PREZ SAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN. LED LIGHT: bring $9 cash or check. JUNE MEEtiNg

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1 THE GRANITE-FISHER VOL. 5 NUMBER 6 June 16 N.H. Aquarium Society, P.O. Box 3, Rollinsford, NH Founded 1989 MEETING NOTICE The General Meeting will be held Wed., June 8, 16 at 7: PM at the Somersworth High School in Somersworth, N.H. Next BOD Meeting will be held on Monday, AUGUST. 15, 16 at 7pm at Chuck Smith s home JUNE MEEtiNg Wednesday, June 8, 16 ira gardner-morse Hands-on Demo in Building LED Lights for Planted Aquariums bowl show photo show auction snacks and raffle prizes Everyone is looking forward to seeing you there! TELEPHONE DIRECTORY Denise Brown...(63) Faxline to Editor...(63) PREZ SAYS Greetings NHAS members! I sit here on this beautiful sunny day thinking ahead to our annual auction. We approach our final meeting before we break for summer. For some that means family vacation, trips to the beach, or hikes up your favorite mountain. For others it means time to breed and cultivate for the annual auction! Summer is the perfect time for it! No heaters means more tanks for fry and plants. I know I have mentioned backyard bucket tanks in about every prez says I have written, but I can't stress how awesome they are. A 5+ gallon bucket, a hand full of java moss/clippings of other plants, a half dozen livebearers, and some cultured filter media is all you need to have a few great bags to auction off come fall. Last year we had an overabundance of great dry goods, but this year I would love to see more fish and plants! We have a lot of great new and old members and I have a feeling this auction will be our best! Also, don t forget to mark your calendar for our annual picnic! The picnic will be held at Fort Foster in Kittery Maine on Saturday, July 3rd. All we ask is you bring your own non-alcoholic beverages and a side item or dessert. Last year we had a great time going through the tidal pools! Don't miss it! Robert Tyrrell, NHAS President 16 Bring in your fish photos for NHAS Photography Contest! TO PARTICIPATE IN JUNE MEETING TO BUILD YOUR LED LIGHT: bring $9 cash or check 1

2 May Guest Lecturer NHAS BOD MEETING May, 16 Our May guest speaker was Richard Pierce and his topic was The Golden Age of the Aquarium Hobby. Richard says, Today is The Golden Age of the Aquarium Hobby. Share Your Fishy Stories and Pictures Send in your fishy stories and photos to the editor BY THE 5th of EVERY MONTH. It s fun to see your experiences and photos published in the Granite Fisher! The May 16 Board of Directors meeting: On May 16th, 16, after visiting Bob s fish room and admiring all of Cat s beautiful houseplants, Bob called the May meeting of the board of directors to order around 7:15 pm. In attendance were Denise Brown, Cam Dudley, Larry Feltz, Jennifer Richardson, Keith Richardson, Chuck Smith, Bob Tyrrell, Don Van Pelt and Anita Weidnecht. The first order of business was to pay bills. Motions were made and seconded to pay $47. to Don for club postage, $11. to Bob to restock the soda supply, $7.48 for treasurer s supplies and $4. for the annual insurance coverage. All motions passed. Committee reports were next with some discussion concerning the June meeting activity. The speaker is going to teach members how to build an LED aquarium light. For those that participate the cost to cover supplies will be $9. and the participant will take home a new, custom built light. There was a request that the Granite Fisher be included on the NHAS web page and Anita said that she would post it each month. Other committee chairs reported that all was well. Chuck received an from Bob Tibbetts stating that he wished to donate a variety of aquarium hardware to the club if we were willing to pick it in Amesbury, MA. Bob Tyrrell said that he would contact Bob Tibbetts to coordinate the