The Journal of the Norwalk Aquarium Society Volume 51, Issue 2 March - April 2001 Dues are due! and shiners, as well as various gamefish Please remember that March is the species. Since this date is free fishing day in cut-off date of the grace period. Connecticut, anyone can fish without a Don't miss a single issue of license, so if you want to bring a fishing rod The Wet Pet Gazette. feel free to do so. Further details will be Any questions, please call Anne forthcoming. Broadmeyer at (203) 775-0030. The Board of Directors has been trying to come up with ideas for new events to enhance the social aspect of the club. The collecting trip and bus trip are two such events. Lately, The View we have been discussing bringing in big name speakers and combining it with a pot luck From Up-front dinner to make a full night of it. This type of event would be held on a Friday or Saturday by Kenneth Balog, President night so families can participate more easily Norwalk Aquarium Society rather than our usual Thursday meeting night. As always, your thoughts and ideas are welcome, so please let us know what you I would like to start this month’s column by think. thanking everyone for their efforts to make our benefit auction for the Nature Center a Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that success. All told, we managed to raise our March meeting is the final deadline for $1200.00 for the Nature Center and a good our NAS logo clothing order. For those of you time was had by all. So, give yourselves a who haven’t been to the meetings, we are well-deserved pat on the back and let’s all try placing an order for various types T-shirts, to do even better next year. sweatshirts, polo shirts, jackets, etc. all with an embroidered NAS betta logo. So, bring Next, I would like to remind everyone about money to our March meeting and let me know our freshwater collecting trip that will be held what you want. on Saturday June 2nd, 2001. I will be scouting a number of river systems in the weeks before the trip to identify the best locations. We should find various species of dace, darters, March, here in Connecticut. If you haven’t Norwalk Aquarium Society’s made your mind up about attending, this should push you into going. Officers and Directors This month Ed Katuska again brings forth his Come see us at www.norwalkas.org column “Did You Know?” I look forward to this column every month! I love it. PRESIDENT Ken Balog 372-0265 [email protected] VICE PRES. Ed Katuska 375-4479 [email protected] TREASURER Don Barbour 853-1127 I also continue with the series, “Oh – That’s RECORDER Glenn Derbyshire 934-1272 [email protected] One Of My Favorite Fish.” In Chapter Two, MEMBERSHIP Anne Broadmeyer 775-0030 [email protected] SGT. AT ARMS Rich Grenfell 562-8720 [email protected] I talk about Botia lecontei. PAST PRES. Basil Holubis EDITOR Doug De Ment 268-5358 [email protected] WE NEED YOUR ARTICLES! DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE Write up a few! I’ll take them in any format. (2000&2001) Patty Nizlek 637-3277 [email protected] (2000&2001) Sal Silvestri 750-8841 [email protected] An article does not need to be long in order to (2001&2002) Denise Hofer 227-1418 [email protected] (2001&2002) Gary Krasilovsky 227-7066 [email protected] make it good. Take the time to spread the (2001&2002) Richard Moore (845) [email protected] information that you learned. If you haven’t DIRECTORS EMERITUS - LIVING bred a fish, write about what you like about Diane Adinolfi Jack Adinolfi John Stankevitch fish. Or how about something funny that Note: All phone numbers are area code 203 unless otherwise noted happened to you? Tell us that story! Editor’s Notebook NEC 26th Annual Convention by Douglas De Ment Norwalk Aquarium Society This month we have a brand new author for Speakers the Wet Pet Gazette: Chris Persson! Chris accepted my new year’s challenge and wrote Dr. Uwe Roemer comes to the US from a terrific article about The Large Home Germany and is a Zoologist specializing in Aquarium. Thanks Chris! Ethology, Sociobiology, Evolutionary Ecology and Systematics. For 15 years he has Chris also gives us a second article which is an been concentrating on neotropical dwarf preview of the upcoming ACA Convention in cichlids, which resulted in a book entitled New Jersey. A double thanks, Chris! CICHLID ATLAS 1, which will be available By the way, everybody check out Chris’s web in English language soon. He is certainly in site at www.persmgmt.com/cichlidscene. demand in Germany as a speaker and comes with high recommendations from Hans We also have a write up on the speakers at the Baensch. His program will be "Remarks on NEC Annual Convention being held in