Our cover photo this month is from George Welker, one of our GCAS Facebook Fishy Friends. Beautiful photo, George!
President Warren Feuer
Vice-President Edward Vukich
Treasurer Leonard Ramroop
Corresponding Secretary Open
Secretary Open
President Emeritus Joseph Ferdenzi
by Dan Radebaugh
You will probably recall that at our meeting last month, GCAS member and frequent Modern Aquarium contributor Tom Warns collected opinions from our members for a survey that asked a number of simple questions concerning the fish-keeping habits of the members of the Greater City Aquarium Society.
Well, to see the results of that survey, just turn to page 20 in this issue! Maybe you�ll be surprised, and maybe you won�t! Check it out!
On page 7 of this issue, Jules Birnbaum gives us some “Tips From A Fishroom.ˮ I for one am always on the lookout for things that I might not have already thought of, and this article does not disappoint!
Following this month�s “Fishes On The Web,ˮ Steve Sica tells us about “Fishes In
The Ocean!ˮ How�s that for a segue?! Our exchange article this month is by Clifford Crain, of the March 2025 issue of the Central New York Aquarium Society�s The Reflector, and is titled “In Defense of Frozen Bloodworms.ˮ
Marsha Radebaugh�s series of Greater City member profiles continues, this month featuring Donna Ansari! Donna is a newish member of Greater City, and has certainly been a welcome force on our editorial staff. Thanks, Donna, for all that you do!
Our MA Classics this month is an oldie but goodie Joseph Ferdenzi�s “The Secret of the ‛Underwater Mystery� Clock.ˮ
Definitely a worthwhile read!
Steve Sica steps up with a second article in this issue (Way to go, Steve!), this one titled “The Molly Did it!ˮ
The Modern Aquarium cartoon caption contest returns in this issue! See Denver Lettman�s newest cartoon on page 19! Meanwhile, photos from our July meeting can be found on page 22! Meanwhile, our Fishy Friends Photos can be found on on page 26, the Undergravel Reporer follows on page 27, and this issue closes as usual with Joseph Ferdenzi�s “From The Pages of Yesteryear, ˮ on page 28!
Happy Reading!
March 5
April 2
May 7
June 4
July 2
August 6
September 3
October 8
November 5
December 3
Breeder Boxes
Natural Aquariums, Part 1
Natural Aquariums, Part 2
Guppies
The Balanced Aquarium
Night At The Auction
The Blue Gularis
Cichlids with Livebearers
TBD
Holiday Awards Dinner!
Articles submitted for consideration in Modern Aquarium (ISSN 2150-0940) must be received no later than the 10th day of the month prior to the month of publication. Please email submissions to gcas@ earthlink.net, or fax to (347) 379-4984. Copyright 2025 by the Greater City Aquarium Society Inc., a not-for-profit New York State corporation. All rights reserved. Not-for-profit aquarium societies are hereby granted permission to reproduce articles and illustrations from this publication, unless the article indicates that the copyrights have been retained by the author, and provided reprints indicate source, and that two copies of the publication are sent to the Exchange Editor of this magazine (one copy if sent electronically). For online-only publications, copies may be sent via email to gcas@ earthlink.net. Any other reproduction or commercial use of the material in this publication is prohibited without prior express written permission.
The Greater City Aquarium Society meets every month except January and February. Members receive notice of meetings in the mail or by email. For more information, contact: Dan Radebaugh at (718) 458-8437, email to gcas@earthlink.net, or fax to (347) 379-4984. For more information about our club or to see previous issues of Modern Aquarium, you can also go to our Internet Home Page at http:// www.greatercity.net, http://www.greatercity.org, or http://www.greatercity.com.
by Warren Feuer
Do you believe everything you see or hear? In my years of keeping fish, I�ve heard and read lots of “truthsˮ and “factsˮ about fish. Here are some of my favorites and what, if any degree of credibility they hold:
• Doing a water change involves removing all the water from the tank and refilling it Well, yes, some folks do perform massive water changes.The then editorin chief of Tropical Fish Hobbyist, David Boruchowitz, speaking at Greater City, stated that he did a complete water change on a daily basis for his 75-gallon Oscar tank. I don�t know about you, but I have neither the time nor the in doing this. Though David said that the fish were very happy during this process, I can�t imagine my fish acting the same. And change 75 gallons a day? No thanks. I guess if you think about it, doing a complete water change won�t hurt your fish, but it�s hardly necessary if you follow a reasonable maintenance protocol.
