The Angelfish Society



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Hello Fellow TAS Members!

We’ve had some important changes since the last issue of FinTastic. Lori Carr has taken on the job of webmaster following Wayne DesLaurier’s recent resignation from this position. Lori has been working around the clock to update all the pages that were neglected while we were unable to publish updates to the site on our former internet server.

Wayne also resigned from the Photo Contest Committee – leaving no active members on the committee. The photo contest is so much fun, and it’s something that all of us can participate in. But – a couple of good people are desperately needed to jump in and run the photo contests. This is a great opportunity for one or two of our talented members to jump in and take on a leadership role. Contact the board at tas_bod@ to find out more or to volunteer.

I want to extend a very warm welcome to all our new members. Since last issue of FinTastic, we have 36 new members. Please join me in welcoming our new members, listed below. (This list shows new members who joined during April 11 through July 14, 2006.)

To all new members, I want to direct your attention to another article in this issue of FinTastic titles “How You Can Make Things Happen in TAS” Just because you are new does not mean that you have to sit on the sidelines! Also, I hope all new (and old!) members will join us at our regular monthly meetings, usually held on the 3rd Sunday of each month, 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Welcome

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Beth Palmer

Matt Jorgensen

Marie Magee

Thomas Henninghan

Samantha Weldon

Mark Biggs

Jocelyne Casavant

Cheryl Conner

Erald Kilkenny

Charles Vasquez

John Walsh

Penny Crowley

Julianna Pizzo

Stanley Koinski

Sandi Robinson

Michael Voland

Amy Montalvo

Tony Vaughan

Charles Muise

Andrew Lyn

A.J. Istre

Scott Beck

Jerry Turner

Janice Peters

Edward Suplick

Erin Wilson

Myron Turley

Jennifer Murphy

Joseph Wilson

Jeannie Warren

Ron Richardson

Derek Ducote

Lisa Tanner

Octavio Parra

Mark Bair

Ellen Parker

Run for Office

This December, the terms for all of the officer and board member positions will expire. Do you want to be president? treasurer? on the board? Anyone has a chance at being elected. For the most part, all it requires is being thoughtful about making decisions in a way that you believe is in the best interests of TAS. Start now learning the ropes of doing these jobs, and start letting your friends know you are interested.

Get Involved in a Bigger Project

Do you have some idea that you are really interested in that you would like to take and run with? Contact the board of directors and ask to have it put on the agenda for the next members meeting. Or develop the idea a bit then submit is as a proposal. Here are some examples:

Revamp the Website - Recently, a number of people have commented that our website is a pain to navigate, and everyone hates having the log-in window pop up twice to get into the members-only section. One of our members decided to do something about it, and is actively developing a proposal for a much more user-friendly web-site. Will we adopt his proposal? Who knows – but he’s coming up with great ideas for improving the navigability, friendliness, and overall appeal of the website that will almost surely lead to improvements.

How to Get Involved and Make Things Happen in TAS

by Tamar Stephens

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Research Project - Pick an area you are interested in for which there is not a lot of information, design a study, and make it happen. You can talk this up on the official forum, and perhaps coordinate with other people so several are working on the same topic.

So how do you get started? If you want to serve on a committee, contact the committee through links on our website. Or, to volunteer for any of these many opportunities, simply contact the Board of Directors at tas_bod@.

Inside this issue

Message from 1

the President

How to make things happen in TAS 2

The Queen of

Aquarium Fish 3

The BBS Brew 4

Diatom Filter 5

Photo Corner 6

Newsletter Awards 12

Highlights in this issue:

• Message from the president

▪ Diatom filters

▪ TAS - getting involved

▪ Hatching BBS

▪ Raising angelfish

▪

Juvenile albino BN plecos available for $3 each to TAS members.

Contact Nancy Martens at semartens@wi.

Message from the President

by Tamar Stephens- TAS President

August 2006

Issue 14

FinTAStic [pic]

The Angelfish Society Newsletter

Do you have to be a seasoned member of TAS before you are “allowed” to participate? Do you need to be an expert with angelfish? Absolutely not!

