Last Meeting Spring Giant Auction Lotsa Livebearers (part 3)

Transcription

1 Welcome to the May edition of Fins and Friends. At the moment it's really warm outside and it's so good to see Mr. Sun shining on us again. This will probably result in some members getting their ponds prepared for the season. Why not send us in a picture or two (or an article on what you did to prepare etc. would be excellent). The spring auction is under our belts so we can relax a bit now perhaps. At our meeting next Sunday we have a guest speaker, Birger Kamprath, who is well worth listening too (see page 7 for more details), along with a barbecue if the weather stays good. So come along and join us. Well this issue is packed with (hopefully) interesting reading so without further ado let's see what we have this issue... I hope you find something enjoyable and or useful. Page 2 Last Meeting Spring Giant Auction Page 4 Lotsa Livebearers (part 3) Page 7 Next Meeting Page 8 What's it all about? Page 13 Member Profile of the Month Page 14 News Page 15 Fish of the Month Page 17 B.A.P. - H.A.P. - A.P.P. Page 18 Member Discounts Page 19 A.P.P. Proposal Page 20 Board and Coordinators Page 21 Objectives and Permissions.

2 Our last meeting was the spring giant auction that took place on Sunday 17th April. Hopefully it was enjoyable day for everyone, it seemed to be. Many bargains were to be had, although some lots were fiercely contested. The Board members arrived at to get everything set up, getting all the tables, chairs etc. set up in time for doors opening at Lots were pretty slow in coming in at first and tables looked pretty bare but as neared the rush started and an influx of goods and fishes arrived. The auction started at and soon kicked into high gear. The auctioneers weren't hanging about and sold things pretty quickly. It soon became apparent what was going to get the highest bids. Luckily the half empty tables filled up as time got close to There was hardly an empty seat in the house. Pre-auction merriment (below) We had 14 door prizes, some of which were drawn through the auction, most towards the end. A big thank you goes here to all the people and businesses that donated a prize for us. The raffle winner had a choice of three prizes, an LED aquarium kit (donated by RAS), an Aquavac hose (donated by DDK, Moose Jaw) or a Fluval Shrimp Tank (donated by Prairie Aquatics and Exotics). The winner was Kelly Swift who chose the aquarium. The other prizes will be raffled at future club meetings.

3 Shawn and Paul auctioned for the whole proceedings and were runners when not talking. Lynette and Glenda did an amazing job in the canteen, keeping everyone supplied with food and drink (and making me Tetley tea gives them extra gold stars). The auction was all over by around and those who stayed until the end got their payout then and there. By the time we cleared up and put everything away it was Sore feet and exhaustion were universal amongst the helpers. For those who like statistics. We had 219 lots in the auction of which 9 were not sold. The club made $362 on the day. Unfortunately one member had the misfortune to lose a bag of fish that he'd placed on the floor. If anybody accidentally picked up a bag of swordtails that they thought were just laying around lost, please could you let us know so that we can arrange for them to go to their rightful home. Thank you. Many thanks to everyone who helped out on the day. The auction can't go ahead without helpers so it really is appreciated. Special kudos to Carol who coped with her first auction as coordinator extremely well and efficiently. We also acquired a few new members so a big Welcome to them. Now we start planning the October auction... Many thanks to Martin Kesmarky for the photographs. Lotsa Livebearers