• Catfish are bottom dwelling fish that are good for tank clean up and eat fish poop. Oh really! Please don’t tell our resident catfish guru, Mark Soberman this First off, considering cories as the sole representative of the fantastic variety of catfish will immediately qualify someone as having no knowledge of catfish. I myself am an enthusiastic catfish lover, and I can tell you that there are so many fantastic catfish that it would not be possible to keep all of them. Catfish are a family of varied and fascinating creatures, and so many of them are beautiful beyond description. Finally, they do not eat “fish poop.” It’s the aquarist’s job to take care of removal of detritus as part of maintenance, and to be sure the nutritional needs of any catfish you keep are identified and attended to.
• “Plecos” eat algae Well, at least they aren’t accused of eating fish poop! The fact is there are so many fish that have been grouped into the term pleco, and they have diets as varied as ours. Almost all are omnivorous or strictly carnivorous. While like most fish, they are opportunity feeders, in order for them to survive in our tanks we need to feed them correctly. With the incredible explosion of loricariids (their proper classification) has come an equally large number of targeted foods for them. By the way, “pleco” is a term applied to them for sales purposes. The Royal Pleco and the Zebra pleco have significantly different needs. Many years ago, a store I went into had a “Blue Eyed Pleco” that was slowly wasting away. When I asked the owner what the fish was being fed, the response I got was algae covered pieces of glass were being put into the tank for the fish. I told him that the Blue Eyed Pleco did not eat algae and needed a different diet, more protein and animal matter based. Fortunately, he was able to get the fish eating before it was too late, and the fish was brought back to health. This store was one of many in a pet store chain, which will remain unnamed, that is now out of business. With misinformation like that it’s no wonder the chain suffered from tremendous aquatic livestock losses.
• Fish are boring Sure, it’s great to watch them swim back and forth and think that’s all they do. I have a 125-gallon Lake Malawi Mbuna tank, and I can tell you that watching what goes on in that tank is far from boring! I was recently gifted with what is thought to be a pair of Pearl Gouramis, and I’m hoping that’s true, and that they breed. Imagine them building a bubble nest under the half Styrofoam cup I put in the tank and watching the care they take of the eggs. Certainly not boring. I would bet that every one of you who is reading this has had an experience with their fish that debunks this “fact.”
• Fish have no personalities Wow, who started this one? I’ve had many fish with unique, singular personalities. Some examples a Synodontis angelicus that I hand fed and would come out of the ceramic tube it lived in whenever I put my hand in the tank. The fish would also rub up against my hand and run its body along my fingers. When a cat does the same thing, does anyone think there is no personality involved? The above mentioned mbunas follow me as move around their tank. Yes, I know they are expecting and looking for food to fall into the tank, but watching them makes me think that there’s more than just instinct at play. At least that’s what I tell myself.
There are many, many more of these “truths” out there. The point is, most of them are not true, and none of them should keep you from a new aquarium experience. With all the information available, it’s your responsibility to find the facts and not let hearsay stop you and, don’t be afraid to question what you hear/read. Probably pretty good advice for life itself.
I have had the pleasure and honor of being friends with Jason Kerner pretty much since I started keeping fish back in the late ‘80’s. I first met Jason at the Brooklyn Aquarium Society, and a short time later Jason became a member of GCAS and has become a tremendous asset and a good friend. When the Art Director resigned from the Modern Aquarium staff, Jason stepped in and has done a fantastic job in that capacity. He integrated seamlessly with the entire staff of the magazine, and as the Editor, allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. Through the years Jason has contributed to the creation of many of the Greater City tee shirts. Most recently Jason is
playing a major role in the success of our speakers’ presentations, turning pictures into great slide shows at our meetings. Jason also plays “Wizard of Oz,” running each presentation slide show from the back of the meeting room during our meetings at the Alley Pond Environmental Center. If that’s not enough, Jason also acts as our liaison with the Environmental Center, keeping them apprised of what’s going on at our end, and notifying us of any changes at the Center’s end. Jason has developed a great relationship with the folks there, which can only be a good thing. Not only does Jason come early to each month’s meeting to make sure the “technical” set up is working, but he also schleps ice and water bottles as well! I’m sure I’ve left out lots of other things Jason does or has done for us, but you get the point; he’s a tremendous asset and we are lucky to have him. On a personal note, Jason’s a great friend of mine, and although I consider myself fairly technically capable, Jason is my go-to when I have an issue or a question. He keeps himself up to date on all the technical minutiae and always seems to have the answer to my questions. He even survived two separate visits to my late mother’s apartment to fix her computer, saving me tremendous grief. Just for that I’m in debt to him forever.
