CONTENTS

Articles

NEWSLETTER
March Meeting p.1

Meet a fellow GHAC

member p.2 April 2008

Fish of the Month

p.3

Tank of the Month p.4

March Meeting
By Tim Bell
March Meeting Pictures
p.5 The Greater Houston Aquarium Club is getting larger and planning
more and more things. Upcoming events include presentations from
Filtration p.5 Doug Ebeling of the Texas Area Killifish Association (TAKO) and Luis
Navarro (www.mynatureaquariums.com), a swap-n-sell, and a large
scale auction. We are working on creating membership cards that would
Items of Interest give us discounts to stores like Fish Gallery and Mike’s Tropical Fish &
Pets. We are also looking into organizing group orders with our newly
acquired tax ID. The purpose of this would be so that we could buy in
GHAC Officers p.2 bulk thereby saving money for each member. With so many things in the
works, we are looking for more people willing to help. Email me or Raul
How to contact the
if you feel inclined to do so.
GHAC p.2

Useful Websites p.4 The GHAC is currently looking for members who would like to join an
Events Committee that will work closely with the Club Officers in
planning and working future events.

“Remember, a dead fish can float downstream,

but it takes a live one to swim upstream.”
-W. C. Fields

Nick’s and his brand new fake rock. “Can I raffle this one off?”
Meet a Fellow GHAC Member
This Month: Mary Beth Petranek
We want to hear from you. After all, you are the
I started my first aquarium in the beginning of 2002: a reason that we are here. Email any suggestions,
20 gallon from my parents’ house traveled back with comments, or questions to Raul_GHAC [at] yahoo
[dot] com.
me to my apartment in Tallahassee. (There was a
brief period in which we kept fish in this aquarium,
but it was so long ago, I don’t remember much about
it.) I was determined to do this the right way, so I
bought a few books and sat down with them before I Your GHAC Officers are:
bought anything for the tank.
I began with a community tank – which
included 7 rMoenkhausia sanctaefilomenae (Red-Eye Raul Turner
Tetras) that are currently living in a 15 gallon. I never (rrocket2002)
knew tetras could live to be this old! The onset of President
MTS occurred shortly after. I was at an LFS, looking
for something with which to stock my new 10g, and
saw these beautiful little pale blue fish, with neon
blue eyes that seemed to glow. (Consequently, this
was also my first and only “impulse buy.”) The owner
of the store wasn’t sure exactly what they were, but
he knew their common name was Norman’s Tim Bell
Lampeye. I bought 8, plus a few more cories, and was (armthehomeless)
off to find out everything I could about them. (I know Vice President
now they’re Aplocheilichthys normani.) They were
the first fish that spawned in my care, and I’m still in
love with them. I have a 30g cube that’s dedicated to
a large school of them and Corydoras pygmaeus.
I had a sword plant in that first ten gallon tank. David Abeles
It grew really well under two of those horrible (Tiapan)
incandescent lights – one white, one blue, to enhance Co-Vice President
the normanis’ eyes. I know. It is embarrassing. I
eventually had to give it back because it was
outgrowing my tank. However, I found out that not Loretta Mitchell
every plant is okay with only 2 little incandescent (fishlady)
lights, so I was off to buy a 24” DOUBLE fluorescent Secretary
strip light for my 20H! After a lot of back and forth
with an employee at another LFS (“You don’t need
the dual strip to grow plants…”) I had placed my
order. Mary Beth Petranek
A year or two later I made the amazing (Mzungu)
connection that here in America, we have bodies of Treasurer
water with plants AND fish, and you can even put
them in your aquarium! Ever since then, there is some
kind of net in my car at all times; you know, just in
case. I spent a great week at my grandparents’ house
in Largo, Florida fishing with a dip net, and brought
home 2 little plecos and a school of Lucania goodei. Mike’s Tropical Fish and Pets
14203 Stuebner Airline
My next amazing connection was that, sometimes, Houston, Tx 77069
PH. 281-586-8787
Fax.281-586-8799
--- Continued on Page 6 --- E-Mail. RunOverHere [at] hotmail [dot] com
 Fish of the Month
Masked Julie
Julidochromis transcriptus
By Tim Bell

General:

Julidochromis transcriptus are a slender, almost

cylindrical fish, native to Lake Tanganyika in Africa.
There are several location variants in the hobby, with
the "gombi" variety the most sought-after. This fish
has clear black and white bands with brilliant blue
margins to the tail and anal fins. I have noticed that
this blue comes and goes depending on the mood of
the fish. This particular fish is probably the smallest of
the Julies and males rarely attain a length of 3". It was
originally discovered by Mathes in 1959.