4 A series by Paul Mansfield Part Three This series is not to be reproduced without written permission from the author. Like we discussed in the last part about swordtails, we can not always be sure that the platies and swordtails seen for sale in your LFS are pure strain. The two main platy species on sale are Xiphophorus maculatus and Xiphophorus variatus and the maculatus is the more likely to have some swordtail DNA, simply because they are the most common. Platies are excellent fish to start an aquarium with as they are tough enough to go through the nitrate cycle. They are also much more placid than swordtails and will go with most things. They won't even attack the fins of a Betta splendens like a swordtail will. Apart from the two most common species there are also several other species of platy so we will look at them all here. The Spiketail Platy, Xiphophorus andersi is a fairly nondescript fish being light brown on top and grey underneath. It actually looks a bit like a female guppy. The base of the tail is extended in a small point that you can't really call a sword. Males get to 35mm SL, females to 45mm. The Monterrey Platy, Xiphophorus couchianus, is another fairly plain looking fish. The top of the body is a light brown, the lower half is grey or white. However there is a horizontal stripe along the length of the body made up of black spots and dashes. The males grow to 30mm SL, the females reach 40mm. The Puebla Platy, Xiphophorus evelynae male is very bright and colourful in contrast to the drab female. His body is buttercup yellow covered in a mass of small black spots. The dorsal is a translucent yellow and the tail is deep yellow with black markings that form a vertical bar with rays shooting from it. Males grow to 40mm SL, females to 45mm. The Northern Platy, Xiphophorus gordoni, can be quite striking. The top of the body is a lovely rich brown and the belly is white or grey. Along the flanks of both sexes runs a thick bar of black or blueblack and this really shines when the light hits it. Fins are opaque and there are a few black spots in the dorsal. Males grow to 30mm SL, females get to 40mm. Xiphophorus maculatus is the most common of the platies and the one you are most likely to see in shops. Named maculatus for the large dark spot that is present at the caudal peduncle. In some of the strains you see now this spot is no longer visible or has split into a 'Mickey Mouse' pattern. Males grow to 40mm SL, females to 50mm. We will be looking more at the various colours and forms of this fish at the end of the article. TheMusquiz Platy, Xiphophorus meyeri is also called the marbled swordtail but is a platy and shows no sign of a sword. The light brown body has black blotches and lines across the rear half. Fins are opaque with no patterning. Males reach 25mm SL with the females being much bigger at 40mm.

5 The Catemaco Platy, Xiphophorus milleri, is a little beauty. Males are silver along the body with a darker band on top from eye to dorsal fin. They are covered in black spots for the rear 2/3 of the body. Females are more brown with many more spots. Males grow to 35mm SL, females to 45mm. The Swordtail Platy, Xiphophorus xiphidium, doesn't really have a sword as such but the lower rays of the caudal fin are somewhat extended. Both sexes are pretty similar in colouration, being a silver grey overlaid with dark vertical bars. Between the nal fin and the tail there is a lovely yellow stripe. Both sexes also have a dark blotch at the rear of the belly. The female's tail is yellow with two dark spots at the caudal peduncle. The male's tail is a more opaque yellow with a dark line across the caudal peduncle. Males grow to 30mm SL, females to 40mm. The second most common of the Platies (as far as the shops are concerned is the Variable Platy, Xiphorus variatus. There are a few colour forms of this fish available, though not as many as the X. maculatus. This is the most likely colouration you will find on a variatus. A lovely deep yellow body and a bright red tail. Care should be taken to ensure they are not kept in the same tank as swordtail or maculatus as the species can cross very easily. This is the wild coloration of the Xiphophorus maculatus (left). On the right is the maculatus from Tampico in Mexico. Both are quite stunning fish in their own right. You may also come upon this blue speckled version He has kept the red of the tail and the yellow of the dorsal but the body is a lovely silver blue overlaid with dark spots. Unfortunately someone has also produced a high finned variety with the red of the tail extending further into the body and a huge dorsal fin that stretches back further than the tail. Sadly this means the fish can not swim as fast as he should and should never be kept with species such as Danios or Barbs who would love to have a nibble on that fin. New platies are still being discovered and hopefully will make their way into the hobby. Sadly a lot of their natural habitat is being destroyed due to pollution and agriculture so one day there may only be aquarium specimens alive.

6 Colour forms of Xiphophous maculatus Here are some of the colours available for the common platy. Blue Mickey Mouse Gold Twinbar Red White Mickey Mouse Blue Wagtail Dark Blue Metallic * Honey Bee Red Highfin White Speckled Green Wagtail Gold Crescent Orange Mickey Mouse Tuxedo Zebra or Tiger Neon Green Speckled Neon Orange Panda White Tuxedo * This fish is probably a maculatus/variatus cross. Next part we look at the Mollies.