process. There was a discussion concerning the not-for-profit status of the club and the process to ensure that it was still valid. Bob offered to pursue the steps needed to put the club in good graces at both the state and federal level. This status is helpful when asking supporters for donations. June is when the begging letters are sent to vendors asking for donations for the club, specifically for the annual auction. Don offered to do this once again and Bob agreed. A motion was made and seconded to spend $3. to purchase fish from Central Mass Aquatics to be kept by members to be sold at the annual auction. The motion passed. It was decided to let the owners of CMA decide which fish would be best with some guidance from the board. Don offered to coordinate the process. A motion was made and seconded to give as a prize for the Bill Janetos Editor s Award a year s subscription to the Amazonas magazine. The motion passed. The next board meeting is August 15th, 16 at the Smith home in Durham. Respectfully submitted by Don Van Pelt, Sec. NHAS BAP (Breeders Awards Points) April 16 Breeder's Name Genus Species Common Name Class Points Year Award Date Tyrrell, Robert Epiplatys dageti Monrovia nd Gen Killifish B /11/16 Tyrrell, Robert Poecilia Wingei nd Gen A /11/16 Black Orchid Endlers Tyrrell Total 5 Van Pelt, Don Aphyosemion striatum Lambaréné nd Gen Killifish B /11/16 Van Pelt, Don Tanichthys micagemmae nd Gen B /11/16 Van Pelt, Don Aphyosemion spoorenbergi nd Gen Fundulopanchax spoorenbergi B /11/16 Van Pelt, Don Scolichthys iota nd Gen Livebearer endemic to Guatamala B /11/16 Van Pelt, Don Total 6 Weidknecht, Anita Limia vittata Cuban limia B /11/16 Weidknecht, Anita Total 1

3 RS VOtE FOR "Best of the Best" Bowl Show in June! Bring in WiNNERS! WINNERS: Sept. Jennifer: Guppy Martha: male Congo Tetra Oct. Don: Pea Puffer Feb. Don: Discus March. Paige: male Betta April. Martha: blue male Betta May 16 Bowl Show Winners 1st - Martha Bonney Congo Tetra nd - Don Van Pelt Danio May Winners 1st - Panda Corey's Keith Richardson nd - Large cichlid tank Bob Tyrrell 3rd - Roseline Sharks Keith Richardson Keith Richardson Keith Richardson Bob Tyrrell 1. The Photo Show is open to all members. Members must take the photograph and accompany the entry to the show.. Members may bring up to two photos, unframed, measuring up to 8.5x11 inches per meeting. 3. Photos will be judged by all present and awards will be given for first, second and third place based on popular vote. 4. The First Place photo cannot be reentered for the current year. NHAS will hold on to all First Place photos until the November meeting. Second and Third Place photos may be reentered in future shows. Nov. Martha: female Bristle Nose May. Don: Danio Photo Contest Rules At the November meeting all first place photos will be judged for the Best Photo of the Year. A plaque will be awarded to the Best Photo of the Year winner. Bowl Show Rules 1. The bowl show is open to all members and all entries must be accompanied by their owner.. Members may bring up to three fish. 3. Members must have owned the fish for three months prior to the entry. 4. Containers must have one flat side. 5. There are to be no decorations on or in the container. 6. The fish will be judged by all present and awards will be given for first, second, and third place based on popular vote. 7. Points will be given for each place (first-4 points,second-3 points, third- points). In the case of a tie, tying members will be given equal points. 8. With the exception of the Best of the Best, first place winners may not be reentered in future bowl shows within the calendar year. 9. At the end of the year awards will be given to the members with the most points. 1. Bowl show points are to be awarded on an individual basis, not on a family membership basis. 11. No fish that has been surgically altered (Examples of which are, but not limited to, dying, tattooing or trimming of fins) may be entered in any NHAS bowl show. Will you be the next Winners Bring in your most spectacular fish and enter the Bowl Show! See you next month, Martha

