T H E O N - L I N E J O U R N A L O F T H E B R O O K L Y N A Q U A R I U M S O C I E T Y QVOL. 32 UATI MAY - JUNE 2019 No. 5 CA AngelfishA - Pteropyllum scalare

Photo: John Todaro 1 108 Y EARSOF E DUCATING A QUARISTS AQUATICA VOL. 32 MAY • JUNE 2 0 1 9 N O . 5 C ONTENTS PAGE 2 THE AQUATICA STAFF PAGE 29 THE SCARLET . A report on dario a beautiful PAGE 3 CALENDAR OF EVENTS. small fish and how to breed them. BAS Events for the year 2019. MIKE HELLWEG - MAS

PAGE 4 MAKING YOUR OWN FISH PAGE 32 WHY SOUTHEAST ASIA FOOD. How to make your own AND AUSTRALIA’S CORAL homemade fish foods. REEFS BECOME SO RICH IN STAFF WRITER - www.pethelpful.com . Dive into the coral reefs of Southeast Asia or Australia and you’ll likely PAGE 6 AN OLD FAVORITE REVISITED: spot a wrasse. But which of the hundreds of THE PARADISE FISH. The Paradise fish kinds of wrasses will you see? is the granddaddy of all tropical fish. STEPH YIN - New York Times 10/17/2018 JOHN TODARO - BAS PAGE 34 WHERE DID FISH FIRST EVOLVE? THE PAGE 7 ORGANIC DISEASE TREATMENTS. ANSWER MAY BE SHALLOW. Some had armor Supplemental measures to help your fish fight off and spikes. Many lacked jaws. They evolved in the diseases and recover from them. shallow coasts around super continents and they ANTHONY P. KROEGER - BAS were some of our earliest ancestors with spines. NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR - New York Times 10/25/2018 PAGE 9 ALIENS AMONG US. Do aliens exist? Yes they do and we call them fish. PAGE 36 SETTING UP AN AQUARIUM. Steve JOHN TODARO - BAS explains the different factors to consider when setting up an aquarium. PAGE 16 SO YOU WANT TO BREED CORYS. STEVEN MATASSA - BAS An introduction to breeding corys written by an expert cory breeder. PAGE 37 GET TO KNOW OUR SPONSORS. IAN FULLER - Cordorasworld.com PAGE 39 SPONSORS ADS. PAGE 20 BIG! BOLD! BEAUTIFUL! Marine Angelfish - Part 4 The Queen Angelfish, PAGE 42 THE BENEFITS OF BEING A MEMBER Holacantus cilaris. OF THE BAS. ANTHONY P. KROEGER - BAS PAGE 43 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION. PAGE 23 ANGELFISH. Al divulges his method of breeding angelfish so that you too can successfully breed and raise angelfish. AL DISPIGNA - BAS PAGE 26 WHO WANTS TO EAT A GOOEY JELLYFISH? PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE IN THE OCEAN! Scientists had long assumed that few creatures dined on these gelatinous . But new research suggests that jellyfish may be an important part of the ocean’s food supply. CARL ZIMMER - New York Times 9/28/2018 2 A QUATICA STAFF

Editor: Contributing Writers: Associate Designer: John Todaro Al DiSpigna Staff Writer pethelpful.com Copy Editor: Ginny Cahill Ian Fuller Nicholas St. Fleur Freshwater Shrimp Editor:Kay Martin Mike Hellweg John Todaro Marine Editor: Ryan Curtis Anthony P. Kroeger Steph Yin Plant Editor: Open Steve Matassa Carl Zimmer Editor: Izzy Zwerin Illustrations: Ian Fuller JohnTodaro Norman Doughty Chris Giam All articles in are the opinion and experiences of the author or authors,Aquatica and do not necessarily represent Julia Noonan the opinions of the editors or staff of or the Aquatica Exchange Editor: Shelly Sacks Brooklyn Aquarium Society Inc. Bill Amely Note: The Editor takes full responsibility for misspellings and punctuation errors.

is published on line bi-monthly (except July/August) by BAS. may be reprinted by other non-profit organi- zations,AQUATICA provided proper credit is given to the author and , andOriginal two copies articles are sent to the Exchange Editor. Transcriptions of lectures may not be reprinted without written permission ofAQUATICA both Editor and the Speaker. A notice of where original articles have been published should be sent to the P.O. Box 290610, Bklyn, NY 11229-0111AQUATICA will exchange publicationsBAS with Exchange all interested Editor; societies. Bill Amely, If we do not receive your publications for three consecutive months,AQUATICA we will assume you no longer wish to exchange and your club may be removed from our mailing list.

ALLCORRESPONDENCECONCERNINGTHISPUBLICATIONSHOULDBESENTTO • Editor: : John Todaro, 247 Middletown Road, South Londonderry VT, 05155 - Phone: 802 824-3743 Fax: Same. You can submit articles to the Editor by mail, fax, or E-mail to: [email protected]. The is a non-profit organization 501(c) (3) for people interested in the aquarium hobby and the study of Brooklyn Aquarium Society Inc. aquatic life. The Society meets the 2nd Friday of each month except July and August at the Education Hall of the New York Aquarium at Coney Island, Surf Avenue at West 8th St., at 7:30 PM. Meetings are open to visitors. Refreshments are served. Membership is $25 per year family/$20 individual/$15 for students under 14. Send inquiries or membership checks payable to: c/o Membership Chairperson, P.O. Box 290610, Brooklyn, NY 11229-0011. Brooklyn Aquarium Society,

BROOKLYN AQUARIUM SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Exchange Editor: OFFICERS BOARD MEMBERS President: Bill Amely Membership Chairperson: Robert Kolsky Steve Matassa 1st Vice President: David Manuel Denver Lettmen Gennady (Gene) Kogan Sergeant-at-Arms: Nick Martinez 2nd Vice President: Lita Goldberg Leon Perry Recording Secretary: Paul Santiago Marie Licciardello Treasurer: Kay Martin Alissa Sinkler Web Master: Wayne Sinckler CorrespondingOpen Secretary: Bob Strazzulla Editor:Bernard Deren Larry Whitfield Dan Smith Ronald Wiesenfield John Todaro 3 B R O O K LY N A Q UA R I U M S OCIETY CALENDAR OF EVENTS ~ 2019

Freshwater fish, plants, marine fish, aqua-cultured corals MAY 10 Giant Spring Auction ~ & dry goods. JUN 14 Cameron Provost - [House of Fins] - Rare Marine Fish in the Aquarium ~ Followed by an auction of marine fish, Hobby BAS OFFICERS ELECTIONS. aqua-culturedcorals,freshwaterfish, plants & dry goods.

NO MEETINGS JULY & AUGUST SEPT 13 Tullio DelAquella ~ The Facts of Light: A scientific approach to comparing Followed by an auction of marine fish, aqua-cultured light sources for aquarium use ~ corals, , plants & dry goods. Freshwater fish, plants, marine fish, aqua-culturedcorals & OCT 11 Giant Fall Auction ~ dry goods. Followed by an auction NOV 8 Lou Ekus [Tropic Marin] - Reef Chemistry Made Easy ~ of marine fish, aqua-cultured corals, freshwater fish, plants & dry goods. • BAS awards presentations. DEC 13 Holiday Party ~Members, Their Families & Friends 2020 Followed by an auction of marine fish, JAN 10 Luis Morales - Fish Photography ~ aqua-culturedcorals,freshwaterfish, plants & dry goods.

All BAS meetings begin at 7:30pm. No members, other than those donating their help setting up or items for the auction, will be allowed in before that time. 4 Staff Writers - www.pethelpful.com

MakingMaking YourYour OwnOwn FishFish FoodFood

Making fish food is easy. If you are what you eat, then your vegetables are what your fish eat, right? Well, while this thinking doesn't hold up for most of life's circumstances, it does apply to Aquaponics! This cutting edge and soil-less gardening practice relies solely on fish byproducts, so it only makes sense to feed aquarium fish with something substantial and natural. In this article, learn how to make your own fish food in order to keep aquarium occupants looking and feeling their best. Aquaponic gardeners and fish keepers unite. Today, we're talking homemade fish food.

Fish Diets Fish are no different the herbivorous category. While carnivorous species tend to eat from terrestrial- animals when it these fish may occasionally eat plant matter in the wild. So, for comes to diet. There are some meat proteins, the majority of vitality and longevity in the that are mainly herbivores, many their diet consists of plant matter. aquarium, these fish should be that are omnivores and also a • Omnivores The majority typically fed with 60-70% handful that are carnivorous. So of aquarium fish- for sale will be matter and 30-40% plant matter if you're wanting to please your listed as having an omnivorous . fish with homemade food, it diet. These fish will readily take Ingredients: helps to first understand what both animal and plant matter, (Plant Matter) For vegetables type of eater they are! While the and should be fed both regularly and plant matter,- I prefer to use list below won't explain the for continued health. Generally produce that was organically specific needs of each individual speaking, omnivores normally take grown. As pesticide residues species, it will at least serve as a in more plant matter, so animal can adversely affect aquatic and general guideline as to what proteins are usually limited to microbial life, it's best just to leave your fishes should be eating! around 20-40% of their diet. conventionally grown produce • Herbivores Many aquarium • Carnivores Like herbivores, out of the picture. algae eaters ( - & ), there are few aquarium- fish that • Dark Leafy Greens as well as someottocinclus tropical plecostomus species are actually labeled true carnivores. Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, -Kale, and African cichlids, fall into The reason for this is that even Sushi Seaweed and Chard provide 5