Thanks, Jason for everything you do!
Warren
Story and Photo by Jules Birnbaum
Those using sponge and/or box filters and are not cleaning them regularly are causing your air pump and filters to work less efficiently. I just rinsed all of my 30 sponge filters by gently squeezing them in our slop sink. I use both aged and sink water to rinse them. In every case, filters that were squeezed out had black mud in them, which only expelled after several rinses. I remove and replace the floss in my box filters, and in every case the floss was also black with mud! After this cleaning process my central air pump seems to run more efficiently, but the filters both run a little less efficiently. This maintenance also resulted in better water quality.
I feed my shell-dwellers, N. Brichardi and various other fry, by putting very fine golden pearl fry powdered fish food in a small container, adding water and feeding using a turkey baster. This gets the food to where the fry usually hang out. I do the same with live brine shrimp. It is important to give fry a good head start.
I found that the air flow to my sponge and box filters running at a moderately slow speed worked better. This slower flow allows the filter to trap more of the small particles for notifying bacteria which are working to eliminate ammonia and nitrites from the water. I use two polishing filters from Marineland to get rid of mulm in all my tanks rather than syphoning the mulm out.
Air valves, after years of use, tend to clog, which is why I clean or replace my central air pump filter pad every year. However, if I notice air flow slowing down to one of my sponge or box filters, I remove the air line from the valve, open it all the way and stick something thin deep into the valve. This usually clears the valve of any blockage. Valves in my manifolds are fairly easy to replace if I wanted to go that route.
About a year or two ago I replaced my old LED lights with new LEDs with simpler, built-in timers. The timers on my old LEDs were hard for me to program. This upgrade lowered our energy costs and makes for less maintenance for me.
Last year I replaced all my sponge filters with new ones containing simple lift tubes that make for easy maintenance. Plastic air lines tend to get hard over time when in water. This makes it difficult to disconnect and reconnect the air lines when cleaning sponges. My high quality sponge filters come from Angels Plus. The AngelsPlus sponge filters use just a hole in the lift tube for the air hose. It has made filter maintenance very easy.
I have a heat pump for heat, to remove humidity and, in a hot summer, air condition the room. It keeps the room at a steady 78 degrees. I have this unit serviced once a year and it has been going strong for 17 years. Those of you with basements do not need this but our house is built without a basement.
If a fish room is above ground, such as a converted garage, I would consider looking into a heat pump.
Greater City members with fish rooms, or are thinking of starting one large or small, should stay in touch with JEHMCO, the fish room supply house. They have been my source for equipment, parts and technical help from my fish room’s very beginning, some 17 years ago!
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease
Overeating and starving both damage the liver: Cavefish provide new insight into fatty liver disease.
Stowers scientists' collaboration reveals a genetic basis for starvation-induced fatty liver with a potential therapeutic avenue.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240318142242.htm
Story and Photos by Stephen Sica
Afew issues back in Modern Aquarium, I noticed a new feature entitled “Fishes On The Web,” hence my title. It consists of a pretty picture or photo, a brief explanation of the picture and a website where you can conduct further research, if you choose. All of this occupies about one-half page in the magazine. I enjoy brief articles so I find this feature-type news article a good way to introduce additional thoughts or topics using only a few words. It allows a person to decide how far he or she desires to delve into the topic.
The eel family consists of
and snake
This is how divers usually see eels. A Purplemouth moray, Gymnothorax vivinus, pokes its head from its home. They appear ferocious but prefer the safety of a crevice. I have never seen more than a dozen or so freeswimming eels.
