In this issue: 3 Presidents Message Greg Steeves 4 FOTAS CARES Greg Steeves 5 Those Amazing Multies! Gerald Griffin 7 FOTAS History Volume 6 Issue 1 Charles Jones The FOTAS Fish Tales is a quarterly publication of the Federation of 9 Oryzias woworae – the Texas Little Rice Fish with a Aquarium Societies a non-profit organization. The views and opinions contained within are not necessarily those of the editors and/or the of- Unique Method of ficers Reproduction. and members of the Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies. Greg Steeves FOTAS Fish Tales Editor: 11 Burdekin Rainbowfish Gerald Griffin [email protected] on the verge of disappearing Fish Tales Submission Guidelines from Running River! Peter J Unmack and Articles: Michael P Hammer Please submit all articles in electronic form. We can accept most popular software formats and fonts. Email to [email protected]. Photos and 15 An Interview with graphics are encouraged with your articles! Please remember to include the photo/graphic credits. Graphics and photo files may be submitted in Aquarium Tank Manufac- any format, however uncompressed TIFF, JPEG or vector format is pre- turing. ferred, at the highest resolution/file size possible. If you need help with Clay Trachtman graphics files or your file is too large to email, please contact me for alter- native submission info. 19 When is it not Anubias Art Submission: hastifola? Graphics and photo files may be submitted in any format. However, un- Dr. Keith Arnold compressed TIFF, JPEG or vector formats are preferred. Please submit the highest resolution possible. 20 Attack of the Clones! The Marbled Crayfish. Next deadline…… April 15th 2016 Gerald Griffin COPYRIGHT NOTICE All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, On the Cover: stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, distributed, sold or publicly Pundamilia pundamilia displayed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- Hippo Point - Photo by copying, recording, or otherwise, except for fair use, without the explicit Greg Steeves permission of the Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies, San Antonio, Texas. Design and Layout Gerald Griffin Fish Tales | 2 Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies Presidents Message appy New Year to everyone! have had a long involvement with not yet announced, I’m sure there HI hope you had a wonderful the CARES program and couldn’t will be a theme (the 80’s motif 2015 and will have an even bet- be happier to bring it to FOTAS. the last time HCCC hosted was a ter 2016. I am extremely proud to We already have participation that blast!). I am looking forward to be involved with such a dynamic I’m very proud of but with the repeating my “Best in Show” award. group as the Federation of Texas plethora of fish keepers in the FO- Aquarium Societies. I want to TAS family, I know there are a lot I am extremely proud of our orga- thank everyone for their support more to register. nization. This is the 64th year of through last year and hope that FOTAS and at a time when some everybody is as excited as I am The 2016 annual FOTAS conven- say that interest in the aquatic hob- when it comes to where FOTAS is tion will take place in Schertz by is dwindling, our membership headed. I want to thank the execu- Texas, October 21st-23rd. While has soared. We’ve become stronger tive committee, Kyle Osterholt, Lisa it is still being planned, my home and more active with each passing Hufstetler, and Ralph Deboard for club, the Hill Country Cichlid Club year. I feel the evolution of FOTAS their involvement with our organi- will ensure that everyone in atten- to remain relevant in a changing zations direction. Also, all the club dance enjoys themselves. There are hobby is essential. I’m satisfied that representatives have such a huge already four great speakers booked, we heading in the right direction role in FOTAS, thank you as well. the return of the game show and and can’t wait to see what 2016 has Another big thank you to Dr. Keith funny money auction will take in store for out historic organiza- Arnold who continues to not only place at the banquet, and, although tion. guide our organization but still has Greg (reluctantly) control of the purse strings. There is no way I could FOTAS 2009 in Houston Texas! even begin to imagine how tough some of the new programs would have been to get off the ground without the involvement of Gerald Griffin. I have no idea where this man gets his energy from but I’m very glad he has it and allows us to harness it. With the implication of the HAP and BAP programs, all FOTAS club members are eligible to be recog- nized for their propagation efforts. Our magazine, Fish Tales is fantas- tic and