7 On Sunday May 15 at 1:30 pm we will be hosting Birger Kamprath. He will be providing a presentation on Synodontis catfish. Northeast Community Centre (Behind Imperial School) 160 Broad Street Regina, SK We will be having a barbecue as well. So come on down and have a burger with Birger Birger has been keeping fish of one form or another since the age of ten. Forty-five years later this childhood hobby persists as strong as ever, and you will find many aquariums in his home. Most are dedicated to the Mochokid catfish of Africa, a fascinating group of species that offer challenges in understanding the care and breeding of this family of fish. Supplementing his fish keeping, over the past few years Birger has turned amateur writer and photographer, writing catfish related articles as another expression of his interest in these fascinating creatures. His interest in catfish brought him to the on-line world of PlanetCatfish in the mid 2000's, where he sits as a Moderator and spends many hours conversing and sharing insights. His first nervously accepted speaking engagement was to the 2012 Catfish Study Group Convention in the United Kingdom but is now excited to continue to share knowledge on the fishes of the often mysterious continent of Africa. You will find Birger living in the Canadian Rockies, self-employed as a log-fitter and timber-framer in the Bow Valley town of Canmore, Alberta. You will also find him practicing and teaching karate as the Head Instructor of a non-profit karate club where he engages community youth in age-old teachings focused on self improvement and humility. Many hours have also been spent getting to know the lakes and streams of Western Canada, with both a fishing rod and dip net. (Editor's Note I have been lucky to know Birger since the Edmonton Show where we met up most days for breakfast with Ian Fuller and had long discussions about catfishes and other important subjects. Last year we finally got to visit him in Canmore and see his great collection of fishes. He has some amazing species you certainly won't see in Regina. This is a talk you really don't want to miss.)

8 What's It All About? By Paul Mansfield Part One I was asked the other day to explain something in one of my articles and thought it might be a good idea to go over all the basics (and not quite so basic) so you'll always have this as a reference to refer back to if I get overly complicated. So I'm going to be dealing with some things most, if not all of you, know already and maybe other things that are a bit of a mystery. Starting with the real basics, fishes' anatomy. Actually the first thing should probably be should we say fish or fishes? If it's singular then it is a fish. If it's a group of the same species then the plural is again fish. However, if we are talking about more than one species then the plural becomes fishes. So a shoal of Neon Tetras is a shoal of fish but if there's Cardinal Tetras mixed in with them then it's a shoal of fishes. But back to anatomy, starting with fins. All fishes have them, although some have slightly more than others. Here is your basic fish shape showing the fins and their purpose. If you look at the picture of the Neon on the right you will see a small extra fin that I've circled. This is called the Adipose Fin and is made from fatty tissue. Not all fishes have it but you will see it on most Characins and Corydoras for sure. Looking at the picture on the left you will see the Operculum which is the gill cover, protecting the fishes' sensitive breathing equipment. Some fishes have a distinct spot on the gill cover and this is called an Opercular Spot. The Tropheus Moorii (above left) and the Sunfish (above right) both show Opercular spots but the Sunfish's is more distinct. Gills are how fishes breathe underwater. Animals need to take in oxygen for the chemical reaction that powers their bodies. They also need to throw out carbon-dioxide gas, which is a waste product of that reaction. Gills take oxygen out of the water and let water carry away carbon dioxide. Fish force water through their gills, where it flows past lots of tiny blood vessels. Oxygen seeps through the walls of those vessels into the blood, and carbon dioxide seeps out.

9 <Fish gills are inside the body and covered with a gill plate or Operculum. The Axolotl carries it's gills outside the body.> All fish also have a Caudal Peduncle which is where the tail joins the body. This is very important when measuring a fish, especially when showing or judging. This is because a fish may be shown as having two lengths. There is Total Length which is measured from the tip of the 'nose' to the end of the tail then there is Standard Length. This is the measurement used in shows and size books and is measured from the tip of the nose to the caudal peduncle. This gives you the actual length of the fish's body. All fishes also have a Lateral Line. This is a line which is usually quite visible running more of less horizontally along the flanks of the fish. This line is made up of a series of connected mechanoreceptors called neuromasts that can detect movement and vibrations in the water. This means that even if a fish can't see it can tell what's going on around it. Very handy in murky water for instance. Most male livebearers have either a Gonopodium or Andropodium for reproductive purposes. Both of these are adapted anal fins. The one you probably know best is the gonopodium as that's what you see on guppies, platies etc. Usually pointing backwards it can be swung into position for mating. <The gonopodium in its usual position. The gonopodium in mating > position. The Andropodium is a series of modified, flexible, anal fin rays that give the fin a notched appearance. The male livebearer uses it to fertilise the female. This notch is more visible in some species than others and is found in the Goodeids and half beaks for example.

