Modern Aquarium

modern

AQUARIUM

MAY 1995 volume II number 5

modern

AQUARIUM l l l l i l l l ' . ' ON THECOVER '"

The Amphiprion oceilaris (percula clownfish) on our cover is an example of a marine fish you might want to ; try raising after reading the articles in our spec! at Marine Section and hearing this month's speaker, Terry Sieg'al.

Photo by Joe Lozito GREATER CtTY AQUARIUM SOCIETY 8oard Members President... . . . . . . . . Josephi Ferctenzi Vice-Presidant,, .,.;

Ben Haus

Treasurer . . . , . . » > . . . > Emma Haus

Series III

Vol. II, No. 5

May,

1995

FEATURES Editor's Desk

2

. . '• Mini Salt Tank

3

m Q Physiological Differences Between Freshwater to and Saltwater Fishes 4

mi

m

oE Basic Pointers on S Marine Aquarium Water

K5<::

6

Carres. Secretary . .'..,.. .VXSregWuest Recording Secretary

. . . Pat Picciohe

Members At tiarge > : : Mary Ann Bugeia Joe Bugeia Don Curtin Doug Curtin Mark Sioberrnan ?•; Jack OliVa Steve Sagonai; Vincent Siieo Warren Feuer Committee Chairs Membership , .

Susan Priest Publicity . .,.,;,. . . Bernard iMarrigan MODERN AQUARIUM Editor ,, ......

Assistant:Editor .

Art Director.'•••'.':.,....,,.

Advertising Mgr. , Executive Editor .

. > Warren FeOer Alexander"Priest!

Stephan Zander Mark Sbbermari JosepH Ferdenzi

The Joys of Harboring Seahorses

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8

JJU

Wet Leaves (Book Review)

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9

In Memory of Skippy and Hoppy

10

PLANTS

11

Audience Participation

13

G.C.A.S. Happenings

15

Fin Fun (Puzzle Page)

16

Printing By Postal Press

Articles submitted for consideration in MODERN AQUARIUM must be received no later than the 10th day of the month, three months prior to the month of publication. Copyright 1995 by the Greater City Aquarium Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form of the articles, illustrations or photographs appearing in this magazine is prohibited without express written prior permission. Unless other rights have been retained by the author, and noted in the article or photograph, the Greater City Aquarium Society generally grants noncommercial reproduction rights to other recognized aquarium societies and naturalist organizations upon request.

The Greater City Aquarium Society meets every month, except during July and August. Meetings are the first Wednesday of the month and begin at 8:30 P.M. Meetings are held at the Queens Botanical Gardens. For more information, contact Warren Feuer at (718)793-8724.

From the Editor's Desk

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here's no doubt that, if you get the bug, keeping fish is habit forming. I know this from experience. Many of our fellow aquarists have found the limit to the number of tanks they have directly proportional to the space (and financial resources) they have. What really drove me over the edge was joining Greater City. I found out about the existence and availability of many fish I thought only existed in books. And I found out about how to keep them and breed them. As a result of this knowledge, my interest in the hobby expanded tremendously.

This all sounds great, right? This lucky guy started out in this hobby he was interested in, found a group of people with similar interests and expanded his knowledge base and quantity as well as quality of pets. However, there is a down side to increasing your involvement in keeping fish (or any hobby). I'm referring to the danger that can occur when one gets overinvolved. It's easy to set up new tanks, and for the most part fun. When you have the variety of fish available to you that we have at GCAS, it's so tempting to bring home that one more new species to keep and hopefully, breed. Then reality sets in. Suddenly, you are spending all day Saturday or Sunday on tank maintenance.

Or you're up late at night playing around in your fish room. Suddenly, you can't find the dining room table because that 125 gallon beauty holding \hefrontosas is there instead! This stuff can happen. If you are breeding any of your fish, you now should have grow out tanks for the fry.

And don't forget that you need quarantine tanks for any new additions. There doesn't seem to be an end. But, sanity must prevail, and I'd like to offer some suggestions that may help.

One situation I encountered was the boredom with one of my tanks when my interests shifted. It was no longer enough to keep the fish in the tank alive. I resolved this problem with a little patience and by using the knowledge I'd gathered. The tank, which was

one of the first I'd set up was a community tank for small South American tetras.