a rich and nutritious plant base Conventionally farmed fish and • Blend it. That pretty much for any diet. Chocked full of other aquatic life are typically fed says it all. Place all of the vitamins and minerals, these a poor diet, and can lack nutritional ingredients into a blender or greens simulate the natural aquatic value compared to their wild, food processor and pulse until flora consumed by fish species. free range counterparts. the mixture has reached an even • Garlic It turns out that garlic • Fish Other fish are generally consistency. is somewhat- of a "super food" acceptable- for use in making • Strain the mixture Using when it comes to fish. Beside its your own fish food. Wild caught a spatula, squeeze the mixture. ability to simulate the appetite of specimens contain a variety of through a medium-fine mesh. even the most finicky eaters, garlic nutrients and proteins, providing This process is the most labor also maintains fish health by a hearty base for any omnivorous intensive, but will remove any providing antibacterial properties. or carnivorous diet. To minimize large pieces of bone/veggie that • Miscellaneous disease and pathogen are too big for fish consumption. Fruits/Vegetables On top contamination, always use a • Dry it out Dedicate three of your leafy green base,- it's a species of fish that is different from to four hours for. drying your good idea to add a few additional the ones you're planning to feed it to. fish food into flakes. This process fruits/veggies to your food. Doing • Earthworms Earthworms begins by covering large baking so will ensure that nutrition is are an excellent source- of proteins trays with wax or parchment derived from a variety of sources and are a fairly inexpensive paper. The paper will prevent instead of just a few. This variety option for fish food. If you don't the dried food from sticking to in nutrients will keep fish looking want to blend up live worms, the pan. Next pour the refined and feeling their best. Broccoli, just rinse them off and pop mixture onto the sheets and zucchini, carrots, apples, pears, them in the freezer beforehand. spread into a very thin layer peas and oranges all make for • Miscellaneous (1/8 - 1/4" thick). Place in an great additions to homemade Animal Matter Brine shrimp, oven set to 150°F and allow to fish food blood worms (mosquito- larvae), dry for 3-4 hours, or until the • Spirulina Powder This and other bulk frozen foods mixture is thoroughly crumbly. food additive is a favorite- offer variety to the fish food. • Break it Apart. The sheets among those who make their Buy from only trusted sources will come off in large chunks. own fish food. Composed of to reduce contaminates and Break them down with your hands cyanobacteria, spirulina powder is pathogens. until they reach the desired size. rich in minerals, vitamins, and Store in dark and cool environment. amino acids. Natural pigments Process: In an airtight container, the within also help captive fish The process outlines how to fish food will remain good for show their best colors. make fish food flakes. If you're over a year. • Potato or Corn Starch interested in making frozen A tablespoon or so of either will- food, you'll want to follow the be added to the mixture for procedure outlined in another binding purposes. The starch guide. holds the mixture together so • Prep your ingredients that it creates flakes when dried. Leafy greens should be rinsed. and harder veggies (aka broccoli, Ingredients: carrots, etc.) parboiled. Any (Animal Matter) When frozen ingredients should be choosing animal proteins,- try to thawed. Fish should be seek out wild caught or descaled, but with bones in. organically produced options. 6 John Todaro - BAS First pubished in Aquatica January/February 2009 Vol. 22 No. 3 Articles from the files worth reading again An Old Favorite Revisited: The Paradise Fish

he Paradise fish is the species tank that’s densely granddaddy of all tropical planted, with a small Tfish. It was first introduced amount of floating plants into the hobby in Paris in 1869 for the male to anchor his by . It wasn’t until bubble-nest. 1876Carbonnier that it was introduced into America by The species breeds like Bettas and the eggs (from "this Bud's for you" will hatch out in about 24 hours. After three to five Adolphusfame). No kidding!Busch days in the nest, the fry become free-swimming The Paradise Fish was regarded as an and can be fed on infusoria, then brine shrimp aquarium novelty back then and the breeders of nauplii. They’re easy to raise. long-tail Goldfish feared the presence of this Breeders have developed an albino strain “menacing stranger” among their highly developed and a black strain and these strains can be easily but defenseless long finned beauties. Of course, found in most shops. The Paradise Fish is well they should never have put Paradise Fish in with suited to pond culture, as it can handle moderate their Goldfish in the first place. chilly spells. Paradise fish can withstand water down This is a beautiful fish and worth another to 50˚F, but should be kept between 70˚F to 75˚F. look for a small desktop tank or first fish for a They’re not particular about water quality. They can beginner or, as Adolphus Busch might put it... be very aggressive among themselves, particularly “Hey bud, this fish is for you!” at spawning time, so it’s best to keep them in a

Anabantidae kept in a species tank. FAMILY: Macropodus opercularis Omnivorous; live, frozen & flake SCIENTIFIC NAME:Paradise Fish. Ffoods.OOD REQUIREMENTS: COMMON: Shallow NAME: waters of eastern Asia. Male is more colorful and has substantially longer REGIONup to 4 inches. Sfins.EX: SIZE: Between 59˚F-75˚F. Easy to breed. Young fish and females can be TEMPERATURE: pH 6.0 to 8.0 and dGH 30˚ keptBREEDING together,: but adult males will fight if kept together WATER QUALITYQuarrelsome,: not a good community fish. Best in a small tank. HABITS:

References: , Dr. R. Riehl, H. A. Baensch, Baensch Publishing,1982 W. T. Innes, Innes Publishing Co. (16th Edition, 1953 Baensch Aquarium Atlas Exotic Aquarium Fish, Expanded Edition, H. Axelrod, JorgBettas, Vierke, Gouramis T.F.H. andPublications other Anabantoids, Inc,1988 Labyrinth Fishes of the World, T.F.H.The Encyclopedia Publications of FreshwaterInc, 1965 Tropical Fishes, D. Mills, Dr. G. Vevers, Crescent Books, 1982 The Encyclopedia of Tropical Fish, 7 Anthony P. Kroeger - BAS IS MY FISH SICK - FISH DISEASE TIPS Part 1 can be read in Aquatica, Sept/Oct 2017 Part 2 can be read in Aquatica, May/Jun 2018 Part 3 can be read in Aquatica, Jan/Feb 2019 Part 4 can be read in Aquatica, May/June 2019

IS MY FISH SICK PART 5 FISH DISEASE TIPS Organic Disease Treatments

air flow. Put the infected fish CONSIDER THESE AS into this treatment for about 1 to PREVENTIVE AND 3 minutes. The extreme change SUPPLEMENTAL MEASURES in salinity permeates the TO HELP YOUR FISH FIGHT fishes’ skin and affects even OFF DISEASES AND RE- imbedded parasites to some ex- COVER FROM THEM! tent. The osmotic imbalance kills the parasites. Fish in such a solution will Salt#1 is Saltmy general tonic. I use it rapidly fall to the bottom, breathing on all sick fish at the rate of 1 hard. That’s okay. When the Tsp of Kosher salt per gallon I close this series fish falls over on its side of water, with the exception of of tip columns breathing hard, remove it catfish, loaches and cory species. immediately and place it in This is my normal healing with ways to help fresh salt-free water. I use a dose. However, I also make a your fish that are 2nd 5-gallon bucket for this. more intense “salt dip” for Once the fish is recovered my fish. I find this works es- not drugs. and swimming normally, pecially well on velvet and ick. For the “salt dip,” only then can you place it back in its treatment I start with a 5-gallon bucket of water and tank that contains 1 tsp of salt per gallon of water. use a hydrometer to bring the salinity of the Any fish which responds to this treatment water to 1.018. I also add an airstone with a heavy with sharp twitching or jerky movements should 8 be removed and placed in freshwater immediately... it’s going into shock! As a rule of thumb, the smaller the fish, I’m#3 not Garlic sure exactly what property of garlic helps the less time it can spend in the saltwater dip. fish, but I do know when I mince the garlic fine Likewise, I do not recommend a saltwater dip for and mix both it and the resultant oil with fish small blackwater species, ex: cardinal tetras, food, my fish seem to recover faster. I think it is licorice gouramis, etc. an immune system booster; as near as I can tell. It Saltwater dips work best for goldfish,, also seems to help prevent fish from falling ill with barbs, cichlids, livebearers, gobies and puffers. disease in the first place. I use garlic with all sick fish, just as I do with salt and elevated temperatures.

Elevating#2 Temperature the temperature helps all fish fight off diseases. A raised temperature boosts a fish’s In#4 my Massivequarantine tanks, Iwater make a minimum changes of twice immune system, 86˚F is fatal to ick. At 90˚F many daily 50% water change. Twice a week I make a 75% diseases start to have a problem. I always raise water change, if the species of fish likes water changes. my temperatures to at least 86˚F. 90-92˚F is even Juvenile parasites move in the water column to better. I once had a heater stuck at 104˚F in a tank find new hosts; changing the water decreases the number of pictus cats covered in ick. All the ick died. of parasites to infect new hosts while keeping water Every pictus survived. quality top notch. Obviously, I do not recommend such extreme Add these 4 “organic”treatments to your regular heat, but for some fish like rams, discus and some treatments and you’ll save a lot more sick fish. catfish, heat definitely does help a lot. Raise the temperature and keep it high for 2 weeks minimum. Happy fishkeeping! When you do start to decrease the temperature, do so very ny gradually, no more than a 2˚F per day decrease. You do To not want to chill your fish and have them catch ick again. 9 John Todaro - BAS Aliens among us

