tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53218387264361586472024-03-05T09:09:43.137-06:00GoldLenny - On Keeping Aquarium Fish - Goldfish & Tropical'sArticles, information, thoughts and ideas on keeping your tropical and goldfish alive, healthy and happy.... not just to have them survive... but so that they will thrive and live full and healthy lives.
Also, feel free to leave me a question or comment in the "Comments" section below each article and I'll be happy to answer you here. This is always helpful to other readers as well.Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-110318499650546542012-03-19T09:52:00.000-05:002012-03-19T09:52:09.739-05:00Salt - To Use Or Not To Use... That Is The Question!<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><strong>Articles on the use of salt in FW aquariums & Osmoregulation:</strong></span><br />
<br />
(This is snipped with a couple of new links from my Disease - Illness posts)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Kebus_Salt_Treatments.html">http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/Kebus_Salt_Treatments.html</a> (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml">http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml</a> - Salt or NO Salt (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.msn.com/FishHealth/osmoregulation.msnw">http://groups.msn.com/FishHealth/osmoregulation.msnw</a> (Hailey)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/osmoregulation.htm">http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/water/osmoregulation.htm</a> (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goldfishinfo.com/salt.htm">http://www.goldfishinfo.com/salt.htm</a> (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html">http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article22.html</a> - The Great Salt Myth (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html">http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html</a> - To Salt or NOT to Salt (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.algone.com/salt_in_fresh.php">http://www.algone.com/salt_in_fresh.php</a> - Salt in Freshwater (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.algone.com/salinity.htm">http://www.algone.com/salinity.htm</a> - Saltwater Salinity & Specific Gravity (GoldLenny) <br />
<br />
<a href="http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5427">http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5427</a> - TheGab.org (Goldfish & Aquarium Board) forum thread on Calcium and the Osmoregulatory System. (GoldLenny)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.koivet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15967">http://www.koivet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15967</a> - KoiVet.com LONG forum thread on Salt, Chloride and other minerals/chemicals related to Salt & Osmoregulation. (GoldLenny)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-10233636457525979172010-09-04T11:29:00.002-05:002010-09-12T09:49:02.381-05:00A Discussion About Seachem Prime And Other Tap Water Conditioners / DechlorinatorsSo... I've been having a little online discussion mainly about Seachem's Prime and IMO it's an overpriced product when ONLY a dechlor product is needed. Now... for newbie's stuck with cycling with fish, it's a good product to help detoxify ammonia during the cycling process but once a tank is mature and has a healthy nitrogen cycle going on, Prime is just an expensive alternative to a regular dechlor product. Here are some of my replies in this online discussion / debate:<br />
<br />
The question starts off like this from another forum member...<br />
<br />
<blockquote>So, when it comes to fish products I generally dislike mixing them, and prefer to stay with a brand once I begin using it. I currently use Stress Coat from API, and have been using them for around 10 years, however I'm interested in switching to another type of conditioner.<br />
<br />
Simple, stupid question: Will there be any harm in "mixing" brands during a water change? As in, next week when I do my 50% changes, can I add another brand of conditioner and be fine? I'm no expert on how water conditioners work, but I assume that it dissipates after detoxifying the tank, correct? <br />
<br />
I'm just curious because I have always heard (with medications at least), to never, ever mix brands. </blockquote><br />
Another forum member said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>I actually switched over from API Stress Coat to Seachem Prime myself a few weeks ago, Just changed over cold turkey during one of my water changes. Fish didn't even seem to notice. My plants are a lot nicer then they were, but I couldn't tell you if it's from the Prime or some of the ferts I've changed. </blockquote><br />
Then my first reply:<br />
<br />
Why not just use API's actual dechlor product, Tap Water Conditioner which only treats chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals... none of the stress-this, slime-that type crap in it. It's very concentrated so a 16 oz. bottle will treat up to 9,400 gallons compared to 2,400 for most other 16 oz. bottles of dechlor products... and it usually costs less too.<br />
<br />
Prime is good but it's overpriced for folks that aren't stuck with cycling with fish but it's very good for folks that are stuck with cycling with fish. Once a tank is mature enough that it has a good biological filter set up, then Prime really is not needed. <br />
<br />
Something else I just though of. If you have a PetsMart nearby, they have Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator 8 oz. size, usually in stock in the stores for $5.49 which treats 2,400 gallons (Do NOT get the Top Fin Tap Water Conditioner which is the slime-this type product). <br />
<br />
It's not as good of a deal as the API 16 oz. bottle but it's still a better price than some others. Petsmart.com has the 16oz. of API's Tap Water Conditioner for only 6.99 so you get four times the water treatment for 1.50 more. Talk to the store manager about getting the 16 oz. bottle in stock and remember the stores will match their online prices so check the prices online first. <br />
<br />
Another member suggested Big Al's water conditioner.... and my reply:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Well, according to your sig, you have 15 aquariums... but it's the 64 oz. (not a gallon.. unless you can point me to what you buy) <br />
<br />
I saw this.. <a href="http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18580/si1381857/cl0/bigalsmultipurposewaterconditioner64oz">http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18580/si1381857/cl0/bigalsmultipurposewaterconditioner64oz</a> for $16.99 but that is the slime-this/stress-that stuff and probably uses 5ml per 10G or even 10ml per 10G (their website doesn't give dosing info) whereas the API Tap Water Conditioner uses an average of 1ml per 10G (1ml per 20G for chlorine, 1ml per 5G for chloramine) and doesn't have all the stress-this/slime-that stuff in it. Big Al's does sell the actual gallon of API's product for $28.99... and that's a helluva deal for someone with lots of tanks or ponds. <a href="http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18580/si3637700/cl0/aquariumpharmaceuticalstapwaterconditioner1gallon">http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18580/si3637700/cl0/aquariumpharmaceuticalstapwaterconditioner1gallon</a> <br />
<br />
I usually talk about the 16 oz. bottles for most aquarium keepers since even a 16 oz. bottle of API's product will last most people well over a year. 9,400 gallons of water changes is a LOT. LOL If you have 100G worth of tanks and do 25% weekly, that's only 1,300 gallons a year... so the 16 oz. bottle will last up to 7 seven years for chlorine and 2 years for chloramine treated water. People would die of old age before using a gallon of API's for only 100G worth of tanks. (Suggestion for Last Will & Testament... "I hereby leave the remaining amount of my gallon of API's Tap Water Conditioner to my fish....") LOL </blockquote><br />
Someone asked about Prime's ability to treat nitrites and nitrates... and my reply:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>From Seachem's site... <br />
<a href="http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html">http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html</a> <br />
<br />
<blockquote>Prime® is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime® may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. <b>Prime® detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them.</b> It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels. <b>Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat.</b> Prime® is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime® will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.</blockquote></blockquote>While I agree it's a good product for when it's needed when stuck with cycling with fish issues, lets discuss some of Prime's advertising because there is a LOT of salesman's fluff in their advertising...<br />
<br />
<b><b>Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. </b></b><br />
<br />
How can it "remove" the chlorine, chloramine and ammonia in one sentence and then convert the ammonia in the next sentence? I agree it does convert the ammonia to a non-toxic form but it doesn't remove chlorine or chloramine. It breaks chlorine and chloramine down and binds with them to make them not toxic... just like the sodium thiosulfate in other dechlor products.<br />
<br />
<b>Prime® may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity.</b><br />
<br />
While it does alleviate ammonia toxicity, it's a VERY EXPENSIVE solution to nitrite toxicity... when a pinch of table salt per 10G will do the same thing. In fact, that is all Prime is doing with the added salts in their product. Prime is around $10.00++ for a 16 oz. bottle... table salt is around 50 cents for 2 pounds.<br />
<br />
<b>Prime® detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. (From another part of the page... To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used.)</b><br />
<br />
I already talked about nitrite above but IF Prime does do anything to detoxify nitrate.. which isn't really an issue since nitrate does not start to cause problems till it gets very high and normal tank maintenance will keep nitrates in check... but their claim that it "detoxifies... nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them" is simply not true... since the biofilter in most of our aquariums do NOT convert nitrates.. unless one has the added filter systems (trickle filter, deep sand bed, etc.) for denitrifying nitrates.<br />
<br />
<b>Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat.</b> <br />
<br />
The likely reason for this is the added salts in Prime... most people do NOT need additional slime coat production for their fish.<br />
<br />
Now all that said, once again, Prime is a good product but it is two to three times more expensive than what is needed.<br />
<br />
On the down side, I've read some scientific info and even admissions on Seachem's forums from Seachem's reps that Prime causes a much higher reduction in O2 levels in tanks... especially when it's overdosed which they promote in their directions. In an overstocked tank that is going through cycling with fish issues, low O2 levels are NOT needed.<br />
<br />
Most tap water treatments cause some reduction in O2 levels but most other products to not recommend overdosing their products so it's not usually as critical.<br />
<br />
There's another thread in this forum where someone had a major fish kill in their tank after they used their dechlor for a partial water change and then also dosed their tank with Seachem's Excel for their plants and between the two products being used at the same time, Seachem said it probably lowered the O2 level too much and suffocated the fish. If I recall correctly, they lost around 1/2 of their fish... some of them nice fish! <br />
<br />
Another member said:<br />
<blockquote>Interesting posts Lenny, gives something to think about that's for sure. <br />
<br />
I've decided to stick with API, as I've done these last 10+ years. I was thinking of switching because I had heard from all the monster keepers that Prime is the biggest bang for your buck, and is wonderful. I suppose I'm better off staying with what I know works. <br />
<br />
I've ordered many things off Foster/Smith's website, so I know they're awesome. My work hours recently hit a low note so I'm trying not to spend a whole lot right now, and while the API stuff is cheap I'm just not keen on paying shipping at the moment. <br />
<br />
I work at a pet store and we carry small bottles of the API tap water conditioner. I've never tried picking it up because I have always used Stress Coat, however, I've decided it's time to change that and cut down on unnecessary things added to my water. I'll ask if we can order in some larger bottles of the stuff, because I'll get a flat 15% discount at my store on top of the monthly sales prices. </blockquote>And my reply...<br />
<br />
Once again, there's nothing wrong with Prime when used properly.... and I agree with you when sticking with one brand for most chemicals but a dechlor product is so basic and all of them are so close in composition that I don't think it matters. In fact, API only uses two chemicals in their dechlor... sodium thiosulfate and EDTA (which is the chelating agent that binds or chelates with heavy metals to make them non-toxic). Prime also has these same two chemicals and LOTS of other stuff so IF Prime is safe with Excel and Fluorish, then API's dechlor is definitely safe since it only has two of the chemicals that Prime has... but if you want to use Prime, it's fine.. it's just 2-3 times more expensive than needed. <br />
<br />
If you use lots of different chemicals in your tanks, just make sure you don't overdose them and don't use them all at the same time. It's kind of basic that you don't want to ever change the water chemistry too much, too fast, at any one time so if someone is making the choice to use lots of different chemicals in their tanks, it's probably a good idea to spread out the doses and not do too many things at one time. <br />
