• President's Message

    by Published on 01-03-2016 10:34 PM  Number of Views: 3764 

    Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and was able to spend time with friends and family. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the weather made it impossible to get together. In fact, as I write this it has been ...
    by Published on 07-07-2015 02:11 PM  Number of Views: 4561 

    Time has been flying by so quickly that I am having a hard time keeping up with everything. Just realized that I haven't posted anything for a couple of months now.

    Don't know about anyone else but the heat this summer has been close to unbearable. In the Pacific Northwest we have seen temperatures soar up to 110F just in June, making it the hottest June on record since the early 1900s. And as July/August are typically our hottest months of the year, I for one am not looking forward to dealing with this heat for this long. But, like it or not, it is summertime and must take what mother nature deals us.

    While on the subject of this heatwave, I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind everyone to keep an eye on their aquariums during the summer for overheating. I have lost more fish than I can name off from this heat and have even had my 55g tanks overheat (first time ever)! Here is a short list of some of the tricks I use that might be helpful to others should you find yourselves in this position:


    • Unplug the heaters. A quality heater will not run while a tank is overheating; however, if one has a faulty sensor no point in risking cooking the fish.
    • Leave the lights off during the hotter parts of the day. In fact, only my planted tanks get any lighting during a heatwave and only during the early morning hours or the evening hours. You'd be surprised how much heat is added to a tank just from the lighting!
    • Remove the glass lids, replace with open egg crate or other hard plastic grating if worried about jumpers. By taking this step tanks can cool down several degrees. My 55g dropped 5 degrees by removing the glass toppers. The only downside is that evaporation will greatly increase. So, keep those tanks topped off and use cooler water to lower the tank temperatures.
    • Run fans in the room and even position them to blow air across the water surface to help dissipate heat.
    • Fill plastic bottles with water and freeze them. Float them in a tank to help cool it down. The bottles will float and will not affect water chemistry. Simply remove, rinse off the outside and refreeze for the next time.
    • Small daily water changes to help cool down a tank really helps to perk up fish an give them some relief from the heat. Right after the cool water change my fish become more active, coloring improves and they are interested in food. So, this is when I feed them. Otherwise, the food goes uneaten and can end up with an ammonia issue. Just like with us humans, we lose interest in foods and eat much less, so be careful when feeding.
    • Don't forget that warmer water holds less oxygen. Therefore, it is even more critical to make sure there is plenty of surface disturbance for oxygen exchange. Even go so far as to lower the water level an inch or two can go a long way to improve oxygen levels in the water column. If your tank is planted and you are injecting CO2, obviously surface disturbance will gas off the CO2, but you can still monitor the tank closely for sufficient oxygen levels. If you see your plants pearling that is a great sign that there is plenty of oxygen.


    Hopefully some of the above bag of tricks will help you and your wet fins survive the next (or current) heatwave!

    The end of this month is the ACA Show in Massachusetts. This year's show will be very educational with all the speakers on the agenda. The Angelfish Society once again will have a presence at the convention! We are looking forward to reconnecting with past friends and making new ones. Drop by and say hello and don't forget to check out the angelfish that have been entered into the show. There are sure to be some real stunning fish on display at the convention this year!

    We are currently in communication with the Aquatic Experience group. Still working out details, however, we hope to have a booth at this year's show, held in Chicago the first weekend in November. We are looking forward to building a new relationship with this group! So, keep your eye out for announcements as plans are finalized!

    And keep your eyes out for an announcement regarding the first TAS Auction! Our Board of Officers and Directors are still working out the details; but it should be a great opportunity to purchase quality angelfish and the supplies that are made available.

    Don't forget our General Membership meetings are held the 3rd Thursday of each month at 9 PM EDT / 6 PM PDT. Take an hour break and join us. Our meetings include a presentation or an open discussion on a given topic; and door prizes for those in attendance. Help us plan our first auction! If you are not a member, please join us as my guest. Simply click the CHAT tab at the top of this page, enter your name into the Username field and leave the Moderator Password field blank. Our next meeting will be held on July 16th. Hope to see you there!!
    by Published on 04-28-2015 03:21 PM  Number of Views: 4546 

    Hopefully Spring has arrived to everyone living in the northern hemisphere. It has been a very rough year weather-wise. I know for me in the Pacific Northwest, Spring ...
    by Published on 03-03-2015 03:53 PM  Number of Views: 4592 

    My how time is flying by! I can't believe it is March already. Many of our members are still buried under several feet of snow, but hopefully with Spring around the corner things will begin to improve and warm up.

    Our greatest accomplishment over the past couple ...
    by Published on 01-07-2015 09:17 PM  Number of Views: 5191 

    Well, this section was requested about 2 years ago and has gone unused ever since. It is high time we change that! So, let's start off with the basics. Who is The Angelfish Society? What does this organization stand for? ...