When I first joined TAS, I didn’t have any idea how to participate, or whether I was even welcome to. After all, I was just a small scale hobby breeder, and didn’t have much to offer compared to the vast knowledge and experience of some of the founding members.

At first I was content to just be a member – kind of like joining the National Geographic Society. My dues went for a good cause, and I hoped to learn all kinds of wonderful things about angelfish. Maybe that is how some of you feel.

Now that I have been a member for a few years, have served as vice president and president, and have worked on various committees I have a much better idea how things work. Some of our most enthusiastic committee members are people who as new members just plain jumped in when they saw a need.

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One of our big challenges is that we are scattered all over the globe, and are working with people we might never actually see face-to-face. But this organization belongs to all of us, and we all make it what it is. In this day and age most of us are getting quite skilful at communicating and working on-line, instead of face-to-face.

So – if you want to get involved, here are four ways you can get involved:

1. Committee work

2. Freelance contributions

3. Run for office

4. Get involved in a bigger project

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diatom filter from page 5

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. Once a pair starts to spawn they should spawn every eight to fourteen days if you remove the eggs.

A day or so before the angel fish spawn they will start to look for and clean off a spawning site. Soon after this the female will start to show her ovipositor. Just before they start to actually spawn the female will take a few test runs over the spawning site. Then the spawning begins. They will almost always spawn in the afternoon if you turn your fish tank lights off at night (if you are like me and don’t they will spawn at any time). The pair should finish spawning in a couple of hours. Once they have finished spawning the most challenging part is getting the fry to survive the first three weeks.

There are two different ways to hatch the eggs. The first and more favorable method (and the one that should be used the first five times a pair spawns, if they are in a tank by themselves) is to leave the eggs with the parents and let nature take another location which they have prepared soon after the fry hatch. The fry are attached to the spawning site and where ever their parents put them for about 5 days by a very sticky thread that is attached to their head.

continued on page 7

The pair may move the fry several more times before they become free swimming about 5 days after they hatch. The pair will usually move them to another location which they have prepared soon after the fry hatch. The fry are attached to the spawning site and where ever their parents put them for about 4 days by a very sticky thread that is attached to their head. You should start providing baby brine shrimp or finely powdered fry about 4 days after the fry hatch. When the fry have been free swimming for 2 weeks they should be removed so the pair can spawn again.

The other method and one used by commercial hatcheries and when a pair just won’t raise their fry (this is the method I use) Hopefully the pair will lay their eggs on something you will be able to remove from the tank ( the side of the tank is pretty hard to remove). Once the pair has finished spawning the eggs should be removed and placed in a 1 to 5 gallon tank filled with water from the tank in which the eggs were laid. Once the eggs are in the tank, a light stream of air supplied by a air pump should be placed near but not over the eggs.

Angelfish are very susceptible to hole in the head and other problems when they have poor water quality. You should replace 25% of their water at least once weekly.

Angelfish should definitely be well fed a varied diet. While staple flake food can make up the bulk of their diet. But they should be fed frozen, live, or freeze dried food every other day. I feed my angelfish 80% frozen fish and they do very well on it. They should be fed at least twice a day.

The first thing you need to spawn angelfish is a pair. There are basically three ways to achieve this. The first is to buy a proven pair which will probably cost fifty dollars or more. The second one is to buy half a dozen almost mature angelfish and let them pair up in a 40 gallon or larger tank. The last way which is the cheapest and takes the longest time is to raise a dozen or so quarter size fish (they should reach breeding size in ten months) in a large tank. I have had success with both the third and first methods.

Once you have a pair you should move them to a tank of ten gallons or larger. The tank should have a piece of slate or glass leaning against the side of the tank (I use filter tubes hung over the side of the tank) for the angels to spawn on. I recommend more than one thing for the pair to spawn on so they don’t decide the side of the tank is more to their liking than the piece of slate if the angels spawn on the glass the eggs can’t be artificially hatched.

