ACA News, Volume 7, #3

March 24, 2021

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ACA News

Volume 7, #3, March 2021

Editor: Alan De Angelo

Publisher: Daryl Hutchins

Contact: [email protected]

Greetings and warming salutations!

It has been a cold winter and the Springtime is finally upon us. With the warming weather, we will spend more time in the great outdoors. Don’t forget about your finny charges locked in their glass cages.

Speaking of cold weather, the South got blasted this year and many people got caught with their pants … er, uh, I mean, many people were caught off-guard and a lot of fish were lost due to the power grid being down. So, as a once upon a time Boy Scout, I will reiterate the motto … Be Prepared.

In these uncertain times, the best bet is to be self-reliant. Buy a generator that can handle your needs. Now, I know that not everyone can rush out and buy a Generac to power the whole house but you can get a portable generator that can, at least, handle your fish room.

This entails more than just having a generator on hand and some extension cords, you need to do a few more things than that. First of all, you need to know how your new generator works and you need to have fuel and oil available for it. I would have a week’s worth on hand. Read the manual, find out how long the generator’s tank of gas will last, my DeWalt says eight hours, and plan accordingly. I’d get fuel stabilizer, too, for your supply.

One also needs to have a way to plug your appliances in. Air pumps are easy, as are portable heaters but, it would be much better if you had a way to plug in your furnace or even air conditioning unit, too. Have your HVAC guy add a plug if you are not handy. Remember, heat can kill as well as cold. What about your dehumidifier? Unless you have great ventilation, you can end up with black mold and a bigger headache than just a few dead fish.

What about a water source? If you are on a well, how do you get power to your well pump? True, your fish can easily go for two weeks without a water change if you still have filtration but what if a true disaster occurs and power is down for a month or longer. Be prepared.

I once had a freezer go out on me, the loss of frozen foods alone was costly. I should also mention that if brine shrimp thaws out in your freezer, it’s a helluva mess. A new freezer was definitely called for. Yuck!

“Aw, this is just nonsense and it won’t happen to me.” Tell that to the people in Texas who had record cold and power outages. A lot of fine fish were lost. It was heartbreaking.
To take this a bit further, we all know of the famous Wessel Fish House. Right? Let’s say a tornado knocks out the power supply to Rusty’s part of town. How would all of those prized, rare, irreplaceable specimens fare without heat, filtration or aeration? A lifetime of collecting and propagation of rare fishes could be lost in a few shorts days or even hours. The unthinkable can happen.

Be prepared. Have a plan and a way to carry it out.

2021 CONVENTION

With the release of so many vaccines and the fall of the CoVid infection rates, many states are opening up and life is returning to normal. The ACA is planning on having the convention this year in the St. Louis area. Make your plans to attend. Not only will it be good to be back to normal but it will be great to see old friends and new.

BALLS

If you are a fan of Morimo Moss Balls, please be advised that some of these have been found to have Zebra Mussels associated with them. If you find any of these moss balls with zebra mussels, please, do not flush them down the toilet or rinse them in the sink as this will introduce the mussels into the local water supply. Take the balls and thoroughly dry them out and better yet, bury those suckers deep in the ground away from any water source. Also, make sure that the tank they were in is completely sterilized. Do not drain this tank water into your sewer line. Drain it into a bucket and empty it in the grass or your driveway. Do not take any chance of getting them into your local waterways. They are a terribly invasive species and negatively impact many aquatic environments.