<br />
I'm not sure that API lowers O2 less... but API doesn't recommend overdosing their product whereas Seachem does say you can overdose by 5X right in their directions. Since most people already overdose a little... I think that's human nature... if a little is good.. then a little more must be better... right? Not necessarily! If Seachem says it's OK to overdose by 5X, human nature might lead some folks to overdose even more.<br />
<br />
Prime's primary ingredient is probably still sodium thiosulfate, in all likelihood, since it's the primary ingredient in all dechlor products that I know of, but then Prime also has other undisclosed chemicals... that they call proprietary on their MSDS safety sheet but they are usually going to be some kinds of "salt" (sodium thiosulfate is a "salt" also) and not that I recommend it, but if you ever taste your dechlor product, it's VERY salty and nasty tasting. Don't ask! ;-)<br />
<br />
This is why they also can claim that their product "detoxifies" nitrite... because of the high levels of salt in their product... and I'm not sure what they mean by "detoxifies" but plain old salt (sodium chloride) will also protect fish from nitrite poisoning (brown blood disorder) and all it takes is a pinch of salt per 10G (which is not a very salty solution) to protect fish from up to 2ppm of nitrite and if nitrites get over that level, they should be reduced via PWC's (partial water changes) and/or reducing the bioload on a tank during cycling with fish. When stuck with cycling with fish, you do need some level of ammonia and nitrite to feed/grow the nitrifying bacteria but you just have to keep them at low enough levels to grow the bacteria while minimizing damage to the fish.<br />
<br />
I just went and found that other thread so you can see what Seachem said in their reply to the hobbyist.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>So I e-mailed Seachem outlining the situation and variables discussed in the thread. Here is their response:<br />
<br />
I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. Flourish Excel does have reducing properties just like every water conditioner on the market. When reducing agents are used in excess, they can potentially reduce the oxygen in a tank because they do not have anything to bind with or reduce. Since you were using more than the recommended dose of Flourish Excel, along with your de-chlorinator, the reduction of oxygen took place. For future use, I would not recommend using the Excel at the same time as your de-chlorinator. I would recommend waiting until later that evening or the next day to dose the Excel, after using your de-chlor. Again, we truly do apologize for your losses and hope that you will remain a loyal Seachem customer. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Have a nice day.<br />
<br />
Good to know not to use it at the same time as water conditioner as that has been my proceedure in the past. I would add excel and any trace element supplements into the buckets I was filling; my thinking being that would dilute the additives some before being added to the tank. I would also think that the directions on the package are a bit misleading as they recomend and increased dose following a large water change (presumably with water treatment in the majority of home aquariums).</blockquote><blockquote>Live and learn...hopefully my experience will help others... </blockquote>Here's the entire thread if you want to read more. <a href="http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232193">http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232193</a><br />
<br />
I've also seen some cycling with fish threads where people were using Prime (and I've suggested Prime in this situation many times) but then when overdosing it and their nitrifying bacteria took longer to grow and I think it was probably because of the oxygen reduction that takes place when overdosing chemicals. I did not know about this adverse side-effect until the above thread. I should add that nitrifying bacteria are aerobic bacteria meaning they like oxygen and grow much better in higher O2 level water compared to low O2 level water. <br />
<br />
Another member chimes in...<br />
<blockquote>top fin sucks! just putting that out there...<br />
<br />
there's nothing wrong with prime. just putting it out there...<br />
<br />
if you're not overstocked, not fishy cycling currently, etc. you can also use bulk sodium thiosulfate just the same. you can get it at any decent photography shop. since price is part of this discussion... you'll never find a product containing it in water that's cheaper than the powder. shipping a gallon of water is multiple times more expensive than shipping a teaspoon of powder... </blockquote><blockquote>sodium thiosulfate binds the chlorine in chloramine leaving the ammo unlocked floating around in the water. prime "detoxifies" this by turning it into ammonium somehow... same can be done just by having a low ph. either way the bond isn't permanent but should last long enough for your filter to convert the ammonium since it's still available for the bacteria to consume.<br />
<br />
most folks keep their stock pretty high. cycling is far from the only time the "added benefits" are applicable.<br />
<br />
primes active ingredients are "proprietary sulfate salts" that's always nice to know... mystery anyone? either way it's an excellent product and the risks related to it are the same with any other product containing sulfates. for example... if you have a well... and your water smells like rotting eggs... you're smelling sulfides in your water... which happen to be displacing o2 atoms. they can be removed with correct filtration or gassed off by aeration prior to use.<br />
<br />
any water treater will be a better buy if you use their pond version because it'll be more concentrated. in other words you'd use about half as much to treat the same amount of water. prime is no exception.<br />
<br />
i, personally have tried a few different dechlor products. i find prime to be a superior product and aside from just dosing sodium thiosulfate powder you're not going to be out your pocket enough for a price difference to matter. don't believe me? next time you go to your lfs... check out the labels and prices. bring a calculator if you feel the need. pay no mind to how much water is in each bottle 16 oz of crap is just that... 16 oz of water. check the bottom of the front label. most bottles will print right in the front how many gallons of water the entire bottle will treat. compare THAT number (and only that number since it's really the only number useful) to the price. i think you'll be surprised. </blockquote>And my reply:<br />
<br />
The only problem with dry sodium thiosulfate is that there is no EDTA in it to chelate any heavy metals that might be present... other than that, it is the best bargain although for home hobbyists with only a few tanks, the dry product might be a LOT of water treatment so see my suggestion for an addition to your "Last Will & Testament" above. ;-)<br />
<br />
As far as the residual ammonia left over after breaking the chloramine bond (chloramine is made by binding 1ppm of ammonia and 4 ppm of chlorine), would be 1ppm of ammonia. With a 25% PWC, this would result in slowly adding 0.25ppm of ammonia to a tank during a water change. Once again, this is SLOWLY adding the 0.25ppm of ammonia since nobody dumps all of their water change water into their tank at one time... at least nobody that I know... so with the filters running and if a mature and cycled tank, the nitrifying bacteria in the filters will immediatly convert this very low level of ammonia while it's being added to the tank. This low level of ammonia is no different than the ammonia being constantly put out by fish and decaying detritus.<br />
<br />
Now, for folks who are stuck with cycling with fish, Prime is a good product but it's simply an overpriced dechlor product for anyone else.<br />
<br />
I should add... why do you say Top Fin's Tap Water Dechlorinator sucks? The MSDS sheet shows it has the same two ingredients as every other basic dechlor product. <br />
<br />
That earlier member replied back...<br />
<blockquote>i don't think the edta would be necessary, honestly. i've never heard of such but i could be wrong.<br />
<br />
i just had issues when i used top fin. fish didn't respond well, plants didn't respond well, w/c's were a scary time, etc., etc.. as well i had numerous chemical reactions in my tank during that time. not one since switching to prime. when i originally switched to prime it caused a nasty cloudy precip. i stuck it out for a couple weeks since the fish seemed to be no worse for the wear. everything cleared up and the tank was clearer than ever. i switched back and went right back to square one in one application. i've since not been willing to test it again. if you want the rest of my bottle of top fin i'd be happy to send it to you.</blockquote>And my reply:<br />
<br />
EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is the part of most dechlor products that treats heavy metals in tap water and most other water sources... even natural well or spring water can have heavy metals in it. Untreated heavy metals accumulate inside of fish organs (kidneys, liver, etc.) and cause all kinds of health problems over time. EVen things like copper, zinc, lead etc. from home plumbing... and all the other heavy metals that leach into our water supplies from factories, shipping and good old Mother Nature when water drips down through layers of earth to get back to an underground aquifer or reservoir water that is in contact with the earth. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic_acid">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylenediaminetetraacetic_acid</a> (also read the Chelating Agent link in the first paragraph)<br />
<br />
The sodium thiosulfate ONLY treats chlorine/chloramine, not heavy metals.<br />
<br />
As far as *why* Prime costs more... as previously mentioned, API's Tap Water Conditioner costs around $5-$6 for a 16 oz. bottle which treats up to 9,400 gallons. Prime costs $10-$12 for a 16 oz. (500ml) bottle and only treats 5,000 gallons so it would take almost two bottles of Prime to treat what one bottle of API treats... so technically it could be as much as 4-5X's more costly depending on the prices paid for each product. They are both good products... just Prime isn't needed for most hobbyists with mature and fully cycled tanks or those who are not stuck with cycling with fish.<br />
<br />
Were you using the Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator or the Top Fin Tap Water Conditioner? They are separate products and the Top Fin Tap Water Conditioner adds a lot of other unnecessary crap like slime-this/stress-that type products. I NEVER recommend those types of products unless there is full disclosure as to what is in it and then the informed hobbyist can decide whether then need aloe in their water or some other completely unnatural and unnecessary chemicals in their tanks. Lots of people accidentally buy the wrong product since they are so similarly named... now for that, you could say Top Fin sucks in general but the Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator is simply Sodium Thiosulfate and EDTA in a water solution... just not as concentrated as API's Tap Water Conditioner (I wish they'd change it to Dechlorinator.... since Conditioner's from other companies usually adds other crap) <br />
<br />
An earlier poster replied...<br />
<blockquote>Well, I'm certainly no expert at all, and this is honestly the first time I have read into this myself. That said, I may or may not be right, I'm just posting what I found through a Wiki search. <br />
<br />
Lenny's original statement was in regards to Top Fin's Tap Water Dechlorinator. It's ingredients according to Petsmart's own page are: Sodium thiosulfate, sodium carbonate, water. As Lenny mentioned, these ingredients are in other dechlorinator brands, however I have no doubt in my mind that the ingredients in the Top Fin declorinator are very low-grade and cheap. I cannot prove this, however... so it's a hunch on my end.<br />
<br />
My bad experiences are with Top Fin's Water Conditioner, here's the ingredients list: Water, EDTA, PVP, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Thiosulfate, Glycerin. <br />
<br />
One ingredient stands out: PVP. I'll save my time and any possible misinterpretation and just link to the Wiki about it: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_vinyl_pyrrolidone">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_vinyl_pyrrolidone</a> <br />
<br />
This stuff is most likely what causes the vaseline effect within tanks that I've experienced. And I would never want to expose my fish to things of that nature. </blockquote>And my reply:<br />
<br />
I think PetsMart's page has the wrong ingredients listed in the *more details* section for Top Fin Tap Water Dechlorinator. <a href="http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752208&lmdn=Fish#prodTab1">http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752208&lmdn=Fish#prodTab1</a><br />
<br />
Those ingredients sound like a buffer product with the Sodium Carbonate ingredient and not mentioning EDTA. I looked at the MSDS a while back and it does have ONLY Sodium Thiosulfate and EDTA and the bottle on the website also says it treats heavy metals meaning that it would have EDTA in it. If you work for them, you might want to bring this to their attention. I'm guessing those ingredients would be for a buffer up or pH neutral type product.<br />
<br />
I wish all companies were required to keep their MSDS sheets available right from the product page. That is one good thing about both Seachem and API... although both of them do use the "proprietary ingredients" non-disclosure trick on a regular basis. <br />
<br />
Another poster replied...<br />
