--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECA00006 Date: 08/04/97 From: ROBERT RICE Time: 07:54pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Position paper.......... * Original Area: NANFE * Original From: Bill White (1:3615/50) * Original To : All (1:3615/51) This message was from ROBERTRICE@JUNO.COM to BILL WHITE, originally in conference Netmail and was forwarded to you by BILL WHITE. ------------------------- From: 1:135/292.1 Apparently-to: Bill.White@110.sunshine.com To: Bill.White@110.sunshine.com Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 16:53:41 +0000 From: robertrice@juno.com (robert a rice) From: vbrach@juno.com Received: from x6.boston.juno.com (x6.boston.juno.com [205.231.101.23]) by x12.boston.juno.com (8.8.6.Beta0/8.8.6.Beta0/2.0.kim) with ESMTP id MAAAA09334 for ; Mon, 2 Jun 1997 12:53:21 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from vbrach@juno.com) by x6.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id MHT10282; Mon, 02 Jun 1997 12:49:58 EDT Return-path: To: robertrice@juno.com Date: Mon, 02 Jun 1997 12:49:58 EDT Subject: NANFA position paper Message-ID: <19970602.104657.11535.0.vbrach@juno.com> X-Status: Replied X-Mailer: Juno 1.15 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 1-2,5-6,16,29-30,37,42,50,55,61-62,70,76 Robert: Finally--here is my revision of the NANFA position psper. Use whatever you like of it. ~Vince~ NANFA POSITION PAPER : AMENDING STATE REGULATIONS TO GUARANTEE THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS TO COLLECT AND KEEP NATIVE FISHES FOR THE HOME AQUARIUM Currently, all across the continent thousands of individuals are collecting , rearing, and breeding small numbers of nongame native fishes in home aquariums. Unfortunately, their activities are often shrouded in legal ambiguity and unnecessary regulation, leading to unpleasant confrontations in the field with conservation officers. Although few individuals are ever prosecuted, the keeping of nongame native fish is illegal in many states due to state restrictions implemented with an eye to curbing abusive sportfishing practices. Yet, the hobby use of common native fishes represents a legitimate recreational fishery, the existence of which has been largely ignored. The North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) is national volunteer organization that serves as a clearing house for individuals interested in keeping native fishes for hobby, amateur scientific, and exhibition purposes. NANFA members serve the public interest through stream restoration, species propagation, and public education. NANFA's membership, which consists of both fisheries personnel and aquarists, has consistently worked to balance the needs of collectors with the welfare of our native fishes and their habitat. The purpose of this NANFA position paper is to encourage individual state regulatory committees to adjust existing regulations where necessary to accomodate the needs of the native fish aquarist, whose expertise in the natural history of our country's streams, ponds and lakes is often of significant value to government conservation efforts. Consider the following points: 1) The fish husbandry expertise of the hobby native fish aquarists makes them valuable resources for fisheries personnel and others involved in stream restoration projects. Fish born and raised in home and school aquariums have been used to restore depleted natural populations, in some cases rescuing species from extinction. Propagation techniques developed by NANFA members are currently being used by state fisheries departments in the states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Oregon. 2) Many native fish collectors maintain extensive field notes on the water quality and species composition of their stream, pond and lake collection sites. These data can be of enormous help in determining the health of a watershed over both short and long-term and are helpful in composing environmental impact statements. 2) A large number of native fish hobbyists are actively involved in public education, using their fishkeeping skills in the classroom, public exhibitions, and various conservation societies. NANFA has several members who write articles and columns for newspapers and nationally-circulated aquarium magazines. This exposes many thousands of Americans to important conservation and fisheries issues such as the dangers of exotic fish release into American waters through baitfish and aquarium release. 3) Aquarists as a whole are serious about their hobby, spending over 1 billion dollars a year in the US alone for fish, supplies, and literature. Where regulation is deemed necessary, the financial base exists for the asssessment of a reasonable collectors license or permit fee. 4) Most existing state nongame fishing regulations were written to address commercial baitfish farming and professional scientific collection. However, these regulations often have the unintentional effect of discouraging conservation-minded amateurs from compliance, since they frequently require substantial annual fees and/or complicated justification statements and paperwork. NANFA believes that a special noncommercial hobbyist collecting permit, which would cover the collection and keeping of nonendangered or threatened nongame native species and could be obtained by anyone able to purchase a regular sportfishing license, would serve both the general public and the aquarium hobbyist far better. A side benefit of such a licensing program is the opportunity for publicity and enhanced support of state fisheries programs, since the mere presence of a new license category promotes public awareness. In conclusion, we of NANFA ask that you reevaluate your existing nongame