splash - milwaukee aquarium societymil · pdf filefrom the fish room of the president ... as i...

SPLASHAUGUST 2012

Milwaukee Aquarium SocietySociety Officers:

President: Austin Braganza (414)447-5693

Vice President: Dave Miller (262)676-1616

Treasurer: Jerry Michels

(414)353-5370

Secretary: Danielle Jirik (262)676-1616

Sgt. At Arms:

Don Hinske (262)238-1916

Board Members:

Board Chairman Rob McLure (414)349-2226

Board Member: Kevin Steers

Committee Chairpersons:

Splash Editortim.pilat@gmail.com Tim Pilat (262)853-4895

Breeders Award Program (BAP) Andy Hudson

(262)389-2456

Horticulturists Award Program (HAP) Aaron Glass (262)436-1157

Fish Store Liaison Don Hinske (262)238-1916

Librarian Dave Miller (262)676-1616

Participation Awards Program (PAP) Ken King (262)284-2684

Speaker Chair Jim Everson

On the Cover:Julidochromis ornatus, a rock-dwelling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, photo compliments of Teds Fishroom

mailto:tim.pilat@gmail.commailto:tim.pilat@gmail.com

Important Dates!M.A.S. September Board Meeting September 1

1:00 at Andy Hudsons home, (414) 389-2456

7690 South Wayland Dr., Oak Creek WI 53216

Everyone is Welcome

M.A.S. September Meeting September 21

7:30 at Hoffers Tropic Life

7323 N. 76th St. Milwaukee, WI 53223

M.A.S. October Board Meeting October 6

M.A.S. Fall Auction October 14

M.A.S. October Meeting October 19

M.A.S. Fish-O-Ramma (swap) November 4

M.A.S. November Meeting November 16

M.A.S. Christmas Party

December 9

For more information visit milwaukeeaquariumsociety.com

We will begin including a calendar of events for Species Clubs and surrounding City Clubs. Please submit your entries to tim.pilat@gmail.com.

AGA convention in November 3-5 in St. Louis.

MAAH general meetings: visit madisonaquatichobby.comWisconsin Reef Society general meetings: visit wisconsinreefsociety.com

http://www.milwaukeeaquariumsociety.comhttp://www.milwaukeeaquariumsociety.commailto:tim.pilat@gmail.commailto:tim.pilat@gmail.comhttp://www.madisonaquatichobby.com/http://www.madisonaquatichobby.com/http://www.madisonaquatichobby.com/http://www.madisonaquatichobby.com/

From the Fish Room of the President

Dear Milwaukee Aquarium Society readers this summer has been quite eventful. We have reveled in the Summer Olympics in London, watched around the world live through a multitude of devices, most notably live streaming media via the internet on hand held devices. At the Olympics swimming is one my favorite events to watch, maybe there is a fish connection there, I dont know.

I saw this line in an interview with Ryan Lochte from the USA Olympic swim team, Lochte unfazed by challenge of tackling Phelps by Julian Linden Omaha Nebraska, Thu Jul 5, 2012.

"In 2008, Michael Phelps set the limit, eight gold medals. That's amazing," Lochte said. "But he's human. He's not a fish or anything like that. He's just like all of us, and he trained really hard to get there. Well he may not be a fish, but I have seen fish swim like him.

The Mars rover landed on Mars using the nicknamed ,rover on a rope landing procedure, which could be watched via the NASA site with only 7 to 11 minute delay. The horrible incident in Colorado at the Dark Knight midnight premiere and the hateful crime at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek shocked and saddened us. Hopefully we can learn some lessons from these incidents.

We had some great warm weather then drought and finally rainfall broke the dry spell turning our lawns green once more.

As I write this article I am in sunny Las Vegas where temperatures are in excess of 100F all week long, but it is with good purpose. I am meeting my sister and brother in law from Australia and we are celebrating my 15th Las Vegas wedding anniversary since we got married in Vegas. There may be some gambling on the side.

I ponder the life cycle of my pond plants. Worth a few dollars each in the spring, my pond plants thrived, then they flowered and multiplied their numbers to their full glory that is the floating plant armada on the surface of my pond. My pond is now over grown with floating plants, which only a few months ago sprang forth from the dimunitive sprigs I was keeping alive in artificial light. They have been transformed by the suns rays into vibrant

whorls of greenish blue velvety petals. Now as Summer nears its end, they are destined to be composted into nourishment for their brethren in the garden, and such is circle of life. I heave net-fulls onto the compost pile to create open water enough for adequate oxygen exchange only to find the surface covered in a matter of days.