The June 2025 issue of Modern Aquarium has a lovely picture of the Hades snake moray from Central IndoPacific waters. This eel has adapted itself to many ocean conditions, especially muddy river mouths. This brief article reminded me of an experience several years ago while diving the Caribbean island of Grenada, where I had first-hand experience with a snake eel. Some moray eels burrow for protection or to ambush prey but your “typical” moray just likes to curl up in a small cave or crevice where it pokes out its head in a menacing manner while opening and closing its mouth to breathe. Flashing those sharp needle teeth while breathing is intimidating for some closeup onlookers. I saw a Grand Cayman divemaster hand feed a green moray that mistook his fingers for the delicious squid that those same fingers held. The wound was fairly deep. When someone bleeds
The Spotted snake eel is rare in the waters of Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean. Local divers may know where to look for these eels, but if you are a touring diver, you may never have a second sighting. Not only do they burrow but aSnake eel can move about beneath the sand.
underwater, I always feel that the sharks smell the blood and will come to feed. If you are there, don’t forget to look behind you for those sneaky critters!
Finding a burrowing eel is a real treat, but it’s difficult to explain. You have to be looking in the right place at the right time, or better yet have a local divemaster who knows where to look for you! The area requires a soft sandy bottom. Some eels will dive down into the sand and some will wriggle up through the sand. If you have a good moon-lit night to dive,
you may be in for good luck. The moon’s soft illumination brings out many animals to feed, so there’s a very good chance you may see free swimming morays or other eels amidst the corals and sandy seafloor.
But whatever the time, I suggest that you anticipate an eel bursting up through the sand. This is a surprise and a real treat! If it bounds up, remember to duck, or you may get sand in your eyes! The salt water is bad enough.
by Clifford H. Crain, Jr.
Ihave come across several people on Facebook and YouTube stating that aquarists should not feed their fish frozen bloodworms (FBW). (See, for example, the youtuber identified as “The Aquarium Project NZ.”) Since my fish, large and small, young and old, chow down on FBW with the greatest gusto, I decided to investigate further to see if there was any merit in what these internet experts were saying.
Although I’ve written about it in previous articles, let me preface this by stating once again that FBW can cause an allergic reaction. I speak from experience, as I suffered a severe reaction that scared the you-know-what out of me. Burning up, covered with rash and suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue, I crawled into bed and felt normal, if exhausted, only after a rest of eight hours. I still feed FBW, but now I always wear an arm’s length heavy glove on my right hand, a standard latex glove on my left hand, a face mask and goggles.
OK, that out of the way, what are the objections to feeding FBW to your fish? I found four on the internet:
1. FBW contains parasites, bacteria or other undesirable organisms
2. FBW are coated by an indigestible “skin”
3. FBW are not nutritious
4. Frozen brine shrimp and frozen mysis shrimp are much more nutritious
Let’s dispose of the parasite objection. I don’t see how an animal such as a parasite would be able to survive the freezing process. Perhaps bacteria could, and none other than Rosario LaCorte, one of the most famous aquarists in America, discovered that FBW from China caused his fish to bloat and die. When he stopped using these bloodworms, the deaths stopped. I believe that the processing of FBW has improved since the days Rosario used them. The package containing Hikari FBW is labeled “Product of Indonesia,” and states the contents are “highly purified” and “free from harmful parasites, unwanted bacteria & foul odor.” I have no reason to doubt that Hikari is ensuring that its FBW will not cause your fish to die. FBW have never caused bloat in my fish.
As far as the claim that FBW are coated by an indigestible “skin,” I don’t know how to test this claim, but some very nutritious foods, such as daphnia, contain indigestible material.
The claim that FBW are not nutritious is false. It seems that what everyone is defining as “nutrition” is the protein content. Protein is of course extremely important in food, but it’s not the only important ingredient. In fact, fish that have evolved to consume a vegetable diet can actually die from eating foods containing too much protein. For the sake of
argument, I’ll assume that the protein content is the defining characteristic of “nutritious.”