Do aliens exist? Is there other life forms in the universe? Have you ever wanted to meet alien life? Well, you can do that right here on Earth at the water’s edge. We know these aliens as fish. They live in a totally alien world from us, in which we can not survive in without special breathing equipment and “space ships” that allow us to enter the world they live in. Let’s take a look at how they live in their world. f the 42,000 different types of vertebrates about them later. All fish have gills and to stay in the world, about half of them are fish. alive in their world they must pass large volumes OAbout 60% live in the oceans and the rest, of water through the gills’ to extract oxygen about 40%, live in freshwater. These aliens through the gills pumping action. When fish be- range in size from about 6mm long to many feet gins to run out of oxygen, the very best they can long. do is to increase the oxygen supply 2 to 3 times by pumping their gills faster. As humans we can Breathing under water increase our supply 20 times or even more by How do these aliens survive in this unforgiving deep and faster breathing. water world? How do they breathe? Do they Now to anabantids in this alien world. You breathe water? No. They need oxygen to live, just may know them as labyrinth fish or gouramis like we do. So how do the do it in water. The supply and bettas. These fish have developed a labyrinth of oxygen is essential to life but it’s more difficult organ, a defining characteristic of fish in the sub- order ; it is a much-folded to obtain in water than it is in air because water Anabantoidei contains only 2% to 3% as much oxygen as air. suprabranchial accessory breathing organ. It’s Water is 800 times more dense than air and formed by vascularized expansion of the much harder to move through their breathing system. epibranchial bone of the first gill arch and used Fish don’t have lungs, except for anabantid. More for breathing in air. This special organ allows labyrinth fish to 10

take in oxygen directly from the surface of the from fish They make sounds to frighten an water, instead of taking it from the water they enemy or to attract a mate. They make sounds live in. The labyrinth organ helps the inhaled grinding their teeth or vibrating some part of oxygen to be absorbed into the bloodstream. their anatomical systems such as the swim bladder. Because of this, labyrinth fish can survive Some fish make noise when eating; for example, for short periods of time out of water because parrotfish do when they scrape sections of coral, they can inhale the air in our world, provided the and rays when they crunch mollusk shells. Some fish stay wet and the air is moist. small toad fish can make a sound with Labyrinth fish are not born with functional an intensity of 90 decibels. Even water turbulence labyrinth organs. The development of the organ created by a school of fish produces noise. is gradual and most young labyrinth fish breathe It can be heard by us and has given rise to such entirely with their gills and develop the labyrinth fish names as grunts, drum, and croakers. organs as they grow older. Most sounds are in the form of grunts The reason these fish developed this organ whoops, clicks, thumps, growls and barks and is that they generally live in waters stagnant and most of them are within the range of human ears low in oxygen and this organ helps them gulp a when transmitted through hydrophones. bubble of air from the water surface. Species living in low-oxygenated waters are more Physical Hearing Adaptations likely to have larger and more complex labyrinth Sound perception organs in fishes include organs than species found in fast-flowing, oxygen- cilia (nerve hairs), bladders, ossicles, otoliths, ac- rich waters. celerometers, and mechanoreceptors in various configurations. Some fish have all of these features; Hearing and Sound some have only one. But regardless of the complexity of adap- tations, all fish in the alien world of water that we know of seem to respond to sound. The along the side of some fishes is an interesting adoption to their world of water. Lateral lines are comprised of cilia that are akin to the cilia that line the cochlea of the inner ears of terrestrial vertebrates. Some fish don’t

Our ears are not very well adapted to detecting sounds in this alien world of water and until the invention of hydrophones we assumed that the oceans were silent. Scientists were sur- prised to find that the waters of the world are very noisy, even more so than the world we live in. This high noise level is caused by water’s greater density and it can transmit sound much further. Much of the noise in the water comes 11 have lateral lines, but do have cilia that serve as in or about coral reefs and in shallow sun mechanoreceptors translating acoustically induced drenched waters are well equipped with color particle motion and pressure gradients into the receptors and see in living color. sensory system of the fish. Fish and other aquatic animals live in a By way of these two acoustical energy different light environment from terrestrial perceptions, they sense sound and the proximity species. Water absorbs the light spectrium so of other moving bodies and thus help fish to hold that with increasing depth the amount of light together in their tightly synchronized schools and available to see with decreases quickly. The optical not bump into each other. properties of water also lead to different wave- Many fish also have gas-filled swim bladders lengths of light being absorbed to different de- that are used to mediate buoyancy. These bladders grees. also represent an acoustical impedance differential For example, visible light of long wavelengths in the body and can serve as a pressure gradient (e.g., red, orange) is absorbed in less water than sensor. In some fishes, the swim bladder ties into light of shorter wavelengths (green, blue). the inner ‘ears’ of the fish by way of a set of bones Ultraviolet light (even shorter wavelength than similar to those in our own middle ear bones. violet) can penetrate deeper than visual spectrum. Another hearing organ of fish is an Besides the universal qualities of water, accelerometer set up by dense bones in the skull different bodies of water may absorb light of called s which sense particle motion. different wavelengths differently, due to varying otolith salt and/or chemical presence in the water. How fish see Fishes’ eyes are very much like those of Structure and function humans and in many species of fish they’re well Fish eyes are broadly similar to those of developed, but there are major differences. other vertebrates – notably the tetrapods (amphibians, Fish eyes function independently of each reptiles, birds and mammals – all of which other and can be rotated to take in a wide area on evolved from a fish ancestor). Light enters the each side of the body. Since the furthest that can eye at the cornea, passing through the pupil to be seen underwater with clarity is about 82 feet, reach the lens. Most fish species seem to have a there’s little provision for focal adjustment and fixed pupil size, but (like sharks elasmobranchs because fish’s eyes are being constantly kept wet and rays) have a muscular iris which allows pupil with water, fish generally don’t have eyelids. diameter to be adjusted. Pupil shape varies, and Not all creatures in our terrestrial world may be either circular or slit-like. with eyes see in color; of all the mammals, only Lenses are normally spherical but can be humans and primates are able to see color. Your slightly elliptical in some species. Compared to dog and cat do not see color. terrestrial vertebrates, fish lenses are generally more In the alien world of water, most fish, dense and spherical. In water there’s not a major however, see color judging from the existence of difference in the refractive index of the cornea color receptors cells in their eyes. and the surrounding water (compared to air on Deep water fish that live the “twilight land) so the lens has to do the majority of the zone” where there is little light, have very few refraction. The spherical lenses of fish are able to color receptor cells and may not see in the full form sharp images free from spherical aberration. spectrum of color. On the other hand, fish living 12

Once light passes through the lens it’s oxygenated blood to ensure optimal performance. transmitted through a transparent liquid medium Humans have a vestibulo-ocular reflex, until it reaches the retina, which contains the which is a reflex eye movement that stabilizes photoreceptors. Like other vertebrates, the images on the retina during head movement by photoreceptors are on the inside layer so light producing an eye movement in the direction must pass through layers of other neurons before opposite to head movement, thus preserving the it reaches the retina which contains rod cells and image on the center of the visual field. In a similar cone cells. manner, fish have a vestibulo-ocular reflex which The ratio of rods to cones depends on the stabilizes visual images on the retina when it ecology of the fish species concerned, e.g., those moves its tail to swim. mainly active during the day in clear waters will have more cones than those living in low light environments. Color vision is most useful near From skin to scales the surface in clear waters rather than in deeper Most terrestrial animals have skin. Fish on water where only a narrow band of wavelengths the other hand have developed scales which are persist. more suited for their environment. Scales can The distribution of photoreceptors across vary in size from very large to microscopic ones the retina is not uniform. Some areas have higher such as those on eels. densities of cone cells, for example. Fish may have Scales are semi-transparent, like our two or three areas specialized for high acuity (e.g., fingernails, and grow from the fish’s skin. The for prey capture) or sensitivity (e.g., from dim light number and arrangement of the scales are coming from below). The distribution of photoreceptors established genetically and don’t change with may also change in the case when the species age; they merely enlarge with growth. Overlaying typically moves between different light environments the scales is a thin layer of slimy mucus familiar during its life cycle (e.g., shallow to deep waters, to anyone who has ever handled a fish; this mucus or fresh water to ocean) or when food spectrum serves as a barrier to bacterial and fungal infections. changes accompany the growth of a fish as seen The mucus also reduces the friction of water on with the Antarctic icefish . fishes and it allows them to swim more efficiently Champsocephalus gunnari Some species have a tapetum, a reflective in their watery world. layer which bounces light that passes through the retina back through it again. This enhances sensitivity in low light conditions, such as deep sea species, by giving photons a second chance to be captured by photoreceptors. However, this comes at a cost of reduced resolution. Some species of fish are able to turn their tapetum off in bright conditions, with a dark pigment layer covering it as needed. The retina uses a lot of oxygen compared to most other tissues, and is supplied with plentiful 13

• Some herrings, anchovies, and halfbeaks have deciduous scales, which are easily shed and aid in escaping predators. • Male Percina darters have a row of enlarged caducous scales between the pelvic fins and the anus. Many groups of bony fishes, including pipefishes and seahorses, several families of , sticklebacks, and poachers, have developed external bony plates, structurally resembling placoid scales, as protective armour. In the Modification of scales boxfishes, the plates are all fused together to Different groups of fish have evolved a form a rigid shell enclosing the entire body. These number of modified scales to serve various bony plates are not modified scales, but skin that functions. Almost all fishes have a lateral line, a has been ossified. system of mechanoreceptors that detect move- ments in water. Lateral lines In bony fishes, the scales along the lateral A lateral line is a sense organ fish use to line have central pores that allow water to contact detect movement and vibration in the surrounding the sensory cells. water. They use it to detect depth and water • The spines of dogfish sharks and pressure, prey, predators, sense current movement chimaeras, the stinging tail spines of stingrays, and orientation in the current, as well as to avoid and the "saw" teeth of sawfishes and sawsharks collisions. The lateral line is a unique organ that are fused and modified placoid scales. is a combination of eyes, ears and sensory feelings • Porcupine fishes have scales modified into spines. combined into one. All fish have some form of a • Surgeonfishes have a sharp, blade-like spines lateral line; some have a more developed one on either side of the caudal peduncle. than others. Lateral lines are usually visible as

