Volume 54, Issue 7 March 9, 2010 London Aquaria Society www.londonaquariasociety.com Happy Saint Patricks Day What’s New In Characoid enough to float seeds down- ium writer soon learns is to Studies: Part 1 stream, but the fish provide never say never. There are all a useful service getting them kinds of recipes for spawning by Dale Speirs, CAS against the current. As the fish, but no guarantee that originally published in The flood waters recede, the fish any of them will work, al- Calquarium Volume 42, are gradually re-confined to though in most cases they Number 10, June 2000 the river channel, but the will certainly help. What is www.calgaryaquariumsociety.c little packages they left be- often forgotten is that fish om/Articles/ hind over now dry land can are not locked into an un- Whats_New_In_Characoid_Stu germinate on a freshly fertil- varying life style. They can’t dies_Part_1.html ized seedbed. be, since their habitat varies Granted that you can’t too much, and they must be FEEDING TIME reproduce annual floods in able to quickly adapt. Those Characoid fishes your fish room, or at least that don’t will soon be elimi- make up 30% of the fish in you hope not too, but it nated from the gene pool. the Amazon [3] and get most might be an interesting ex- Many aquarists go to a lot of of their food from phyto- periment to see what types trouble to set up water plankton floating in the wa- of fruits and vegetables your chemistry and aqua-scaping ter. Many of them feed on characoids might take. to get their fish to spawn. fruits dropped by trees dur- Starve them for a day, use The catch seems to be to get ing annual floods, so per- small chopped pieces appro- them in the mood and try to haps you might like to ex- priate to the size of the fish, simulate (and stimulate) periment with a few small and be sure to siphon out their spawning season. While pieces of raspberry or straw- any uneaten food. If you do it is true that most fish berry. Plants that produce try such experiments, be spawn seasonally, it is not fruit do so because the her- sure to write them up for necessarily because it is bivores that eat them pass your club bulletin. compulsory for them, only the seeds in the fruit out the that the habitat regulates SPAWNING BEHAVIOUR other end, usually a dis- when they can go. tance away from the source. One thing any aquar- This helps the plant dis- cont’d on page 4 perse itself through habitat. An example is the characoid Brycon guate- malensis, which eats figs dropped into the water. The advantage to the fig tree is that the seeds have a chance of being redistrib- uted upstream [4]. It is easy Volume 53, Issue 1 London Aquaria Society Page 2 PresidentPresident Upcoming Events London Aquaria Society Ron Bishop……….….........519-457-7907 [email protected] January 12, 2010: Bob Wright on Livebearers Vice-President February 9, 2010: Jerry Draper—Breeding Fish Dorothy Reimer…….…....519-438-7682 [email protected] March 9, 2010: Zenin on Loaches Treasurer/Website April 13, 2010: Larry Johnston—Trip to Africa. Eric Geissinger…………...519-672-9168 [email protected] May 2, 2010: Club Auction Member at Large May 11, 2010: Dorothy Reimer on Plants Karl Baumgarten…...…….519-659-9862 [email protected] June 8, 2010: Awards Night & Elections Secretary / Correspondence July , 2010: Club barbeque Sharon MacDonald……....519-453-0094 August 10, 2010: No meeting [email protected] Membership Chair September 26, 2010: Club Show & Auction Nancy Drummond……....519-644-2753 [email protected] Table of Contents Library James Kelly….…………....519-681-0717 President’s Message……..……………………....……………….3 Show Chair & B.A.P./H.A.P. Molly Fish…………………………..……………………………..4 Stephen Gregson……....…519-649-5019 [email protected] Freshwater Plants………………………………………..……….5 Newsletter Editor Breeding Sewellia………………………………………………...6 Lorraine Gregson………...519-649-5019 Freshwater Hatchetfish…………………………………………..9 [email protected] B.A.P/H.A.P. Report……………………………………………..9 Jar Show Sarah Lee………………….519-686-3473 Tetra Fish………………………………………………………....10 [email protected] Fish Game……………..…………………….……………………11 Advertising Koilady’s Korner………………………………………………...11 Bob Steele…………….…...519-473-5648 [email protected] C.A.O.A.C. Convention Flyer………………………………….12 Auction Chair Jar Show Results.………………………………………………..13 Sean Patrick…...…....…….519-691-7566 [email protected] Platy’s…...………………………………………………………..13 CAOAC Representative Fish Categories………………..…….…...………………………14 Terry Little……….……....519-752-8642 C.A.O.A.C. Calendar………………..