I compared the protein in FBW to three very high quality pellet foods. But wait, the haters say, look at the nutrition label on a Hikari FBW package. It says protein is a minimum of only 3.5% and moisture is a maximum of 95%. Protein in a quality pellet food averages about 40%. Because FBW by nature contains a lot of frozen water that melts away and is not consumed, a realistic comparison of the protein percentage stated on the labels is not valid. Freezedried bloodworms are 53% protein. There’s no reason to think that, bloodworm to bloodworm, FBW have less protein than freeze-dried bloodworms.
An advantage that frozen fish foods have over pellet foods is the lack of added ingredients that are not found in nature. FBW is just bloodworms plus a small amount of added vitamins. Even the best pellet foods have some grain in their composition. Grain performs the function of a binder, holding the pellet together, but has no nutritional value to a fish.
Finally, the claim that FBW is greatly inferior to frozen brine shrimp and frozen mysis shrimp is just wrong. The chart below shows that FBW has only slightly less protein than the other frozen fish foods.
My conclusion? For my fish that don’t require a vegetable diet, I will continue to feed high quality flake and pellets twice daily and frozen foods once daily. I rotate the frozen foods as follows: FBW followed the next day by spirulina brine shrimp, followed by mysis shrimp, followed by brine shrimp, and then start the cycle over. BTW, the food my fish consider their favorite non-live food, no contest, is FBW! Food
Hikari frozen bloodworms 3.5% 95%
bloodworms
Cichlid Formula pellets
10%
9% Xtreme Cichlid Peewee pellets
12%
New Life Spectrum Cichlid pellets 37.0% 10%
Hikari frozen brine shrimp 4.0% 92%
Hikari frozen spirulina brine shrimp 4.0% 95%
Hikari frozen mysis shrimp 4.2% 97% This article originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of
by Marsha Radebaugh
In its 100+ years of existence, Greater City Aquarium Society has had a membership of thousands. Each month, with the exception of those during the Pandemic, our meetings have an average of 40 – 60 members and visitors in attendance. We all know who the “stars” are, the officers, presenters, regular runners, etc. are individuals well known to the rest of us. There are those, however, who quietly and consistently attend most if not all meetings. We sit beside each other, sometimes chatting, sometimes not, without any idea who our neighbors are outside of this room. Well, I think it’s time we found out. As Membership Chair, I have the opportunity to meet and greet each of you, checking you in and handing you your Modern Aquarium issue, your door prize ticket and collecting dues. I know who you are! But do you? So, going forward, as often as I can, I’m going to select a loyal member and introduce him or her to the rest of you in this column.
Donna is a long-time Forest Hills, Queens resident, who lives with her spouse of 20 years, two children (14 and 11), one dog, one cat, and about a dozen fish. Although that last bit changes almost monthly, as she continues to buy fish at auctions. Donna is me, and I’ll now stop writing about myself in the third person.
I’ve been employed as an editor in some capacity since graduating from college. My first few jobs were for medical journals, but I’ve since transitioned to working in pharmaceuticals. Still, a part of me always longed to go back into journals, and being a proofreader for Modern Aquarium helps to scratch that itch. When I walked into my first Greater City Aquarium Society (GCAS) meeting, I immediately introduced myself to Dan and Marsha and asked to be involved. And
I’m so glad I did! Proofreading and fact-checking all the informative articles in this magazine has definitely helped me to learn more about our hobby. And of course the meetings, apart from being a great place to get new fish, plants, and supplies for a bargain, are also a fantastic place to meet like-minded people who have a wealth of fish-keeping knowledge.
Although I have always been interested in the aquarium hobby, I restrained myself from indulging in it due to living in an apartment with little space. In 2012, when my partner and I moved out of an apartment and into our house, I got my first fish tank. It was a 20-gallon tank kit I bought at Petco. The fish I kept in it were also bought from Petco, 24 hours after setting up the tank. There were 10 Zebra Danios, 10 Cardinal Tetras, and 10 Black Skirt Tetras. I remember this specifically because I am scarred from that experience and may never get any of those fish again. Most of them died pretty quickly. A few hung on and I managed to keep the tank going while I was pregnant with my second son Nadim (who often attends meetings). After he was born, I realized I could no longer keep up the tank and gave it (and the remaining fish) to my older son’s teacher for their class.