Often, as I read back over the past Splash articles, each article captures a little bit about the events surrounding the time of their writing, almost serving as a little snapshot in time. As time passes we understand more about fish in different parts of the world, their environments and what is takes to make them spawn. I hope that more people take the time to understand about the people and cultures in those parts, their environments as well as their hopes and dreams. We need to realize they are not so different from us, even though they may eat different foods, speak different languages or have year round tans.

Whether we realize it or not our hobby connects people and fish around the world almost like an inter twined web of life, people and fish spanning the globe, reminding me of the ending scene in the James Cameron movie Avatar. I cant wait for the next one maybe they will have extra terrestrial fish or fish like species in it.

We (MAS) have been around while so what should we be doing? Should we try to make more money or get more involved in the community?. Should we help with organizing more events to get more kids into the hobby, maybe collaborate with the zoo? Should we help teachers set up aquariums in classrooms? What is it worth to you to see the aquarium society and the hobby not just survive but thrive?

Nothing is promised in this world, so live each day to your fullest and have fun living, otherwise what is the point?

I have to ask myself and I plan to ask you, what do you see as the future of this club? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Ask yourself, what can you do to help us grow?

May your fish multiply and your plants propagate.

Austin BraganzaPresident, Milwaukee Aquarium Societyaka LIONFISH on the MAS forum

New Membersby Jerry Michels

Several new members have joined the club recently. Please join me in welcoming:

Melissa Fenninger - 32 freshwater & planted tanksTomm Renk - 3 freshwater tanks

Greet these people and ask them questions. Theyll be happy to talk and they will probably have questions as well. (I am sorry if I missed anyone. Please let me know and we will announce your name the next time.)

Speakers for 2012 M.A.S. Meetings

September: Ted Judy - vote for a topic on the ForumOctober: Michael Drawdy Farming Fancy Live Bearers in FloridaNovember: Matt Pederson - Breeding Marine Fish. December: no meetingJanuary: tbd

Note from the Editor

An article in the June 2012 edition of the SPLASH titled My Experience Keeping and Breeding P. taeniatus Moliwe was incorrectly attributed to Andy Hudson. The author is unknown. My apologies to Andy and the mystery author. This is a fine article. Would the true author advise the Editor for full and proper recognition?

And the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund In May of 2012 Aqueon and the Milwaukee Aquarium Society launched a fund raiser to raise money for the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund. This fund is used to protect the cichlids of Lake Malawi by developing and implementing Anti Netting Devices (ANDs) that are sunk underwater and prevent unlawful poaching of cichlids from national parks in Lake Malawi.

Aqueon donated a number of unmatched and discontinued aquariums and filters to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society and the items were then offered through a silent auction on the M.A.S. forum. When the all the auctions had completed the grand total collected amounted to $1465.00 which was sent to Professor Jay Stauffer at Penn State University who administers the fund along with Ad Konings.

The Milwaukee Aquarium Society and Aqueon are glad that we were able to help out this noble cause and protect the cichlids and other fish of Lake Malawi so that they may continue to thrive in their native environment and not just in our home aquaria. We look forward to continued stories of success at protecting the fish of Lake Malawi and other areas of the world where fish are threatened.

-Andy Hudson

For more information about the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund please visit:

http://www.cichlidpress.com/smgfund/index.html

Andy Hudson (left) from MAS and Aqueon informing Ad Konings at the 2012 American Cichlid Association Convention in Indianapolis about the money raised for the Stuart M. Grant Conservation fund by M.A.S. and Aqueon.

Anubias Barteri nanaPropagation Report

by Rob McLure

Anubias plants are thick leaved bunch plants that live in low water or swampy lands in western and central Africa. Because they are commonly being found in dark shaded areas they were named after Anubis, the Jackal-headed Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld. Anubias are good plants for aquariums housing plant eaters, as their thick leaves are often to hard to eat, even for cichlids and goldfish. Anubias do not require CO2 or bright light, but better growth rates have been shown when they do receive them. If they are in too much light th