As the population of the tank decreased I decided to convert it to an African community tank similar to one I'd seen in Joe Ferdenzi's fish room. Joe's tank is populated with Congo tetras, dwarf jewel cichlids (Anomalochromis thomasi), Aleste tetras (Brycinus longipinnis) and the like. It was a tank I'd always admired. After asking questions and reading up I was ready to proceed.

I populated my African community tank with a few each of the fish mentioned above that Joe has and also added some kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher) and another African tetra, Arnoldichthys spilopterus.

What was previously a tank I'd been bored with was now the center of my attention. It was like being new in the hobby all over again. As for the original residents of the tank, they were transferred to another tank, but could just as well have been brought to the club for auction, or to a pet store as exchanges for other fish or goods. By changing things around, I was able to prevent boredom from setting in.

I didn't have to add another tank to house my new charges, I just shifted things around, and, re-decorating and re-populating the tank was a lot of fun.

Some of the best advice I can give is to be patient. Don't feel the need to own every fish you see, tempting as they might be. Remember, once you have them, you are going to be responsible for taking care of them. This means all the associated maintenance. IVe found that, on average, I spend about one half hour per tank when I do water changes (that's with a Python速). Before you add that new tank, make sure you have the time and desire to add that amount to your maintenance schedule as well.

It has long been one of my goals to set up a marine tank. I'm sure I'm not alone in that desire. Many aquarists are hesitant due to the questions they have and the seemingly impossible task ahead of them. This month, we're going to try to help our readers with a special Marine Section as well as our guest speaker, Terry Siegal, discussing "Your First Marine Tank". Hopefully, this will provide you with a step in the right direction towards a successful marine tank.

Warren Feuer

Mini Salt Tank owdy, fellow fish heads! This issue, I'm gonna show you how to set up a small saltwater tank, like about 10 gallons, and do it with probably most of the stuff that you clean out of your fish junk closet (c'mon, admit it — we all have a special little place where old filters and equipment go when our fascination with them ends — and just think how happy your spouse will be when you start cleaning it!!).

What, you say ... a ten gallon saltwater tank? Isn't that too small? Isn't saltwater hard to do?

Well, arise my ichthyological friends!

It's not too small, and it's not too hard. In fact, we feel it's the best and least expensive way to get into the marine hobby.

It goes like this.

You'll need the following list of stuff to start: — a ten gallon tank with fluorescent hood (no metal framed and/or slate bottoms, please) — a stand for your ten gallon tank (wood is better, metal may rust with salt exposure) — a heater (50 watts should do it, either submersible or not) — a poly filter pad (just one, unless you want to stock up — they're really great!)

— a 250 ml jar of "Matrix" or one box BioChem beads (we like Matrix better, but both will work fine — if you choose Matrix, you'll need a nylon filter bag) — Two cups of marine sand (rinse it first; you only want enough to just cover the bottom of the tank, no more than !4 inch deep) — Aquaclear mini power filter (in a ten gal., you can go up to an Aquaclear 200) — a handful of filter fluff — 10 gallon size box of synthetic sea salt (not table salt or cichlid salt) — some rubber bands — aquarium thermometer — aquarium hydrometer/salinity tester (we like the "SEA-TEST" brand) — saltwater test kits (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate . . . pH is optional (I have my reasons for pH being optional in case you marine nuts are wondering!!)

— decorations—they MUST be labeled "saltwater safe"!! Don't assume it!!

— a clean five gallon bucket

H

O.K. let's get going. First, position the

tank and stand where you want it. Next, install Aquaclear filter on the back of the tank and put in the Matrix, poly filter and fluff as shown on my fantastic diagram. Now you'll know why I raise fish and build aquariums instead of being employed as an artist extraordinaire!

Don't plug in the filter yet. Install heater in tank as you normally would, and don't turn that on yet either.

If you bought a pre-sixed 10 gallon box of salt, you may pour this into the tank, if not, put about a cup into the bucket and fill % with water, mixing the salt in with your (clean) hands until fully dissolved and water stands clear.