10 Barbels are found on many fish, some short, some long but all with a purpose. They are highly sensitive organs that are used to feel around the fishes' surroundings and give back information, especially about available food. Barbels can be short as on the Corydoras sterbai or long as on the Tiger Shovelnose Catfish. Koi have barbels but Goldfish don't, a useful way to tell them apart when they're small. It is very important that your aquarium substrate is suitable for fishes with barbels. Sand or well rounded gravel will not harm them. Sharp gravel or bare glass will damage them. The Swim Bladder is very important to a fish. It is an organ filled with gas that controls where the fish is in the water, meaning they do not have to keep swimming to remain stable. It also acts as a sound producer and receptor. Only bony fishes have a swim bladder. The cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and rays do not have one. Sometimes this can be affected in such a way that the fish can no longer keep itself upright and stable. This is especially true for those fish that have been bred into a mutated shape such as Fancy Goldfish and Balloon Mollies. Due to the body being the wrong shape the swim bladder is positioned wrongly. As the fish grows the bladder tries to move to where it should be and trouble occurs leading to suffering and early death. The goldfish on the right has lost its ability to stay upright in the water as the mutated shape has compromised the swim bladder. Fishes breathe through their gills and this is a pretty efficient way of breathing. However, some fishes live in water that is not rich in oxygen and they sometimes need to breathe in atmospheric air. You may see Corydoras for instance pop up to the surface in your aquarium and take a gulp of air. Many fish that can do this can process the air through their intestine, though some such as the lung fish do have rudimentary lungs. Probably the best known to fish keepers are the Labyrinth fishes such as Bettas and Gouramis. They have something called a Labyrinth Organ that can process the air taken from the atmosphere. Fishes such as the Dwarf Gourami (right) can live in areas low in oxygen such as slow moving ditches as they have the Labyrinth Organ in their head that can process atmospheric air. They will usually breathe through their gills but take gulps of air at the surface when they need to.

11 Sometimes in my articles you will see the mention of Odontodes. These are also known as dermal teeth. They will be found mostly on some plecs, especially males. These are small lumps of soft material surrounded by dentine and covered in a hard substance such as enamel. Despite sometimes being called teeth they are not used for eating, actually quite the reverse as they make the fish itself hard to chew or swallow, being painful to the predator. They can also be used to wedge the fish into a hiding place making it hard for a predator to remove it. <An example of Odontodes on this Pseudancistrus barbatus around the head. The male Hemiloricaria melini has Odontodes all over his pectoral fins. > The so called 'Egg Spot' is found on many mouth brooding cichlids. At one time this was thought to encourage the female to think it was an egg and to bring her mouth into close proximity so the male could shoot sperm into her mouth and fertilise the eggs. This is no longer considered a valid theory, especially as some females have the same egg spots as the males. So for now, nobody really knows what, if any, purpose it actually does have. Egg spots are very clearly marked on most mouthbrooding cichlids such as this Labidochromis hongi. Sticking with the mouthbrooders we should discuss the buccal cavity. This is an area at the bottom of the mouth. Other fishes and animals have one too but in mouthbrooders it has a specific purpose in that the females carry their eggs in it. This can get very extended and is sometimes stretched so thin you can see through it. As many mouthbrooding females will not eat for the days they carry eggs and young this can sometimes result in a fish that looks like it's a big head with a thin little body behind it. < The extended buccal cavity on this Labidochromis caeruleus female gives the face a square appearance. The cavity is stretched so much on this Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor that you can see the babies inside.> Now we should discuss mouthbrooding itself. Usually this is done exclusively by the females but in some species such as the Goby Cichlids (Tanganicodus spp. & Eretmodus spp.)it is bi-parental. Eggs may be fertilised outside the mouth and then taken in or may be fertilised actually in the mouth. Brooding eggs directly after laying is called Ovophilous. Other fishes such as some of the

