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Next meeting of The Cleveland Aquarium Society:
Tuesday April 2, at 7:30 pm
We will be hosting Ken McGill to talk about Native Fish, building fishrooms and Free
Fishing Weekend in May.
The Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month except July in the Cleveland Zoo’s education building.
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We have making some changes with our current website. We have added a full feature user forum that is available to both registered users and our club members. Registration is free and only requires an email address. Come on in and check it out and tell us little about yourself. Click HERE:
For new aquarists, fellow club members can offer a wealth of advice born of years of experience. They can save you (and your fish) from many of the beginner’s mistakes that can wipe out an entire tank and leave you frustrated and discouraged. Club raffles and auctions can help you build up your collection of livestock, plants, food, and equipment at rock-bottom prices (and you’ll be helping the club at the same time.) Club members can suggest types of equipment (or at least what to avoid); tell you which shops have the best deals, the healthiest fish, or the widest selection; and walk you through various solutions to problems you may run into.
For experienced hobbyists, clubs can help you network so that you can finally get your hands on a hard-to-obtain species. More advanced members (or those who specialize in a particular family) can give you tips on breeding and other more complex aspects of the hobby. Horticulture and breeder award programs can provide challenges and keep you interested in the hobby. Finally, club members provide an attentive audience for your “fish stories.” Your friends might not understand what’s so amusing about the killifish that’s in love with your cory catfish, but other “fish people” will get a chuckle out of the tale.
There is much that you can learn from other club members, and much that you can offer, regardless of your experience level. Old hands love to help newbies… any reason to run our mouths about our favorite fish is a good one! Because the Cleveland Aquarium Society is an all-species club, it will give you the opportunity to learn about a variety of species and different aspects of the hobby that you might not have heard of otherwise. And, of course, it’s fun. You can hang out with a diverse group of people who have an interest in common and maybe make some new friends out of the deal.
The Cleveland Aquarium Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the Cleveland Zoo’s education building. Come by and check out a meeting. You never know what you’ll find!
Click here for directions: Google Maps
How to acclimate new fish to an aquarium While most people seem to know that you can't simply dump your bag full of new fish into a tank, many seem unsure as to what, exactly, they are supposed to do with them. Today, I'm going to solve that mystery for you. The Floating Method This is the basic acclimatization method, which works well for most of the fish you will commonly find for sale. 1. Turn the aquarium lights off to avoid stressing the fish. Place the sealed bag into the tank and allow it to float for fifteen minutes so that the water temperatures will equalize. 2. Carefully open the bag by removing the rubber band or cutting the knot off and roll the top of the bag over twice, creating an air pocket that will keep the bag afloat (see photo). 3. Add about a cup of tank water to the bag every five minutes until the bag is nearly full. Dump half of the water out (preferably into your "fish only" bucket rather than a sink, in case one of your fish pours out with the water) and continue to add a cup of tank water every five minutes until the bag is full again. 4. You may now carefully net your fish out of the bag and release them into the tank. Be careful not to allow water from the bag to enter the tank. Leave the aquarium lights off for several hours to reduce the stress on your new fish. The Drip Method This is the more advanced acclimatization method, which allows fish to adjust to the new water temperature and chemistry very slowly and steadily. This method works well for all types of fish, but it is essential for success with very delicate fish, marine invertebrates, and in situations where your tank's water chemistry may be very different from what the fish are accustomed to. 1. Turn the aquarium lights off to avoid stressing the fish. Place the sealed bag into the tank and allow it to float for fifteen minutes so that the water temperatures will equalize. 2. Carefully release the contents of the bag (including the water) into your "aquarium only" bucket. If the water is too shallow to cover your fish, prop the bucket at an angle until there is enough water. 3. Tie several loose knots in a piece of airline tubing (or use an airline control valve) and run it from the aquarium to the bucket. Suck on the end of the tube to begin the siphon, and then adjust the flow by tightening or loosening the knots until two to four drops per second enter the bucket. 4. When the amount of water in the bucket doubles, dump out half, and allow the drip to continue until the volume doubles again. 5. Now you may net your fish out of the bucket and release them into your tank. If you are acclimating marine invertebrates, they need to be submerged at all times so use a bag of water rather than a net to transfer them to the tank. Leave the aquarium lights off for about four hours to allow your new fish to adjust.
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