<blockquote>Actually seachem SAFE is by far the best dollar value out there..... not PRIME. Same product in a powdered form. </blockquote><br />
And my last reply at the time I am writing this blog...<br />
<br />
I'm not going to repeat myself by saying that Prime is a good product for people stuck with cycling with fish but it's simply not needed by folks with fully cycled tanks and it adds LOTS of crap that we always talk about NOT adding to their tanks.. the slime-this/stress-that type crap. Oh wait... I just repeated it again. ;-)<br />
<br />
Since a lot of people in this thread were concerned about adding too many chemicals to their tanks... and IMO, I don't like adding stuff to my tanks unless I know what's in it and Prime doesn't list their ingredients, I decided to do some digging. <br />
<br />
The below quotes are info right from Seachem's representatives, either posts in forums or emails sent to customers...<br />
<br />
First, I was surprised to find out that Prime does NOT have EDTA in it and was never formulated to treat heavy metals but they later found out that one or more of their "proprietary" ingredients had some kind of effect on some heavy metals but it's not the same as the chelating effect of EDTA. Here's what Seachem says:<br />
<blockquote>Prime is not a chelating agent, so it does not work that way with heavy metals. Soluble heavy metals (metal ions that can be absorbed) are in an oxidized state. Prime reduces metals, which detoxifies them. Note that it does not remove metals from the water (it just detoxifies them), so you really should have a decent water supply or RO/DI equipment. Please also note again that we talk about detoxifying heavy metals found in tap water at typical concentrations; we do not sell Prime to detoxify heavy metals at abnormally high concentrations.</blockquote>Just a note to Discus keepers... or other low pH fish keepers.<br />
<blockquote>Prime does not affect the pH of tanks, unless it is severely, drastically overdosed. In the bottle it has a pH that is neutral to alkaline, and it works very well over that pH range. It is less effective if the pH is strongly acidic. However, we have used it in tanks that run at a pH of 4.5 or so.</blockquote>I don't like how they say "remove" but I guess it's semantics. As noted above, it doesn't "remove" but does "reduce" low levels of heavy metals.<br />
<blockquote>The standard dose of Prime (1 mL/10 gallons) will remove:<br />
<br />
Copper - 2.6 ppm in 10 gallons<br />
OR<br />
Lead - 8.5 ppm in 10 gallons<br />
OR<br />
Nickel - 2.4 ppm in 10 gallons<br />
<br />
We say "OR" between each because that is the maximum amount of each that can be removed assuming none of the other components are present; so for example, one could remove 1.3 ppm copper and 4.4 ppm lead or any other variety of differing ratios between them.<br />
<br />
We hope this helps </blockquote>The next quote is self explanatory and admits that Prime has some slime-this type chemicals in it.<br />
<blockquote>This is Seachem's response to my query as to why Prime has "slime enhancers" and their claims of "removing heavy metals":<br />
<br />
---------------------------------<br />
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:56:17 -0500<br />
From: Seachem Tech Support <br />
Subject: Re: Prime Slime Coat/Metals<br />
<br />
Hello,<br />
<br />
I appreciate your concerns and will try to address them below.<br />
<br />
Our Prime contains a mild stimulant to assist the fish with production of slime coat. Prime does help the fish "provide a slime coat" by stimulating the fish to do so. We do not use amine based polymers for this purpose as most of our competitors do.<br />
<br />
This is quite different from another product in our line called Stress Guard. Stress Guard contains protein active polymers that actively seek out exposed proteins (wounds, abrasions, etc.) for healing purposes.....it can almost be thought of as a liquid bandage. Basically Prime helps to stimulate while our Stress Guard actually coats.<br />
<br />
Regarding another statement "..... fish that cannot replenish its slime coat in 24 hours is sick and needs a lot more help than Prime." I completely agree! That is why we do not market Prime as a medication. However we do manufacture a full line of medications if needed.<br />
<br />
As for metal precipitation, this was an unintended function of the product. Other dechlorinators use sulfur based reducing salts and the result is similar. So it is listed on the label.... mainly for marketing purposes. But again, I agree that if you have lead or other harmful metals present in your source water a better method of removal if called for. That is why we also offer RO/DI filters for ultimate water purification.<br />
<br />
Best Regards,<br />
Seachem Technical Support,rb</blockquote><blockquote>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM<br />
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</blockquote><blockquote>Quote:<br />
<br />
Of course I just HAD to email SeaChem and see if they would divulge their secret ingredient, and of course they wouldn't but I had to ask!<br />
______________________________________<br />
<br />
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:13:11 -0500<br />
From: Seachem Tech Support<br />
Subject: Re: Prime Slime Coat/Metals<br />
<br />
Hello Again,<br />
<br />
You are welcome. And regarding the stimulant that is used in Prime, I unfortunately can not divulge that as it is proprietary. Most water conditioners include some type of slime coat stimulator or coating agent. We include a small amount of mild stimulant (as mentioned) in Prime but we do not market Prime as a slime coat type product. We market it as a water conditioner that removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia etc. (see label). We DO however market our StressGuard as a slime coat type product. Our StressGuard is one of my personal favorites in our line and often overlooked. Our StressGuard is a disinfectant to help control spread of disease, it is not sold as a dechlorinator. Since StressGuard controls the spread of disease with a disinfectant and contains protein active polymers to promote the healing process, it is great to use when quarantining new fish or introducing new fish into the main system. I have also found it very helpful for cichlid hobbyists (I'm a big cichlid hobbyist myself). I use it when cichlids don't play nice as it really helps heal wounds, torn fins, etc. If slime coat type products are a topic of discussion on your forum, you may wish to mention that Prime is our dechlorinator while StressGuard is our slime coat product/disinfectant.<br />
<br />
Best Regards,<br />
Seachem Technical Support,rb</blockquote><blockquote>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM<br />
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ </blockquote><br />
THE END... FOR NOW! ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-17956711595219726682010-08-24T02:58:00.000-05:002010-08-24T02:58:52.274-05:00Updated - Critters - Visible And Microscopic Organisms That Naturally Occur In Our Ponds And AquariumsHere's the original page that has been updated with at least two more links this month.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2010/08/critters-visible-and-microscopic.html">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2010/08/critters-visible-and-microscopic.html</a> <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLenny in the forumsLeonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-70765642606934886622010-08-10T21:28:00.000-05:002010-08-10T21:28:02.722-05:00Do Fancy Goldfish Have Almost No Stomach And Smaller Digestive Tracts Than Other Fish???In the AquariaCentral.com forums, in a thread about a 75G goldish tank complaining about high nitrates, <a href="http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2429760">http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2429760</a>, a "Senior Member" of the forum said they did not believe me when I told the original poster that fancy goldfish had almost no stomach and shorter digestive tracts than most other fish. <br />
<br />
Here's my reply...<br />
<br />
Here's a Fancy Goldfish Necropsy (Autopsy) with many nice and juicey pictures... scroll down to picture 9 to see a close up of the stomach and intestines. This article is best viewed while eating a nice big meal. ;-)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thegab.org/Goldfish/goldfish-...l-anatomy.html">http://thegab.org/Goldfish/goldfish-...l-anatomy.html</a> <br />
<br />
As you will see, if you made it down to picture 9 without hurling that nice big meal, a fancy goldfish does not have much of a stomach and it's really just an enlarged section of their digestive tract which then narrows down into the intestines. Their is no real separate stomach organ like that in most other fish. Goldfish are not the only fish with the absense of a "real" stomach.<br />
<br />
Here's a goldfish anatomical drawing which doesn't even diagram the stomach. <a href="http://www.flippersandfins.net/Image...atomyChart.JPG">http://www.flippersandfins.net/Image...atomyChart.JPG</a> <br />
<br />
There aren't many necropsies of most other fish, that I have seen over the years, in fact, I've never seen a photographed necropsy of any other common aquarium fish online, not even bigger aquarium fish... but here are a BUNCH of diagrams showing lots of anatomical drawings of other fish showing they do in fact have clearly defined stomachs. The bottome link is a perch which is, anatomically speaking, very similar to many larger cichlids.<br />
<a href="http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm...hAnatomy-L.jpg">http://kentsimmons.uwinnipeg.ca/16cm...hAnatomy-L.jpg</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-fish.jpg">http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-fish.jpg</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://oceanblue2u.com/images/tropic1.gif">http://oceanblue2u.com/images/tropic1.gif</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.infovisual.info/02/033_en.html">http://www.infovisual.info/02/033_en.html</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bildwoerterbuch.com/en/an...of-a-perch.php">http://www.bildwoerterbuch.com/en/an...of-a-perch.php</a> (this one is labeled in German, I believe, based on my two years of high school German a long time ago, but down below the image, there is a translation into English and the Magen is the Stomach)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.artscape.us/aquaculture/f...sh_anatomy.jpg">http://www.artscape.us/aquaculture/f...sh_anatomy.jpg</a><br />
<br />
Do you belive me now?<br />
<br />
And for some comedic relief...<br />
<a href="http://www.godlikemode.com/Goldfish-Cracker-Anatomy.jpg">http://www.godlikemode.com/Goldfish-Cracker-Anatomy.jpg</a> <br />
<br />
If any of these links do not work at any point in the future, you can use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (see link to my blog article about this internet tool) to find the original page and/or image.<br />
<br />
Here is one of my posts in the forum thread, the one that led to this other "Senior Member" challenging my reply....<br />
<br />
One way to slow down the poop rate of goldfish is to feed them more often but not as much with each feeding. Goldfish have very short digestive tracts and almost no stomach at all, so what goes in pretty much comes out the other end rather quickly. <br />
<br />
They are BIG fish so they need lots of food which is why they will forage all the time, munch on plants, etc., but I've found that when I feed mine 3-4 smaller meals on the days when I'm home all day, the fish do not have as much visible poop... compared to how some goldfish will have 1"+ long poops coming out after they eat. This will take some experimenting on the fish keepers part as to how much to feed so that the food stays inside of them longer... and thus be processed so the fish get more nutrition from the food... instead of it being forced out the other end.<br />
<br />
The fish don't seem to munch on the plants as much when they get feedings more often either so that's a plus. Someone mentioned floating plants and I agree that floating Anacharis will greatly help with reducing nitrates since the Ancharis will grow faster when it's floating since it's up closer to the light, it can get CO2 from the surface air and still suck up nutrients from the water. It's also harder for the fish to munch on the Anacharis when it's floating compared to when it's planted since they can't tug on it as easily... as it just moves with them. My goldfish leave my BIG crypt plant alone completely. I have to trim it back regularly or it grows to the size of a basketball or larger and doesn't leave much room for the fish to swim in the front or back... and that's with a 48" x 18" footprint.<br />
<br />
Goldfish keepers pretty much know that the poop is often the same color as whatever they just ate, which further proves that it's not being processed much while inside the fish for a short period of time. I know the fish poop must still have a large amount of nutritional value as I've seen my Mystery Snails munching on it before... after the goldfish pigged out on some blanched Zuchini slices and the poop was pretty yellow when it came out. EWWWWW!!!... but the Mystery Snails didn't seem to mind. LOL <br />
<br />
I hope this helps. <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLenny in forumsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-67347974548899550222010-08-08T13:03:00.000-05:002010-08-08T13:03:40.362-05:00Update To FREE Fish Offers From Around The Web BlogClick on this original link to my FREE Fish Offers page for the updated FREE fish food offer from Hikari.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/free-fish-offers-from-around-web.html">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/free-fish-offers-from-around-web.html</a> <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLenny (in forums)Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-7204249431907328222010-08-04T23:50:00.003-05:002010-08-08T12:22:39.742-05:00Algae - Information And Links That I Have Relied On Over The YearsUpdate - August 08,2010 - two more links added<br />