The Lateral line is a sensitive receptor which enables fish to dectect currents and vibrations in the water. 14

faint lines running lengthwise down each side of surroundings. the fish, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the Whether a fish absorbs or loses water is base of the tail. Sometimes parts of the lateral based on the fact that all fish must maintain a organ are modified into electroreceptors, which certain amount of salt in their bodies to stay are organs used to detect electrical impulses. healthy. Fish that live in freshwater have a higher It’s possible that vertebrates, such as sharks, use concentration of salt in their bodies than the lateral organs to detect magnetic fields as the surrounding water. So freshwater fish absorb amphibians also have a lateral organ. water through their skin and gills. Consequently, The development of the lateral-line system water continuously flows into the fish’s body to depends on the fish's mode of life. For instance, attempt to dilute the amount of salt in the fish until fish that are active swimmers tend to have more it is equal to the amount of salt in the surrounding neuromasts in canals than they have on their water. surface, and the line will be farther away from Since fish cannot allow their salt content to the pectoral fins, which probably reduces the be diminished, their kidneys work overtime to amount of "noise" that is generated by fin motion. expel excess water in the form of urine. The lateral-line system helps fish avoid So freshwater fish do not drink, their cells do! collisions, to orient itself in relation to water currents, Salt water fish and to locate prey. For instance, blind cavefish Fish that live in the ocean have the opposite have rows of neuromasts on their heads, which problem. Surrounded by saltwater, their bodies appear to be used to precisely locate food without contain a relatively lower concentration of salt the use of sight; killifish are able to use their lateral than ocean water. In this case, osmosis causes the line to sense the ripples made by struggling fish to constantly lose water in order to equalize salt on the water's surface. Experiments have shown concentration inside and outside the fish. that lateral lines in schooling fish are used to To partially compensate for the water loss, avoid collisions with other schooling fish. ocean fish actually drink water through their mouths. To get rid of the excess salt they take in by drinking seawater, they excrete some salt Do fish drink? through cells in their gills. Yes and no. Fish do drink water, but how In other words, saltwater fish; have to they consume it depends on what sort of water drink because their body's concentration of salt is they live in. lower than the surrounding water. Therefore salt Water gets into a fish’s body through water fish must drink huge amounts of water to osmosis, the process in which water diffuses from stay hydrated. a higher to a lower concentration. Freshwater fish Temperature Here’s how it works. If there is more water In this alien world of water, we always outside of a cell than inside, water will try to flow thought of fish as being cold-blooded, but some into the cell until there is the same concentration species of fish actually maintain a body temperature of water on either side of the cell’s membrane. slightly higher than the water they are swimming in. The body of a fish acts the same way, either Fishes are surprisingly sensitive to absorbing or losing water depending on its temperature changes; some react to a change of 15 as little as one 10th of a degree F. zone. Generally they do not need to move too Fish have developed to live in a variety of quickly, because water has a high heat capacity, environments in this alien world. There are fish so generally change in temperature happens that live in nearly freezing water and other fish slowly. Fish are rarely trapped outside their comfort that live in water as hot as 104°F. Most fish are zone unless exceptional changes happen, such as likely to die if the temperature a fish being trapped in a small they are accustomed to changes landlocked pool on a very hot more than 15°F and many day, or when there is a large cannot tolerate even that draw-down of a reservoir. change. Fish generally try to find Temperature at the time their thermal optimum, (their of spawning is especially critical Goldilocks zone) the temperature to many species and may be a which is not too cold or not too reason why some fish migrate to hot. This thermal optimum special spawning areas at a par- varies for different fish species. ticular time of the year. Many feel that larger fish Since most fish are cold- have better cold tolerance, and blooded, which means they do this may be a factor why larger not and can not control their inter- fish generally live in deeper nal body warmth, their metab- colder water than smaller fish. olism is strongly influenced by We get to watch creatures the temperature of the water in living in this alien world behind which they live. a glass panel, while sitting com- A few species, bluefin fortably in an easy chair. tuna as an example, are some- No rockets to outer space no what warm-blooded in that they space suits. can control the temperature of As an aquarist for my whole life, some organs by using muscle movement to gen- I find this world of fish and other creatures that erate heat. But as far as is known, most fish are live in this watery world exciting. cold-blooded Given their cold-blooded nature, fish need to move to stay within their temperature comfort

References: • Wikipedia.org - Vision in fishes - fish ears • ORC.org/learn/howdo-fish-hear • Wikipedia.org - fish scales • laterlineco.com/fish_latera_line.htm • åwww.thefishingnut.com 16 Ian Fuller - Cordorasworld.com

An introduction to breeding Corys

So you want to breed Corys hen first starting keeping tropical fish, one time, there are probably twenty to twenty the majority of people never give a five species available to the hobbyist. These range thought to breeding them; their first in size from a little over one inch body length (25 W mm), to four inches (100 mm). Their body shapes experience comes when their female Guppy or Platy gives birth to a batch of youngsters. Watching also vary, which is an indication that although they a female livebearer deliver her young is an belong to the same family, they do not necessarily awesome sight the first time you see it happen live in the same type of habitats. This means that and has probably been the beginning of many a providing the correct breeding conditions for lifelong journey for budding aquarists. It was them is not always a simple task. The substrate certainly what started me on the road to fish breeding. where most Corys are found is sand. Unlike Among the many groups of fish that I common building sand, river/stream sand is have bred over the years, it's the group of small different. Because it is constantly being moved by armoured catfishes from South America belonging the flow of the water, the granules have been worn to the family Corydoradinae that have intrigued rounded and smooth. In some areas, there is me the most and for the longest time. In fact, my larger gravel and in others the substrate is clay, interest in them started within the first three which is not an ideal substance to use in the years of taking up the hobby; it's an interest that aquarium. In slower moving rivers, streams, has continued to this day. flood plane pools and lakes, there may be thick There are more than one hundred and fifty layers of leaf litter or even deep silt. Therefore, described species, with equally as many more selecting the correct substrate can be a problem. species awaiting scientific description. At any Water condition requirements also vary from 17 species to species, at one end of the scale there for the shallow depth of substrate is so that when are some that require very soft acidic water (0 - 2 the adult fish are sifting through it in their con- dGH; pH 5.6 - 6.0) and at the other end the water stant search for food, they can actually penetrate needs to be medium hard and neutral (8 - 12 dGH; to the base of the aquarium, which alleviates the pH7.0). As aquarists, it's almost impossible to risk of uneaten food causing pollution problems. determine the exact needs of each individual species, By way of filtration, I would recommend the use so we need to have a starting point. I would of air driven sponge filters. These, once they have normally start with what I call a basic set up; the matured not only help to keep the water clean size of the tank is not that important. Most of my with their biological action, but provide what can breeding tank are quite small, holding only be described as a dining table for small fry. between six and eight imperial gallons of water. To mature new filters, I set them up in an already The first decision is to select the species established tank, usually the stock tanks that you want to breed. Here I would recommend one house the fish I want to breed. of the so-called easier and more readily avail- The only other additions I would add to a able species. the Bronze Cory breeding tank would be either a floating spawning Corydoras aeneus and the Peppered Corys. There mop, constructed out of synthetic 4ply knitting Corydoras paleatus are also albino forms of both species available, wool. To make a spawning mop simply take a

Corydoras aeneus Corydoras paleatus

which are equally as easy to breed. The ideal piece of stiff card about 18 - 20 cm wide and wind breeding group for any of these species would the wool around it fifty times. Tie off the loops at consist of two females and four males. To house one end of the card and then cut through the them, an aquarium of 18" x 12" x 10"/12" deep (45 strand at the other, attach a piece of cork to the cm x 30 cm x 20/25 cm) would be a suitable size tied off end and you have a spawning mop. The for a breeding set up. For those of you that have a colour of wool is immaterial but I find that dark limited amount of room, there are one or two dwarf green or brown seem to be favoured more than species that are also very easy to breed. These are any other colour. Once the mop has been soaked, and . A it will provide an ideal egg deposit site. Java Corydoras habrosus Corydoras pygmaeus small 10" x 8" x 8" (25 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm) aquar- moss and Java fern also make good spawning ium would be an ideal size for these. sites; both plants are hardy and will tolerate No more than a three-eighth of an inch (10 being moved from tank to tank as required. mm) layer of smooth grained sand should be A new breeding tank set up will have a used as a substrate for the larger species and thin layer of well washed sand; water will be about half that for the dwarf species. The reason taken from the stock tank that the potential 18

breeding stock are housed in, filling the tank to cooler (6.5º C). Other species may prove even about three quarters full and topped up with new more difficult and daily water changes may be water of the same temperature. One or two needed to start spawning interest. It's usually at sponge filters are added depending on the tank this point that I advise people to make notes of size and the species to be housed. The tempera- what they are doing and to record all relevant ture is set to suit the species to be bred and then details, such as tank size, water parameters, food the tank is left to settle for a couple of days. For and feeding regime, water changes; how often, the temperature would be set how much and temperatures, etc. Another tip here is to Corydoras paleatus, at 70º F (21º C), for a little higher at 75º only ever change one parameter at a time because C. aeneus, F (24º C). Once the tank has settled, the adults are by altering more, one thing could counteract another. introduced. If the water parameters in the stock It will be pretty obvious when the fish are tank are different to those in the breeding tank the interested in breeding by their increased activity. adult fish should be acclimatised, which is done by What usually happens is the males will start to catching the fish and putting them in a container pay a female a lot of attention by performing little with water from the stock tank and floating it in dances around and all over her, often offering the breeding tank. The water in the container is themselves in arched sideways stances in front of then slowly exchanged her. They will stay in for water from the constant contact in an breeding tank; once the attempt to arouse a acclimatisation has female's interest. It been achieved, the may only be one, two group of adults can be or all four males taking released. part in the ritual, Now the potential each one competing breeding group need to for the chance to be given the best diet mate. The females possible to get them will be more inter- into the best possible condition for breeding. A ested in cleaning various sites around the tank in staple daily diet of a quality flake or tablet food readiness to deposit her egg/s. When a female is alternated with live or frozen foods. , sufficiently aroused, the roles are reversed and Tubifex, bloodworm or Cyclops would be ideal. she will pursue the male of her choice, nuzzling Thirty percent water changes should be into his side just above his ventral fins. At this point, made twice weekly to keep conditions at their the male will clamp the female’s barbels to his best, making sure to siphon all the fish waste and side using his pectoral fin spine, the male will be any debris that has accumulated on the bottom. seen quivering for a second or two before releas- In many cases when the fish are in the best ing his grip on the female. This is what is known possible condition, a basic water change will be as the Corydoras "T" mating position and de- enough to trigger them into spawning mode, some pending on the species is the time when the fe- species, however, will need a little encouragement, male releases egg/s into a pouch formed by which may be achieved by a fifty percent water clamping her ventral fins together. There are change using replacement water that is about 10º F some species where the female releases her egg/s 19