Sometime in 2023, I started having dreams of fish tanks. No, I’m not speaking in metaphors. I began to have dreams, at least once a week, of walking through my house and seeing many beautiful fish tanks. I’ve always been one to follow my dreams, so I decided to try fishkeeping again, but start slowly this time. Instead of quickly going to Petco, I started with research. One of the first books I bought and absolutely poured over (notes in margins, underlines, highlights) was Sunken Gardens by Karen A. Randall. I was determined that my tanks would not have colorful gravel or plastic castles, but look like windows into natural, underwater worlds.
Still nervous about killing fish with my own ignorance of their care, I took a very long time choosing and purchasing a 5-gallon tank. I didn’t intend to ever add fish to it, just practice aquascaping and plant care. Eventually, I did add some red cherry shrimp, and to my surprise, they not only survived, but thrived! This was the push I needed to finally get back into fishkeeping. And the first thing, before purchasing a single fish, was to join the GCAS! Today, the aforementioned 5-gallon tank has been taken over by a beautiful female halfmoon betta, which I obtained at a GCAS meeting in May 2024, and I have another 10-gallon tank filled with other fish, all obtained at GCAS meetings.
Other than fish, some of my hobbies include walking my dog Ziggy in Forest Park, making art (watercolor and acrylics are my main media of choice), and traveling as much as possible. My repeated dreams of fish tanks have finally left me, replaced by a few real fish tanks that are just as beautiful. Hopefully, I’ll add to them in the coming years!
Story and Photos by Stephen Sica
My article entitled “My (Non) Black Mollies” was published in Modern Aquarium in late 2024. I had originally purchased gold and silver/ white fish which soon began reproducing either two or four offspring every few weeks. I noted in my article that after several months of reproducing similar colored fish I would like to try to breed offspring that were a different color than their parents. I purchased a black speckled male in the now closed Pets Warehouse in Carle Place. My original primary female breeder was showing wear and tear on her body and beginning to show her age so I wanted to attempt to breed a black or blackish molly while the female was still active.
I have no patience or skill at breeding fish unless they can breed themselves. My primary focus has always been to extend the lifespan of fish that I am privileged to have in my care. I like fish but I don’t attempt to breed them because it is usually beyond my ability. If a source states that the lifespan of a specific fish is two to five years, mine usually live two years. If I know a fish’s precise age because it was born in captivity, it usually lives on the lower side of its probable lifespan. If I purchase an adult fish, I might be able to brag that I kept it alive above and beyond.
other around the tank. A new generation was taking over the tank that formerly held about seven pet store purchases. Earlier generation fish born in the tank were now adults.
A few weeks after introducing the speckled male, another ten or more tiny twotone babies appeared. This is the most that were ever born at the same time. It made me conjecture if two or more fish had given birth. With so many babies, I decided to try to photograph them but unless the fish were sleeping with the lights out, as soon as they saw me in the vicinity of their small home, they frantically begin swimming all around wanting to be fed. Most of my attempts to take a decent photograph were unsuccessful.
Based upon my meager qualifications, I introduced my new speckled male into the fifteen gallon molly tank, and hopefully, awaited the outcome of his endeavors.
It took a few weeks but I soon observed about six “two-tone” molly fry. They were mostly speckled black with some gold coloring. One or two had a dull white or perhaps silvery shading. After another month or two six more appeared. As both groups matured, a few began chasing each
Fruitless photo attempts always remind me of diving the seas around the island of Cozumel in Mexico. These waters contain some of the biggest and best angelfish and groupers with the ocean running two or three knots. Trying to hold steady to photograph them in these strong currents would leave Donna and myself exhausted and with a low air supply. The last time we were in Cozumel, we floated away from the other four divers in our group. Fortunately, our divemaster and dive guide “rescued” us. I was low on air so he sent us to the surface where we bobbed around in the waves in the middle of nowhere waiting for the dive boat to find and pick us up. The waiting always makes Donna uneasy. “How are they going to see us when we go down with the wave?” This is the reason why I never watched those divers lost at sea movies! Fortunately, we’ve always been found. I always tell Donna that they have to pick up the other divers too and we have to wait our turn. The boat operators do this every day. They find all the divers.