They should hatch in approximately 36-48 hours and the fry should become free swimming 7 days after the eggs were laid.

Now for the fun part spelled H-A-R-D. Once the fry become free swimming they should be fed baby brine or finely powdered fry food. You should feed them at least 3 times a day but make sure that you don’t over feed because the spoiled food will affect the water quality, which the fry are very sensitive to. If you can get the fry to survive the first 3 weeks you will most likely be able to succeed. You should do 25% water changes twice a week. With proper care they will start to look like the Queen of Aquarium fish in a month and be ready to spawn when they are ten months old.

Photo Corner- photos submitted by Freddy Mercado

Nickel plus size juveniles available: gold p/s, gold marble, dark marble and hybrid blacks.

$5 each, and I always add in a few extra. Contact blacklace@

aka Lori Carr

This is how I deal with the whole baby brine shrimp (a.k.a. bbs) thing...

First of all, order bbs eggs now…before you need them. It doesn't really matter from whom. There are several wonderful suppliers out there. Just look for a high “hatch rate”, and try not to buy someone else’s left-overs. Store the eggs in a cool, dry environment.

Second of all, you will read on the Internet about umpteen different gadgets which are sold to help you raise bbs. You need none of them. Here is what I use and all of this can be found among household items.

Equipment/Directions List:

Brine shrimp eggs (cysts) will become active when they are exposed to salt water, light, and heat. Here’s what you need to provide all three:

(1) Two-liter pop bottle, upside-down, with the lid screwed-on tightly, and with the just the bottom bumps cut off (making a v-necked container when upside-down). Clean it well with hot water.

(2) Something to hold the pop bottle upside down reliably, whilst you are away. I use a tiny tank with rocks in it to nestle the pop bottle into. Or, I use a plastic container with a hole in it the same diameter as the pop bottle.

(3) Air pump, air stone, and flexible and rigid tubing. Steal the rigid tubing from the undergravel filter you bought when you didn't know better, and put it in the pop bottle with the air stone at the bottom. Hook up the air pump and get it ready to plug in. The idea is

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New freeswimmer

“…but make sure that you don’t over feed because the spoiled food will affect the water quality, which the fry are very sensitive to.”

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Young juvenile angel

clog quickly, are difficult to prime, accidental release of the diatomaceous powder into the aquarium results in a nightmare, they’re clumsy to move around, they lose suction easily if the seal isn’t perfectly tight, they’re not energy efficient, and they’re noisy.

So why haven’t I tossed mine out yet? Because they polish the water like no other filter can. It leaves you torn like a love/hate relationship. As much as I hate using it, I love the efficiency and speed it takes to remove all the tiny particles in the water.

So I keep it and pull it out once a week. I’ve have learned some tricks along the way to make the priming easier. The priming method that the manufacturer recommended left me frustrated, without suction and wanting to toss the whole apparatus in the garbage. So I played with it and came up with a method that I think is much easier and quicker than what the instructions read. I took the following pictures to show what the parts of the diatom look like, how I prime, adding the powder, and keeping it primed on tanks that sit low to the floor.

One word of caution about the use of this filter; it comes with 2 strainer baskets. One for the intake and exhaust tube. This filter has a powerful suction and will pull up to quarter sized juveniles into it so always use the intake strainer basket. Using the exhaust strainer isn’t necessary unless you want to reduce the pressure of water that is released. This works well in grow out tanks

THE BBS BREW

BY SCHOOLAINTSOBAD

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“There are several wonderful suppliers out there. Just look for a high “hatch rate”, and try not to buy someone else’s left-overs.”