into the pouch after the male has released her. is floated in the spawning tank, it will be maintained at There is a lot of conjecture how or at what point the same temperature. The addition of a proprietary the egg/s are fertilised and has been the subject anti-fungal solution will help keep any infertile for some lengthy discussions, which I do not intend eggs from contaminating the fertile ones. to delve into here. Over the four or five day gestation period After mating, the female will rest momentarily the water in the container should changed for and then swim off in search of a suitable site to water from the spawning tank, which will reduce deposit her egg/s, which may be on the tank the content of the anti fungal solution to zero by glass or on one or all of the other tank’s furnishings. the time fry start to emerge from the eggs. Once I have found that seem to prefer the the fry have escaped the confines of the egg C. paleatus tank sides to deposit their eggs on, with membrane, it will take a further two to four days Corydoras having a preference for plants and mops. for them to become free swimming; the daily aeneus Egg size varies from species to species; the smallest water changes should be continued. When the fry I have measured was from sp. at can be seen to have totally absorbed the contents Corydoras pestai 0.7 mm diameter and the largest from of their yolk sac, they will need to be supplied Corydoras at 2.8 mm diameter. with food. There is nothing metae The size and the quantity better to start them off of eggs seem to be related, than small helpings of a species laying small micro worm, here the eggs produces large term little and often numbers and a species should apply but this is producing large eggs not always a practical only produce small option. Therefore feeding numbers. Once the twice a day will suffice spawning activity has ceased, it is best to remove making the daily water change before the second either the adults or the eggs to avoid any possi- feeding. After two days of micro worm other bility of the eggs being eaten. If there are a large foods; should be introduced, preferably live food; number of eggs, it is best to remove the adults newly hatched brine shrimp or cyclops are ideal. and return them to their original stock tank. A Pre-soaked poweredflakes can also be given, small number of eggs can be housed in a small alternating with the live food. At this time it will container left floating in the spawning tank, be necessary to increase the amount of water where eggs have been deposited in the mop or on changes before each feeding. the plants, it’s a simple case of lifting the whole fry grow very quickly Corydoras paleatus plant or mop out and putting it in the container. and within four or five weeks the fry will need to Eggs that have been placed on the tank sides can be moved to larger accommodations and by the be carefully lifted by using a razor blade; some time they are ten weeks old, they should be about species produce very sticky eggs that are quite one inch in body length. difficult to remove and others have hardly any Finally, do remember to keep notes because adhesion at all. Eggs that are removed should be not everything you do will go according to plan put in a small hatching container (I use 1.5 or 2 and the record you keep may be invaluable at a litre ice-cream tubs) with water from the spawning later date. tank and with an air stone added. If the container 20 Anthony P. Kroeger - BAS Marine Angelfish - Part 4 BIG! BOLD! BEAUTIFUL!

THE QUEEN ANGELFISH Holacanthus cilaris Queen angels are arguably the Queen angels usually are available at a most stunning fish in the medium to high price. Collection of both quality Atlantic Ocean! and size of queen angels is now strictly limited Once seen, you will never forget its great by the state of Florida. Demand for queen angels beauty! Personally, this is my favorite Atlantic fish. far exceeds supply. Queen angels are found from Florida to Imports from Belize and elsewhere are Brazil and the entire Caribbean and in between, now generally juveniles or sub-adults [transition although around some Caribbean islands it is phase] fish. Availability of large full grown adult rather rare. It’s much more common in coastal specimens is very rare now. areas, such as Florida, Belize and Brazil. As adults, You get what you pay for with queen angels; queen angels grow to a length of 15” inches. however, this angel is stunning! 21

In adults, the body is a beautiful turquoise blue, each scale is edged in canary yellow. The ventrals and caudal are canary yellow too. Pectorals are a clear orange yellow. A deep blue crown which is freckled in blue and yellow sits on the nape. The crown is encircled by a deep blue area. Cheeks are yellowish green the gill cover is edged in a broad blue stripe. Gill spike, mouth, throat

and belly are deep turquoise blue; the anal fin is Juveniles are a golden brown with a yellow long flowing and extends to a point. Base color snout, blue ventrals, shoulder and tail. A deep is blue green with yellow speckles in the base. blue and covers the eyes This band is edged on The leading edge is neon blue, followed by a both sides by electric blue stripes, additional stripes glowing red stripe which changes to yellow at adorn the flanks. A broad neon blue edge surrounds the fin tip. the dorsal and anal fins. Any size queen angel is The nape between the crown and dorsal an amazingly beautiful fish. fin is golden yellow. The dorsal is long, broad, Care of queen angels is straight forward: glowing and extends to a tip well past the caudal they need room, a 55-gallon for juveniles and at least fin. Base color is blue with yellow stripes and the 125-gallons for adults, power or canister filtration dorsal and anal are edged in neon blue. and good quality water. Salinity should be 1.020 22

Juvenile queen anglefish

to 1.024. Temperature between 76˚ and 78˚F. Zero places just in case a disagreement erupts between ammonia/nitrites. I change 25% of their water weekly. them. Feed them a wide variety of commercial Queen angels are peaceful with all other prepared pellets, frozen and flake foods, as well as fish. I have never had a problem with them in a a lot of fresh veggies and algae. Queen angels are not community tank. I find the suitability for queen picky or fussy feeders as many other large angels can be. angels in a marine tank mixed. Smaller specimens To insure they get enough vitamins, give are usually okay. Adults can be a problem. them commercially prepared marine angel sponge Sponges and gorgonians are never safe with diets at least twice a week. queen angels, but larger polyp corals usually will be safe. Queen angels are fairly restant to disease. Small polyps can be seen as a snack They also seem to be more resistant to lice than especially for adults. Put a queen in your reef most large angels are. However, do not tempt tank at your own risk, but observe it closely, it fate. They can get lice if you do not maintain just might work, especially a juvenile queen angel. good water quality or feed them well. Although I heartly recommend this large angel. Its people commonly keep angels alone, that need beauty, hardiness and ease of care makes it a hard not be the case. Juveniles will coexist together. fish to beat. Sub-adults usually will be okay too. Adults are Happy marine fishkeeping found in pairs on the reef. A compatible pair of adults will coexist in a large enough tank. But expect ny to swap out specimens to try to find a compatible To pair; even then make sure you have lots of hiding 23 Al DiSpigna - BAS Angelfish

In all the years, I’ve been breeding angelfish I’m sorry to say that I never came across a pair that raised its own young beyond the first few days of the fry hatching. I’ve only had little success tak- ing the eggs and trying to raise them artificially. I have however, encountered great success in using my own method that I will now divulge to you so that you too can have success.

had five breeding pairs of the females to develop eggs. All the pairs were marble angels, each in bare bottom 2nd generation from fry that I had previously 20-gallon aquariums. Each raised. They were all large, but one pair was tank had a 200-gallons per hour about 3 inches in body circumference. This large outsideI power filter. The pH was maintained at pair laid about 1000 eggs which isn’t unusual, but 6.8, temperature at 82 to 84 degrees F, and light- the average egg clutch is more in the vicinity of ing was provided by a standard 20 gallon strip 500 to 750. As with most of the other pairs I had fluorescent light. Each aquarium had a 12 inch x kept in the past, the parents would tend to the 3 inch x ¼ inch black slate propped up on the eggs, but two days after the fry became free side of the glass at a 45 degree angle. You can swimming the parents would eat them. Now I purchase slate at any tile store and they’ll even will tell you what I did to make sure that the fry cut it to size for you. Rinse the slate well of any would survive. dust or debris before placing it into the aquarium. First, I siphoned the free-swimming fry I feed the angels black worms to condition from the 20-gallon tank to a 5-gallon tank. This is 24

done by using a 1 inch ID (Inside Dimension) complished through the use of sponge filters. You clear flexible tubing. It’s essential that the 5-gallon want to make sure you use the ones that sit on a tank is already filled about one third of the way plastic pedestal, so that the fry don’t get trapped with tank water from the parents’ tank before you under the ones that sit directly on the bottom of start siphoning the fry It is also essential that the the tanks. About two to three weeks prior to setting hose end going into the 5-gallon tank is held in up your 5-gallon nursery tanks, you can start a such a way that when the fry come out of the healthy bacteria culture by running the sponge hose, they do not smack directly onto the floor or filters in the parents’ tank. the side of the glass aquarium. As soon Another fundamental step to guaranteeing as you start siphoning the par- successfully raised fry is to ents will immediately start make sure that your brine to defend their young, shrimp hatchery is up and and therefore, you running; this ensures must be careful not that you have an to damage or suck ample supply of in the parents. At baby brine shrimp this point, the for feeding. Brine parents will most shrimp are only likely start fight- nutritious for ing (as if they’re the first 24 blaming each hours, so be sure other for the loss to have freshly of fry); I’ve no- hatched brine ticed the fighting is shrimp on hand less intense when constantly. As you you leave some fry be- must feed the fry hind for the parents to three times a day, and tend to, so try to do so. depending on the amount Make sure that the water of breeding pairs and number in the 5-gallon tank stays the same of fry you successfully siphoned out, temperature as the parents’ tank; this can easily be this adds up to a lot of brine shrimp. I have a maintained with the use of a heater. You want to rotating stock of three one gallon glass jars filled test the settings of your heater before you introduce with salt water, and an air stone. The jars are the fry into the tank. This can easily be done by sitting in a 10-gallon glass aquarium filled with filling the 5-gallon aquarium and adjusting your freshwater just below the level that the jars are heater so that the temperature is within the same filled and it is equipped with a heater and kept at parameters as the parent’s tank. Once you have 80˚ F. Every 24 hours I place one level teaspoon of found the proper setting, unplug the heater, drain brine shrimp eggs in the jars so I would have a the tank, and you will be ready to begin. This is constant supply of live baby brine for fish fry also very important because any type of tempera- when they hatched. After one jar is exhausted of ture fluctuation will kill the fry! Filtration is ac- brine shrimp, it would be cleaned and fresh salt 25