<br />
Here are some general sites with lots of pictures of the various common algae and information on controlling the algea is covered on each page.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/">http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/algae-randall.html">http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/algae-randall.html</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9">http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm">http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm">http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.freewebs.com/thefishgirl/algea.htm">http://www.freewebs.com/thefishgirl/algea.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sydneycichlid.com/algae.htm">http://www.sydneycichlid.com/algae.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/">http://aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3102">http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3102</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68454">http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68454</a> <br />
<br />
Controlling Algae<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/algcont.shtml">http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/algcont.shtml</a><br />
<br />
Cyanobacteria aka Blue-Green Algae or BGA<br />
<br />
<a href="http://naturalaquariums.com/plantedtank/0608.html">http://naturalaquariums.com/plantedtank/0608.html</a> <br />
<br />
Diatoms aka Brown Algae<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/diatoms.shtml">http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/diatoms.shtml</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article85.html">http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article85.html</a><br />
<br />
Hair Algae<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/hair-algae.html">http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/hair-algae.html</a><br />
<br />
Pond Algae<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/PondAlgae.html">http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/PondAlgae.html</a> <br />
<br />
Fighting Algae With Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/hydrogen-peroxide.html">http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/hydrogen-peroxide.html</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_peroxide.html">http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_peroxide.html</a><br />
<br />
Allelopathic Control (aka Natural Control)<br />
<br />
Barley - <a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/barley.html">http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/barley.html</a><br />
<br />
Hornwort and other Plants - <br />
<br />
<a href="http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=63">http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=63</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquahobby.com/e2004/viewtopic.php?t=10785">http://www.aquahobby.com/e2004/viewtopic.php?t=10785</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs186">http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs186</a><br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLennyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-15453109736834312092010-08-03T13:48:00.007-05:002010-08-26T00:42:42.725-05:00Critters - Visible And Microscopic Organisms That Naturally Occur In Our Ponds And AquariumsUpdated - August 24, 2010 - New link added<br />
Updated - August 4, 2010 - New link added<br />
<br />
This is just a quick blog to be a permanent home to all the links I have to some good sites that already cover this topic very well.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml">http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters2.shtml">http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters2.shtml</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html">http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www3.sympatico.ca/drosera1/fish/worms.htm">http://www3.sympatico.ca/drosera1/fish/worms.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fishpondinfo.com/animals/micro.htm">http://www.fishpondinfo.com/animals/micro.htm</a> <br />
<br />
Here's a new link I just got from the AquariaCentral.com forums. It even has lots of pictures. (Thanks jpappy789)<br />
<a href="http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/34333-Bugs-you-might-encounter-in-your-aquarium">http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum/showthread.php/34333-Bugs-you-might-encounter-in-your-aquarium</a> <br />
<br />
Here's another new link from an AC thread... (Thanks Phosaurus)<br />
<a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/40061-whats-bug-how-recognize-them.html">http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/40061-whats-bug-how-recognize-them.html</a> <br />
<br />
These next three very good resources are no longer found with a *normal* internet search as the websites have closed down for various reasons... most likely due to the world economy. Fortunately, the Internet Archive Wayback Machine saves/archives copies of almost all websites so you can still see the original content of the sites. They may take a little longer to fully load on your computer, especially sites with lots of pictures. See my blog about the Internet Archives Wayback Machine by clicking the link under "Labels" on the right.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070202015209/http://members.aol.com/larval1/critters.htm">http://web.archive.org/web/20070202015209/http://members.aol.com/larval1/critters.htm</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070523055718/http://www.menunkatuck.org/pages/micro.htm">http://web.archive.org/web/20070523055718/http://www.menunkatuck.org/pages/micro.htm</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060716164019/http://www.menunkatuck.org/pages/micro2.htm">http://web.archive.org/web/20060716164019/http://www.menunkatuck.org/pages/micro2.htm</a> <br />
<br />
Now, while many of the above critters are visible to the naked eye, many others will only be visible using a microscope. Here's a simple and concise article on "Selection and Use of a Microscope for Aquarists by Bob Blaho" - <a href="http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Blaho_Microscope_for_Aquarists.html">http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Blaho_Microscope_for_Aquarists.html</a> <br />
<br />
I'll be back to add more to this blog later! ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLennyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-78642803891328016552010-07-24T02:48:00.001-05:002010-08-02T13:08:04.756-05:00World's Longest GoldfishA recent article on PFK, <a href="http://www.practicalfishkeeping.com/"><strong>http://www.PracticalFishKeeping.com</strong></a>, about a <a href="http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3042"><strong>"Monster Goldfish Hooked By Angler"</strong></a> misled many folks into thinking that this 16" Common Goldfish was a "Monster" when in fact, 16" is a normal size that all properly kept Common Goldfish should reach... with many growing to 18", 20" or more. You can read my short comment and other comments at the bottom of the PFK article and then my much longer reply to the Gold-Fish Yahoo Group below.<br />
<br />
This article led to a couple of posts on some of the fish and pond Yahoo Groups which then led to a discussion about the World's Longest Goldfish according to Guinness. Here is one of the emails and then my LONG reply.<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:Gold-Fish@yahoogroups.com">Gold-Fish@yahoogroups.com</a> <br />
On Behalf Of josepha48<br />
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 10:44 PM<br />
To: Gold-Fish@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: [Gold-Fish] Worlds Longest Goldfish<br />
<br />
I found this link on the worlds longest goldfish. Over at Guinness Book of World Records. It's the longest. At 18 inches I'm guessing that 12 inches is probably about average.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/natural_world/fantastic_pets/longest_goldfish.aspx"><strong>http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/natural_world/fantastic_pets/longest_goldfish.aspx</strong></a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>And now, my reply:</b><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 11:18 AM<br />
To: 'Gold-Fish@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [Gold-Fish] Worlds Longest Goldfish<br />
<br />
That Guinness record is for a "pet" goldfish, since Guinness started up that category. <br />
<br />
I would venture to say that 99.9% of goldfish kept as pets are stunted to some degree... a large percentage of them are grossly stunted due to being kept in undersized aquariums... or God-forbid, bowls and being underfed as so many stores tell people to only feed them once or twice a day and while that's OK for adults, baby goldfish have a much higher metabolism and should be fed many times a day... just like a human baby. This is why I so strongly recommend at least a 55G, 4' long tank for two fancy goldfish or a tank twice that length for long-bodied goldfish. Even those minimum recommendations will need weekly tank maintenance to keep the pollution levels down.<br />
<br />
Try putting some baby common goldfish (leaving at least 100G per goldfish) in a pond (or big aquarium) and properly feed them from birth, meaning 5-6 times a day for the first few months, then cut back to 3-4 times a day for the next few months, then twice a day thereafter. Do proper filter maintenance, bottom cleaning and PWC's and they will be 12" long after a year and 16" by the two year mark. <br />
<br />
Many people have these kinds of results even when buying 1" feeder goldfish at a pet store, even though those fish are partially stunted already but they are still young enough to recover if properly taken care of once removed from the overstocked feeder fish tanks.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fishbase.org/"><strong>http://www.Fishbase.org</strong></a>, which is THE best scientific resource that hobbyists have for information, says that goldfish grow to a maximum normal length of 59cm (23") in nature. <a href="http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=271"><strong>http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=271</strong></a> <br />
<br />
This 1992-1995 Alabama study (see below link or TinyURL if link breaks) of over 250,000 common goldfish measured their length and weight from 1.5cm (.59") to 40.6 cm (16") to come up with a calculator for determining the weight of a goldfish based on it's length. NOTE - There's likely a reason they studied goldfish up to 16" as that is a normally expected/attainable size. The reason that folks would want to know their fish's body weight is to determine the proper amount of food to feed each day... usually 1% to 3% a day, depending on the water temperatures with less food being fed at lower water temps, down in the 60'sF and then no food fed when the water temps get down into the low 50'sF.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://fishbase.org/PopDyn/FishLWSummary.php?ID=271&id2=954&Genus=Carassius&Species=auratus+auratus&variable_Length=40&variable_Length_required=Edit+box+can+not+be+blank"><strong>http://fishbase.org/PopDyn/FishLWSummary.php?ID=271&id2=954&Genus=Carassius&Species=auratus+auratus&variable_Length=40&variable_Length_required=Edit+box+can+not+be+blank</strong></a><strong>. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>TinyURL - </strong><a href="http://tinyurl.com/24fhpd6"><strong>http://tinyurl.com/24fhpd6</strong></a> <br />
<br />
You can enter your own fish's length (in cm) to find out it's likely weight (in gm).<br />
<br />
You can't really use the word "average" when dealing with pet fish length's as the "average" would be severely below what the fish *should* grow to because there is STILL a severe overstocking problem in the hobby due to the bad info given by many pet stores and even many websites still give bad info about goldfish.<br />
<br />
Just like with "average" lifespan versus how long a fish *should* live. The "average" lifespan of a pet goldfish is probably a year or two but they should live for 20+ years for long-bodied and 10+ years for fancy goldfish. Here's my "Lifespan" article/list that I've been working on for many years and the REAL *expected* lifespan of pet fish would shock many folks. So many of the most common BIG pet fish (goldfish, common pleco's, oscar cichlids, etc.) should live for a decade AND more, but so many don't make it that long due to being kept in undersized tanks or being overstocked so the stunting causes them many health issues and a much shorter lifespan.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-long-should-aquarium-fish-live.html"><strong>http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-long-should-aquarium-fish-live.html</strong></a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/preview.php?num=Fish-Lifespans"><strong>http://tinyurl.com/preview.php?num=Fish-Lifespans</strong></a> <br />
<br />
HTH!<br />
<br />
NOTE - Be careful of the 2.5 meter long goldfish *reported* out of Thailand, that is circulating the net.. it's an April Fool's blog. LOL Unfortunately, some legitimate sites are picking it up as a real story. <a href="http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/news/lib/687"><strong>http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/news/lib/687</strong></a> I expect we'll be countering this story for years to come. Here's Guinness' report about the April Fool's blog. <a href="http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Were-you-April-Fooled/blog/2276498/7691.html"><strong>http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Were-you-April-Fooled/blog/2276498/7691.html</strong></a> <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
