July 2007

GFSA Info

Apologies for the missed June Web site update, first "complete" miss in 6.5 years.

The March/April Goldfish Report is the last Report that everyone should have; look for May/June shortly. For info and general updates on the Goldfish Report, take a look here for info from the editor on upcoming issues of the Goldfish Report and the publication schedule.

If you have let your membership lapse or have been thinking about joining the GFSA, now is a great time - here is a form you can print. To submit material for the Goldfish Report to our editor, please see the updated society contact info. Articles and photos in electronic form are particularly appreciated.

The current line-up of people filling the GFSA offices is on the society officers page. The GFSA Board of Directors continues 2007 with a focus on ensuring that the society is undertaking activities and providing services that our members want. Tell us if there is something you really want (even better, volunteer to help us do it).

Interested in joining the GFSA but still not sure? We have two sample Goldfish Reports available to download, to demonstrate that every issue is packed with thought provoking information and pictures available nowhere else. We are also promoting an electronic membership option that significantly lowers the cost of membership! Only $10US gets you a year of informative, timely color issues of the GFSA's Goldfish Report, sent directly to your email inbox.

Lessons Learned "Quick Hits"

We are soliciting short lessons-learned from hobbyists: events that possibly left you sadder, but measurably wiser. Have a good one? Please send it to the  . Here is a brief diatribe from the Webmaster:

Warm sunny weather can produce dense green water. This makes your fish hard to see, but the real concern is that it can clog your filter and severely limit the biofiltration necessary for healthy fish. In lightly stocked ponds, adding plenty of submersed and immersed (i.e. roots in water, leaves in air) plants can limit or eliminate these algal blooms by successfully competing for key nutrient resources. Rapidly growing plants like water hyacinths, hygrophila, cattails and aquatic mints can even be removed and composted as a way to actively remove excess nutrients from the ponds. Often, even in these ponds, a large water change will lead to a 7-10 day minibloom, until the nutients are limited again.

For densely stocked ponds (more than an inch of fish per 10 gallons of water), it is very difficult to control green water with plants except with very dense plantings and very sparing, low protein feeding. For these stocking densities, an ultraviolet light treatment system maybe the only recourse.