Using your hydrometer, measure the specific gravity . . . you want it to be anywhere between 1.020 and 1.023. If it's too high, mix in a little fresh water and check again. If it's too low or doesn't read, add more salt, mix and test.

Note that air bubbles on the tester arm may throw off the reading—or the arm may stick . . . just tap the tester against the side of the bucket to dislodge the air and/or arm.

If you're mixing the salt in the tank (the pre-sized box), fill tank with water and mix until dissolved. Or pour the bucket of mixed water into the tank and repeat until tank is full.

Once the tank is full with fresh saltwater at a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1,023, fill the Aquaclear filter with water (this is necessary for priming) and plug in. You can also plug in the heater now; monitor temp, as you usually would.

Add your sand and decorations now; you may have to remove some of the tank water due to displacement.

The next step is to clean up the mess you made and then put on the hood.

Wait until tomorrow before adding fish.

Good starter fish (this is a "fish only" tank—it won't work right as a reef tank—that's a future article, so just calm down and take your time) are blue damsels, clownfish, grammas, shrimps, crabs, urchins . . . anything that stays pretty small/won't outgrow the tank. Stay away from fish as triggers, puffers, sharks and angels . . . these require a lot of room, grow too fast and eat too much.

The filter fluff acts as a prefilter, and should be changed on a weekly basis. A partial water change of 10% (or more, but no more than 50%) should be performed when your nitrates read over 60 ppm. We recommend DRY TAB test kits, as these measure total nitrates, where Sea-Test kits only measure nitrate-nitrogen, and the result has to be multiplied by 4.4 to arrive at total amount. If you stick to the rule of Vi inch of fish per gallon, and do 10% change monthly, you should have no problems. Temp, should be kept

HAGEN/AOUACLEAR FILTER

10 gal - "mini" 20 gal - "100" or larger

Poly Filter, cut to fit snugly and extend •lightly (1/4") above top of filter (cover off I) Matrix (in nylon pouch) or BioChem beads. 250 ml it good for up to • 30 gal lalt tank with average fish load 1/2" per gal

Filter Fluff, sponge or old poly filter. * Be careful not to impede intake by placing rubber band too I owl It should be slightly above strainer cap

at about 77-79 degrees. If you need to top off for evaporation, do so with fresh (not salt) water. The salt doesn't evaporate, only the water. Change the poly filter pad when it turns dark. Never rinse the Matrix or Bio-Chem beads in fresh water . . . if they need to be rinsed (and they shouldn't) use only salt water.

I tried to keep this article as basic as possible, and I know that 1 have left a lot of technical stuff and reasons out. But this set up works wonderfully, and if you decide to give it a go and have any questions, call us.

So, until next time . . .

Pete Schaumburg THE SALT SOCIETY (203) 429-3786 This article was reprinted from The Wet Pet Gazette: April-May, 1993

Physiological Differences Between Freshwater and Saltwater Fishes

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he topic of this article is supposed to be the differences between freshwater and saltwater fishes. I can sum that up in a sentence: freshwater fishes do not drink water; saltwater fishes must drink water.

The volume of water inside of a fish (found mostly in the blood, as with almost all vertebrates) along with its concentration of organic and inorganic solubles must be closely controlled.

These solubles consist of nutrients and products of metabolism (organic) and oxygen, carbon dioxide, and electrolytes including Na+, C1-, HCO3 and Ca2+ (the inorganics). Fish must constantly strive to be in osmotic equilibrium with their environment. In freshwater fishes, this means that some mechanism must be present to prevent needed electrolytes from diffusing through cell walls and into the water. In marine fishes, the reverse is true. In both fresh and saltwater, the main regulating mechanism is the kidney, but as ew'll soon see, the process is far more complicated in saltwater fishes.

In freshwater fishes the kidney functions largely to excrete water. In the saltwater forms, the kidney serves largely to regulate excretion of

magnesium and sulfate ions. The sharks, skates and rays are termed "hyperosmotic" and their kidneys combine both functions. Then too, many fishes are euryhaline, (moving from fresh to salt water and back again).

Examples include sticklebacks, salmon and eels, to name only a few.