<strong>----------</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Please feel free to leave your comments below.</strong>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-89216931970368082562010-06-28T14:21:00.002-05:002010-08-02T13:07:08.818-05:00Internet Archive Wayback Machine... And How It Saves Copies Of Closed Down WebsitesI've written about and used the Internet Archives Wayback Machine many times in the many forums from hobby to computer tech forums that I participate in on a regular basis but I've been seeing MORE and MORE websites shutting down in the past two years so I wanted to write this short article to inform people of how the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (IAWM) works so you can find information from any of your favorite websites that have gone away.<br />
<br />
There's a couple of ways to get to the IAWM.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://archive.org/"><strong>http://archive.org/</strong></a> - The home page for the Internet Archives, then on that page, right near the top middle, you'll see a section about the Wayback Machine, where you can enter a URL (website address aka a link) into the field and click Enter or click the "Take Me Back" button and it will bring you to a page of dated links for every snapshot that the Wayback Machine has concerning that website URL. <br />
<br />
The other ways to get directly to the IAWM page is:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.archive.org/web/web.php"><strong>http://www.archive.org/web/web.php</strong></a> or the advanced search page, <a href="http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html"><strong>http://web.archive.org/collections/web/advanced.html</strong></a>.<br />
<br />
Here's how it works...<br />
<br />
I use to publish articles on a free Yahoo website called GeoCities but Yahoo decided to close down GeoCities in 2009 so folks no longer have access to their web pages unless they know about the Wayback Machine.<br />
<br />
Here was one of my original GeoCities links (which no longer work)...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/LennyVasbinderPI/Politics_Start"><strong>http://www.GeoCities.com/LennyVasbinderPI/Politics_Start</strong></a> <br />
<br />
Of course, clicking that link brings you to a page saying the site no longer exists.<br />
<br />
Now, if you go to the IAWM and copy/paste or type that URL into the blank field and click "Take Me Back", it will bring you to this page, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.GeoCities.com/LennyVasbinderPI/Politics_Start"><strong>http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.GeoCities.com/LennyVasbinderPI/Politics_Start</strong></a>, where you will see a series of dated links where the Internet Archives Wayback Machine took snapshots of my web page between 2002 and 2006, which would have been the last time I updated that site since I started using Blogger Blogspot's to post my blogs/articles since then.<br />
<br />
Other websites that have been archived include many of the articles on MSN Groups when Microsoft decided to close them down in 2008. <br />
<br />
For my fish keeping hobby, at least three LONG-TIME very good websites have shut down in the past two years, <a href="http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/">http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/</a>, <a href="http://www.plecofanatics.com/">http://www.plecofanatics.com/</a> and <a href="http://www.plantgeek.net/">http://www.plantgeek.net/</a> but most, if not all of their articles and many of their forum threads are preserved on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.<br />
<br />
I never did use AOL (aka AOHell to many) but I know that AOL shut down millions of web pages in their "home town" section, at least I think that is what it was called, and many AOL members complained viciously when they lost all of their web pages, online photo albums (which reminds me that Yahoo shut down Yahoo Photo Albums a few years ago when they bought out Flickr.com), etc... so hopefully, any of those folks that thought they lost everything might be able to find some of their data and/or pictures using the Wayback Machine.<br />
<br />
All that said, some websites prevent search engines from crawling their pages and for those websites, the IAWM may have also been blocked from crawling the website which means all data may be lost forever in those cases.<br />
<br />
I'll probably be adding to this article from time to time so check back... or if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a "Comment" below (click the Comments link at the bottom of this article, if the Comments box isn't already open).<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder aka GoldLenny in fish forums<br />
<br />
<b>-----------<br />
<br />
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.</b>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-178997477687220302010-06-25T01:28:00.004-05:002010-08-02T13:06:22.429-05:00Oil??????????????? - A Continuation Of The Online Debate And Discussion Of The BP Oil Accident<strong>This is a continuation of the blog I wrote last week, which you can read here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-online-debate-about-so-called.html">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-online-debate-about-so-called.html</a> </strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<p></p><strong>--------------</strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">LATE BREAKING NEWS ABOUT THE OIL SPILL....<br />
<br />
Subject: BP:innovative solutions </span></strong><br />
<span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>________________________________<br />
<br />
BP announced that this morning they installed a wedding ring around the leaking pipe and it quit putting out.<br />
________________________________<br />
<br />
ROTFLMFAO!!!!</strong><br />
</span><br />
Also, check out this FUNNY Jon Stewart clip from The Daily Show to put all of this in perspective:<br />
<br />
While I'm not a big fan of Jon Stewart's political leanings, he does come up with some pretty good comedy skits on a regular basis and this one goes right in line with the previous blogs about my online discussion and debate of the BP Oil Spill accident. The FACT that the last eight presidents and the past 15 Congress' have FAILED to deliver on their so-called "green energy" concepts is what leads me to so strongly believe that they will not succeed this time either... so until they CAN PROVE that their concepts will work, they should free up the private sector to DRILL BABY DRILL, MINE BABY MINE, BUILD BABY BUILD (Nuclear Power Plants)... as least we KNOW those work... since, based on the past 30 years, we KNOW government can't do it it... much like they screw up most everything else they try to do. I don't know why the government is even involved in "green energy". It wasn't the government that developed coal mining or drilling for oil.. it was the private sector. The government did have a big hand in nuclear power but ONLY after private scientists discovered the capabilities of nuclear fission. Anyhow... you can Google for the history of nuclear power but here's the Jon Stewart Daily Show skit...<br />
<br />
<br />
<?xml:namespace prefix = mailto /><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #f5f5f5; FONT: 11px arial; COLOR: #333" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="360" height="353"><tbody>
<tr style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" valign="center"><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 2px"><a style="COLOR: #333; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 2px">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr>
<tr style="HEIGHT: 14px" valign="center"><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 2px" colspan="2"><a style="COLOR: #333; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-16-2010/an-energy-independent-future" target="_blank">An Energy-Independent Future</a></td></tr>
<tr style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #353535; HEIGHT: 14px" valign="center"><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; WIDTH: 360px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; OVERFLOW: hidden; PADDING-TOP: 2px" colspan="2"><a style="COLOR: #96deff; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thedailyshow.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr valign="center"><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" colspan="2"><embed style="DISPLAY: block" height="301" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="360" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:312470" bgcolor="#000000" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="autoPlay=false" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="window"></embed></td></tr>
<tr style="HEIGHT: 18px" valign="center"><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px" colspan="2"><table style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" height="100%"><tbody>
<tr valign="center"><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; WIDTH: 33%; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px"><a style="FONT: 10px arial; COLOR: #333; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/" target="_blank">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; WIDTH: 33%; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px"><a style="FONT: 10px arial; COLOR: #333; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/" target="_blank">Political Humor</a></td><td style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; WIDTH: 33%; PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-TOP: 3px"><a style="FONT: 10px arial; COLOR: #333; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/Tea+Party" target="_blank">Tea Party</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
Here's the link to the above video in case it decides to stop working...<br />
<a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-16-2010/an-energy-independent-future">http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-16-2010/an-energy-independent-future</a><br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
Here's the continuation / new discussion and debate started with this post in the AquaticLife Yahoo Group:<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of bill 1433<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8:06 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
I'm sorry ------------------------- I liked it better when we had the controversy going ---------- at least there was mail.<br />
<br />
About 3 new messages in almost as many days.<br />
<br />
List is all but dead! Nobody is having ANY problems?<br />
<br />
Impossible!<br />
<br />
Lenny, IS everyone out swimming and boating? Maybe we should start a thread about Food Recipes?<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
--- On Tue, 6/22/10, jaiko <greychildren@yahoo.com>wrote:<br />
<br />
From: jaiko <greychildren@yahoo.com><br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Date: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 10:15 PM<br />
<br />
lol bill we r all working for bp so we are busy around here...lol<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Dax Gorham<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:40 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Ha it should be easy to start a disagreement and get the mail flowing .... now where would you like that disagreement to be???????????????? LOL<br />
<br />
Daniel John Gorham<br />
daxgor@yahoo.com<br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:08 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
LOL. You have to wait till midnight on Friday to have an OT-weekend free-for-all... if the mods allow it. Just remember to put OT at the start of the subject line so folks know that it's OFF TOPIC! ;-)<br />
<br />
There have been other posts though... something about a baby Cory's anus... or was that aeneus? LOL And I saw a post about breeding Licorice Gourami's but I don't think anyone answered it.<br />
<br />
I ended my last reply in the Gulf Of Mexico Biotope Tank thread with a bunch of fish recipes... although I didn't get to find out what a Mermaid.... oops.. better not go there! ;-) I didn't find me a terrestrial mermaid this past weekend anyhow so it's a moot point. :-(<br />
<br />
Watch... Mike (Deneerz) will chime in now. I think he has a Google alert set up for whenever I mention mermaid. LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of bill 1433<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 10:14 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
You have both my prayers and sympathy! A nightmare of epic proportions to say the least. Many, many folks have already taken down their BP gas station signs in anger and protest. It does not look to good for any of us, the company or the Wildlife either! A no win situation.<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 10:34 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
I ONLY buy BP gas right now... oh yeah... and their stock too! Buy low and sell high!<br />
<br />
What Congress and the Obama are trying to do and/or doing to BP is outrageous and at the height of hypocrisy from a bunch of mostly crooked politicians... and when compared to what Congress and the Pres are intentionally doing to America... what the BP oil rig accident is doing is FAR less of a disaster or catastrophe.<br />
<br />
Thank God, today, Judge Feldman (no relation to Marty) threw out Obama's moratorium on the ongoing drilling down here so at least some piece of sanity is coming back! And we may not have tens of thousands of American's dying this winter and in coming years due to the high price or complete unavailability of heating oil.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 12:38 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Oh you mean the judge that is deeply vested in stock with Transocean and BP?<br />
<br />
<br />