Neotropical Dwarf Cichlids" and will contain 2 Wet Pet Gazette, March – April 2001 information on new species, their ecology, some strains for over 15 years. Steve is quick sociobiology, and evolution, new results from to say that the biggest reason for his success is scientific research and much more. His that he loves what he does. We are fortunate knowledge and enjoyment of the hobby to have him as our speaker on angelfish this becomes evident as soon as you speak with year. him and we are very pleased he will be able to Terry Fairfield received his first aquarium at attend our convention. his eighth birthday as a gift from his parents. Jim Gasior has raised tropicals for the last 40 By the time he was ten, he was supplying the years - 30 of which have been solely devoted local fish stores with numerous strains of to killifish. He presently maintains fancy guppies. In 1989 he graduated from the approximately 100 different killie species. A University of Wisconsin Green Bay with a member of the "Wisconsin Area Killifish Bachelors Degree in Aquatic Microbiology. Organization," he has also been past secretary While still in college, he founded the and president of the national American University Aquarium Club that became the Killifish Association (AKA). The AKA Green Bay Aquarium Society. He is now the awarded Jim the "Killie Hobbyist of the Year" “fish Doctor” for the Greater Chicago Cichlid award for a record five consecutive years. He Association and lives in Rockford Illinois has spoken at numerous AKA conventions with his wife and three daughters. He is an including the most recent 2000 convention in author of numerous articles that have been Tampa, Florida. In addition to authoring published in Freshwater and Marine numerous articles on killies, he is the subject Aquarium Magazine, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, of an upcoming article by "Aquarium Aquarium Fishkeeping and Discus Brief on Magazine" dealing with his involvement with diseases in addition to his current research killifish. projects. In addition to writing, he lectures and gives hands-on workshops to aquarium Steve Rybicki is an angelfish specialist who societies around the United States and will has been breeding show quality strains of present a lecture and workshop on Fish health freshwater tropical fish for over two decades. at the convention. He has an absolute fascination with improving ornamental tropicals since he was Wayne Leibel has been an active hobbyist for a young boy, and exclaims, “I'm positive I over 40 years. His dedication to scientific will be doing it until I'm no longer physically research as well as to the aquarium capable of it.” His on-line business, Angels fishkeeping hobby has established him as a Plus began in 1989 to serve the needs of the pillar in the world of tropical fish. The ornamental fish breeder and the advanced following is taken from the NEC’s 14th hobbyist, with an emphasis towards those Convention program, April 7-9, 1989. involved with keeping angelfish. Through his “Aquaristic “Lifer” having kept fish for 31 of intense interest in angelfish genetics, disease his 38 years, specializing in cichlids of South control and ideal husbandry practices he has America for the past 10 years. Has kept and gained the knowledge and insight to breeding killed most species (ask him about his freezer and maintaining angelfish. He has maintained museum), but has also bred several rare and Wet Pet Gazette, March – April 2001 3 “difficult” fishes, apparently by accident. own back yard. He always has new Claims the secret of his success lies in his information to pass along and he loves to be Zen-like, cichlid mind-look approach (“I am out and about talking with everyone during the fish and the fish is me”). Mr. Leibel is a the entire weekend. He has made numerous past American Cichlid Association Board trips to Peru and the Amazon, written Member and the current editor of their countless articles about catfish, presenting bimonthly publication, Buntbarsche Bulletin. scientific information as well as addressing Wayne has made over 100 armchair general hobby related issues and maintains a collecting trips to South America (he firmly used and antique fish book business. He believes he was an intrepid explorer / needs no introduction and has something to ichthyologist in his past life) and one actual offer everyone he meets! Lee will team up trip to the Peruvian Amazon….” We are with Karen Randall to present to us their honored to have Dr. Leibel as our banquet observations and experiences in the Amazon. host. Greg Schiemer has been a resident of New Karen Randall has become one of the nation’s York for his entire 41 years.