Re: NANFA-- School teacher needs help

Bob Bock (bockhouse_at_earthlink.net)
Sat, 30 Nov 2002 18:16:43 -0500

Git 'er done. Do you get Larry the Cable Guy in your part of the country?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Crail, Todd" <tcrail_at_northshores.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2002 2:58 AM
Subject: RE: NANFA-- School teacher needs help

> "jest some good ol' boys... never meanin' no harm... beats all you never
saw with the trouble with the law since the daze they was born."
>
> http://www.farmertodd.com/images/New/fresh/
>
> there's your boring rainbowfish.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: m c
> Sent: Fri 11/29/2002 10:29 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: NANFA-- School teacher needs help
>
>
>
> --- Moontanman_at_aol.com wrote:
> > I have been exchanging e-mail with a teacher in
> > Georgia that needs help with
> > native fish for an aquarium in his class room. He
> > has the equipment but needs
> > the fish. I suggested that he collect locally but he
> > says nothing lives in
> > the creeks in Ga.?!? Here is his address does anyone
> > live close enough to
> > help him or have any fish you can send? I'm tapped
> > out on fish right now. He
> > wants a mangrove tree too but I don't have any left.
> > Here he is.
> >
> > Michael Cordry
> > 102 Chester DR
> > WRIGHTSVILLE GA 31096
> >
> > I don't have a clue where he is but if someone is
> > close enough maybe they can
> > help out.
> >
> > Moon
>
> Thanks Moon.
>
> My problem is that I haven't found a creek or lake
> that hasn't been stocked with crappy, large mouth
> bass, hybrid sunfish, channel cat, and gambusia. And
> I need not mention the pine lumber industry, the
> kaolin mines, and the 200 years of terrain
> modification for cotton, soybean, and cattle farming?
>
> Fish other than game, gambusia, and escaped bait
> shiners may be present, I just haven't found them. The
> prettest fish around here are mounted on walls.
>
> Here is the introduction that I have been typing:
>
>
> Hello,
>
> This is my introduction to the list.
>
> My name is Michael and I keep fish.
>
> (and the group says "Hi, Michael")
>
> My list address is midgatutordigests_at_yahoo.com.
> I only use this address for mailing lists.
> My regular address is midgatutor_at_yahoo.com and any
> personal communication should be directed there.
>
> I live in Rural Georgia, centrally isolated just east
> of the middle of nowhere.
>
> I have a BS in biology, and an AS in natural science.
>
> I have been keeping fish for about 4 years now, though
> most of my fish were lost during a black out last
> winter.
> The survivors are in a 15 gal, henceforth referred to
> as "my personal tank". They are a collection of
> unremarkable tetra and a petsmart washed out
> rainbowfish.
>
> The reason that I have joined is for educational
> support. I am currently a substitute teacher, I will
> start next month as an aid in the behavioral problem
> class, and in August I start as a Biology teacher.
>
> I am assembling ideas for lesson plans involving
> aquaria and a "teaching collection" of plants and
> fish. I am coming to teaching though an alternative
> program and will be starting education courses soon.
> I am basing my teaching style on the use of concrete
> examples. That is: things that you can actually point
> to that are present in the room. Thus I am taking my
> hobby to work.
>
> I have 3 tanks that I will be moving into my classroom
> that I am currently stocking. A 20 gal, a 35 gal, and
> a 55 gal. There will also be a 10 gal for incidental
> usage under the stand for the 55.
>
> The 20 is for cool water fish. It is currently empty.
> I am looking for Bitterlings, European stone loach,
> and North American natives. I am also looking for
> cool water plants for this tank, preferably North
> American. Filtration is a Whisper. Tank is unheated
> except for the heat of the other tanks.
>
> The 35 is a planted tropical "peaceful community". I
> plan to use this tank to teach plant/animal
> interaction, convergent evolution, basic biological
> cycles, and habitat niches. I currently have 4 small
> tetra, 5 "Mexican livebearers" and 10 pygmy corys in
> this tank, as well as 6 SAE's. Most of the SAE's will
> be moved to other tanks. The tetra were a donation
> form a South American Cichlid importer who got them as
> bycatch. One is a cardinal, the other three are
> smaller and less easily identified. I'll offer a
> reward for the first student who gets me a Latin name
> for them. The livebearers are a small species the
> same size as the tetra. I got them from the same
> source and cannot find an epitaph for them. The tank
> is planted with an "aquabid" package, the list of
> spices for which I accidentally deleted. They seem to
> be doing pretty good though. There is a piece of
> driftwood. Filtration is a Penguin 330 biowheel. Tank
> temp is targeted at 76 F.
>
> I am looking for identified species of plants, small
> rasbora, small tetra and perhaps Endler's livebearer
> for this tank. (yes, I am begging. Public School
> Teacher's prerogative)
>
> The 55 gal is probably the most interesting. I am
> stocking this planted tank around Rainbowfish. They
> are large enough to be seen from the back of the room,
> the species can be determined by the color, and they
> are peaceful. The lesson plan almost writes itself:
> "One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish: Divergent
> Evolution". But I haven't found any yet (if anyone
> would care to help correct that).
>
> I have had more luck assembling tankmates. For the