-------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 2:13 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Eric Roberts said: "Oh you mean the judge that is deeply vested in stock with Transocean and BP?"<br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
There you go again (in my best Reagan voice)... spreading LIES again... oops.. maybe I should use politician speak and say "untruths" or "misinformation" but I don't have a problem calling a spade a spade! It's a LIE!<br />
<br />
Now, that said, while it may be true that Judge Feldman owns or maybe OWNED (past tense) stock in Transocean, but less than $15,000.00 worth back in 2008, (YEAH ERIC.. THAT'S "DEEPLY VESTED"... you must be on welfare and food stamps if you think $15,000.00 is a lot of money), he DOES NOT own any stock in BP. You need to stop reading HuffPo BLOGS as your source of the news... either that or stay off the wacky tobaccky... as your paranoia is getting the best of you now! ;-)<br />
<br />
If you do a search of Google News, for 'judge feldman owns BP stock', there are only 291 hits as of right now and most of the summaries and websites are NOT from what I would call reputable News sources... sites like the top hit, Grist Magazine (how is that the top hit - WTF is a Grist Magazine anyhow???), FireDogLake Blog (yeah... that one sounds reputable), San Francisco Chronicle Blog, etc. Heck, I didn't know Google was considering Blog's as News sources now and if that's the case, then it's OFFICIAL... "Obama Is A Post Turtle"... since one of my blogs is about that. LOL <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/obama-is-post-turtle.html">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/obama-is-post-turtle.html</a><br />
<br />
Even CBS News, one of the liberal-left leaning LSM (Lame Stream Media) networks that are/were in the tank for Obama reported:<br />
<br />
"...Feldman's financial disclosure report for 2008, the most recent available, shows holdings in at least eight petroleum companies or companies that invest in them, including Transocean Ltd., which owned the Deepwater Horizon. The report shows that most of his holdings were valued at less than $15,000, though it did not provide specific amounts.<br />
<br />
It's not clear whether Feldman still has all of the energy industry stock listed in the report. RECENT COURT FILINGS INDICATE HE MAY NO LONGER HAVE TRANSOCEAN SHARES (regular print changed to ALL CAPS by Lenny for emphasis). He did not own any shares in big companies such as BP PLC, which was leasing the rig that exploded, or ExxonMobil..."<br />
<br />
From: <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/22/national/main6607071.shtml">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/22/national/main6607071.shtml</a><br />
<br />
<br />
I actually like this San Francisco blog on the MarketWatch website (part of Wall Street Journal), obviously written by a left-coast so-called reporter, which says (in his obviously biased reporting) but at least he ends the article on an honest note:<br />
<br />
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Here's a story everyone can agree to hate.<br />
<br />
Martin Feldman, the federal judge who overturned a White House moratorium on deepwater drilling, was an investor in several offshore oil service companies that stand to benefit from his decision. Outrageous!<br />
<br />
But seriously. Is anyone really shocked that a man who literally holds court in Louisiana, whose career is defined by local politics and who probably pays close attention to local economics ruled that a six-month ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf was "arbitrary and capricious"?<br />
<br />
Feldman is widely reported to have been a Transocean shareholder as recently as 2008. Maybe he still is....<br />
<br />
... But let's face it. Nearly everyone along the Gulf Coast is conflicted by this tragedy. Even fishermen whose livelihoods are on the line understand the importance of the oil industry to their state's economy.<br />
<br />
And it doesn't stop there. This conflict goes right to the heart of the nation's schizophrenic energy policy. Americans far removed from the spill are outraged by the environmental devastation spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico. But are they so outraged that they're giving up their cars? Is anyone calling for a moratorium on oil?<br />
<br />
Feldman might not have been the best choice to hear this case, but the American people aren't necessarily the best choice to pass judgment on the oil industry either.<br />
<br />
-- Jim Jelter<br />
<br />
From: <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/passing-judgment-on-the-gulf-spill-2010-06-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/passing-judgment-on-the-gulf-spill-2010-06-23?reflink=MW_news_stmp</a><br />
<br />
<br />
So Eric and any other hypocrites out there... how is that bicycle riding coming along??? Just make sure you don't use rubber tires or oil on your chain and bearings... those are petroleum based!<br />
<br />
I wish States like Louisiana, Texas, Alaska and other ENERGY-RICH States would just cut off the bleeding heart States that don't want to drill or mine in their own areas... and let all of them start riding their bikes everywhere, die from heat exhaustion during the summers and freeze to death during the winters... and turn their cars into planters for their wacky tobaccky or maybe put a Crucifix or statue of Jesus in their car and fill it with urine or feces and call it artwork... WHAT A BUNCH OF FREAKING FREAKS!!!<br />
<br />
Bill... are you happier now? LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of bill 1433<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 2:50 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Hi Len,<br />
<br />
Happy? That's a relative term but I think I can state my case simply enough for you.<br />
<br />
Off- shore drilling employs many thousands of people. It's dangerous work to say the least, so is working on or near Nuclear Power plants. Their need is justified and also necessary, to a point.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately though, their very existence threatens many other things, not discounting people themselves. These things both offer pathways or alternatives to the energy crises situation we all live with daily.<br />
<br />
But these industries suffer from extremely high profit margins but no on-board safe guards. In short, when these folks have an "accident" it quickly assumes monumental proportions. The cost of human life rises sharply and the cost to the environment, well that's the big question, isn't it. And who pays for it in the end?<br />
<br />
Already there is worry for the folks in your neighborhood down there about BP going belly -up. Who pays for all of it in the end? The company? They go belly-up, declare bankruptcy, hide a bit and become re-born again under a different corp. name and start all over. I truly believe the President is only trying to insure REAL safeguards so these "accidents" can't happen again and if they do, the proper things are in place to deal with the problem. We didn't learn much the Valdez mess did we? How are things going up there? Why just fine, those shipping lanes are wide open. Who's really kidding who?<br />
<br />
Let's stay on fish subjects, after all they don't vote!<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 3:22 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
BP is not going belly-up. Start watching Bill O'Reilly instead of the LSM. BP has over 100 TRILLION DOLLARS in oil reserves so the 20 BILLION or more that this will cost is not going to bankrupt them. (NOTE: a TRILLION is a THOUSAND BILLION in case folks forget how much those first two letters cost us taxpayers when our elected liars, crooks and thieves have now deficit spent us up to THIRTEEN TRILLION DOLLARS and climbing to TWENTY TRILLION DOLLAR level under Obama, according to the Federal Reserves own numbers, which is up from 7.9 TRILLION when the Dem's took over Congress in 2006, so that's a 250% increase in the National Debt in less than 10 years). Yes, the Republicans were bad when they controlled Congress from 1994 thru 2005 (and I and other conservatives have said it a thousand times) but the liberal Dem's, in the past four years, have far outdone any previous records for deficit spending and raising the national debt by leaps and bounds!!!! And that's not counting all of the deficit spending and debt being carried by so many liberal-democrat controlled Cities and States as well.<br />
<br />
As far as staying on fish topics... YOU started this new "Oil???" thread.... but then when I force-feed some of you the truth, you want to change the topic. TYPICAL lib!!! LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:39 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Bill said: "...But these industries suffer from extremely high profit margins but no on-board safe guards. In short, when these folks have an "accident" it quickly assumes monumental proportions. The cost of human life rises sharply and the cost to the environment, well that's the big question, isn't it. And who pays for it in the end?..."<br />
<br />
Bill,<br />
<br />
I don't know about nuclear but the oil industrial DOES NOT have "extremely high profit margins". That's a bald-faced lie! Oil companies have to spend their own money to explore, drill, harvest, transport, refine, deliver to gas stations and all they make are a couple of pennies per gallon of gas in profit... whereas Congress does absolutely NOTHING and gets over 18 cents a gallon. Now, exactly who is getting the extremely high profit margins???<br />
<br />
As far as "on-board safe guards", these companies have to comply with 6' tall stacks of regulations and permitting through more than a dozen different government offices and have to be inspected and approved at every step.... so if there aren't enough "on-board safe guards", you can once again blame Congress for that as well.<br />
<br />
As far as the accident "assumes monumental proportions", it could have been MUCH less today if Obama would have accepted foreign help from day one... or rather day three or four, when it was offered, with written formal notice delivered on April 25, but instead Obama waited until June 14 to accept the help and publicly announced this a couple of days later.<br />
<br />
Read more here...<br />
<br />
"How The Government Slowed Down The Gulf Cleanup" -<br />
<br />
Our own government has quietly admitted that America needs foreign help to handle the oil spill — almost two months after pushing that help away.<br />
<br />
Far more oil could have been intercepted before it fouled the Gulf Coast. So why hasn’t our government apologized?<br />
<br />
By refusing foreign assistance, we banned both the latest technology and cleanup vessels that far exceed the capacity of America’s oil spill response vessels (OSRVs). We rejected ships with 10 times the capability of the vessels we used instead.<br />
<br />
In a quiet announcement on June 18, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) finally agreed that we need help, describing a conclusion reached two days before:<br />
<br />
“. . . the FOSC, in coordination with other federal agencies, determined on June 16, 2010, pursuant to 46 U.S.C. §55113, that there are an insufficient number of specialized oil skimming vessels in the U.S. to keep pace with the unprecedented levels of oil discharges in the Gulf of Mexico. Based upon this determination, foreign specialized skimming vessels may be deployed to response operations.”<br />
<br />
Technically, the Jones Act remains unwaived and continues to restrict use of foreign vessels other than OSRV’s. Officials invoked only a limited exemption that was put into law after Hurricane Katrina.<br />
<br />
By their delay, our bureaucracy and government regulation have made a horrible situation even worse. There were two weeks between the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon and the time when the first oil made landfall. And it was almost six additional weeks before specialized equipment from overseas was approved by our government for limited use.<br />
<br />
The Dutch formally offered help on April 25. Not until June 14 did the U.S. State Department announce that some foreign help would be welcomed from the 17 nations who had been trying to assist.<br />
<br />
More... <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2wo8e4w">http://tinyurl.com/2wo8e4w</a><br />
<br />
for full URL,<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newsmax.com/ErnestIstook/Gulf-oil-BP-cleanup/2010/06/22/id/362748?s=al&promo_code=A236-1">http://www.newsmax.com/ErnestIstook/Gulf-oil-BP-cleanup/2010/06/22/id/362748?s=al&promo_code=A236-1</a><br />
<br />
You truly believe WRONG about your president. It's all about "never let a disaster go to waste"... the operating status-quo of Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel (there's your "fish" word for keeping things on topic). Obama started working on using this accident to further his political agenda LONG before he worried about cleaning up the accident.<br />
<br />
How's that hopey-changey thing going for you now??? It's more like Jimmy Carter's presidency on steroids!!!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of bill 1433<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:54 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
I said " I MISSED ALL THE MAIL-----------I am sorry!<br />
<br />
I should have said I MISSED ALL THE "FISH" MAIL!<br />
<br />
Mentioned somewhere before, I ALSO said these discussions offer little to the group as a whole so why continue with them? There is no good to come of any of it. Since NONE of us are in such a position of power as to be able to use such valuable advice, any good which might come of it is wasted. Moreover, it lays waste to valuable FISH discussion space.<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 6:05 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Nahhh.. you know you wanted the Oil debate again or you wouldn't have started the new thread with the subject line of "Oil??????", which means "Oil Questions"... and your comment in that first post included, "...I'm sorry ------------------------- I liked it better when we had the controversy going ---------- at least there was mail..."<br />