Some divers carry a sausage, that is, an orange or yellow, three to four foot inflatable tube. You blow it up and hold it up to help the boat spot you. Experienced boats know the local weather and currents and know where to find you but sometimes you float up and down for ten minutes or more getting a little extra anxious as the time slowly drifts by. But as usual, I always seem to digress as I run out of relevant thoughts or opinions. As Gregor Mendel, the “father of genetics” might say to me, “Focus.” Sometimes, it’s difficult to focus. I often find it difficult to think straight.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I enjoy watching my mollies mate into various color combinations. Since I was a child, I have had mollies only once with a female giving birth to a few tiny all black babies that were eaten by kuhli loaches. With so many hybrids and color combinations in many pet stores, you can nearly design yourself a custom fish. Better yet, let nature do the work.
The wonder of mollies and other livebearing fish is that it takes minor effort to breed remarkable animals. Beauty is truly a fish.
Modern Aquarium has featured cartoons before, and like we did the last time, you, the members of Greater City, get to choose the caption! Just think of a good caption, then mail, email, or phone the Editor with your caption (phone: 347-866-1107, fax: 877-299-0522, email: gcas@earthlink.net. Your caption needs to reach the Editor by the third Wednesday of this month. We'll also hand out copies of this page at the meeting, which you can turn in to Marsha R. before leaving. Winning captions will earn ten points in our Author Awards program, qualifying you for participation in our special ”Authors Only” raffle at our Holiday Party and Banquet. Put on your thinking caps!
Your Caption:
Your Name:
by Thomas Warns
At our July meeting I circulated an eightquestion survey which asked a number of simple questions concerning the fish-keeping habits of the members of the Greater City Aquarium Society. I sincerely appreciate and thank the forty members who provided a response. I was motivated to do this because I am always thinking about data. What conclusions can we draw from the data we have? Based on the fish that appear at each auction, what can I deduce about the fish people are keeping at home? About their ability to breed those fish? From the price of each fish, what can I understand about that fish’s desirability? About its scarcity?
types of fish, and one lonely member keeps saltwater fish only. You’re still welcome in the club!
The second question asked members how many tanks they kept. Precisely zero people answered 0 or 1 tank only. The results were actually quite close amongst the other ranges provided, though what stood out is that a quarter of the respondents keep 21 or more tanks.
Question three asked what kinds of tanks each member keeps (multiple answers were permitted). The results showed the depth of our group’s experience—while Tropical Community tank was the most popular response
Rather than make deductions from the limited information at your disposal, you can always ask people to provide you with certain information directly. While I can’t guarantee that this survey data constitutes a statistically significant sample of club members, or that the questions were without any confusion (more on that below), surely you will find something interesting in the data—hopefully more than you knew previously. Without further ado, here are the results.
The first question asked members whether they kept freshwater fish, saltwater fish, or both. A whopping 36 members—or 90%— responded that they only kept freshwater fish. Three members responded that they kept both
with 32 affirmative answers, there were 15 different types of tanks listed (including one person with a Newt tank). Other popular tanks included cichlids (19 people), shrimp tanks (10 people), and Betta tanks (9 people). Keep that in mind when considering which fish to bring to the auction!
The fourth question asked members what size tanks they keep. Once again the responses were varied, though the most common size was in the 21-60 gallon range. One person even responded that they keep a 225-gallon tank. Hopefully you have strong floors!
Question five asked members when they most recently bred fish. The results surprised me: while the most common answers were
“within the last week” (15 responses) and “within the last month” (ten responses), the third most common answer was “never,” with nine responses. What is holding these people back? Perhaps we need more articles about breeding fish, starting with the easy ones. Maybe people need more java ferns and spawning mops to buy at the next auction.