Such fishes must possess kidneys capable of switching from water excretion to water conservation and divalent (an element having two atoms with which another element can combine) ion excretion, and back again.

A marine environment forces a water loss from body fluids due to the difference in osmotic concentrations. The fluid loss comes from the skin and gills. The kidney loses water only to a minor extent since it has to produce enough urine to get rid of metabolic wastes.

To make up for this loss of fluid, marine fishes drink sea water. For the handful of fishes actually studied to determine their rate of water ingestion (12 species), a rate of drinking is between 0.3ht — 1.5% of body weight per hour.

After swallowing sea water, the fish extracts water from the brine along different segments of its intestinal tract. Monovalent ions are extracted

along with the water. Time out for a chemistry course refresher: valence represents the number of atoms of one element with which an atom of another element may directly combine. Every element except the six inert elements has a valence number, a whole number not more than eight. An element which has a valence of 1, such as hydrogen or chlorine, is said to be monovalent.

Tests, using a rainbow trout, show that for these fish at least, between 60â&#x20AC;&#x201D;80% of the water in the ingested salt solution was absorbed and 95 % of the salt that was absorbed was sodium

Scene from a mini-reef chloride. Later tests on flounder showed similar results.

Now what happens to all that absorbed sodium chloride?

We saw earlier that divalent ions are excreted by the kidneys. NaCl (sodium chloride for those who never took chemistry, or who took it too many years ago) is a monovalent ion. How do saltwater fish get rid of it? NaCl is eliminated across the gill epithelial surface. The turnover rate will vary for different salinities of water, or more precisely, its sodium content.

This, believe it or not, is a greatly simplified description of what happens. Fish over the millennia have evolved adaptations to insure their survival in a wide variety of waters. Some of these mechanisms are still only partly understood with new discoveries being made regularly.

Excretion is a normal process of living animals. Unfortunately for fishes living in closed systems, it also results in a slow poisoning of their environment.

Only a small portion of the total nitrogen excreted by fishes appears in the urine. The greatest amount of nitrogen is excreted across the gills in the form of ammonia â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as much as 6-10 times as in all the nitrogenous compounds formed by the kidneys. The gills also serve to excrete other highly diffusible waste products such as urea and amine or amine oxide derivatives. Studies

dated back to 1931 have shown that ammonia is the chief end product of nitrogen metabolism of all aquatic animals, both freshwater and marine; simplest to most complex organism.

The pH difference that exists between the internal and external environments of aquatic animals is thought to be a significant factor determining the rate of ammonia elimination. For example, alkaline sea water would tend to retard and acidic fresh water accelerate diffusion of ammonia, not the surrounding environment. This should indicate to an aquarist that there is a vital need for regular water changes combined with the use of activated carbon to control the amount of free ammonia in an aquarium. Ammonia is highly toxic. I should not have to point out that the excretion of ammonia is also a reason to make frequent pH checks and, when necessary, pH adjustments in a closed system. The excretion of ammonia also, in freshwater fishes, aides in sodium uptake, necessary to maintain critical internal salt and water balance.

The cartilaginous fishes, since their earliest evolution, have always practiced internal fertilization. (How do we know? Fossil male sharks possess claspers.) To protect developing embryos, some of which may develop for up to two years, the longest gestation of any vertebrate, from ammonia toxicity, the embryos convert ammonia into urea until they are capable of living independently.

The comparatively naked eggs of telcosts, on the other hand, dispose of ammonia by diffusing it into the water. In livebearing telcosts, ammonia is passed across fetal membranes into the mother's blood for eventual disposal by her gills.

Purely freshwater cartilaginous fishes, such as the South American stingray, have abandoned urea retention entirely.

Other fishes such as the African and South American lungfishes and the mudskippers have ammonia or urea conversion systems which operate depending upon whether the fish is on land or in water; and in the case of the mudskippers, depending on the salinity of the water they're in.

There are other minor excretory products produced by both fresh and salt water fishes but I think a discussion of these at this time would only be confusing. None of these products is toxic in itself though any accumulation of wastes, of course, will lead to a lowering of pH and a potentially dangerous problem in a closed system.