> bottom of the tank I have some baby Juli ornatus (or
> maybe yellow reganni, we forgot which tank I chose,
> and at one inch I can't tell em apart). The will be
> my representative colonial cave spawner cichlid. To
> school with the rainbows I have Cypnichromis
> leptosomia, a peaceful, zooplankton feeding, mid water
> spawning, mouth brooding, Tanganyikan cichlid slightly
> larger than a rainbowfish. These are also 1 inch.
> Next week a shipment of 1 inch Congo tetra will be
> arriving (amazing what you can find at discount when
> you beg). These will be used as an example of an egg
> scattered and a convergent example for the
> rainbowfish. I am looking for a shell dweller to
> round out the parenting styles lecture. N.
> multifasciatus has been suggested as the best one for
> my purposes. I hope to find them and the rainbowfish
> in the 1 inch size so that they will grow out together
> as an integrated community (wishful thinking I know).
> Filtration on the tank is a Penguin 330 biowheel, and
> a HOT Magnum 350 (which needs a flow diverter, second
> hand). One heater on each end with a stable temp of
> 78F.
>
> My water is rather hard, as would be expected for a
> county with a Calcium Carbonate mine. The tetra in
> the 35 don't seem to mind, but then, they arrived from
> Columbia in a box with 40 deal altum angels, so they
> aren't complaining about being in a tank with plants.
>
> I hope to get my students more interested in ecology
> by showing them fish from North America. The fish
> that my students are most familure with are the deep
> fried variety. All of the waters in these parts have
> been stocked by game species, so except for escaped
> bait shiners (and goldfish), few other natives exist.
> Gambusia has been dispersed for mosquito control, so
> most of the other small fish seem to be locally
> extinct. I'll find out for sure when I offer a reward
> to any student who finds anything else.
>
> In the meantime, donations would be appreciated as I
> do not intend to keep the local "bream". The kids
> already know them inside and out and I will be using
> them instead of frogs for the dissection, followed by
> the fish fry.
>
> I would like to have a native in all 3 of my tanks.
> The 20 should be easy, as there seem to be plenty of
> non-predatory, cool water fish. The only difficulty
> is in balancing between pretty, interesting behaving,
> and "What the Heck is that Mr. C". I have been going
> through the picture archive picking out candidates,
> but suggestions will be helpful. I will start treads
> on the candidate species to discuss them later. I
> don't want to post all of them at once because I don't
> want to flood the list.
>
> The 35 shouldn't be too difficult either, as there are
> plenty of fish in Florida that wouldn't mind tropical
> temps.
>
> I defiantly want American Flag fish and Pygmy sunfish.
> I know a mixed community isn't the best for the
> pygmies, but I don't plan to breed them and I want
> both in the tank for a particular lecture. That will
> be on the difficulties facing taxonomists. The AFF
> and the PSF were once placed in the same family due to
> superficial similarities. Then the AFF was considered
> a cichlid. Now it is a "pupfish". I understand the
> tankbred PSF are less shy than wild caught, so If
> possible I would prefer tankbred.
>
> Other candidates for the 35 would be FL killies and
> whatever else is suggested.
>
> The tough one is the 55. Given the nature of the
> cichlids and rainbowfish planed for that tank, the
> only fish that I can think of would be the larger type
> (3-5 in) of sailfin molly found in LA or some dace or
> shiner from FL or TX. Anyone have a suggestion for a
> native that can deal with 78 F year round and hold
> their own in a tank with the bottom dominated by
> territorial cichlids and the mid and upper water
> occupied with shoaling 3-5 inch fish, who also won't
> eat the plants?
>
> Also, does anyone have any experience in culturing FW
> clams or mussels? I would like to maintain some for a
> future bitterling tank.
>
>
> I also plan to offer a free test grade to students who
> start aquariums and keep logs on them. I hope to be
> able to provide the plants and some livebearers for
> them. I can get gravel for free at the cement
> factory. That will just leave the tank and filter for
> the students to buy at Wal-Mart. You will probably
> see me begging for old filters in August but I wont
> start doing that before then. Allot of things can
> happen in 9 months. That is why Im not submitting
> proposals to corporations yet.
>
> Any technical or material support on these issues
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> -Michael
>
>
> =====
> This is my mailing list address.
> Please send any offlist responses to
> midgatutor_at_yahoo.com
> /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
> / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
> / Association"
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> /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
> / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
> / Association"
> / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
Association
> / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
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> / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
> / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
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http://www.nanfa.org
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/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org