<br />
Besides, I did mention Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel in my last post, to keep things on the fish topic. ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of harry perry<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:57 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife]Oil!!! /Hey gang. This is Bullshit<br />
<br />
If we're bored I am sure we can find some fish related topics.<br />
<br />
This is bullshit and it's getting old quick. If folks like a controversy they can join a group for that. This group is about fish keeping.<br />
<br />
We have 2389 members who joined this group to learn about keeping fish not a few members opinions on the oil spill or politics.<br />
<br />
If some folks want more mail, join more groups. I have over 350 messages a day in my mailbox.<br />
<br />
Maybe the folks that are bored should try submitting some topics for discussion.<br />
<br />
What a concept!!!!!.<br />
<br />
Harry<br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 6:36 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife]Oil!!! /Hey gang. This is Bullshit<br />
<br />
Don't worry Harry... probably less than 200 of the supposed 2,389 people actually get the emails. If you ever look down the list of Members, the overwhelming majority of people are on "No Mail" or "Special Notices" only. Every once in a while, you'll see someone with "Individual Email" or "Daily Digest" but 80-90% DO NOT get mail from the group. So, if 20% are supposed to be getting mail, that would be nearly 500 people BUT out of those who are supposed to be getting email, 303 are bouncing right now, meaning they aren't getting mail either.... which brings my calculations down to the 200 figure... and there's a possibility that many of those remaining 200 don't even open the majority of the emails or they may not be checking their email at all so they're not getting them either.<br />
<br />
Start a poll to see how many people still check in with the group. You could have choices like, Individual Emails, Daily Digest, check group daily, 2-3 times a week, once a week, 2-3 times a month, once a month, etc. and after a month or two, check to see what the numbers are. You could also send out a Special Notice of this poll which would possibly reach a few hundred more members.<br />
<br />
It's the nature of any forum or group or company or group of voters or humans in general... 90% of the work is done by 10% or less.... and with income taxes collected and wasted by Congress, it's 90%+ of the income taxes are paid by the top 10% or less of the income earners... and then wasted by less than a fraction of 0.1%, particularly 535 as a percentage of 300 Million... which I think is 0.000000178333% but I could be off by one zero.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of jaiko<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 9:31 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife]Oil!!! /Hey gang. This is Bullshit<br />
<br />
i believe gang that were loosing countless fish species as we speak in the gulf of Mexico so this is a fish topic i think?<br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 10:26 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife]Oil!!! /Hey gang. This is Bullshit<br />
<br />
Yes, there are fish deaths and other wildlife deaths but I don't think we're losing either countless fish and certainly not entire species. Is there damage being done, yes, but the Gulf of Mexico is a BIG place and the oil is only affecting a very small part of it right now. The Gulf of Mexico recovered from a similarly bad spill back in 1979 from a rig off of Mexico's coast that flowed unabated for a couple of months and we didn't have the technology for cleaning things up back then like we have today... and most folks do not even remember the 1979 spill because it DID NOT kill the Gulf of Mexico... just like this accident will not kill the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
<br />
See my last post, an hour or two ago, about what Obama could have done back in April to seriously mitigate the damages... but he waited nearly two months before doing it. For any fish or other wildlife lost during that period, then he has a large percentage of that blood on his hands. I'll wait for the next couple of winters before I play the "I told you so card!" about the price of heating oil and the people that die because they can't afford it or it's not even available... but I did write my blog article a couple of weeks ago so my prediction is well documented.<br />
<br />
The Feds are still putting up roadblocks to our efforts to stop the oil from getting into our marshes and coastlines down here. If we lost even more of our marshes, then it will raise the risk of even more humans dying with any big hurricane that hits our area so that blood will be on Obama's hands as well. I wish Gov. Jindal would have our LA Air National Guard patrol our work areas and fire a warning shot over the bow of the next Coast Guard or Wildlife and Fisheries boat that tries to stop our efforts to secure our coastlines.<br />
<br />
Lenny for Governor... or better yet, President!!! LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 11:42 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
So the whole business world reporting their record profits was just a big lie Lenny?<br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 6:56 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Ummmm... except for the SOCIALIST-liberal-democrat mentality, making profit is a GOOD THING!!! Geez... how did my once great pro-capitalism, freedom loving AMERICA degrade into such a pathetic socialistic, pro-BIG-goverment, anti-capitalism mindset for so many people???<br />
<br />
Would you rather they lose money like EVERY government run program that us taxpayers pay for... or maybe all of the companies that Obama and Bush thought were "too big to fail" and us taxpayers had to bail them out? Would that be better for you???<br />
<br />
"Record profits" happen due for many reasons... such as the rapidly growing and industrializing countries like China and India, so global companies are selling their product to a MUCH larger customer base... just like Walmart sets new records every year for their sales/profits because they are opening up new stores everywhere. They still operate on very small profit margins except they have increased their customer base to increase their profits... usually while lowering their prices. IF ONLY GOVERNMENT COULD LEARN FROM THAT!!!<br />
<br />
The "Profit Margin" is still the same for most oil companies... just a couple of pennies per gallon of gas sold... after the oil company did all that work to get the gas to your local gas station.<br />
<br />
You should be complaining about your local, State and Federal government skimming HUGE PROFITS off the top of every gallon of gas sold... which adds up to nearly a DOLLAR per gallon in some States. In Louisiana, it's nearly 60 cents a gallon between Federal, State and local taxes on each gallon of gas. That's over a 30% to 50% tax on every gallon of gas and the government DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to produce that gallon of gas except make it harder and harder for the oil companies to drill for it in the first place. When gas was under $2.00 a gallon at retail, the tax was nearly a 100% tax in some States. Without the taxes, the gas would have only cost a dollar a gallon in those States.<br />
<br />
A gallon of gas is less than a gallon of bottled water OR a gallon of milk and considering everything the oil companies have to do to get that gallon of gas to your local gas station, it's actually amazing that they can produce gasoline so inexpensively and efficiently. If only government could do things efficiently and effectively!!!<br />
<br />
THANKS BP, EXXONMOBIL, SHELL, ETC. God bless all of you guys and gals for making our lives easier and more productive for such a low price!!!!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 11:52 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
You didn’t answer my question, oh mighty spouter of corporatist propaganda.<br />
<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny [mailto:goldlenny@gmail.com]<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 12:58 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
In order for me to answer your question, you first have to read my reply... paragraph three in particular, but the rest of my reply as well. I try not to use big words. ;-)<br />
<br />
Just so you know, Fox News has reported that Judge M. Feldman DOES NOT own Transocean or BP stock. He divested himself of the Transocean stock and NEVER owned BP stock, and he owned very little of the Transocean stock anyhow, so his ruling is not tarnished by your rumor. If only politicians were so un-tarnished!!!<br />
<br />
Further, the Federal Appeals court denied the guv-ments request to stay Judge Feldman's order so the moratorium is lifted!!!! YEEEE-HAWWWWWWWWW!!!! THAR'S OIL IN THEM THAR WELLS!!!! "...BUBBLING CRUDE, OIL THAT IS, BLACK GOLD, TEXAS TEA!!!!"<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkOGM6gHvao">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkOGM6gHvao</a><br />
<br />
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tkOGM6gHvao&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tkOGM6gHvao&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
BTW... thanks for the compliment and promotion to "oh mighty"... but Oh Mighty should probably be capitalized since it refers to God... oh wait... you were calling me "oh mighty", not referring to God, so that's OK if it's not capitalized. LOL<br />
<br />
But really..."Corporatist propaganda"??? OMG... you really are a socialist!!! I thought I was just messing with you when I called you that in past replies. But I'd MUCH rather be a "corporatist" than a socialist... so I thank you for that compliment! ;-)<br />
<br />
But speaking of fish... I CAN'T believe you buy fish or anything else from pet stores or anywhere else... those are ALL capitalist ventures as well.... and YOU'RE SUPPORTING THEM.. you better not let all your commie-lib friends... or would that be fellow comrades find out! LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Here's my latest political blog which includes much of this new thread and some other good stuff!!! <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/oil.html">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/oil.html</a> I do allow comments so feel free to move the debate/discussion over there to keep folks happier over here.<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Amber Berglund<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 6:56 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Lenny do you like to kick sleeping dogs too? ;)<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
------------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:14 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
My dogs have always been smart enough to learn not to sleep in the middle of a walkway... it usually only took one kick! Some humans, sadly, aren't so trainable. LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of jaiko<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 5:00 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
how about them dolphins?..lol<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 8:33 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
The Saints beat 'em 46-34... after being down by 21 points... on the way to eventually winning the Superbowl this year!!! WHO DAT!!!<br />
<br />
Now I have to add my "SAINTS WIN!!!" signature too! LOL<br />
<br />
Oooops... does cheering for my Saints also make me a "corporatist" propagandist? LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
SAINTS WIN!!! SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!!! WHO DAT SAY DEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS? WHO DAT? WHO DAT? NOT DEM COLTS!!! ;-)<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com]<br />
On Behalf Of William M<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:53 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Lenny,<br />
<br />
In one of your previous post, you mentioned that this oil spill is not killing the gulf. Does this mean that you are using the water from the gulf to change water in your tanks? Are you going down and swimming in the oily gulf water? Why is BP allowed to burn oil where they know that endangered turtles are going to be killed? Do they have to go to court like anyone else that might kill an endangered animal?<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 9:08 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Nope... I am not using water from the Gulf... it's saltwater (although I may use it for my proposed Gulf Of Mexico Biotope Tank.. lol)... but I do use water from the Mississippi River which IS FAR MORE POLLUTED than the Gulf... thanks to all the upriver States dumping so much crap into the river before it gets down here. Fortunately, it's cleaned up real good before it gets to my place! ;-)<br />
<br />
I went swimming in the NOT oily Gulf this past weekend. The entire Gulf and/or coastline is NOT soaked in oil... not withstanding the few video clips that the LSM (Lame Stream Media) plays over and over and over showing that one pathetic looking oil covered pelican and a few other clips showing the worst of the worst. The MAJORITY of the coastline is still mostly unaffected by anything more than some tar balls that wash ashore when the tide comes in. Please note that tar balls wash ashore ALL beaches ALL year long due to NATURAL seepage from ocean bottom oil leaks... "NATURAL" meaning not caused by man.<br />
<br />