Author: Don Johnson. Reprinted from The Wet Pet Gazette: December, 1993 and 2nd Place Winner NEC "Best Professional Article: 1991"

WET LEAVES A Series On Books For The Hobbyist ALEXANDER A. PRIEST

he seahorse is a fish with "the head of a horse, the ability to change color like a chameleon, the prehensile tail of a monkey, an armor-like plated body like an armadillo, a kangaroo's pouch, and turreted eyes like a lizard." The male of the species gives birth. This saltwater fish moves gracefully in the water, with no visible means of locomotion.

Obviously, this is a strange, fascinating and unique fish. To do justice to the wonder, the mystery and the quiet grace of these creatures in a small (64 page) book, while providing useful vA::Siejp|B}^(p: information on their care is no mean feat.

Peter Giwojna has written just such a book. This book has many stunning color pictures and is packed with useful information and tips on keeping and breeding seahorses.

Even freshwater tropical fish hobbyists will be fascinated by the information in this book. The writing style is friendly, often humorous, and very informative. In order to firmly fix in the mind of the reader the uniqueness of this fish, the author uses memorable descriptions. At one point, the author throws out the possibility that the seahorse was made on the eighth day of Creation, out of spare parts. Later, following up on this theme, he writes: "When the Almighty was assembling the seahorse from His collection of spare parts and leftovers, He must have been fresh out of a few items, because the finished product was a fish with no teeth, no ribs, and no stomach."

The book describes the equipment one needs to care for seahorses and provides guidance on the care, feeding and breeding of these fish. The two inch (maximum adult size) dwarf seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae, is discussed, as are many other species, some capable of reaching 8 inches or more (such as H. erectus, H. hippocampus, H. ramulosus, and H. reidi).

In describing and informing about the seaHORSE, the author makes frequent references to "pony," "stallion," "corral" "hitching post," "stables" and other equine terms. However, this in no way detracts from his presentation.

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There are a few shortcomings with this book, which are not the fault of the author. For one thing, the index does not do the author's work justice. If you were to pick up this book for the first time in the hope that it will help you to breed dwarf seahorses, you would probably not buy it. The only reference in this book's Index to "Dwarf seahorses" is a single page (page 42). However, in actual fact, there is an excellent discussion of dwarf seahorse breeding beginning on the top of page 46 and continuing through to page 50. In addition, there are references to the dwarfs on several other pages throughout the book.

While the color photographs are excellent, many having striking detail, I am disappointed that there is only one picture of a seahorse with newly hatched fry (page 51). That picture is not as close up or as sharp as many of the others in the book. It is truly fascinating to watch a male seahorse iAiut "giving birth." They show obvious external Inc. signs of being "pregnant" and exhibit behavior that can only be likened to birth pains.

The fry are virtually exact duplicates of the adults and are a thrill to watch.

I would have liked to see at least one closeup picture of the birth process. I would also have preferred to see some closeups of newly emerged seahorses (they are expelled live from the father's pouch, after the eggs were deposited there by the female, who then renounces all parental care in favor of the male).

Again on the subject of pictures, there were many excellent photographs, but none of dwarf seahorses, a serious omission, in my opinion. (Yes, I admit a bias toward dwarf seahorses. If you want to know why, read my wife's article hi this issue.)

In summary, this is an excellent book.

It is clear that the author truly knows about and enjoys these fish. I recommend this book not only for dedicated marine aquarists, but also for freshwater hobbyists who might want to try a 10 or even 5 gallon tank of dwarf seahorses. Even if you don't foresee a seahorse (dwarf or otherwise) in your future, this book is interesting and inexpensive and deserves a place in your aquatic hobby bookshelf. s j ; i i p i : t o : : .anyone;. iruGC AS. book or :

GREGORY WUEST n my years of keeping fish, I have always marveled at a well planted aquarium.

These tanks are the ones that draw my eyes. There seems to be some special natural beauty to the tank. In addition, the fish in these tanks seem very content swimming through and around the plants.

Besides aesthetic purposes, plants serve many other purposes. They allow some degree of protection to the fish. Small fish will use the leaves or clumps of plants to hide in if other fish are harassing them. Babies also stand a much better chance of survival if they are afforded plants to hide in.