Habitat:
Julidochromis transcriptus is found from 1 to 10M
deep around rocky coasts in the lake. This fish has
been collected in water with a pH range: 8.5 to 9.2 and
dH range of 8.0 - 14.0.
Care:
Julidochromis transcriptus, like all Tanganyikan fish,
likes hard water. My water is fairly alkaline, however,
I’ve heard of people keeping them at water with
neutral pH, so I think this Julie is fairly adaptable. The
temperature of my tank stays in the upper seventies. I
conduct regular partial water changes of 20-50% on
the tank each week and I found this suited my fish just
fine. I’ve heard many people say that Tanganyikans
are super sensitive to water changes. I have yet to find
any validity to this statement. Just make sure that the
temperature and chemistry are very close to that of the
tank.Since this fish does not grow very large, you can
easily keep a pair in a twenty gallon tank. Julies won't
upset your plants; another endearing trait. I’ve got
mine in a tank with Valisneria.
Feeding:
In the lake, Julidochromis transcriptus feed on insects
and a variety of invertebrate organisms. In your tank,
though, they present no problems. Mine ate flake food,
frozen brine shrimp and various small pellets like
NLS.
Breeding:
If you are planning on breeding these Julies, I would
recommend obtaining 5 to 6 juveniles and placing
them in a twenty gallon tank with a sand substrate.
Provide three piles of rockwork including to form
caves. The tank should be in a quiet area with little
foot traffic. I believe Julidochromis transcriptus are
sensitive to vibration and spook easily. At eleven to
twelve months of age, you may notice a pair beginning
to bond. The pair will stay close to each other and
stake out a territory, busily driving the other fish away
from their home. This is a good time to remove the
other fish. Since all Julies are cave-spawners and
highly secretive, you may not know when you have a
spawn until the babies appear. Spawns are small, in
the range of twenty eggs, and you can immediately
feed them baby brine shrimp or Cyclop-eeze. The
male and female will switch off caring for the fry and
are truly devoted parents. Mine fend off all tank mates
in seven foot long tank. Like other Julies, you can
raise several successive spawns in the same tank
which is a delight to see. Juveniles up to an inch or so,
take part in raising their brothers and sisters. It is quite
a sight to see! Unfortunately, the fry are very slow
growers. You should remove fry when they get to be
an inch or so. At this length, the parents may start to
act aggressively towards them.
 Check out our great new website…
Tank of the Month
We want to see your tanks! Send us a photo of your tank
along with a brief description of the flora, fauna, water
parameters, equipment used, and anything else you want www.myghac.org
to include. We will post a new tank each month!! Let us
see what you are working with…

April TOTM
Tim’s 210 Gallon Tank

• Dimensions: 84” x 24” x 24”

• Substrate: Pool Filter Sand
• Lighting: 1 x 48” Actinic and 1 x 48” Wide Spectrum Fluorescent 40W bulb
• Filtration: Fluval FX5 packed with ceramic media, sponges, and filter floss, Rena XP2 with ceramic media
and Carbon
• Water Changes: 20-50% every week
• Flora: Vallisneria americana
• Fauna: Julidochromis transriptus, Cyprichromis leptosoma sp.“Jumbo Blue Orchid”, Enantiopus sp. Kilesa
 March Pictures
Mike’s Tropical Fish and Pets
14203 Stuebner Airline
Houston, Tx 77069
Time: April 18th at 7:30PM
Aquarium Filtration
By Roy Flis
Why do I need to filter aquariums?
Filtration helps us keep the water in our aquariums “sweet”,
that is, free of waste products such as ammonia and nitrite
(nitrate remember, we get rid of by water changes) and other
undesirables such as heavy metals. A filter can be mechanical
(foam and/or fluff) chemical (charcoal or resins) and/or
biological (good bacteria that feed on ammonia and/or nitrites)
or a combination of two or all three types.
Now if you have six neons in a 30 gallon tank and no other
fish, you don’t need a filter, BUT if you’re like most of us and
have 20-30 assorted fish in that same size tank you definitely
do need one.
What type of filter should I get?
Ok, there are numerous types and we will look at each of the
popular ones:
The “Corner or Box” filter: – This is a very inexpensive
(under $5.00) and simple filter consisting of a plastic box that
you fill with synthetic “fluff” and charcoal. These filters are air
powered. This type filter offers mechanical (the fluff) chemical
(the charcoal) and biological (the surfaces of the filter provide
a limited bed for helpful bacteria).
Pros: Inexpensive, does a good job on smaller tanks – up to 20
gallons maximum, simple to setup and use. Good for the
beginner.
Cons: Must be serviced weekly, un-attractive and hard to
conceal, very limited biological filtration.
The foam filter: - A polyfoam disc or rectangle that may be
powered by air or combined with a powerhead. Foam filters
provide mechanical and biological filtration.
Pros: Inexpensive, simple to setup and use, does a very good
job on tanks from 5 gallons to 125 gallons – depending on size
of filter(s) and powerhead(s). Easy to maintain. Good for the
beginner.
Cons: Does not provide any chemical filtration, difficult to
conceal.
The under gravel filter: - A slotted plastic plate or plates
residing underneath the gravel that provides mechanical and
biological filtration – chemical filtration is sometimes provided
by small cartridges of charcoal mounted at the top of the
air/water lift tubes. These are of dubious value.
--- Continued on Page 6 ---
 Filtration for Aquariums
--- Continued from page 5 ---