(11) Siphon the bbs: they will be the pink cloud at the bottom of the jar. Some people claim you must do this in a black room with a flashlight to attract the bbs to a “corner” of the container. While they will definitely go toward light, and while this is truly interesting, you don’t actually need to monkey around like this when you use the flat-bottomed glass jar to hold your bbs while you siphon. You will be able to see the pink cloud of bbs easily along the bottom of the tank. The bbs egg casings will float, and the unhatched eggs will sink (and settle underneath the bbs, at the very bottom, so don’t siphon those, too!). Some people tell you to siphon out of the pop bottle. I prefer to see what I siphon, as unhatched eggs are not consumable, and can actually choke fry or mess with their tummies.

(12) After you siphon all the pink out of the jar into the coffee filter, you should rinse the bbs. I just siphon out enough to fill the filter once and then wait for it to drain, but you can set up multiple filters with rubber bands to hold the filter paper over jars.

(13) Rinse all your equipment with hot water before you start another batch of bbs. From time to time, rinse it with bleach, too.

(14) Feed bbs to your fish. You may want to mix them with fresh water and shoot them in with a turkey baster. Or, in a small fry-only tank, you can just dip the coffee filter into the tank. The bbs form a pink sludge on your coffee filter. This is the good stuff. Brown is bad (unhatched eggs). Pink is good (live bbs).

(15) Extra bbs can be mixed with water and frozen for those days when you just didn't get the hatching thing down right, or for those days when you just didn't feel like mixing a batch of bbs.

(16) If you fill-up your coffee filter and still have more bbs left to siphon out of the container, you can always siphon the left-over bbs into little cups for storage. You don’t need to strain them through the coffee filter right now. . . If you siphon them now, and just leave them in the salt water, they will stay alive in your fridge for about a day. When you are ready to feed, just pour the cup of chilled bbs into a coffee filter cone, and then rinse with a little fresh water before feeding

NOTES

(1) This is the cheap-o method. Feel free to buy expensive equipment or make an intricate box to house the whole ordeal. Mine sits in a tiny aquarium on my bathroom counter.

(2) I really hate the smell of brine shrimp.

(3) Your fish might eat the store-bought frozen stuff, but mine won't. They do eat my own frozen stuff, however.

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diatomaceous earth magnified[pic]

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This is a “must have”. The P-29 recharge valve. This doesn’t come with the D-1 model. It is an accessory that can be bought separately and one that I strongly recommend. The valve allows you to maintain the prime while moving the filter from one spot to another.

BBS brew from page 4

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These are the main components of the Diatom Model D-1 filter that I purchased.

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Filter and turbulence tube inserted

into motor housing

continued on page 9

I bought a diatom filter last year for two reasons. My main goal was to remove particulate matter in tanks that only had sponge filters in them. No matter how much water I would change in these tanks, the water was never as clear as I would like it. Rinsing out the sponge filters and putting them back into the tank would release a cloud of brown particles and turn a crystal clear tank into a mess in seconds. The second was to trap any floating protozoan that may be lurking and waiting for a host fish to latch onto. These are problematic for many breeders and I wanted to use a mechanical method over chemical.

Diatomaceous earth is the work horse of the diatom filter. This pulverized “earth” is really made up of crushed fossilized silica shell remains of one-cell algae, better known as diatoms. This powder coats the outside of a filter bag that sits inside a jar below the motor housing. The powder is so effective as a filter it will trap particles as small as 1 micron.

To give you ideas of how small one micron is compare the following:

Flagellates (hexamita, blood, etc.) – varying from 8-24 microns

Gill flagellates – 14-21 microns

Ichthyophthirius swarmers – 30-50 microns

Gill fluke eggs – 50 microns

Capillaria nematode eggs – 50-60 microns

Oodinium pillularis (velvet) – 100 microns

Unfortunately, these filters are not what I consider user friendly and the manufacturer’s directions aren’t very helpful. The assembly pictures and directions aren’t clear, they clog

I leave it off in 50 cent sized angels and larger tanks only because it helps to keep the water stirred up so particles stay in suspension and are easily pulled into the intake tube.