12 Geophagines hatch the eggs on a rock and will take the fry into the mouth only after they've hatched. This is called Larvophilous. Most mouthbrooders will brood eggs and fry for around 28 days, some will continue to keep the fry around them and take them back into the mouth if danger threatens. Interestingly some catfish such as the Synodontis multipunctatus have evolved to cunningly replace the cichlids eggs with their own so the female cichlid hatches out Synodontis fry. Hence the common name of Cuckoo Catfish. A female Egyptian Mouthbrooder (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor) allows the young fry to use her mouth as shelter for a short while after she first spits them out. The cloaca is found in amphibians, reptiles and birds. As some of us keep amphibians then I include it here. This is the posterior orifice for digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts. One hole covers all three functions. The cloaca on an Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is clearly visible in this picture. Not really anatomical but somewhat joined is the Yolk Sac. This is a small amount of food, nutritionally like the yolk of an egg to a bird. This is not found in livebearers as they have absorbed the yolk before they are born or in mouthbrooders who are well advanced before that are spat out by their mother. However other egg layer fry will always hatch and then sit around for a few days using up their yolk sac. They will not eat anything else during this time but as soon as they have absorbed the yolk then they will need to be fed. What to feed will depend on the size of the fry. So that basically covers the anatomical features of fishes (and some amphibians). In the next part we will look at some of the other words and phrases to do with fish keeping.

13 Name: Lynnette Halbgewachs Membership Number: 8 Current Positions held in the RAS. Director at Large and Marine Coordinator How many tanks do you currently have? 2, I have a110 gallon reef tank and a 97 gallon reef tank. What are the most tanks you ve had? 3 What fish do you keep mostly? I have gorgeous saltwater reef safe fish. What are you three favourite fish? I love love dogface puffers, any puffer really marine and fresh water. I have always loved discus but never had those (yet!) And I love gobies! Are you involved in any of the following; BAP, HAP or APP? Not currently but I think it's time for me to try marine BAP for my crazy corals and anenomes. Have you ever considered giving a talk to the club? Been thinking about it just not sure I would be a great speaker. Are you a certified show judge? No, not at all. Do you keep freshwater, marine or both? At this time it is entirely marine and 3 reptiles. How many years have you been in the hobby? Okay dating myself but approximately 32 years. What got you into aquarium keeping? I have always found aquariums to be truly relaxing and I love so many different types of fish. What would you like to see at club meetings? More about marine /reef not just for myself but for so many people I have met with marine aquariums. Would you consider sending a photo of one of your favourite tanks? Oh definitely! (next page)

14 Lynette's beautiful Marine Aquarium New Club Handbooks are still waiting for those members who haven't yet collected them. Don't forget to pick up your copy at the next meeting. Due to pressures of work and families both Chris and Adrienne are unable to fulfil their posts and have resigned. We thank them both for all their work for the R.A.S. in the past. This leaves gaps in the clubs positions. Some have been taken over by board members but are open to anyone who wants to take the jobs on. Positions that need to be ratified at the next meeting are in blue on the Board Members page. You can still stand for one of these positions at the next meeting if you'd like to. There are also vacant positions in red so if you feel you can help out the club please stand for one of those. Sadly Kim has also been under time pressures and feels she can no longer continue as the treasurer. At the board meeting on Friday it was discussed and the solution we came to was that James returns to the treasurer's position, Paul takes over as Secretary and Kim becomes Director at Large. This will also be ratified at Sunday's meeting but if you want a position please say so. We really would welcome the help. Please remember that we no longer have meetings through the summer so our next meeting after May will be September. Fins and Friends will be sent out in June and August but not July. We have an interesting guest speaker lined up for September. More news in future issues. In the June issue there will be a quiz and the prize is an Aqueon Quiet Flow30 filter donated by Pat's Pets. Just bring your completed quiz to the September meeting.