fisheries regulations and adjust them where necessary to include the needs of the aquarium hobbyists of your state. We believe that encouraging the active, positive involvement of state fisheries agencies with native fish enthusiasts will promote a greater conservation ethic and improved outdoor education wherever it is implemented. ___ GIGO+ sn 164 at sunshine vsn 0.99.950801 * SLMR 2.1a * Don't insist on running someone else's life! --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: Emerald Coast/2 (1:366/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECA00007 Date: 08/06/97 From: ROBERT RICE Time: 12:36am \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Position paper.......... * Original Area: NANFE * Original From: Bill White (1:3615/50) * Original To : All (1:3615/51) This message was from ROBERTRICE@JUNO.COM to BILL WHITE, originally in conference Netmail and was forwarded to you by BILL WHITE. ------------------------- From: 1:135/292.1 Apparently-to: Bill.White@110.sunshine.com To: Bill.White@110.sunshine.com Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 16:53:41 +0000 From: robertrice@juno.com (robert a rice) From: vbrach@juno.com Received: from x6.boston.juno.com (x6.boston.juno.com [205.231.101.23]) by x12.boston.juno.com (8.8.6.Beta0/8.8.6.Beta0/2.0.kim) with ESMTP id MAAAA09334 for ; Mon, 2 Jun 1997 12:53:21 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from vbrach@juno.com) by x6.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id MHT10282; Mon, 02 Jun 1997 12:49:58 EDT Return-path: To: robertrice@juno.com Date: Mon, 02 Jun 1997 12:49:58 EDT Subject: NANFA position paper Message-ID: <19970602.104657.11535.0.vbrach@juno.com> X-Status: Replied X-Mailer: Juno 1.15 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 1-2,5-6,16,29-30,37,42,50,55,61-62,70,76 Robert: Finally--here is my revision of the NANFA position psper. Use whatever you like of it. ~Vince~ NANFA POSITION PAPER : AMENDING STATE REGULATIONS TO GUARANTEE THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS TO COLLECT AND KEEP NATIVE FISHES FOR THE HOME AQUARIUM Currently, all across the continent thousands of individuals are collecting , rearing, and breeding small numbers of nongame native fishes in home aquariums. Unfortunately, their activities are often shrouded in legal ambiguity and unnecessary regulation, leading to unpleasant confrontations in the field with conservation officers. Although few individuals are ever prosecuted, the keeping of nongame native fish is illegal in many states due to state restrictions implemented with an eye to curbing abusive sportfishing practices. Yet, the hobby use of common native fishes represents a legitimate recreational fishery, the existence of which has been largely ignored. The North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) is national volunteer organization that serves as a clearing house for individuals interested in keeping native fishes for hobby, amateur scientific, and exhibition purposes. NANFA members serve the public interest through stream restoration, species propagation, and public education. NANFA's membership, which consists of both fisheries personnel and aquarists, has consistently worked to balance the needs of collectors with the welfare of our native fishes and their habitat. The purpose of this NANFA position paper is to encourage individual state regulatory committees to adjust existing regulations where necessary to accomodate the needs of the native fish aquarist, whose expertise in the natural history of our country's streams, ponds and lakes is often of significant value to government conservation efforts. Consider the following points: 1) The fish husbandry expertise of the hobby native fish aquarists makes them valuable resources for fisheries personnel and others involved in stream restoration projects. Fish born and raised in home and school aquariums have been used to restore depleted natural populations, in some cases rescuing species from extinction. Propagation techniques developed by NANFA members are currently being used by state fisheries departments in the states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Oregon. 2) Many native fish collectors maintain extensive field notes on the water quality and species composition of their stream, pond and lake collection sites. These data can be of enormous help in determining the health of a watershed over both short and long-term and are helpful in composing environmental impact statements. 2) A large number of native fish hobbyists are actively involved in public education, using their fishkeeping skills in the classroom, public exhibitions, and various conservation societies. NANFA has several members who write articles and columns for newspapers and nationally-circulated aquarium magazines. This exposes many thousands of Americans to important conservation and fisheries issues such as the dangers of exotic fish release into American waters through baitfish and aquarium release. 