water replaced. Make sure that the frys’ bellies batch fish into their own are full at each feeding and remember that 150-gallon aquariums. I began fry can weaken and die if they miss even varying their diet, which now one feeding! Besides brine shrimp the included live black worms, fry were also feed live micro-worms frozen blood worms, brine occasionally. A micro worm shrimp, white fly larvae, flake and culture was always kept pellet foods. When feeding the going in case one of the flakes and dry food I would soak brine shrimp jars would them in vitamins and then fail to hatch. feed it to the fish. I About a half found it interesting an hour after each feeding, I when I fed them flake perform a water change. Water food, all the little changes are best done with 6 hungry mouths foot air line tubing attached to 24 would chomp on the inch ridged tubing (used for under surface like hundreds gravel filter tubes). This is used to of hungry piranhas. siphon out the dead, uneaten brine Out of this shrimp and debris from the bottom of the particular spawn, I aquarium into a pail. You want to be extra managed to raise 750 careful not to suck up any fry, but if you do, fry to adulthood, the same large size as their you can use a brine shrimp net to fish them out of parents. It only took about 14 to 16 months for the pail and carefully put them back. Replacement the fry to reach adulthood. Very few were water came from the parent tank, again making stunted, very few had missing ventral fins, and sure all the parameters such as pH, temperature, the losses were in there first month of life. It was etc. are the same. amazing that I had very few losses. If you remember, After a month and a half, I transferred the about 100 fry were left with the parents whom fry into a 10-gallon tank, still taking care that the they eventually ate! I recommend breeding fish temperature was the same, and that water to every hobbyist, because it’s such a rewarding changes were meticulously done with water from experience for young or old. the parent tank, which was changed 50% once a I did want to share with you this one last week. At 6 weeks, the fry started to look like the observation. The parent angelfish didn’t eat the parents with their dorsal and anal fins elongat- fry I had left with them until two weeks later, ing. At this time, I started feeding the fry ground and I noticed that these fry where twice as large flake food sparingly, making sure that most of it as the ones that I was raising. was eaten. At two months, I put approximately one half of the fry into a 40-gallon breeder tank and the other half in another 40-gallon breeder tank. At three months, they were outgrowing the L 40-gallon breeder tanks, so I transferred each A 26 Carl Zimmer - September 28, 2018 New York Times A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 2, 2018, on Page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: In the Sea, a Big Appetite for Jellyfish. -

Who Wants to Eat a Gooey Jellyfish? Pretty Much Everyone in the Ocean Scientists had long assumed that few creatures dined on these gelatinous animals. But new research suggests that jellyfish may be an important part of the ocean’s food supply.

Marine biologists had believed that jellyfish don't hold enough calo- ries to be a significant part of the ocean's food chain. Credit Hassan Ammar/Associated Press or a hungry fish in search of a meal, a animals rarely bothered eating them, the idea jellyfish would seem to be a huge dis- went, and so they represented a dead end in the appointment. These gelatinous ani- ocean’s food web. mals are 95 percent water. As a result, “Historically, they were just ignored,” said a cup of live jellyfish provides just five , a marine biologist at the Thomas K. Doyle caloriesF — one-third the amount in a cup of celery. University College Cork in Ireland. It should come as no surprise, then, that But recent research has shown this to be a marine biologists long ago dismissed jellyfish as mistaken view. Many species, from tuna to penguins, an insignificant item on the ocean menu. Other seek out jellyfish to eat. “The more we look, the 27

more animals are feeding on jellyfish,” said Dr. Barrel jellyfish, for example, can form Doyle. “They’re absolutely, really important.” dense armadas that stretch for dozens of miles. It’s even possible that jellyfish help stabilize And each one can weigh as much as sixty pounds. the ocean’s food webs, providing a dining option If other animals weren’t eating all those to other animals when times are tough. jellyfish, then all that organic matter was being “Our perception has switched hugely,” lost from the food web. “They might die and fall said , a marine biologist to the seabed, and the microbes had a good day,” Jonathan D.R. Houghton at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. said Dr. Houghton. “It’s almost a reboot of jellyfish ecology as a central This understanding of jellyfish has come part of the ocean system.” under scrutiny in recent years as marine biologists Dr. Doyle, Dr. Houghton and have used new tools to figure out what eats what Graeme C. of Deakin University in Australia recently in the sea. Hays surveyed new evidence supporting this revised Prey leave a chemical signature in the view in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. predators that consume them. Elements like oxygen The meager calories in jellyfish weren’t the and nitrogen in the muscles of animals can reveal only reason that scientists dismissed them. Animals the kinds of prey they consume. on the hunt for prey rarely were seen catching As it turns out, a number of fish species jellyfish. When biologists cut open fish or in- carry a jellyfish signature in their muscles. spected bird droppings, they almost never found Scientists have also invented new ways to jellyfish remains. peer inside the guts of ocean predators. Rather There were exceptions. Leatherback turtles than searching for pieces of half-digested jellyfish, and ocean sunfish have long been known to gorge researchers began rummaging for their DNA. on jellyfish, gobbling hundreds of them every day. And they found a lot of it came from jellyfish. But leatherback turtles and ocean sunfish In eel larvae, for example, researchers are exceptionally big. Leatherbacks can weigh found that 76 percent of prey DNA belonged to over 2,000 pounds; ocean sunfish can reach 5,000 jellyfish. From the feces of albatrosses, scientists pounds. determined that jellyfish made up 20 percent of Many scientists considered their size to be their diet. a special adaptation for living on jellyfish. Only By mounting miniature cameras on marine by filling a vast stomach with gelatinous prey animals, biologists have been capturing days’ of could they hope to get enough food to survive. video. Footage of penguins has revealed that they For animals without such adaptations, a also eat jellyfish. In fact, the birds actively seek them diet of jellyfish would seem to be a dangerous out even when other options are available. Jellyfish strategy. The predators would be far better off may make up over 40 percent of a penguin’s diet. eating other prey. Bite for bite, fish provide These new techniques “have allowed us to around thirty times more calories than jellyfish. scratch the surface and get a glimpse of another It seemed to biologists that the ocean must world,” said , a biologist at the Julie McInnes hold a colossal amount of uneaten food. No one University of Tasmania. knows how many jellyfish there are, but scientists It’s a world with a tremendous appetite regularly come across vast hordes of them. for jellyfish. So why are many animals eager to 28

Jellyfish Lake in Palau. “There’s a lot more to jellyfish than jelly,” said one researcher. Credit: Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images Reportage eat a seemingly useless food? Jellyfish, on the other hand, are far more Part of the attraction may stem from how versatile. When there are small fish available, a easy it is to catch jellyfish. They can’t dart away, jellyfish can capture them in its tentacles. But if and once an animal eats a piece of jellyfish, it can these morsels are missing, jellyfish can eat tiny digest the meal far faster than a fish full of bones zooplankton — or even just feed on ooze. or a shrimp covered in an exoskeleton. Then other animals may survive lean Some animals may not swallow the entire times by eating these versatile creatures. jellyfish, instead biting off the nutritious parts. “That might bring stability to a food web,” While the bell of a jellyfish is mostly water, their said Dr. Houghton. “They could provide a buffer reproductive tissues offer calories and protein. for the system.” “There’s a lot more to jellyfish than jelly,” Dr. McInnes agreed that jellyfish are more said Dr. Houghton. important to the ocean ecosystem than scientists The enormous amounts of jellyfish that once thought. But she noted that it’s still too early other animals are eating has left Dr. Houghton to say precisely how much jellyfish other sea and his colleagues wondering about the animals’ creatures are eating. effects on the entire food web. It’s possible, he “There’s still a lot we don’t know,” Dr. said, that jellyfish keep ocean ecosystems stable. McInnes said. Marine animals like fish are more vulnera- ble to population crashes. They can only survive if there’s enough food that is the right size to fit in their mouths at each stage of their life cycles. 29 Mike Hellweg - CFN (Certifiable Fish Nut) - MAS Reprinted from the Darter Nov/Dec 2017 Vol. 43, No. 6 the official publication of Missouri Aquarium Society