Questions 6 and 7 were both related to plants, and it is obvious that live plants are popular. 36 people—90% of the club—keeps live plants, and just 4 people (or 10% of the club) do not. On the flip side, just two people (and I am one of them) inject CO2 into their planted tank. That’s just 5.5% of people that
survey! Or maybe I just talked myself into writing an article about setting up a planted tank with CO2 injection. Finally, the survey asked where people “primarily” acquire new fish. While I intended for this question to receive one answer from each respondent, many people provided several answers (meaning it was a bad question, and not one or two people who failed to comprehend the question). The results were illuminating in my opinion because of how unpopular it was to buy fish online (the only thing people don’t like to buy online, apparently).
keep live plants! It would be interesting to know the reasons why so many people do not inject CO2—does it seem too complicated, too dangerous, too expensive, some combination of all three, or is there some entirely different reason? Perhaps this calls for a follow-up
So there you have it! Hopefully this will be helpful to other members who are thinking about whether to breed another fish for the auction, or to write an article on a topic that appears to interest our members. Information is power!
Photos by Marsha Radebaugh
A warm welcome back to renewing GCAS members Artie Mayer and Ken Ip!
July’s Bowl Show Winners:
1st Place Joe Ferdenzi - Harlequin Rasbora
2nd PlaceHarry Faustmann - Gourami
3rd Place Richie Waizmann - Betta splendens
Unofficial 2025 Bowl Show totals to date:
John Buzzetti 5 Mark Soberman 5 Harry Faustmann 9 Joseph Ferdenzi 9 Richie Waizmann 17
Here are some aquarium societies in the Metropolitan New York area:
GREATER CITY AQUARIUM SOCIETY
Next Meeting: September 3, 2025
Speaker Subject: The Blue Gularis
GCAS Usually Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm, at the Alley Pond Environmental Center 22465 76th Ave, Oakland Gardens, NY 11364
Contact: Joseph Ferdenzi (516) 484-0944
E-mail: GCAS@Earthlink.net
Website: http://www.greatercity.net
BROOKLYN AQUARIUM SOCIETY
Meets the 2nd Friday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30pm: New York Aquarium - Education Hall, Brooklyn, NY 11229
Call: BAS Events Hotline: (718) 837-4455
Website: http://www.brooklynaquariumsociety.org
LONG ISLAND AQUARIUM SOCIETY
Meets: 2nd Fridays (except July and August) 8:00pm. Meetings are held at AMVETS Post 48, 660 Hawkins Avenue, Ronkoncoma, NY 11779
Website: https://ncasweb.thechinesequest.com/
NASSAU COUNTY AQUARIUM SOCIETY
Meets: 2nd Tuesday of the month (except July and August) at 7:30 PM. Meetings are held at: Molloy Univerrsity - 1000 Hempstead Ave, Rockville Center, NY, Barbara H. Hagan Center for Nursing, Room 239
Contact: Mike Foran (516) 798-6766
Website: https://www.nassaucountyaquariumsociety.org/
by Greater City Aquarium Society Fishy Friends
Below are photo submissions to our “Fishy Friends” Facebook group. I’ve left the subjects unnamed, but not the photographer. If you see a shot you like, and want more info, ask the photographer about it! I’m sure he or she will be delighted to tell you!
While border security is a major topic of conversation today, many people may not know of the work done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at our nation�s borders to monitor imports of live plants and animals.
Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seized a shipment of 200 corals at John F. Kennedy Airport. The corals were smuggled into the country from Indonesia in violation of both an international treaty designed to protect at-risk species as well as the federal Endangered Species Act. The government stated that these 200 corals were likely headed for a pet store before they were seized.
Corals are making up an increasing share of illegal animal seizures, as traffickers from Australia and other locations in Southeast Asia
extract vulnerable wild corals for export to the U.S. In 2023, Moody’s Analytics estimated that illegal wildlife trafficking was valued at $7 billion to as much as $23 billion per year, making it potentially the third most lucrative illegal trade on the planet, behind only the trades in illegal drugs and in counterfeit goods.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is no stranger to cracking down on illegal coral smuggling. The agency ran a multiyear undercover operation to crack down on smuggling of hard corals from Southeast Asia that culminated in two guilty pleas in 2022. That investigation uncovered a network of traffickers bringing corals from Vietnam to California in violation of federal law, and concealing their activity by submitting false records to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As for the corals seized at JFK, they were ultimately turned over to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium. After a week in transit and then sitting at JFK, approximately 30 of the corals had died. WCS staff are hard at work nursing the remaining corals back to good health at the New York Aquarium, however. The corals, many of which looked like small colorful baseballs, continue to improve under WCS care, and perhaps will be on display soon.