4 Your New Hampshire Aquarium Society DUE$ ARE DUE NOW. + h Welcome New Members To save time during our meeting, please bring a check already made out to NH Aquarium Society or pay cash to Treasurer Jennifer Richardson. Individual = $15 Family = $ Thank you for being a member of New Hampshire Aquarium Society! Aquarist Points as of 5/16 Please let Don Van Pelt know if any question on this information: NAME May YTD BONNEY, MARTHA 4 41 BROWN, DENISE CASE, JASON DESMARAIS, I DRECKMAN, JOSEPH 13 4 DUDLEY, CAMERON FELTZ, LARRY HAYES, MARK KLICK, AMY 8 KOOKEN, JASON 1 MUKON, CHELSEA 6 PEARSON, JOHN RICHARDSON, JENNIFER RICHARDSON, KEITH RICHARDSON, RUPERT SHEPARD, TANYA SMITH, CHARLES 8 5 STIRK, BEN 4 TERRIL, RICHARD TYRRELL, ROBERT VAN PELT, DONALD WASIEWSKI, ED 6 WEIDNECHT, ANITA GENERAL MEETING: May 11, 16 President Bob Tyrrell called the May meeting of The New Hampshire Aquarium Society to order at 7:5 PM on May 11th, 16. There were twentyfive people in attendance. The first order of business was a few announcements including information about the summer get-together at Fort Foster in Kittery, Maine. The date of the picnic is Saturday, July 3rd with a rain date of July 3th. Another topic was the format of the newsletter, The Granite Fisher. There are some members who would like to have a hard copy of the Fisher as opposed to, or in addition to, the electronic version. It was decided that Denise Brown, the Fisher editor, would bring eight to ten hard copies to each meeting for those that would like to have them. Also discussed was the possibility of purchasing fish to be held by members until the annual auction. There is a feeling that we did not have enough fish in the auction and this might be a way to remedy that. Bob reminded members that at the June meeting we are going to build LED aquarium lights and that the cost to those that want to participate will be nine dollars cash or check. The speaker for the evening was Richard Pierce and his topic was The Golden Age of the Aquarium Hobby. Richard started by giving the audience a choice of five time blocks and asking for a show of hands for the 3 s, post war 4 s, the 5 s, the 7 s and present day. Richard then showed, in today s dollars, what hardware for the hobby cost in those time blocks. It was quickly evident that the heaters, tanks and fish cost hundreds of dollars and the quality was very questionable. In addition, the choices were very limited. Today we have vast choices in tanks of all sizes and materials, a huge selection of fish and an almost unlimited selection of hardware to keep our tanks happy and healthy. The conclusion The golden age of the aquarium hobby is now. Richard concluded his talk with some great photographs of fish that are not common to the hobby but can still be found if you persist. Once again Richard s presentation was interesting, educational and most importantly, fun. We all thank him for a great talk and look forward to the next time he journeys North to New Hampshire. After a break for lots of fishy talk and a chance to vote for the bowl show and photo show, the results of the photo contest and bowl show were announced and the winners of the raffle were drawn. The final event was a large and fun filled auction with some beautiful and unusual fish. Respectfully submitted by Don Van Pelt, Sec. NHAS NHAS CLOTHING We will soon order club t-shirts with the beautiful design featuring three angels and the Old Man of the Mountain by our President, Robert Tyrrell. Place your order at the next meeting with quantity and shirt sizes. Shirts will be black with white ink. Congrats to Monthly Raffle Winners! Buy Raffle Tickets to Support our Club.