The Scarlet Badis Dario dario

at Beldt's to keep an eye out for them. McCrum When he did find some, the price was still pretty high, so he didn't order them. It would be another year or so before the price came down enough that I was willing to spend the money on a group of them. I was a bit disappointed when I first got them. I bought all they could bring in, just 8 All were less than a half inch long. tiny fish. Three were beautiful just like the ones I remembered from the ACA. Two had washed out red colors, AT THE 1999 American Cichlid Association were very thin, and died a few weeks later. Three convention in Detroit, there was a vendor with a were plain silver with clear fins. At the time I was tank of really cool fish that were drawing comments told they were brackish fish from "Southeast Asia". from just about everyone. Around the same time the Internet was starting about one half to three The fish were tiny, to become a bit more widespread and word was quarters of an inch long. They were glowing bright red getting around that these guys actually came with pale silvery blue stripes. Some specimens from Northern India. I decided to set them up in were glowing like bright red crayons on a sunny a 20 long heavily planted with , Java Cryptocoryne day; others were more washed out, but all with ferns, s on drift wood and Java moss. Anubia colors that until that time had not been seen on . The colors Photos don't do them justice wild caught freshwater fish. Wow! Even with all of the male literally glow. Their head, shoulders, of the fantastic show fish, folks were lined up just and back are rusty orange to ruby red. Their flanks to see these new beauties. They were for sale, too! are covered with 7 red bands which extend into The price was astronomical - around $100 each if the fins. These bands are interspersed with 8 silver I remember correctly. They looked similar in shape blue stripes which also extend into the fins. The and fin structure to the well known blue chameleon fins are outlined in pure white. The ventral fins fish, . The seller was calling them Scar- are intense bluish-white and are often nearly as let Badis. That name seemed to fit them well. long as the fish is tall. The iris is golden to pale amber. , I asked When I got back to St. Louis Bill 30

find more than one! You'll As gaudy as the males are, the Females rarely see them if you keep females are that plain. are a dull silver gray, clear them with a lot of other fish, ventral fins are more in proportion but if you keep a group by to body size. Some larger themselves, in a well planted females exhibit a few thin, 20-gallon long, you will be pale orange stripes on their treated to a very active socially flanks, but that's it for color. Female. © Charles König interactive fish. If you keep Probably due to this marked difference in col- them in a smaller tank, be sure to give males places to oration, females are rarely, if ever, imported. This get out of the line of sight of other males as they is also probably the biggest reason why hobbyists will scrap and fight amongst themselves. One fail to get these fish to breed - they only have males! large male will dominant while other males stay in hiding most of the time. In a large tank they Since these fish recently appeared in the will be fine. In a smaller tank the dominant male hobby, it would probably be surprising to learn - nearly two might eventually kill the weaker males. that they were actually described in 1822 hundred years ago! They were described by the Scarlet Badis are undemanding for water pa- renowned naturalist rameters, as long as both very hard, alkaline Francis Hamilton Buchanan in his paper “An account of the fishes found in the water and very soft, acid water are avoided. Tap river Ganges as For a paper published water in St. Louis seems to suit them fine. Keep Labrus dario”. nearly two centuries ago, it is still taught today! the temperatures in mid 70s˚F, use a slowly circu- This is where they sat for 180 years until scientists lating filter like a sponge or Mattenfilter and they took a closer look at them in 1995 when the Chinese will be very happy. ichthyologist looked at them and moved Zhu Plant the tank with lots of Crypts, them to the Badis. and and similar Kullander Britz Anubias, Java ferns on driftwood, created the new genus Dario in 2002 and set them plants, and give them several clumps of Java moss up as the type species, where they remain today. and they will glow. To give it a more natural effect, The hobby "discovered" them around 1999, and add a couple of handfuls of soaked oak leaves to they became fairly common by 2006 or 2007. While the tank. These will slowly break down and provide they are diminutive fish, the Scarlet Badis are by home to microscopic critters for the young fish to no means shrinking violets. The males are usu- eat, as well as give them places to hide ally out and about where you can see them and . They do not seem to enjoy flake foods enjoy their colors. In fact, while we might today Some specimens will eat fine pellet foods like call them nano fish, they have piscinalities that make Hikari micro pellets, while others will turn up their them seem much larger. As with most nano fish, nose and starve rather than eat anything artificial. their behavior is fascinating. The biggest problem Some folks get them to eat frozen brine shrimp, with the Scarlet Badis is trying to find females. For but I've found they absolutely thrive on live foods some reason most sellers only get males, with just like Grindal worms, newly hatched brine shrimp, a few females as contaminants to the shipment. If microworms, Daphnia, young Gammarus and you see a plain silver fish, usually much smaller similar fare. I've even seen them go after blackworms! than the others, with no color in the fins, grab it. Certainly you will not get them to reproduce That's a girl! If you get really lucky you might successfully without live foods. 31

Small Neocaridina shrimp make great as do most of the popular fancy snails, tank mates, though some snails are not above eating caviar, so use caution. Small Rasboras such as members of the genus Boraras or killies like the dwarf clown Killie ( ) or Norman's Epiplatys annulatus lamp eye ( ) make great Aplocheilichthys us normani companions as they spend most of their time in the upper part of the tank while the Dario spend their time in the lower third of the tank. or If you can get a group of a half dozen The spawning embrace of this species is typical more including both sexes, set them up in a heavily of badids and similar to that in anabantoids. planted tank, and feed them lots of live food, © Charles König after, you will see young fish, almost exact copies newly hatched brine shrimp, microworms, young of their parents but not so bright in color nearly Grindal worms, etc. which they will continue to three-eighths of an inch long. Look around the eat for the rest of their lives. As with most nano tangled roots of and Java fern, in dark fish, growth is rapid and they will often be ready Anubias places near driftwood, under decaying oak leaves, to spawn on their own when they are about 12 or under Java moss to get your first glimpses of weeks old, though they won't reach full adult the youngsters. size for almost a year. This precocious spawning and usually release seems to be pretty common among nano fish They are egg scatterers the eggs in Java moss, though I have also seen them from different families and is likely a response to lay eggs in the roots of Water sprite ( being near the bottom of the food chain, where Ceratopteris even juvenile fish of other species will consider them as a snack. The Scarlet Badis is a true living gem. Give them a decent sized, well planted tank of their own and you'll be treated to a long lived, interesting beauty. Photographs from as noted www.SeriouslyFish.com and ©

Spawning is a brief affair - this female has just deposited a batch of eggs on the underside of a leaf... © Charles König species) in the past. There aren't a lot of young, so they will find plenty of micro food for their first few days amongst the plants. About the time you first see them they will be large enough to take 32 Steph Yin - Trilobites October 17, 2018 New York Times

WhyWhy SoutheastSoutheast AsiaAsia andand Australia’sAustralia’s CoralCoral ReefsReefs BecameBecame SoSo RichRich inin Species.Species. BiodiversityBiodiversity isis aa longlong game.game.

Dive into the coral reefs of Southeast Asia or Australia and you’ll likely spot a wrasse. But which of the hundreds of kinds of wrasses will you see?

A school of convict blennies over a reef near Ambon, Indonesia.Credit: Georgette Douwma/Science Source

hese fish can be an inch to more than eight carwashes, eating parasites and dead tissue off feet in length. They can be skinny like cigars other sea creatures. Tor hefty like footballs. Some are somber-colored; This spectacular diversity stems from others look like they’re attending a rave. Different wrasse ancestors that migrated from the prehistoric species have their own creative feeding strategies: Tethys Sea to the area that now bridges the Pacific humphead wrasses crush shellfish; tubelip and Indian Oceans. There, in a vast and vibrant wrasses slurp corals and cleaner wrasses act like cradle of coral reefs, they settled and steadily 33

diversified over tens of millions of years. The researchers then traced living species Their story fits into a larger pattern. back in time, using an evolutionary tree, statistics This region, the Central Indo-Pacific, has become and computer simulations to infer where their the hot spot with the most biodiversity in Earth’s ancestors originated and when their lineages oceans because many ancestors of today’s marine might have moved to different places. life colonized it so long ago, according to a recent Overall, the scientists found, biodiversity paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. in a region today is highly related to the age and The study emphasizes that biodiversity is number of colonizations it has experienced. The a long game, and that the richness of species in Central Indo-Pacific is so diverse largely because the world’s oceans will not be easily replaced if it many old lineages have settled there. is lost to human activities. This likely has to do with the dance of tec- “It has taken tens of millions of years to tonic plates. Not long after the dinosaurs went build the biodiversity of coral reefs, but it may extinct, the Tethys Sea, which once separated the take us only decades to destroy it,” said , ancient supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana, Mary Wisz a professor at the World Maritime University in was the peak of biodiversity in the world’s Sweden who was not involved in the study. oceans. But slowly, the continents drifted. Explorers have long wondered why the Around 35 million years ago, as the Tethys Central Indo-Pacific holds such exceptional was closing off, the Australian and Pacific plates bounty, said , a Ph.D. candidate were colliding with continental Southeast Asia, Elizabeth Miller studying ecology and evolutionary biology at the creating an expanse of shallow ocean ideal for University of Arizona and the lead author of the coral reefs. As species migrated from the Tethys paper. (now the East Atlantic) to this area, the hot spot Compare the experience of five minutes of marine life shifted. scuba diving in Indonesia or Australia with five Since then, the Central Indo-Pacific may minutes in the Caribbean, and the difference is also have been less strongly influenced by major obvious, she said. For every species of butterflyfish extinction events than other warm regions, Ms. or parrotfish you spot in the Caribbean, you Miller said.“What a rich treasure it is to have this might see three or more species in Southeast Asia’s biodiversity,” Dr. Wisz said. “If we are to safe- Coral Triangle or Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. guard it, we must take action, globally and “People say the Caribbean is a garden, quickly.” whereas the Central Indo-Pacific is a jungle,” said Today, more than 500 million people , a professor at the University of Arizona. depend on coral reefs for food, income and John Wiens Using databases that aggregate research coastal protection. But these ecosystems are in done by hundreds of scientists, Ms. Miller’s team crisis. categorized more than 12,000 fish species as present or absent in eight marine regions around the world. 34 Nicholas St. Fleur - Oct 25, 2018 New York Times Nicholas St. Fleur is a science reporter for the New York Times who writes about archaeology, paleontology, space and other types of interesting research, regularly for the Trilobites column.

An artist's impression of pituriaspids, among early types of fish, which are first thought to have evolved around 480 million years ago. Credit: Nobumichi Tamura Where Did Fish First Evolve?