On the down side, I’ve had large apple snails ripped apart in the intake tube when I had the strainer basket off and I lost a silver dollar sized turk blusher when it poked it’s head into the intake tube. It suffered severe gill damage as a result. Cory cats will also go up into the intake tube so be very careful and monitor the filter when the strainer basket isn’t being used.

The Diatom Filter

by Nancy Martens

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This is the filter with the bag and

motor housing screwed onto the jar.

Be sure you have a tight seal or it will

leak water and lose pressure.

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As long as water is rushing into and out of the pail of water, the filter is holding it’s prime. Let it set a moment running.

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Lay it on its side and then

slowly begin to bring it upright

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Before you insert the filter, add fresh

water to the diatom jar

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Plug the filter into an extension cord and turn it on. Move the recharger to the ‘filter open’ position. I start a prime by tipping the whole filter upside down.

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This is the recharge valve connected to the “U” tubes and strainer. The strainer basket is on the intake tube.

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Bag of diatomaceous earth. You can also purchase it from pool supply stores for much cheaper. Just be sure it’s pure powder with no chlorine added

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My filter takes one full cup of powder. While the filter is running, slowly add the powder to the bucket of water, swish it around with a spoon as you pour it into the water.

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The filter pulls the diatomaceous earth into the jar and coats the outside of the filter.

diatom filter from page 10

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Once the bucket of water is clear, your ready to move the filter to your tank.

continued on next page…….

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Recharge valve in the filter open position.

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As long as the water in the bucket is cloudy, there is still powder to be removed.

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Before moving the filter, turn the recharge valve to the filter closed position. Leave the filter running. If you turn it off you’ll lose the prime.

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This pic shows the tubes in the tank with the strainer baskets off.

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When placing the U tube assembly into a tank that’s at least 3 feet off the floor, you can skip this step and just place the assembly into the tank. Once it’s in the tank, open the recharge valve.

However, it you place the U tube assembly into a tank that sits very close to the floor, there’s a good chance you’ll lose the prime. What I do it to fill a 2 cup measuring cup with tank water, place the intake/exhaust tubes into it. Keep the cup held high and make sure the tubes are submersed.

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While keeping the tubes in the cup, move the cup over to the tank and place the cup with the tubes still in it, into the tank.

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Once the cup, and tubes are all

the way in the tank and you still hear the filter maintaining the prime, go ahead and remove the cup from under the tubes.

diatom filter from page 9

continued on the next page….

“A day or so before the angel fish spawn they will start to look for and clean off a spawning site. Soon after this the female will start to show her ovipositor.”

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Hang the U tube assembly over the bucket. Be sure the water level in the bucket is high enough to keep the strainer basket submerged.

The Queen of Aquariumfish

By Isaiah Jenkins

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Marble pearscale wigglers

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There are two ports, one is for the intake hose, and the other is for the exhaust hose. Labeled “in” and “out”.

This page is reserved for future items that TAS members would like to trade, give away as freebies or sell. If you have any items, please submit your ad to

NancyMartens@ or TAS_Newsletter_Committee@

****Any items submitted must be no more than 6 lines text in length, and must contain the TAS member name, a phone number or email address or, you prefer, state your TAF forum name so you can be PM'ed.  Those without contact info will be discarded. 

****Pease submit your trades and give aways seperately from your for sale items  so the committee doesn't have to guess which is which. The subject line of each request MUST state whether your ad will be  for the"For Sale" potion or for the "Trading Goodies" portion.  Please do not submit banners or pics as their won't be enough room for these in the columns.

Trading Goodies and For Sale Section

In the last several months we’ve been announcing the incentive awards that article contributors are eligible for if their article is published in the FinTastic newsletter. Check out the web page to see the neat items you can get...... follow this link to the awards page



Items that have been awarded to previous contributors are t-shirts, journals, coasters, ornaments and a thong!

TAS Newsletter Awards

Until you become accustomed to priming the diatom filter, you may “lose” the prime. If this happens while placing the U tube assembly into the tank, use the measuring cup method and hold the cup up high to restore the water action in the hoses.