5 I learned about keeping tropical fish from others - mostly fish hobbyists. My learning curve took off when I joined the New Hampshire Aquarium Society (NHAS). I was hooked by the tales of other fish keepers. I would listen to what members that sold fish they had bred at club auctions had to say. I would try to do what they said they did. That is, I tried to duplicate their successes. Over the years the club has provided me with many mentors. Even while trying to follow other club breeders, I made many mistakes (had opportunities to grow) along the way. I became aware of the Breeder Award Program (BAP). Being frugal, I tried to get the best fish-stock available for the lowest price. In this way New Hampshire Aquarium Society's club auction proved to be a wonderful source for inexpensive fish, food, equipment, and supplies. I did fishes from Class A through C (read Easy to Difficult) with varying degrees of success - but never the elusive Class D (read Very Difficult) fish. I did venture into the D fishes early in the process. Inspired by NHAS member Don VanPelt, I have maintained a tank of Synodontis petrocola for 15 years; but they never bred successfully for me. Later on, fellow club member, Norman Brandt, successfully bred Bumblebee Gobies. I tried to follow him there; again with no real success. I finally I had suc-cess with the Peacock Gudgeon - Class D fish. Norman Brandt took me (and others) by the hand and taught me how to work with them. Likewise, Norman later would share with me the "secrets" of the Candidia Goby - my second Class D fish, and the subject of this writing. As I came to understand it, everything Norman told me seemed to be contrary to what other published sources seemed to suggest. But I tried to do what he said he did, the way he said to do it. Neither he nor I would tell you this is THE CORRECT WAY. But this is the way I did it - following my interpretation of how he told me he became successful. It worked for me. When I first saw Norman s gobies, he had a breeding pair of adults in a obviously well used, otherwise nondescript, 1 gallon tank half-filled with water. I also saw his tank of young fry and his grow-out tank. He told me they were cave-spawners. Like the Gudgeons he had helped me with before, he said these fish also were cave-spawners. Where we had used short -3 inch long 1/ diameter sections of CPVC pipe with an end-cap for the smaller gudgeon; he used 4-5 inch long 1 inch Dia. PVC pipe with an end-cap to simulate a cave for the larger Rhino Goby. He recommended one cave for each male plus an extra - to keep the territorial Candidia Goby Breeding by Larry Feltz males from fighting over caves. Otherwise the tank was pretty much a bare tank (but it seemed alive with micro organisms - from the organic matter it contained - sometimes referred to a detritus, mulm, dirt ). He said the water was pretty much neutral. There were no power heads, no fancy external pumps, no exotic filters. As mentioned above, the tank was not scrupulously clean, as a matter of fact I commented to him about that he indicated that was not really necessary to be successful. When asked what he was feeding them, he said flake food. Now this sounds like my kind of fish! I tried to duplicate that setup. I used one of my home-made box filters (cut-off Gatorade bottle bottom for the outside; the cutoff top of a water bottle for the inside; a simple air-lift tube) with aquarium gravel for filter media. I tossed in some Java Moss for good measure. And, yes, a pair of young adult Rhinogobius candidianus. When queried how soon will I get eggs ; the reply was 14 days. WRONG, it took almost 8 days. Can you believe that? What a wonderful development - almost instant eggs - and I had never seen a synodontis egg in fifteen years! In the beginning I was very watchful. This could be it, I could finally get a second Class D fish! But the fish were somewhat uninspiring. They differed in appearance from any other fish I had worked with before. I even thought them to be quite UGLY in the beginning. They were certainly not to be confused with the beautiful delta-tale guppy, they were not gorgeous like the Julidichromis. They seemed relatively inactive; swam funny, had ridiculous clown-like fins near the gills. The male and female pretty much ignored each other. Most of their interaction seemed to be aggression - he driving she away at feeding time. But I was hopeful. As time passed he moved into a cave - sort of set-up housekeeping. She seemed to ignore him and he her. But as time passed, he did seem to pursue her, trying to get her attention. I was full of anticipation. Eventually she began to appear less disinterested. She was filling-up with eggs (her belly began to look blue through her almost transparent skin as the eggs matured). He became more interested in her; she seemed a bit more receptive to his advances, and then, WOW there was the pre-nuptial dance that I had read about on-line. He tried to coax her into the cave. She would