15 This month we are looking at a wonderful dwarf cichlid, the Egyptian Mouthbrooder, Pseudocrenilabrus muliticolor (pronounced Ss-yoo-doh-kren-ee-lahb-russ mull-tee-colour). The fishes in the genus Pseudocrenilabrus are unusual amongst dwarf cichlids in that members of the genus are mouthbrooders. They are found in a few countries in Africa, not exclusively Egypt. They are classed as Riverine, being found in streams, lake tributaries and ponds, usually in slow moving or still water. A sub species Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae looks different to the fish we are discussing here and is found in lakes Victoria & Albert as well as the surrounding rivers. The multicolor tends to live around aquatic plants and this is a good way to set up your aquarium for them. The aquarium should have lots of hiding places and territories so use caves, rocks, wood and plants to create a good place for them. They are fairly hardy and adaptable as far as parameters and temperature but are happiest at 70-79f with a ph between 6.5 and 7.2 and hardness around 10. The substrate of their aquarium should either be sand or fine gravel as the males dig pits and would be frustrated by large gravel. As you can see from the pictures above, the male (on the left) is a stunning beauty, covered with a multitude of bright coloured spots and markings. The females are much plainer being a grey or light brown with horizontal darker bars. Although beautiful this is not an overly social fish and will harass any other fish it finds in it's territory (which it assumes the bottom half of the tank to be). Suitable tank mates would be any fish that swims mid-water or at the surface, nothing that lives on the bottom. Males also hate the sight of each other and will fight quite violently. They are best kept with one male and a harem of females. If you buy them small they may not be easy to sex so buy a group of six or eight and keep an eye on them as they grow, removing males if they become a problem. Feeding is not a problem as they are total omnivores. A good, high protein flake or small cichlid pellets is a good base food with treats or bloodworm and brine shrimp. Live daphnia and mosquito larvae, when in season, are also relished.

16 Breeding is easy if the fish are suitably healthy. A good diet with lots of bloodworms will really get the females producing eggs. Males dig a shallow pit in the substrate and use this as a showing off platform. He will swim around it, quivering his body and shaking his fins in the hopes of enticing a female to spawn with him. He can get very aggressive to females at this point so having a harem of females ensures this is not levelled at one poor mother to be. When a female is ready to breed she will enter the pit and the fish will circle each other, the male continuing to quiver and show off. He will nuzzle the female's vent and this will trigger the release of eggs. She will immediately pick these up in her mouth and then nuzzles the vent of the male. He will release his milt (sperm) directly into the female's mouth to fertilise the eggs. This may happen once or several times depending on the age and size of the female. She may produce from five eggs up to a hundred. Very rarely the male gets overly excited and the eggs are fertilised as soon as they are dropped but the female will still pick them up and nuzzle the male's vent. The eggs are kept in her buccal cavity. I always find it best to move the females to a nursery tank at this time, just to give them some peace. This has to be done fairly quickly so she doesn't spit out the eggs. I have never raised eggs that have been spat by this species but would assume it was possible. The female holds for around ten days and will not eat at all during this time. Her body gets quite thin in this time while her buccal cavity expands. It may well look light she is a big head on a thin body. < A female holding eggs or fry in her buccal cavity. When the fry are released they are free swimming but will stay close to their mother. She continues to give them shelter in her mouth when danger threatens or at night. This protection may last several days. The fry are big enough for newly hatched brine shrimp or micro worms and they grow quickly on this diet. They actually grow so quickly that they may not fit into their mother's mouth if there are large numbers of them. Ensure the females are allowed to rest up and feed them well (little and often) until they have their shape back. If you can't remove the females and have a well planted tank with lots of nooks and crannies then some of the fry will still survive but you'll get more if you keep the females apart. Sadly this little gem seems to have fallen out of favour and you rarely see them any more. If you want something a bit different and stunning to look at, and have a tank for them then I really recommend this fish. Photographs by Paul Mansfield

17 Aquatic Photography Programme Grand Master Platinum Shawn Pollock Passed level Paul Mansfield Passed level Grand Master Gold Shawn Pollock Paul Mansfield James Scharnatta Passed level Passed level 45 points. Articles, prints and presentation outstanding Grand Master Silver James Scharnatta Prints, Presentation and Articles outstanding Grand Master Martin Kesmarky, James Sharnatta, Shawn Pollock and Paul Mansfield passed level Expert All those listed in Grand Master have passed this level Chris Larsen 180 points Article and prints outstanding Gary Bien 122 points Article and prints outstanding Senior All those listed in Grand Master have passed this level Jeff Briere 25 points Article and prints outstanding Gary Bien 100 points Article and prints outstanding Advanced All those listed in Grand Master have passed this level All those listed above have passed this level Novice All those listed above have passed this level Lee van Hardeveld

