October 2009 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

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O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 Hi Everyone, From the President’s Desk Hello All, From The Editors’ Desk Well things are gearing up for Oktoberfish, there have been several organizational meetings, and it looks set to go. Now it’s your turn to help the club out, we need lots of help on the day with the auction and fish room. If you would like to help out let Al, Ed or myself know. We are also looking for a few more class sponsors, there are still some classes left for sponsoring, and in return we will give plenty of advertising. Now take a look at your fish, do you have some nice looking ones, why not show them. This is an opportunity for you to “give it a try”, even if you have never showed before “go for it”, you never know you may get a place, and our club will receive points towards the club challenge trophy. The photos for the calendar are set, we will be “rolling it out” at Oktoberfish, I can’t wait to get my copy; I have a place in my office at work ready to go. Fall is in the air and the tanks are a little less neglected than they were last month. ‘Tis the season to have the warmest thing on our lives be the water in our tanks eh? Sigh. I’m looking forward to the fall auction season and have my sights set on some new additions to my show tank. I may even try my hand at showing fish now that I’ve acquired a few that I think could compete. Watch out: Newbie in the room. :) Other than that, I’m not sure what more I have for this column as I’m sure you’re all sick of me begging for articles and cover photos. I still need ‘em but that’s all I’ll say this time around. In the meantime, enjoy this issue. Cam Turner & Tanya Morose Newsletter Editors, KWAS The General meeting this month will see something very different from our program chair, we will also be talking about Oktoberfish. The Jar Show will feature Large American Cichlids and AOV, <strong>October</strong> and November are the last meetings to gain points before the end of the year and the points race. On a personnel note, winter is on its way, there is a cold nip in the air, so the RV has gone into storage, can’t wait for next summer to do it all over again. See you at the meeting. Geoff Money President, KWAS The Fish Sempai www.fishsempai.com info@fishsempai.com (519) 648-9992 • Show quality goldfish: Ryukin, Ranchu, Oranda, Butterfly Moors, Jikins, Pearlscales, Tosakin • Japanese & Malaysian Koi • Arrange to visit the fish farm to see one-of-a-kind, rare and marvelous specimens • Hobbyist Club members receive 10% off purchases • Wholesaler inquiries are welcome • Visits by appointment ONLY 1268 Kramp Road RR 2, Breslau, Ontario N0B 1M0 4
I have to chuckle when I hear people talk about how much care it must take to breed fish and raise fry. I chuckle because so far, my greatest luck with breeding fish has come when I just leave them alone and let nature take its course. Now keep in mind, you do have to have some parameters met: approximate water temperature, type of spawning materials, food, etc. The rest of it seems to be a mix of patience, good fortune, and (in my case) a lot of plants. As soon as Ryan (my husband) brought home a pair of emperor tetras from the GCAS fall auction, I knew I wanted to breed them immediately. I tossed them into a densely planted 55 gallon community tank until I could get a breeder tank set up. A bit later I was able to set up a 20L with lots of java moss, yarn mops, and a sponge filter. I filled the tank with a mix of conditioned tap water and “used” tank water from my 125 gallon planted tank. I covered the tank with a craft mesh screen (no light) and hoped for fry. At first they seemed a bit frisky, but as many of you know, fish can be deceiving in their behavior. I fed them a combination of white worms, white mosquito larvae, grindals, freeze-dried bloodworms, and flakes. I was afraid of fouling the water, so I tried to use as little flake as possible. I checked for eggs occasionally but wasn’t ever able to see any. Later at the CCAC Fall Auction, I picked up several new species, including a school of wild-caught penguin tetras that I didn’t seem to have a tank for. Finally, much to my dismay, I just tossed them into the breeder tank with the emperors and said goodbye to my hopes for fry until I could move them back out. O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 The Emperor Tetra BAP Reprint Article by Kelli Barton, KWAS (kbarto02@uoguelph.ca). I proceeded to scoop out both species of adults and moved them to a 40 gallon planted tank already crammed with tetras. I wasn’t worried about the adults though - I was planning to rearrange the 40 gallon as soon as the semester was over. I started the fry out on a pulverized mixture of golden pearls, freeze-dried bloodworms, and Omega flakes. They took to the food well, and I’m sure they made snacks out of any infusoria lurking around the java moss or sponge filter. Later, I added vinegar eels and regular flake food. As they grew bigger, it became obvious they were emperor tetra. The fry swam with their rostral (head) end pointed down. Penguin tetra, ironically, swim with their tails pointed down. What a convenient way to identify them! I’m sure I lost some fry to predation since adults were present in the tank when we discovered them. Based on the size difference between various fry in the tank, I think there must have been two spawns separated by about two weeks. I based the spawn date on the day we found them free-swimming, so the larger ones were probably a bit older than 30 days. In the end, I find it amusing that my conscious efforts to try and breed fish seem to fall apart, but when I ignore them and “neglect” them they breed like crazy. Go figure that Mother Nature knows how to it better than I do! - Kelli As the semester came to a close, my class work completely took over my life. Sadly, I goaded Ryan into doing tank maintenance while I was studying for final exams, and yes, I was very jealous! (How pathetic is that?) At one point I decided to take a break so I could instruct him on the order of desperately needed water changes. Most of the tanks hadn’t had a decent water change in a while, but the majority of them are planted. I manage to compensate my infrequent maintenance habits with lots of plants. Let’s just call it outsourcing. Anyway, Ryan happened to notice a lone, rather large emperor fry near a mop in the breeder tank. All thoughts of studying flew out the window. After relocating the fry to a breeder net that I tossed in the tank, I explored for additional fry. To my great happiness, I found more! Most were small and appeared to be newly hatched. Given that there were two species in the tank, I wasn’t sure which species had bred. In all likelihood, the fry were probably emperor tetras, but I couldn’t be sure until they grew out a bit more. JohnsFishFood.com Our company is your number one source for high quality aquarium products. We surpass the competition, in not only price, but value as well. We only buy what we ourselves would use and purchase. We value your business, so any products we don't have, just ask and we will do our best to get them. Check out our web catalog at... JohnsFishFood.com 5
Page 1 and 2: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 Fins & Tales
Page 3: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 KWAS Mission
Page 7 and 8: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 A nearby nest
Page 9 and 10: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 and 8100 oliv
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Page 17 and 18: espond to address the questions on
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October 2009 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

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