Editor: Alan De Angelo

Contact: [email protected]

Greetings and early Spring salutations!

Click this short video to get you started on summer activities:

After a very mild and pleasant winter, for the most part, Spring has finally arrived. Now is the time to think of what summer may bring. For me, I’ve decided to go tubbing! I’m purchasing two 125-gallon horse troughs and I’ll see what I can do with them. I know that one will get a dozen zebra danios and I’ll let them have at it all summer. I may be giving away a lot of zebra danios in the Fall. The other? I’ll figure out something cichlid-ish. Maybe a dozen of something to grow out. Who knows? Both will have floating water hyacinths in them, the root systems will be great for hiding eggs and fry with the added benefit of removing wastes from the water.

While on the topic of "other fishes", perhaps the most beautiful tank that I have ever kept was when I filled my 200-gallon Oceanic with both live and realistic plastic plants, a school of over 200 cardinal tetras, 40 red pencilfish (N. mortenthaleri) and a dozen or so Marble Hatchetfish that loved the large open area. Somewhere in this vast jungle was also a solitary pair of Pelvicachromis silvae and two male and three female Amatitiliana nanoleuteus. It was a really cool tank to watch.

Which brings me to the latest issue of Amazonas Magazine hosting Neon, Green Neon and Cardinal Tetras on the cover. When the issue first arrived, with just a casual page through, I shot an email to Stephan Tanner telling him that I loved the issue. After sitting down and reading it, I was even more impressed. Of course, one would not expect less from the fine folks at Amazonas!

A word about Neon Tetras. Neon Tetra Disease can be a scourge but in my lifetime of fishkeeping, I have heard that much like the cure for the Angelfish virus, commonly known as Angelfish Aids at the time, that nearly wiped out the hobby’s angelfish populations, heating them up to 84-86°F and dropping the pH to 4.5 for a week will eliminate the virulent organism. I believe it was the late, great Jack Wattley that figured this out.

The May/June issue also has articles on Ivanacara adoketa and Steatocranus sp. "Dwarf" to satisfy your cichlid cravings.

Backstroke a little to the March/April issue and you will find a taxonomic revision of the Pike Cichlids which all Pike enthusiasts wouldn’t want to miss and an article about Benthochromis horii. B. horii is one of three fishes in the genus. It was previously mislabeled as B. tricoti in the hobby. Again, another issue that the avid cichlidist wouldn’t want to be without.

amazonasmagazine.com

CINCINNATI OR BUST

Convention time is closing in on us. Make those reservations NOW!! There is a music festival that changed its dates so it falls on the same weekend. Rooms will be at a premium. The ACA has blocked out its usual number of rooms for conventioneers but once those are gone, lodging may be tough to find.
Convention.cichlid.org is the place to find out all you need to know about the convention.

BB BACK ISSUES

The 2-for-1 sale is ongoing. Get your copies of BB in print while the sale lasts. I got mine already. How about you?

ELECTIONS

Don’t be bashful! Run for the ACA BOT to help guide the organization through the next few years. Send your short bio to Daryl at [email protected].

ARTICLES

It never ceases to amaze me that some of you write oodles of lengthy comments on FB posts but do not write an article for BB, and get PAID for it. Short articles, lengthy diatribes, how-to articles, breeder reports, taxonomy, collecting trips, fond memories, new experiences, photos, drawings, anything cichlid-related will be welcomed. BB doesn’t write itself. Send all submissions to Daryl Hutchins at [email protected].