December 2002

GFSA Info

Terry Cusick has assumed the duties of editor. His first edition of the Report will soon be in member mailboxes. This issue will cover new GFSA directions, the 2002 Breeders' Social, and more. 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.

The events calendar has had its first 2003 update and will receive more in the coming months. If you know of an event that is not on it, please advise us!

Member Projects

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

As we enter the holiday season, the GFSA offers a list of the subjects best not brought up at the dinner table with your favorite obsessed goldfish keeper. Any one of these topics are enough to heat up the conversation well beyond safe limits. 

  1. Salt: add it all the time? Never add it? How much?

  2. Undergravel filters: miracle time saver or piscine death sentence?

  3. Sinking or floating food for goldfish? Feed weekly, daily, continuously, ...?

  4. What, exactly, is the difference between a matt, blue-belly, and a matt-metallic?

  5. How do you produce a black goldfish ... what combination of genetics/food/water/voodoo is needed?

  6. Do Chinese goldfish farmers select-and-breed or breed-and-select? Or do they just secretly import from Indonesia?

  7. How do you get goldfish to spawn when you want them to spawn, instead of when you are on a business trip?