not submit to that old line about come Candidia Goby Wikipedia on in, I will show you my etchings. Then suddenly into the tent she went. WOW! I caught some of that on video. I found myself watching them frequently and for long periods of time, I only saw one spawning event. On-line literature says they will spawn repeatedly over several days. Eventually as I had read, and as I had been told, he drove her away. He began to tend the eggs without any help from the female. The male posi-tioned himself head-pointed-out at the mouth of cave opening. With his body inside the cave he used his (previously-described clown-like) anterior fins (that now appear perfectly adapted to this task) to move water into and out of the cave; that is fanning - to oxygenate the eggs, to prevent the growth of fungus. He appeared to do this almost constantly. He seldom paused. He would venture out to take food but always quick-ly returned to his work. The male makes a great parent. He tends the eggs faithfully until the eggs are ready to hatch. The time required seems to vary - temperature, seems to be a big determinate. My experience was that it took twenty eight days from spawning to hatching. The problem is the male urge to provide parental-care seems to wane or disappear entirely. When the urge to care ends and dad abandons his off-spring, and begins to see them as food is subject to debate. This report-edly occurs: 1. when the eggs begin to hatch,. shortly after hatching, 3. soon after hatching, 4. when the fry become free-swimming, 5. a day or two after the fry swim Whenever it occurs, it is this problem that prompts the would-be breeder to remove the eggs and to attempt to hatch them artificially - away from the parent. This is how I successfully got the Rhinogobius candidianus to breed. In a later writing I hope to try to tell you how I hatched candidianus fry away from their parents and got them to the viable fry stage -> therein lie another a secret or two. Sign Up: Summer Picnic: opens 1 am Sat. July 3, $1 car entry RAIN DATE JUNE 3th

6 The Pearl Gourami by Don Van Pelt The Pearl Gourami The deadline for articles and photos is the 5th of every month. Treasurer s Report Financial Report - May 16 Beginning Balance: $4, May Income $197. Raffle $11. Auction $6. Keith Richardson 9 gal. tank & stand $5. Amy Klick gal. tank $5. Dues (Shawn Jones) $15. Club Merchandise (Shawn Jones) $39. Dues (Mark Hayes to Oct. 17) $15. May Expenses $5. Richard Pierce: May Speaker Fee $1. MMG Insurance (Club insurance 5/16-5/17) $4. Ending Balance $4, Wikipedia The Pearl Gourami, Trichopodus leerii, (Some older books list this fish as Trichogaster leerii.) is not only one of the prettiest fish to be found in the aquarium hobby but one of the most gentle and forgiving. They belong to a group of fishes called Anabantoids. The Anabantoids are distinguished from all other types of fish by the fact that they can breathe atmospheric oxygen directly using an organ in their head called a labyrinth organ. While they can extract oxygen from the water as do other fish by using their gills, if the water they are in becomes low in oxygen they can go to the surface and gulp air to maintain their oxygen level. Anabantoidei include most Gouramis, the Paradise fish, Macropodus opercularis, and the well known Betta splendens. The Pearl, also known as the Lace Gourami, is covered with pearly spots over a gray/brown background. The difference between adult males and females is obvious, as in most Gourami s, since the dorsal and anal fins of the male are very elongated and pointed. Also the adult male is usually in breeding color which is a beautiful bright orange flush running from the chin along the bottom half of the fish back to the anal area. Both the male and female have a dark lateral line running the length of the body and ending with a black spot just forward of the caudal fin. An adult male can attain a length of about four to four and one-half inches while the female is about an inch smaller. Tank set-up: The Pearl originally came from Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Thailand where they lived in swampy, plant-thick, slightly acidic still water. To duplicate this in an aquarium you should provide a planted tank with the surface covered with floating plants. There should be very little water movement. If comfortable, the fish will spend most of it s time in the top half of the tank looking for food among the surface plants. Feeding: The Pearl is not a fussy eater and will take live, frozen and flake foods. Breeding: As with most Gourami s, the method used to breed the Pearl Gourami is fairly straight forward although raising the fry may be problematic due to their very small size. First you need a good healthy pair that you have conditioned with live and/or frozen food and a good quality flake food. A ten gallon tank with a heavy layer of floating plants works well as a breeding tank. Like many Anabantoids the Pearl is a bubble nest builder. Since, in the