The water condition of a tank is also improved by keeping plants. This is true for a couple of reasons.

First, plants use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process of plants converting light to energy needed for growth. This process is helpful because fish do better hi a well oxygenated tank.

Secondly, plants use nitrates as fertilizer. Nitrates are the final product in the nitrogen cycle. In other words, your biological filter will break down ammonia into nitrites and then into nitrates. Nitrates con only be managed by practicing good aquarium management such as regular partial water changes. However, since plants use nitrates as food, they will help keep nitrate levels under control between water changes.

Live plants will help keep algae under control. This is because your plants are using the available nutrients hi the water. Algae, which is also a live plant, will have less nutrients to use. The competition for nutrients favor the plants rather than algae.

The following are the lessons that I have learned as I have been both successful and unsuccessful at keeping a planted aquarium. The three basic components to an aquatic garden are light, water and substrate.

Lighting always seems to be one of the most important aspects of keeping a plant thriving.

You should use the best lighting system available for your tank. I have found that fluorescent bulbs work fine but if you have a large, deep tank, more than a single or even a double bulb is needed. I have four 40 watt bulbs

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over my 90 gallon tank. Duration does not make up for intensity. Leaving the lights on for 15 hours and having only one bulb does not make up for not having a second bulb in which both bum for 8 or 9 hours.

Although plants seem to grow under most fluorescent bulbs, they do best when the bulb is meant for the plant's needs. Although there are bulbs sold as plant lights, the full spectrum bulbs promote the best growth. In addition, a full spectrum bulb has the added advantage of showing both the plants and the fish off the best.

One of the disadvantages of a fluorescent bulb is that if they are not periodically replaced, the output of light is reduced. Unlike an incandescent bulb which simply burns out when its life is used up, a fluorescent bulb slowly loses its brightness. This diminished lighting is usually not noticed by the aquarist because of its gradual loss. However the effect of less light will definitely be noticed by the plant. For this reason, the bulb should be replaced once a year to maintain maximum luminescence. I like to take a permanent marker and write the date I installed the bulb on the bulb itself. This way I know when the bulb needs replacing.

Another reason for light to be diminished is because of a dirty hood. The glass under the hood should be routinely cleaned. The dirt from dissolved minerals and water accumulate and again block out light that is needed by the plants. If the tank hood has plastic between the water and the bulb which is becoming opaque with tune and is no longer perfectly clear, then plastic should be cut out and replaced with glass.

Some hoods don't have plastic or glass between the water and the light. In this case the bulb itself should routinely be removed and cleaned since the dirt will accumulate on the bulb itself if there is nothing to protect it.

The substrate is another important part of growing good healthy plants. It is important not to go to any extremes. A fine sand or a large pebble should be avoided. Most of the medium size gravel works fine. Recently I have heard about planting plants hi potting soil to get optimum growth. To obtain this objective I bought some clay pots from a garden store. On the bottom I put a layer of filter floss. Then the pot is filled 2/3 with sterile potting soil. After carefully planting the plant, I put a second layer of filter floss over the soil. All this is then covered with the substrate used hi the tank. The plants for which I use this method love the

nutrients and have grown very well. Other advantages of this method are that the tank can be rearranged without digging up and disturbing the plant or its roots. In addition, the plant is not disturbed by the use of an under gravel filter.

Although the condition of the water is not quite as critical as the above two items, light and substrate, some plants do better in softer, more acidic water and won't tolerate harder alkaline water. Other plants do well in harder water.

Even if the conditions are perfect for plants, this does not guarantee success of the aquatic garden. The type of plants chosen is very important. Frequently, pet stores will sell marginal or bog plants for the tank. Although these plants may last a while, eventually they will die and rot in the tank. One should only buy true aquatic plants.

Only plants in good condition should be purchased. This means that the plants should have healthy green leaves and a good root system with a lot of white roots. Plants without a good root system can be developed into great plants, but there is a much better success rate with well-rooted plants.