The AnswerSome had armor May and spikes. Be Many lackedShallow. jaws. They evolved in the shallow coasts around supercontinents and they were some of our earliest ancestors with spines. And then came the first jawed fishes like armored ore than 400 million placoderms, some of which used their tanklike exterior and razor-sharp teeth to dominate the years ago, ancient water world. oceans were teeming More than 400 million years ago, ancient oceans were teeming with many fish that might withM many fish that might seem seem alien in today’s seas. Back then some wore plates of bony armor alienBack in thentoday’s some wore seas. plates of bony armor and lacked jaws, like the , which and lacked jaws, like the arandaspids, which looked looked like a clam with a arandaspidstail. The like a clam with a tail. The sometimes sometimes resembled underwater armadillosheterostracans with resembled underwater armadillosheterostracans with spikes. spikes. There were also galeaspids, some of which There were also , some of which sported sported swordlike helmets, and the , swordlike helmets,galeaspids and the which which had horseshoe-shaped heads.osteostracans had horseshoe-shaped heads.osteostracans, All of the groups kept originating in the Not all jawless fish were heavily armored. shallow water over the whole 100-million-year period, The thelodonts, for example, had torpedo-shaped which was completely unexpected,” said bodies and bony scales that looked like shark skin. a paleontologist at the UniversityLauren of Some anaspids had scales and a leaf-shaped body. PennsylvaniaSallan, and lead author of the study. “This 35

is an unexpected Placoderm. Credit: Nobumichi diversity hot spot that persists for a long time.” The finding changes what s c i e n t i s t s previously Thelodont. Credit: Nobumichi Tamura assumed about where the earliest fish evolved, The team also found that as the fish said a vertebrate paleontologist evolved in the shallow water, the more flexible Michael Coates, at the University of Chicago, who was not involved swimmers, like the thelodonts, eventually left in the study. and invaded deeper areas like coral reefs and the deep sea. There, they may have encountered mollusks, trilobites and fearsome sea scorpions. Over time, many of the hunkering, armored fish evolved into bottom dwellers and might have stayed in the waters near shore and moved to freshwater rivers and lakes. Today, evolution has left us with two main fish groups. Bony fish like salmon, marlin and An artist’s rendering of a heterostracan. some 28,000 other species make up the Credit: Nobumichi Tamura And the are cartilaginousosteichthyes. fish like “Previously we thought the early reef systems sharks, rayschondrichthyes and skates. would be the cradle of diversification,” said Dr. But a couple of oddball jawless fish still lurk in Coates. “But no, it seems that these early armored the seas, like goopy hagfish and the bloodsucking forms were in much nearer shore environments. lampreys. They may n o t b e armored, but That explains why our early record is so cryptic.” they’re a reminder of the evolutionary footsteps The team is not exactly sure why fish and missteps that eventually led to all vertebrates, evolved near the coast in clear, shallow lagoons underwater and up here on dry land. and intertidal zones that were typically no deeper than about 100 feet. They think it may have to do

Anaspid. Credit: Nobumichi Tamura with the waves, sea level changes, runoffs, rainfalls and other environmental factors of shallow water habitats. Galeaspid. Credit: Nobumichi Tamura “We’ve come to the suspicion that there’s something going on with water chemistry and potentially with oxygen levels in these active and dynamic environments,” said I , a paleobiologist from the Universityvan of SansomBirmingham in England and an author of the paper. 36 Steven Matassa - BAS

here are several factors as try to stay out of direct sunlight, aquarium’s seams, and almost to consider when setting which will only increase algae guarantees a leak. Even the up an aquarium. I have growth, unless that’s what you smallest tanks can deposit a lot been keeping aquariums for want. Also, understand even of water on the floor when they almostTT 50 years, and have made small tanks can be heavy. Tanks leak, never mind the large my share of mistakes over the average about 10 pounds per aquariums. years. The trick is to have proper gallon with all the equipment to con- The fourth thing planning and consider where included, so make sure your sider is electricity. Make sure your aquarium will be located floor can your outlets can handle the prior to its purchase so prob- support amps/wattage you plug lems are prevented. This into it. If you are not sure, might seem like a minor have an electrician check thought, but it should not it out. No one wants a be taken lightly. I will try house to burn down to shed some light on because of a fish tank. those ideas in this article. to think The fifth thing When purchasing SSEETTTTIINNGG UUPP about is the temperature an aquarium, of the room. If it is not a the first to consider is your AANN AAQQUUAARRIIUUMM heated room you will thing budget. Most hobbyists do need a strong heater or several not have an unlimited budget. the total weight of the aquarium to heat the aquarium. I like to Aquariums can get expensive, and stand. This is why my tanks run 2 heaters in larger tanks, so so do your homework before time are all in my basement, on a if one does burn out the tank and shop around. The tank is concrete floor. If you are on a temperature will not drop to fast. usually just the tip of the ice- wood floor, it is a good idea to I hope this article will berg. There are other necessities go perpendicular to the floor help you when setting up your that must be considered such as joist if you can tell which way tank. A great way to learn the the filter, gravel or sand, light, they are running. Going with the right way to set up your tank is heater, canopy or hood, rocks, floor joist, you probably only to join an aquarium club like stand or cabinet, ornaments, and catch 1 or 2; going perpendicular, the Brooklyn Aquarium Society. livestock; it can add up quickly. you should catch several more Hope to see you at the next It can be as simple as a box filter depending on the tank length. meeting. or as complicated as a plumbed that is A third thing in wet-dry filtration system. most overlooked is leveling the to con- tank. I can’t stress enough how im- The second item sider is the location of the tank, portant this is. I have seen many Steven because you do not want to move a tanks leak just because they tank after it’s initially installed. were not leveled. Too much Keep in mind a few things such water puts uneven stress on the 37 GET TO KNOW OUR SPONSORS.

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THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP OF THE BROOKLYN AQUARIUM SOCIETY

sified want ad in each issue, to sell, give away or Your Membership Card is your Passport Don’t lose request fish or dry goods. to Becoming an it. Put it in your “Educatedwallet or purse. Aquarist.” You’ll need it to The attend Monthly Events and get discounts at You’llBAS find is up-to-date on-line at information BASNY.org. about our participating pet stores. monthly events, links to other aquarium societies in the US and stores, manufacturers and related YOUR MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE: to all general meetings, aquarium sites. We have an on-line library with Free Admission held on the 2nd Friday of the month (except July downloadable articles. We have our own BAS forum, & August) at 7:30 pm at the Education Hall of the where you can interact with other freshwater, New York Aquarium, Coney Island, Surf Avenue marine or reef members and post free at West 8th Street , Brooklyn , N.Y. The Society presents hobby-related classifieds where members sell and expert speakers on all aspects of the hobby, from trade fish, corals, plants and equipment. freshwater fish to marine aquatic life. For the latest Breeder Awards Program information,BAS callHotline: the BAS 24 hour (BAP) – Certificates and trophies Hotline 718 837-4455 for event and awarded. inclement weather information. If General meetings are open to the you need advice on fish keeping, public (a $5 donation is requested for breeding or where you can find rare non-members, good towards member- or hard to find fish, you can often get ship that evening). Free parking and free help calling the Hotline. Help from refreshments. the Hotline is always free. (SIGs) The Brooklyn Aquarium Special Interest Groups hold meetings, free at members' homes, SocietyVolunteer: is an organization run by for members only. Here’s your chance volunteers. Without them, there to network with members with the same interests. would be no BAS. Volunteers help set up events, Discuss, ask questions, learn, teach and develop write articles, coordinate projects, assist and work your expertise in freshwater and/or marine aquar- on committees, help at auctions and meetings. ium keeping. Join in, help, learn and have fun doing it. Call , President (718) 238-1792. Aquatica, Theour Journal bi-monthly of the Brooklyn (5 issues Steven Matassa at many BAS exceptAquarium July Society, & August) award winning publication participatingDiscounts pet stores for Members when you present your is on our web site. Each issue is filled with articles current BAS membership card. on both marine and freshwater aquaria keeping, Welcome and we hope you take advantage Articles can be downloaded. of the many benefits BAS has to offer. The All members receive ourBAS monthly Bulletin (10. issues ex- cept July & August) Newsletter, the The Officers & Board of the via email, keeping Brooklyn Aquarium Society membersBAS Bulletin up to date on the latest events at the Society, notices of interest and monthly regional Educating Aquarists society events. All non-commercial members are entitled to a free clas- Since 1911 43 BECOME AN EDUCATED AQUARIST

Membership & Renewal Application Brooklyn Aquarium Society

Mail This Form And Your Check Payable to Brooklyn Aquarium Society to BROOKLYN AQUARIUM SOCIETY, ATT: MEMBERSHIP CHAIRPERSON P.O. BOX 290610, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11229-0011

Meetings are held at the NY Aquarium Education Hall on the 2nd Friday of the month at 7:30pm. Knowledgeable speakers on fish care and culture, and fish auctions. Free parking and refreshments. All meetings are free to members. Visit us on line: WWW.BROOKLYNAQUARIUMSOCIETY.ORG NAME______OCCUPATION______

ADDRESS______CITY______STATE____ZIP______

PHONE (DAY) ______(EVE)______(FAX)______

E-mail Address______TYPE & LENGTH of MEMBERSHIP: (CHECK ONE) INDIVIDUAL FAMILY [ ] $15 STUDENT 1YEAR 1yr. 2yr. 3yr. 4yr. 1yr. 2yr. 3yr. 4yr. (UNDER 18 YEARS) $20 $36 $51 $68 $25 $45 $63 $85 *If family membership, please list all family members. Only first two listed will have voting rights.

1______2______3______

4______5______6______Number of tanks [ ] marine [ ] freshwater [ ] Do you breed fish? [yes] [no] If yes, what types do you breed: ______

______Special interest (if any) ______

______How did you hear about BAS [friend] [dealer] [flyer] [Aquatica] [mag ad] [online] other______To volunteer check [yes] [no] A board member will contact you if you check yes. On occasion, the Brooklyn Aquarium Society uses its mailing list to send notices of interest to our mem- bers. If you DO NOT wish to receive these mailings please check here [ ]

Official use

Member number:______Type of membership [F] [I] [S] Date paid:______Board approved date ______Amount paid:______Renewal/member since______