wild, they tend to breed in shallow water you should lower the water level to around six to eight inches and at the same time raise the temperature to about eighty-two degrees. If you are fortunate enough to witness the spawning you will see activity similar to that used by the Betta splendens When spawning, the two fish wrap around each other in an embrace with their two vents close together. The female expels her eggs and at the same time the male fertilizes them. When the spawning is finished it is advisable to remove the female as the male may become aggressive trying to keep her away from the nest and the fry. The eggs hatch in about twenty-four hours and the tiny fry will be free swimming in four or five days. At this time the male should be removed. The Pearl, like many Gouramis, are quite prolific and, depending on the age of the parents, you may have from fifty to two hundred fry. Raising the Fry: This is the hard part. When the fry become free swimming they are about the size of a speck of pepper. A good first food is infusoria but I have never had much luck raising infusoria so I resort to two other sources. One is dirty sponge filters and the other is dirty Java Moss. Both are loaded with single celled animals that will provide good nutrition for your fry. Take a dirty sponge from another tank and squeeze it in the fry tank as you do when you want to clean a sponge. The brown water will look awful but it will make your tiny babies very happy. A large glob of unrinsed Java Moss will provide lots to eat as well. After a week to ten days they will be large enough, maybe an eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch long, to take vinegar eels and/or microworms. This is a good time to start doing water changes. A thirty percent change every two or three days seems to work well. A vacuum siphon tube with gauze over the pick-up end helps to avoid catching any fry. If you siphon into a bucket you can check to see if you have inadvertently picked up any babies and you can return them to the tank. At about three weeks they will be able to handle newly hatched Brine Shrimp and very fine powdered food. The fry grow very slowly and at one month the larger of the group will be about the size of a one week old Guppy. One last piece of advice; keep the tank covered at all times and leave an air space of two or three inches so that when they start to develop their labyrinth organ and go to the surface the air above the water will be as warm as the water. That s it. They are a great fish and you should give them a try. **Good luck.**

7 New Hampshire Aquarium Society OFFICERS President...Robert Tyrrell Vice-President...Keith Richardson Secretary...Don Van Pelt Treasurer... Jennifer Richardson Immediate Past President...Chuck Smith DIRECTORS AT LARGE Martha Bonney Cameron Dudley Larry Feltz Anita Weidknecht Raffle Chairperson...Jennifer Richardson Editor...Denise Brown Bowl Show Chairperson...Martha Bonney Breeder s Award Chairperson...Larry Feltz Horticultural Award Chairman...Chuck Smith Aquarist Points Chairperson...Open Program Coordinator...Chuck Smith Librarian...Anita Weidknecht Refreshments...Robert Tyrrell Photo Show Chairperson...Keith Richardson New Hampshire Aquarium Society is a non-profit organization comprised of local aquarists. It meets on the nd Wednesday of each month, except July and August. The Granite-Fisher is the official publication of the New Hampshire Aquarium Society and is published monthly except July and August. Opinions and views are those of the authors and don t necessarily reflect the views of the New Hampshire Aquarium Society. Unless otherwise indicated, articles may be reprinted by other not for profit organizations as long as credit is given to the author, the New Hampshire Aquarium Society and the The Granite-Fisher. Two copies of the issue containing the reprint must be sent to New Hampshire Aquarium Society, PO Box 3, Rollinsford, NH 3869, one copy marked Author s Copy. The Bill Janetos Editors Award The Editor is soliciting original entries from NHAS members to be published in the Granite-Fisher. Any drawing, poem, cartoon, puzzle and article will receive an entry in the drawing at the November general meeting 16. (YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO AMAZONIA MAGAZINE) Bring a friend to our next meeting and get an Aquarist point for a first time guest. Find out more about Aquarist points and the year end prize! See you at the NHAS meeting. MEMBER APPLICATION Date: Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: What is your main interest in the hobby? What fish do you keep, if any? [ ] New [ ] Renewal [ ] Family [ ] Individual [ ] Subscription Only How did you hear about the club? Dues are $15. per year for an Individual or $. per year for a Family, and includes a one year subscription to the Granite Fisher. Subscription only is $1. per year. Please make checks payable to: New Hampshire Aquarium Society P.O. Box 3 Rollinsford, NH 3869 Visit us at or