Terry Cusick has assumed the duties of editor. Please throw your support behind Terry and help him to provide us with a publication we will all value. The editor's job is a hard one, but the content of the magazine is only as good as the submissions he gets. To submit material to Terry, please see the updated society contact info. Articles and photos in electronic form are particularly appreciated.
The Society bylaws were updated in January of this year. The revised version is now posted on the Web site here.
Need your help: The fish growers interested in color enhancement need some observations with digital photos; Take five or six pictures of some outdoor red or red and white fish, weigh the fish this fall (here is an article that discusses determining fish weight). In April take pictures of the same fish and weigh them once again. The studiers are trying to figure out if weight loss over the winter helps to intensify colors by concentrating pigment cells. Send your findings to Barry Sperling at . This is stage one of a more elaborate experiment we have planned for the future. Get involved, make new fish friends and figure out the mysteries.
Seasonal Advice
You've all been very good, so here are a bunch of new hints, advice and ideas from Gary Hater:
Preparing for winter: Get in the pond, remove the lily leaves, throw away the water hyacinths and lettuce. Look at your fish, anybody who is laying on the pond bottom should be brought inside. After you have completed all of the above, conduct a water purge of 50%. Whenever there is break in the weather consider doing a water purge again.
Plants like anacharis, ceratophylum and parrots feather will winter over in most ponds. If all of your plant material is floating, take a handful and stick under a lily pond to protect it from freezing. If you are going to try and keep water hyacinths and water lettuce remember the following; they grow ok at 55F. They must have bright sunlight. My advice is to put a few plants in a bucket and beg greenhouse space from someone.
Often people want to bring in young or favorite fish once the water has cooled to the 40F to 55F range. Here is a time honored technique for safely bringing in some fish. Put some pond water in a 5 gallon bucket (1/2 full typically). Catch up to 10 fish under 2" or six fish under 6" and bring into the house. Put a air stone or bubble tube into the water. Be careful that the aeration not so violent that the fish must swim vigorously to stay in place. After three hours add one to two gallons of indoor tank water to the bucket. Wait one hour, as long as the indoor tank water is not more than 10F warmer. Pick up the fish and place them in the tank of choice. If the fish are thin, feed soft food like gel food or frozen brine shrimp or over cooked rice. Do not over feed for at least three days.
Avoid keeping Ryukins, Pearlscales, Bristol Shubunkins and short bodied Orandas under ice in outdoor ponds. If in doubt watch the fish after the first freezing weather, if the fish are laying on their side on the bottom for more than three days, consider moving them indoors. Fancy goldfish that are less than six months old are typically caught and brought indoors.
The Christmas holiday spawning forecast: If the fish are cooled down in the fall outside and then brought indoors using the instructions above, you can have a winter spawn. Fish are paired up in a tanks and fed a variety of foods for about four to six weeks. Massive water changes and cooked rice are added after the fish have become round. The fish typically breed within two days of the full moon. It is really fun to have eggs or fry on Christmas or New Years day. This is great fun for the holidays.
Mailing Fish: It has been observed that when it is cool outside fish can easily be mailed by priority mail, instead of using express mail which costs about 3X the amount. Recently breeders have been shipping young fish and fry for under $15.