When a noticeable drop in water pressure is noticed from the exhaust tube, it’s time to backflush the filter (refer to the instruction manual) and add new diatomaceous earth. This filter will clog quickly in a dirty tank or one that has a lot of organic matter. It’s best to do a water change first, siphon the bottom of the tank and then use the diatom filter to polish the water.

Never leave or reuse used diatomaceous earth in the filter jar! It will quickly create a anerobic bacteria colony that can be deadly to your fish if it’s discharged into your tank. Not to mention the pungent odor that will be emitted from the jar once you open it up after sitting for a few days. Always empty the jar and rinse the spent powder off of the filter with hot water once your done using it. A periodic soaking in 10% bleach/water solution will help to prolong the life of the filter bag.

Diatom filters are maintenance intensive, clumsy, and not user friendly but there’s nothing that can come close to polishing the water. They’re worth the time and effort.

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Strainer baskets have been attached to the intake and exhaust tubes.

• Newsletter submission: Send articles and announcements by email to Nancy at NancyMartens@

• Meetings: Will be held on the third Sunday of each month except as follows: January will be on the 4th Sunday; June will be one week early to avoid conflict with Fathers Day; December will be one week early to allow time to complete Board of Directors elections before Christmas holidays.

• Meeting time: 9:00 Eastern Time

• Meeting Location: TAS Chat Room Instructions for attending meetings are on the TAS website at



2006 TAS Meeting Schedule

January 22 July 16

February 19 August 20

March 19 September 17

April 16 October 15

May 21 November 19

June 11 December 10

• Meeting Place: All of the meetings will be held in the TAS meeting chat room. Check TAS website for instructions to access the chat room.

• Annual Dues: $5.00

• Membership: To become a member of The Angelfish Society, or to renew your membership for the current year, please send your $5.00(U.S. Funds) membership fee via check or money order payable to “The Angelfish Society” at the address below.

TAS-Nancy Martens

4118 – 124th Street

Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158

You may also paypal your $5 membership dues to treasurer@

so that the water maintains 75-80 degree warmth from the heat of the light bulb. Keep a thermometer in there so that you can keep track of whether or not you have the light too close. Make a note of how far away the light is depending on what wattage bulb you use. This way, you can minimize fiddling next time around.

(4) Some folks cover the open end of the pop bottle with a slotted plastic coffee-can lid. This keeps down the fizzing from the bubbles.

(5) Wait 24-48 hours. After 24 hours, bbs hatch quite well. After 48 hours, they use up their yolk sacs and are not as nutritious as they were earlier.

(6) Turn air stone off.

(7) Dump bbs cocktail into a flat-bottom jar or plastic box. I prefer clear glass so I can see the bbs.

(8) Take a sip of a cool beverage. Take a short walk.

(9) You need to allow a period of 10 minutes or so for the bbs and eggs to settle out of the suspension after you pour them into the flat-bottom container.

(10) When you come back, it is time to siphon your bbs into a coffee filter that is folded into quarters and opened up to create a mini-sieve. You can also buy more expensive coffee filters which are already formed in a triangular sieve shape.

Continued on page 8

making things happen in TAS from page 2

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If you lose the prime, tip it upside

down again, and then very slowly

bring it upright.

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Marble pair guarding spawn

Newsletter Committee

Nancy Martens

Susan Edmonston

Juanita Hoffman

A special thanks to the following article contributors. Without you, this newsletter wouldn’t have happened:

Tamar Stephens

Isaiah Jenkins

Schoolaintsobad

Freedy Mercado

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily from TAS. No reprints without TAS and the author’s permission.

• the topic, and write up an article.

• Human interest reporter - Interview one or two TAS members each quarter and write up a short profile.

• Assistant editor - Help with making sure reporters turn in their articles on time. Help with layout.

• Cartoonist – Use your imagination to create angelfish cartoons.

