 3 Harry Faustmann

Aphyosemion australe Lemon Peacock Nothobranchius furzeri

Official 2010 Bowl Show totals:

Al Priest 22 Mario Bengcion 21 Robert Hamje 10 William Amely 6

Harry Faustmann 7

Jules Birnbaum 5 Richard Waizman 1

A warm welcome back to renewing GCAS member Karen Ottendorfer!

A special warm welcome to new member Doug Israel!

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

East Coast Guppy Association

Next Meeting: March 2, 2011 Speaker: La Monte Brown Topic: Native Fishes Meets: First Wednesday of the month (except January & February) at 7:30pm: The December meeting will be at The Palace Diner 6015 Main Street - Flushing, NY Contact: Dan Radebaugh (718) 458-8437 Email: gcas@earthlink.net Website: http://www.greatercity.org

Meets: 2nd Tuesday of each month at at 8:00 pm.

Alley Pond Environmental Ctr.: 228-06 Northern Blvd.

Contact: Gene Baudier (631) 345-6399

Big Apple Guppy Club Meets: 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 Society Next Meeting: December 10, 2010 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets the 2nd Friday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30pm: NY Aquarium - Education Hall, Brooklyn, NY Call: BAS Events Hotline: (718) 837-4455 Website: http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org

Long Island Aquarium Society Next Meeting: January 21, 2011 Speaker: Steve Abrams Topic: Going To The Sea (Introduction to brackish water fish) Meets: 3rd Fridays (except July and August) 8:00pm.

Greenhouse Meeting Room, Holtsville Ecology Center, Buckley Road, Holtsville, NY Email: Margaret Peterson - president@liasonline.org Website: http://liasonline.org/

26

Nassau County Aquarium Society Next Meeting: December 14, 2010 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets: 2nd Tuesday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30 PM Molloy College - Kellenberg Hall ~1000 Hempstead Ave Rockville Centre, NY Contact: Mike Foran (516) 798-6766 Website: http://www.ncasweb.org

NORTH JERSEY AQUARIUM SOCIETY Next Meeting: December 11, 2010 Speaker: None Event: Holiday Party Meets: 7:30 PM Mario’s Restaurant, 710 Van Houton Ave, Clifton, NJ (973) 777-1559 Contact: NJAS Hotline at (732) 332-1392 Email: tcoletti@obius.jnj.com Website: http://www.njas.net/

Norwalk Aquarium Society Next Meeting: January 20, 2011 Speaker: TBA Topic: TBD Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of each month at: Earthplace - the Nature Discovery Center - Westport, CT Contact: John Chapkovich (203) 734-7833 Call our toll free number (866) 219-4NAS Email: jchapkovich@snet.net Website: http://norwalkas.org/

December 2010

Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)

Giving Your Fish Some Gifts

If you have a Betta splendens in a plain bowl, here are some “upgrades” to consider.

A series by “The Undergravel Reporter” In spite of popular demand to the contrary, this humor and information column continues. As usual, it does NOT necessarily represent the opinions of the Editor, or of the Greater City Aquarium Society. hether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, the Winter Solstice, or just the start of a new year, this is a season of giving gifts. So, here are some suggestions for gifts you can give to your fish.

Have you considered giving your fish a terrestrial plant on top of the aquarium, perhaps linked to the tank’s filter system?

W

A fish-shaped bowl

Figure 2

Or, a cat-shaped bowl

Figure 3

A $23,000 Steuben crystal bowl

Figure 4

Figure 1

Photos Figure 1: http://mocoloco.com/archives/011294.php Figure 2: http://www.thisnext.com/item/42B26F31/C1F490E1/Modern-Nemo-Fishbowl Figure 3: http://www.thisnext.com/show/item-images/7C982EE8/3260752B/ Figure 4: http://www.thisnext.com/show/item-images/A4D4C41B/423CC0FD/

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

December December 2010 2010

17 27

Fin Fun Name That Cory!

Many species in the genus Corydoras have common names that are somewhat descriptive of their physical appearance. See how many of the common names listed you can correctly match up with the correct scientific name for the same species. Answers next issue.

Common name

Scientific name

Arched Cory

Corydoras concolor

Bandit Cory

Corydoras caudimaculatus

Black Top Cory

Corydoras paleatus

Bronze Cory

Corydoras aeneus

False Bandit Cory

Corydoras pulcher

Peppered Cory

Corydoras melini

Pretty Cory

Corydoras metae

Slate Cory

Corydoras arcuatus

Tail Spot Cory

Corydoras acutus

Two Line Cory

Corydoras parallelus Source: http://www.planetcatfish.com

Answer to our last puzzle: Fish Cardinal Tetra

Acid

Neutral X

Firemouth Cichlid Marbled Hatchetfish

Alkaline

X X

Black Molly

X

Celebes Rainbowfish

X

Dubois Tropheus

X

Lemon Cichlid

X

Madagascar Rainbowfish

X

Clown Loach

X

Dwarf Gourami X Source: Tullock, John - Freshwater Aquarium Models

28 24

December 2010 December 2010

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

GCAS Thanks You! Our Generous Sponsors and Advertisers The Greater City Aquarium Society extends our heartfelt thanks to the following manufacturers for their generous donations. Thanks also to our advertisers, whose contributions to our success as a Society are deeply appreciated. Please patronize our supporters.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarium Technology Inc Ecological Laboratories HBH Pet Products Koller-Craft Kordon, LLC Marineland Microbe Lift Ocean Nutrition America Omega Sea Red Sea

Rena Rolf C. Hagen San Francisco Bay Brand Seachem Zoo Med Laboratories Inc. Cameo Pet Shop Coral Aquarium Nassau Discus World Class Aquarium Zoo Rama Aquarium