getting better and better. I encourage everyone to keep writ- ing. For me personally, I am most excited about FOTAS CARES. I Fish Tales | 3 FOTAS CARES! First Quarter Report t’s official! The Federation bothering the CARES participant. the Cameroonian Crater Lake fish of Texas Aquarium Societ- For the time being, I will keep the yet but his Pundamilia pundamilia ies CARES program is in full master list to myself, the FOTAS have already produced fry. Great Iswing. Personally, I couldn’t be CARES committee, and the CARES work Jim and keep those CARES’ happier and more proud that our program coordinators. I will list fishes rolling! organization has become part of CARES news each quarter (Fish this great program. For a complete Tales publication) with new partici- As a reminder, the FOTAS CARES overview of the CARES program, pants and member milestones. program is available to any member visit www.carespreservation.com. of any FOTAS club. Please check The FOTAS CARES program is Starting off the New Year, we have the priority listing for species you coordinated by me however; we 57 recorded colonies recorded may already be working with. All adhere to the international program in FOTAS CARES. That’s a huge participants so far have been from as set forth on this website. effort put forth with regards to the Hill Country Cichlid Club. species survival! The most recent Come on FOTAS clubs…let’s get I’m sure we will have some tweak- participant and colony entrant is those fish enrolled. ing to do as our CARES program Andrea Halbirt who registered evolves but we have a firm template Haplochromis sp. “ruby”, a threat- Entering FOTAS CARES is easy. based on the best of other organiza- ened species from the Kyoga Lakes Email me at FOTASCARES@gmail. tion’s CARES programs. I am still in Uganda. Andrea received her com along with the following infor- considering how to handle the por- fish from Jay and Carol Geller mation: tion of recording how long a person who generously offered up sev- - Species being entered has had their colony of CARES fish. eral groups of CARES fish, free of - Source of the fish It would be easiest to start everyone charge, to area hobbyists. - Actively breeding (yes or no) evenly as we began our program - Approximate date you acquired but this doesn’t take into effect the Marc Schnell blitzed us with reg- your fish length of time a person may have istering nine colonies of Lake - Email address been working with their fish before Victoria and Lake Malawi CARES - The club you are affiliated with. FOTAS CARES began. I’ll figure fish. With Marc’s breeding prowess, this out and hopefully have direc- these threaten fishes chance at fu- Feel free to contact me with any tion on this by next report. The ture survival just got better! Marc questions. See you next report. other glitch I am working on is is already producing fry from many whether or not to post everyone’s of his CARES colonies. involvement. So far, the partici- pants I’ve discussed this with have Our Cajun lumberjack, Jim Valen- Greg Steeves no trouble letting everyone know zeula has entered three colonies, a - the CARES species they are work- Lake Victoria species and his two ing with. I can see problems in the Barombi mbo fish, Pungu maclar- future for people trolling such a list eni and Myaka myaka. No fry from Fish Tales | 4 Those Amazing Multies! BAP Report BAP Gerald Griffin hen it comes to the Cichlids I am familiar with are small package! In the wild they Aquarium Hobby peo- very sensitive to rapid temperature live in the empty Neothauma snail ple tend to have “Favor- changes in their Aquariums. Given shells. The males establish their Wites” when it comes to fish. It could that as they are rift valley cichlids territories around clusters of these be your first species you spawned, they should be kept in alkaline shells and try to entice females to something that caught your eye, water with moderate hardness. My inhabit these shells. The females something that is very rare or a current water is around 200 ppm will live in the shells and reproduce species whose antics continue to hardness with a pH of 7.6. This and raise their fry in these shells. entertain you. For me the Shellie suits their needs quite nicely as I In captivity the males will set up a Neolamprologus multifasciatus fits am constantly finding females with territory and they will dig pits that the last bill. They will always be broods in the tank. I have found will include several shells and the one of my favorite fish and I will al- that the most naturalistic approach females will then inhabit the shells ways keep a colony of them as I find with this species works best so their of the males they find most desir- them such a fascinating species.