18 Horticultural Award Programme Name Level Current Points Articles needed for next Points needed for level next level Chris Larsen Senior Aquatic 360 Adrienne Reinson Master Aquatic Gary Bien Grand Master Aquatic Shawn Pollock Novice One 90 Breeders Award Programme Bob Baker. Master Level 85 points received. 115 points needed. 4 articles outstanding. Chris Larsen. Novice Level Passed level. Gary Bien. Advance Breeder - No points required. 2 articles outstanding Expert Breeder 90 points received. 10 points needed. 3 articles outstanding. Greg Mallet. Grand Master III 25 points received. 775 points needed. 7 articles outstanding. Kelly Swift. Breeder level - No points required. 1 article outstanding. Advanced Breeder No points required. 2 articles outstanding. Expert Breeder 30 points received. 70 points needed. 3 articles outstanding. Shawn Pollock. Novice level Passed level. James and Paul. Advanced level 20 points received. 30 points needed. No articles outstanding. Discounts for R.A.S. Members 2016 For all members showing a current valid membership card. Pats Pets 10% off all aquarium goods Petland 10% off fish only Prairie Aquatics 10% off all aquarium goods plus 10% extra for the week after the meeting.* A1 Aquarium 20% off all full price aquarium goods for the month following a meeting ** * For the extra 10% you must attend a club meeting and obtain the special dated discount card. ** When you get your membership card you will also be given an A1 card. To get the 20% discount this card needs to stamped at a meeting to show you have attended. You will then receive a discount for a month. Please support the local businesses who support the club.

19 We are hoping to introduce a new level into the Aquatic Photography Programme and will be asking members for a positive vote at Sunday's meeting. To save time with an explanation (as we have a guest speaker) the proposal is here for your perusal. AQUATIC PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAMME GRAND MASTER SUPREME LEVEL The entrant may choose ONE of the groups below and submit pictures according to that group. All entries must score 9 or more. 50% must score 10. GROUP ONE GROUP TWO 10 x Rainbowfish 10x Killifish 10 x Labyrinth Fish (not B. splendens) 10 x Barbs 10 x Characins 10 x Non Fish Aquatic 10 x Callichthyidae (Corydoras and relatives) 10 x Loricariidae (Plecs) 10 x Lake Tanganyika Cichlids 10 x Lake Malawi Cichlids 10 x Fish with eggs or fry 10 x Betta splendens GROUP THREE GROUP FOUR 10 x Danios 10x Rasboras 10 x Livebearers 10 x Aquatic/ Marginal Plants 10 x Club Meeting or Auction 10 x Complete Aquarium 10 x Catfish not in groups 1 &2 10 x Dwarf Cichlids 10 x Discus 10 x Cichlids not in other groups 10 x Killifish 10 x All other fishes In addition the entrant: Must submit two photographs from each of the other groups (six in total) and these should score ten points each. Must submit three articles with pictures for Fins and Friends. Each must deal with a separate type of fishes from his/her chosen group. Must, once the photography part is completed, give a presentation at a club meeting showing all 66 photographs in this level. A trophy will be awarded upon completion of this level.

20 2016 Board and Coordinators Board: President Shawn Pollock Vice President Lee van Hardeveld Secretary Paul Mansfield Treasurer James Scharnatta Director at Large Lynette Halbgewachs Director at Large Kim Therens Programme Coordinators: (who are also board members) Advertising & Promotions Vacant Aquatic Photography Programme (APP) Paul Mansfield Archives Norman Petry Auctions Carol Aitken Breeder's Award Programme (BAP) Paul Mansfield Canteen Kim Therens CAOAC liaison Shawn Pollock Editor's Award Programme Paul Mansfield Horticultural Awards Programme (HAP) Lee van Hardeveld Fins and Friends Editor Paul Mansfield Behind the Glass Show Vacant Speaker coordinator Shawn Pollock Webmaster Shawn Pollock Marine coordinator Lynette Halbgewachs Member Profiles Kim Therens Raffles & Donations Vacant Home Visits Vacant Non Board Positions. Judging Standards Committee: Paul Mansfield James Scharnatta Chris Larsen Official R.A.S. Photographer Martin Kesmarky. Please volunteer for one of the positions in red above. Next issue of Fins & Friends 12th June 2016

21 The editor reserves the right to amend any articles for spelling, grammar etc. All original artwork is copyright to Paul Mansfield or