Freelance Contributions

• Freelance reporter – occasionally, or even just once, write up an article on something that interests you or that you are good at. Did you attend an interesting fish show? Did you participate in your local fish club fish exchange and have an interesting experience? Did you dissect a dead angelfish and take great pictures of something of interest? Did you devise some really clever way of doing something in your fish room?

• Submit a Photo – Participate in the photo contests.

• Give a Presentation – Do you have some hidden talent, some clever way of doing something, a breeding project you have been working on, an experiment you tried? The presentation committee can take your information and photos and transform them into an attractive presentation for an upcoming meeting.

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continued on page 6

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Fill up a bucket of water and set it on

top of something up off the floor.

I use the dryer.

Committee Work

An easy way to get involved is to work on a committee. Here are some places where your help is needed right now!

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Photo Contest Committee – The last active member of this committee recently resigned. If you are a take-charge kind of person, this is a great opportunity to show some leadership and have some fun.

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Newsletter Committee – This committee publishes our FinTastic quarterly newsletter. We have had totally awesome articles and professional-looking layouts. But right now that committee is down to one active person, Nancy Martens. Since Nancy recently took on treasurer duties, she really needs help more than ever. So what can you volunteer to do? Here are some ideas.

• Proofreader – Read the draft newsletter to make sure everything makes sense. Convert the final newsletter from a Word document to pdf format.

• Reporter - You don’t have to be an expert in anything, but you should have an inquisitive mind, and be willing to interview other people. Nancy maintains a list of ideas, so each quarter you could take an idea, hunt down people with that expertise, or research

is to have LOTS of bubbles to keep the bbs brew in suspension.

(4) Low-watt light. I bought one with a reflector from Walmart for about $6. This plugs in, along with the air pump, and shines toward the container to heat it and provide light. Use a low-watt bulb, and keep the container close. Buying the reflector is a good investment. I use a 20 or 40 watt bulb.

(5) Salt, without iodine. This is easily purchased at the grocery store as "pickling salt" or "sea salt". Don't buy the fancy stuff. It should only be a buck or so for a big container. Anything will work, as long as it doesn't have iodine. Sea salt from the health or bulk section works really well because it is also free from the chemicals contained in salts that are labeled "free running salt".

Hatching Instructions:

(1) Fill upside-down pop bottle with warm water (75-80ish degrees). Position it in your holding apparatus.

(2) Add the following ingredients:

(a) Two heaping tablespoons salt per two liters of water.

(b) One-half to one teaspoon of bbs eggs.

(c) If your water is low pH (acidic), add a tiny pinch of baking soda to raise pH to higher than 8.

(3) Turn light on and turn airstone on full blast. Monitor the temp. Fiddle around with the set-up

I have dabbled and experimented in raising 90 species of tropical fish I have spawned over a sixth of them. There are a few species that will always remain dear to me. These are the Guppy, Swordtail, Bettas, Kribs and the Queen of freshwater aquarium fish, the angelfish.

Angelfish are hands down the most popular cichlid. Their unique shape and majestic air is what makes them so popular. A full-grown specimen can make any tank a show tank and a perfect addition to a community tank with fish that are not too small or aggressive (If they are to small they’ll be lunch and if the are to aggressive the angels fins will suffer). There are many varieties of angelfish I do not intend this to be a showcase of the angelfish varieties but there are angelfish that are all white and angels that are all black, angelfish with long fins and angels with short fins. What I want to be able to tell you is how to keep and maybe even spawn angelfish successfully. Lets begin with how to treat a queen. A queen needs a big clean room and good food.

An angelfish tank should be of at least ten gallons with a twenty gallon tank being needed to house three or more adult angelfish. The best tanks for angelfish are deep since some angel fish can be 10 inches tall. One of my breeding male is 8 plus and his fins are not in the best condition. I recommend a 20 high or extra high tank for a breeding pair of angels. The water should be soft with a ph no higher than 7.5.

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Queen of Angelfish from page 3

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FinTAStic

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FinTAStic

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Page 13 of 13

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