Pros: - Inexpensive, simple to setup and use, provides

maximum mechanical and biological filtration of any
filter. Good for the intermediate hobbyist.
Cons: - Labor intensive to maintain as gravel must be
kept siphoned and area under the filter plate must also
be siphoned regularly; many plants do not do well
with this type of filter as they do not like a strong
current around their feet (roots).

The Power or Hang on the Back (HOB) filter: - A
plastic box with a pump that hangs on the back of your
tank, includes a replaceable cartridge that holds the
mechanical (fluff) and chemical (charcoal) materials
as well as a permanent biological media.
The pump draws the dirty water from the tank which
then flows through the filtering media and spills the
cleaned water back into the tank.
Pros: - Moderately priced –typically $20 to $60,
simple to setup, use and maintain, provides good water
motion and rapid turnover. Good for the beginner to
the advanced hobbyist.
Cons: - Limited cartridge capacities require frequent
replacement which can tend to become expensive,
design allows dirty water to bypass the filtration media
if it has become clogged.
Meet a Fellow GHAC Member
--- Continued from Page 2 ---
natives come in with shipments of feeders and ghost
shrimp! So I was able to add 2 swamp darters
(Etheostoma fusiforme) and, over the years, numerous
Lucania goodei.
Now, I’m living in a tiny apartment along with a
Jenday Conure and 10 aquariums, the largest being a 40
gallon that holds the natives mentioned above. Other
natives include a school of Fundulus notatus, two
Fundulus chrysotus, a few mollies from Buffalo Bayou, a
group of Cyprinella lutrensis, and Gobiosoma bosc. More
importantly, I’ve met a ton of “fish people” who are just
as nerdy as me! ;)

The Canister filter: - An enclosed plastic box that is placed under your tank, with input and output hoses at it’s top
which are placed over the back of your tank. These typically have two to four compartments inside that allow for
multiple types of media to be used. You may use fluff, foam, charcoal or resins, bio-balls or ceramic noodles for
biological media or other specialized media in them. The dirty water is drawn into the canister and forced through all
of the filter media before being returned to the tank. Some canisters even include ultra violet tubes inside to destroy
algae and various bacteria and parasites. Some of the larger canisters have multiple intakes and outlets as well.
Pros: - Easy to setup and maintain, needs servicing every 2 to 3 months, does and excellent job of maintaining the
water quality. Tank sizes 30 to 200 gallon.
Good for newbie to expert.
Cons: - Can be pricey - $60 to $400 price range, some brands are overly optimistic regarding the size tank a given
model can handle.

The Overflow Filter: - A plastic box placed under the tank that contains various media, this is fed from a hose
connected to a drilled tap mounted through the rear or bottom glass of a tank. A separate external water pump then
forces then clean water back up and into the tank.
Pros: Without question, this system offers the best biological filtration and very good mechanical and or chemical as
well. Suitable for tanks from 70 gallons and upward. Good for experts and those that employ outside aquarium
maintenance companies.
Cons: Very expensive, from $300 to many thousands of dollars, requires great care and skill in set up and
maintenance, it is very easy to have a flood or other disaster with these systems – be very sure that you are
knowledgeable and have the needed plumbing skills before you start.

Next issue we will discuss setting up that first tank and I’ll make some specific equipment recommendations. ☺