3) Aquarists as a whole are serious about their hobby, spending over 1 billion dollars a year in the US alone for fish, supplies, and literature. Where regulation is deemed necessary, the financial base exists for the asssessment of a reasonable collectors license or permit fee. 4) Most existing state nongame fishing regulations were written to address commercial baitfish farming and professional scientific collection. However, these regulations often have the unintentional effect of discouraging conservation-minded amateurs from compliance, since they frequently require substantial annual fees and/or complicated justification statements and paperwork. NANFA believes that a special noncommercial hobbyist collecting permit, which would cover the collection and keeping of nonendangered or threatened nongame native species and could be obtained by anyone able to purchase a regular sportfishing license, would serve both the general public and the aquarium hobbyist far better. A side benefit of such a licensing program is the opportunity for publicity and enhanced support of state fisheries programs, since the mere presence of a new license category promotes public awareness. In conclusion, we of NANFA ask that you reevaluate your existing nongame fisheries regulations and adjust them where necessary to include the needs of the aquarium hobbyists of your state. We believe that encouraging the active, positive involvement of state fisheries agencies with native fish enthusiasts will promote a greater conservation ethic and improved outdoor education wherever it is implemented. ___ GIGO+ sn 164 at sunshine vsn 0.99.950801 * SLMR 2.1a * Don't insist on running someone else's life! --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: Emerald Coast/2 (1:366/47) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECA00008 Date: 08/05/97 From: GERRY DANEN Time: 10:45pm \/To: ROBBY DITTMANN (Read 1 times) Subj: Big tanks, little tanks... GD> When you're used to 54 and 108 gal tanks, a 15 is a GD> mini tank. I love those bigger tanks...much less GD> maintenance! :) RD> Actually, my 75 is my highest maintainance tank, but RD> thats because I keep my high maintainance fish in it. What kind of fish? --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: C+Net BBS. Programming & Networking. (1:342/1017) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECB00000 Date: 08/06/97 From: ROBBY DITTMANN Time: 01:57pm \/To: GERRY DANEN (Read 1 times) Subj: Big tanks, little tanks... RD> Actually, my 75 is my highest maintainance tank, but RD> thats because I keep my high maintainance fish in it. This is my african environment. Mostly cichlids. This is the tank I try to keep the chemicals balanced perfectly in. And it takes a good bit of cleaning due to the number of fish in it. My other tanks are just "fish". Robby --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: Red Shift BBS ... Snellville, Ga. ... (770) 979-9467 (1:133/8003) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECB00001 Date: 08/02/97 From: DAVE BARRON Time: 11:57pm \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: Hard water scale. Help! Hi everyone, I'd like to reactivate some dormant aquaria, but the glass is covered in limescale. I live near the Chiltern hills in SE England and the water comes from chalk aquifers. Accordingly, it's *very* hard. Dilute HCl has removed much of it, but can anyone suggest a compound that will remove what's left? The commercial stuff is useless. Help please!!! As an aside... I used to be very interested in crayfish (not crawfish) and used to keep Turkish (A.leptodactylus) and native (A.pallipes). Used to keep rainbow trout too, but I kept getting hungry. Anyone else into crayfish? Dave --- ViaMAIL!/WC4 v1.30 * Origin: Ooh! MultiLine BBS, London. 0181-395-3108 (2:254/233) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECB00002 Date: 08/03/97 From: DAVE BARRON Time: 10:30pm \/To: STEVE FULLER (Read 1 times) Subj: REEF TANKS Hi Steve, SF>yeah me too 1 have used about 50 ib of live rock apparently from the carrabe SF>but how can i check? Depends on the kind of rock. Talk to someone who knows about geology, otherwise a marine biologist. A student of molecular biology will probably know enough to offer a good opinion. Failing that, analysis of the chemical composition of the surface would give a very accurate guide to its origin. From a virgin (dry since removal from source) sample, a salinity test would be pretty conclusive too. Personally, I don't use live anything. When I bought a chunk of cork bark for my bullfrogs to sit on, It stayed in the microwave until it started to smoke! Dave --- ViaMAIL!/WC4 v1.30 * Origin: Ooh! MultiLine BBS, London. 0181-395-3108 (2:254/233) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECB00003 Date: 08/03/97 From: DAVE BARRON Time: 12:19am \/To: TOMASZ NIDECKI (Read 1 times) Subj: Re: plecos TN>Yoadie yo ho !!! I can't improve on that! TN>Some of them don't get even as large as a cory... Depends on the species, Ah! That explains it. I thought they were just colour morphs. Thanks! Dave --- ViaMAIL!/WC4 v1.30 * Origin: Ooh! MultiLine BBS, London. 0181-395-3108 (2:254/233) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 229 AQUARIUMS Ref: ECB00004 Date: 08/06/97 From: CRAIG SCHROEDER Time: 07:32am \/To: ALL (Read 1 times) Subj: General questions I asked these questions some time back, but I' keep losing the fido feeds I select and never received any answers if they were posted. My very large apple snail's shell eroded (from the tip at first). He seemed active and healthy, but his body seemed to get bigger and no longer fit properly in his shell and it became very pitted and thin. He finally lost his "cap", that disk at the end of his body that closed his shell. He only lived a couple of days at that point. This happened over a 2 year period. I added sea salt at each water exchange... is there a needed mineral for these? My pH slowly dips and I need to use pH-Up from time to time. The decorative shells in the tank dissolve away, too. I left them in there, thinking that they might provide something useful for the snails while dissolving mineral into the water. I don't run any natural plants as my Dempsey rearranges the tank each evening. All my fish remain healthy and my snail is my first loss in at least a year. Ŀ Craig Schroeder craigclu@win.bright.net --- Via Silver Xpress V4.4P [Reg] * Origin: The Final Frontier - 301.369.0166 - bbs.ffbbs.com (1:109/566)