…………………………..14 [email protected] London Aquaria Society Page 2 Volume 53, Issue 1 London Aquaria Society Page 3 President’s Message Steve Gregson had his operation on his knee last month and we understand his recovery is going according to plan. Also Arthur’s recovery has been a little slower but he is also on the mend. The speaker for February was Jerry Draper and he did a presentation about breeding tropical fish. I enjoyed the evening and did learn a lot about different ways to breed our fishy friends. Good job Jerry. Also, we had 45 Members show up for this meeting and that was very good to see. The guest speaker for March will be Zenin Skomorowski. He has been in the hobby for many years and has been a Member of the Kitchener Waterloo Aquaria Society since 2002. He has three teenagers and a spouse that tolerates nine aquariums. His hobbies are tropical fish, photography, biking, hiking and wood working. His presentation will be on Loaches. Going off all the pictures I have seen Zenin take, this should be fantastic for the eyes. The fish show for March will be in Mollies, Platies and Open Class and the Open Class for Plants. The auction will be there as usual. We have extra shirts available for $10.00 each which will be available at our next General Meet- ing. Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Don’t drink too much green water. Ron The London Aquaria Society is a non-profit organization, established in June 1956. Its main objective is to promote interest in breeding and raising tropical fish and also to provide a means through which hobbyists may exchange ideas, gain information and display their fish, sharing them in the public in the London Area. Please Support Advertising Rates Southwestern Pet Centre Business Card……………….……$25.00 1641 Dundas Street 1/4 page…………………….…….$40.00 1/2 page…………….…………….$75.00 (New Location Dundas & Full Page…………………..……..$125.00 Saskatoon Rates apply for a year coverage totaling 10 is- London, Ontario sues of our Newsletter. Articles in this publica- They support us!!! tion may be reprinted provided full credit is 519-451-7279 given to the Author, the London Aquaria Soci- ety and 2 copies of the published bulletin or magazine in which the article appears, is to be mailed to: London Aquaria Society P.O. Box 45010, RPO Fairmont London, Ontario N5W 1A3 London Aquaria Society Page 3 What’s New In Characoid Studies: Part 1 cont’d from front page If the habitat allows continuous spawning, most commonly in hydroelectric reservoirs, then the fish will take advantage of that. An example is the Brazilian piranha Serrasalmus spilopleura, which changes its behaviour to spawn continuously in reservoirs. For the aquarist trying to spawn a characoid in the home tank, don’t worry about the book saying that a species will only spawn once a year under specialized conditions. Try to think things through for your fish. Is it big and healthy? Eating well? Not in a too-small tank? Many aquarists are actually already spawning their fish but never see the results because the eggs are quickly eaten within minutes or a few hours because the tank was too small and the aquascaping lacked hiding places for the eggs and fry. AVOIDING BEING EATEN Alarm pheromones are chemicals given off by many species of fish if their skin is broken, such as when the fish gets chomped through (or nearly so) by a predator. Other fish detect the scent of the chemical and react accordingly. This may be redundant if the predator was seen by the rest of the shoal to which the unfortunate victim belonged, but PET PARADISE it never hurts to be certain. In any event, SUPERSTORE pheromones are useful in conditions of poor Locally Owned & Operated Since 1995 visibility such as muddy water or nightfall. LONDON’S LARGEST SELECTION OF Prey fish do not necessarily panic and PUPPIES, KITTENS, REPTILES, FISH, AND scatter if alarm pheromone has been SMALL ANIMALS detected, but they will certainly go on red alert. One interesting study on glowlight • Full line of Pet and Aquarium Supplies tetras (Hemigrammus erythrozonus) revealed • Knowledgeable Friendly Staff that if these fish detect alarm pheromones • Great Package Deals, Reasonable Rates from their conspecifics, they will begin • Pets Always Welcome! flicking their fins [1]. This activity has two RECEIVE 10% OFF FISH AND purposes. Firstly, it serves as an additional SUPPLIES WHEN YOU PRE- alarm signal to the rest of the shoal, SENT YOUR AQUARIA SOCI- particularly the ones out of range or ETY MEMBERSHIP CARD. upstream of the pheromone flow. Secondly, Our Store Hours: it also notifies the predator that the shoal is Mon-Fri……9:30 a.m.— 9:00 p.m. alert, thereby reducing the chances of an Saturday…..9:30 a.m.— 8:00 p.m. attack, since predators generally rely on Sunday…..11:00 a.m.— 6:00 p.m. surprise. The study showed that cichlids slowed their attack rate on fin-flickers. It is 519-432-1600 not always effective, but every little bit 1080 Adelaide St.