I would also suggest that you stay away from plants with red leaves. As a rule of thumb, red leaf plants need much more light than their green-leafed cousins. In this case, a fluorescent

bulb may not provide enough light to keep the plant healthy. Halide lighting works great but is not as convenient or cost effective for the aquarist.

The fish that are kept in a planted aquarium should also be considered.

Some cichlids are notorious diggers. The constant movement of the substrate, either exposing the roots or burying the plants, is not good. Most plants are unhappy with these unsettling conditions. In this case, pots work very well.

Also using plants such as Java Fern, which can be attached to a piece of driftwood or rock, work well.

Plants should be pruned periodically.

Not only is the plant more attractive with all the yellow or dying leaves removed but it keeps the plant healthier and stronger. In addition to the full growth promoted by pruning, some cuttings can be used to propagate the plant.

Patience is also needed with aquatic plants. For the most part, plants are slow growers. You shouldn't expect to put in some plants and in a few months have a jungle in the tank. Expect a few failures and be willing to experiment. If a plant just isn't doing well, move it to a new location. Sometimes just moving the plant has a remarkable effect on it.

After a while, you too will have a beautiful aquatic garden.

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G.C.A.S. HAPPENINGS Congratulations The following awards were given to G.C.A.S. members and Modern Aquarium contributors by the North East Council of Aquarium Societies; for arfleies:,written in 1994.

First Place - Best Amateur Article %;« SusatfPfiesT "It Doesn't Look ]|$|e Alpfe Pajjym(October, 19^94) Second Place - Best Amateur Article :::W Jllf Jill '::;%::::,, ;f -Warrenl|euer IjNot Just Your Average House Cat" (Septemfpr, 19J4) Second Place -Best Humorous Article ^/ SusaffM. Topping Zander "Stef's Folly" (Decemte:;;|^|i|||

:;;*%:

.JP^Ii '-IsF ^.

UPCOMING EVEN?S/SPEM£ERS: June: Dr. Paul Loiselle (nationallyr^pwjifcd author and cichlid

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G.C.A.S.'MEMBERS Let's welcome: x*^:"'''..**:*:,.''* •: ,s$^ Charles Stein, Demetrioi;;i4tsa||sii|(iipltdh Kresky, Mary|t§ ||!||, Mario Laudato and Brian SchmiSiifef; IBOWL SHOWJ^ULTS :• - vis sill 1st: Maryeve BrilKGold nittiqel claco; Znd&Caflotti DeJagefjA'a/Mf?c3^ anomata; 3rd: Tom MigliolVz pastel

Here are meeting times and locations of aquarium societies Jn the Metropolitan New York aria: Big Apple Guppy Club

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': -:8M.;^M. - 3rd Thursday of e a l ; j Queens Botanical Garden i;C<gitiatt:... MSlOiane Gottlieb feJeilone:

Brooklyn Aquarium Society inlets: 8:06iPlM. - 2ndJ ;;iff>nth in Old Education|||all, pe Aqjlrium :S|| Wildlife Consery^iilil: Cbhtact: BAS iypSs Hotlii 332-6677:1 (3KEATER CITY ^O^pUpl SOCpTY

l$|$ts: 8:(W^I|||',: -,;Jstjipiursday i|;fiach mon||:;at the Queer»||lptanical Gaa|in Contact :JiStephen Kwartler:^: g4 Richmond Long

Meeisf:8:00 P^ilil'Wednesday^of each montn:*at the Queens Botanigaliparden ContactiJIrf Warren Fegp^" (718) 793-|p4 County Aquarium Society

Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Friday of eaci month at the Bayshore Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, Bayshore, NY Contact: Mr. Thomas Soukup Telephone: (516) 265-2682

•Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Merrick Road Park Golf Course, Merrick, New York Contact: Mr. Ken Smith Telephone: (516) 589-5844

North Jersey Aquarium Society Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of each month at the Nutley American Legion Post Hall, Nutley, NJ Contact: Mr. Dore Carlo Telephone: (201) 437-5012

Norwalk Aquarium Society

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Meets: 8:00 P.M. - 3rd Thursday of each month at the Nature Center for Environmental Activities, Westport, CT Contact: Mrs. Anne Stone Broadmeyer Telephone: (203) 834-2253