You should look at a Google Earth image of the oil spill. While it's certainly not a good thing for the areas that the spill is affecting, it's only a fraction of the Gulf of Mexico that is being affected right now and the 1979 spill was still worse... although this spill is catching up fast! My blog article back on June 7th includes a graph of the world's worst oil spills and the BP spill is still WAY down on the chart.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/graph-says-it-all-bp-oil-spill-compared.html">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/06/graph-says-it-all-bp-oil-spill-compared.html</a><br />
<br />
Here's my entire series of now eight articles about the BP oil spill, which includes the above article.. if the above link breaks, it's included in the below shorter link.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP</a><br />
<br />
If Obama would have allowed foreign help starting back on April 25th... instead of waiting until June 14th... and if he would have IMMEDIATELY mobilized the 2,000+ skimmers that are based in America, instead of the ONLY 46 or so that were in the Gulf area already, there would be FAR LESS oil in the water and possibly NONE coming on shore since 2,000+ skimmers would have been sucking it up way out in the middle of the Gulf instead of us having to just watch it get closer and closer to our shorelines as the days and weeks went by. All of this is also documented in my more recent articles.<br />
<br />
The 20 BILLION DOLLAR fund that BP has set up does cover the cost of cleaning up the entire spill, cleaning up any oil covered animals and also covers paying fines for each animal that dies as a result of the spill.<br />
<br />
They are allowed to burn the oil right now because that is what the Federal Government approved. Blame Congress for that. I still scratch my head as to why they are burning it instead of loading it all into an oil tanker to be processed but one of my more recent blog articles have information as to why they are doing it that way. Something about the oily water being skimmed up is 80-90% water and has already been treated with the chemical dispersants so it's not easily refined and more easily burned. Once again, blame Congress who writes all of the laws that govern the writing of all of the rules and regulations. Congress has been controlled by the Democratic Party since 2006... but I guess they'll try to blame Bush also instead of accepting responsibility for their actions and inactions.<br />
<br />
Please reply with any comments on my non-fish blog, <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/</a>, since some members of this group do not like talking about the oil spill. Just click the "Comments" link at the bottom of each article and bash me or applaud me all you want. I'm a big boy and I take it all in stride! ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 1:52 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
You are just plainly ignorant… especially if you would rather be called a corporatist. But I think that Mussolini and Hitler would be proud to have you amongst their ranks as fellow corporatists.<br />
<br />
Oh yes, Fox, that bastion of truth and honesty…right…<br />
<br />
In 2008 Feldman had financial holdings with Transocean, the company that owned the faulty oil rig. [6] <http:>According to the Fiscal Disclosure Report required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Judge Feldman held the following relevant energy and oil industry investments, with a heavy incidence of Louisiana based businesses:<br />
<br />
BlackRock ($12000- $36000); Ocean Energy ($1000 – $2500); NGP Capital Resources ($1000 – $2500); Quicksilver Resources ($5000 – $15000); Hercules Offshore ($6000 – $17500); Provident Energy; Peabody Energy; PenGrowth Energy; RPC Inc; Atlas Energy Resources; Parker Drilling; TXCO Resources; EV Energy Partners; Rowan Companies; BPZ Resources; El Paso Corp; KBR Inc; Chesapeake Energy and ATP Oil & Gas. [7] <http:><br />
<br />
For the Lousiana Judgeapedia project judgepedia.org/index.php/Martin_Feldman<br />
<br />
No ties to the oil industry there…<br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 9:44 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
No, I'm not ignorant... I'm just NOT a socialist.<br />
<br />
Typical lib... play the race card or the Hitler card when you can't win on the facts.<br />
<br />
Neither Hitler nor Mussolini believed in capitalism.<br />
<br />
<strong>"The Nazis accused communism and capitalism of being associated with Jewish influences and interests.[16] They declared support for a nationalist form of socialism that was to provide for... : economic security, social welfare programs for workers, a just wage, honour for workers' importance to the nation, and protection from capitalist exploitation.[17]" </strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism"><strong>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism</strong></a><br />
<br />
<strong>That sounds MUCH MORE like the Democratic-liberal-socialist party than the Republican party... yet my Jewish friends still vote mostly for the Democrats but they can never explain to my why? Go figure!</strong><br />
<br />
Fox News is FAR MORE "Fair and Balanced" than any other news network. All of the other LSM networks are so far left-leaning, they have to lean their cameras so their anchors appear to be sitting up straight. LOL<br />
<br />
Once again... you're not reading my replied.<br />
<br />
Judge Feldman divested (that means sold) his TransOcean stock since that 2008 report. As far as his other energy related holdings... none of them amount to very much money. If you have a retirement plan, you probably have as much of a percentage of your investments in energy companies also. Even if you are going to rely on only Social Security, much of the money that comes into Congress is energy related taxes and fees.<br />
<br />
Considering Obama got around A MILLION DOLLARS from BP and many more millions from all of the other energy companies, he's far more culpable and in bed with big energy than Judge Feldman... hmmmmm.. I wonder if that is why the Obama administration gave that BP rig a big thumbs up on all their permits and inspections just two weeks prior to the explosion???<br />
<br />
As far as your last comment about "no ties to the oil industry", there is NOBODY in America or probably the world without any ties to the oil industry... maybe some jungle tribes who have never had contact with the outside world... but that's about it.<br />
<br />
Have you ever owned or driven a car? Oil industry related!<br />
<br />
Have you ever owned or ridden a bike? Oil industry related!<br />
<br />
Have you ever worn polyester clothing? Oil industry related!<br />
<br />
Are you using a computer and the internet that relies on various plastics and polymers for them to work? Oil industry related.<br />
<br />
Do you use energy to heat or cool your apartment? Oil industry related!<br />
<br />
OMG.... you better throw everything you own away and go move in with one of them aforementioned jungle tribes. I hear there is good fish collecting down in the Amazon so you won't have to support them capitalist pet stores either! LOL<br />
<br />
Sheesh... I might have to go out and buy <strong>Glenn Beck's book, "Arguing With Idiots" </strong><a href="http://www.glennbeck.com/bookczar/"><strong>http://www.glennbeck.com/bookczar/</strong></a><strong> </strong>... I'm sure he must have a chapter that covers this discussion.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Amber Berglund<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 9:49 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
Lenny I don't even read most of your replies, especially ones not about FISH :P I've asked twice for this argument to stop and it hasn't yet. I'm about to start denying replies on purpose instead of letting someone else approve them so that you can reply again and continue the arguments.<br />
They're getting old.<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 10:31 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Oil????????????????????????????<br />
<br />
I keep LMAO down here, because you and some of the other mods are the biggest complainers about this thread.... yet they keep on approving the posts. I only reply to the ones that are allowed by someone else in the first place. I didn't start the thread but as long as the mods are allowing one side to post, then they have to allow the other side an appropriate response.<br />
<br />
I've looked at the moderator's logs on the group's website and several different mods have been approving the posts. Every time one is approved, I check to see who approved it. Of course, not all members are moderated so some of their replies just come through without moderation.<br />
<br />
I just do my part and post an appropriate and factual reply... since everyone else is too apathetic to do so... and probably because I know more about the truth about the BP spill than anyone else in the group... at least those that are active.<br />
<br />
Of course, to answer your last sentence, I think people's apathy is "getting old". I'd MUCH RATHER have an involved citizenship than a bunch of people who cover their ears and chant LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA whenever politics or religion comes up in the conversation. They're the two things that affect EVERYBODY'S lives the most and yet people want to play ostrich whenever the subject comes up. ;-)<br />
<br />
After sending this reply, I'll put myself back on moderation and let you all allow whatever you want to allow... which will probably just be one sided replies from those not on moderation from now on, since that would seem to make some of you happy... then everyone can go back to covering their ears and eyes and chanting LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
<strong>THINGS THEN WENT OFF-LIST BETWEEN ME AND SOME OF THE MODERATORS:</strong><br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife-owner@<br />
On Behalf Of Amber Berglund<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 6:28 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife Moderator'<br />
Subject: Political/religious discussions.<br />
<br />
Okay I know I haven't been a moderator for very long, but I have a request that we create and enforce a new rule for the group; No religious/political discussions. We should consider this much similar to the rules you have at a work place, there's a reason there are no political or religious discussions; because people do not agree, and there are too many opinions to be expressed. Not to mention that people get easily upset and rude when they're talking about their beliefs.<br />
<br />
Thanks for listening,<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 7:50 PM<br />
To: 'arberglund@gmail.com'; 'AquaticLife-owner@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: Political/religious discussions.<br />
<br />
(covers eyes and ears with hands so I do not see or hear this offensive email and then get all "upset and rude" if I do see or hear it... why didn't I just delete the email???? God, I just don't know!!!)<br />
<br />
LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....<br />
<br />
(while eyes and ears are covered, I mutter a reply anyhow)<br />
<br />
I CAN'T HEAR OR SEE THIS EMAIL BECAUSE IT HAS THE TOPIC OF "POLITICAL/RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS" AND I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE MY EYES AND EARS ARE COVERED SO I'M TYPING AND REPLYING IN A LOUDER VOICE SINCE I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF EITHER.<br />
<br />
LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....<br />
<br />
(uncovers eyes and ears for a moment to see if email went away... it didn't... so I reply)<br />
<br />
And what about when people "do not agree" about something related to fish keeping... does that mean we can't discuss that either so as not to offend anyone??? I've seen folks get just as offended when I explain they cannot keep a goldfish in a bowl when the PetsMart employee told them they could have five goldfish in the same bowl.<br />
<br />
(covers eyes and ears again since I don't want to hear an answer that I "do not agree" with)<br />
<br />
LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....<br />
<br />
(uncovers eyes and ears again just for a moment to see if email went away... it didn't once again... so I reply again)<br />
<br />
Political correctness, in America, run amuck!!!<br />
<br />
(covers eyes and ears again so I do not see or hear anything that I "do not agree" with being said or typed by anyone else)<br />
<br />
LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....<br />
<br />
(uncovers eyes and ears again to see if email went away yet... OH GOD!!!... it's still here and now, even worse,...)<br />
<br />
Fox News Channel with Bill O'Reilly just came on and he is discussing Obama's failures and pitiful poll numbers due to his pathetic and pitiful response, in part, to the oil spill, immigration, the Afghanistan war, the pathetically high deficits for the past two years and outrageously high national debt, among other things.<br />
<br />
(covers eyes and ears again so I can't see or hear the email or my TV now)<br />
<br />
LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....<br />
<br />
(I think I feel a warm and fuzzy, blissful feeling coming over me now... maybe even "a tingle running up my leg"... since you know the old saying... "Ignorance Is Bliss!")<br />
<br />
LMAO... I know this won't get posted to the group but at least I can add it to both of my blogs and people can choose to read it or not (hit the X or Delete key)... and even post un-moderated comments on MY blogs.... some that I may not even agree with!!!... OMG, the outrage!!!!<br />
<br />
And what about when discussing how the various species came to be, since that subject comes up often? Are we only allowed to discuss Darwin's "theory of evolution" and use terms like Mother Nature since we do not want to offend anyone by saying "intelligent design" or "God works in mysterious ways"... and should I NOT capitalize the M and N in Mother Nature since when typing Mother Nature with a capital M and N, I actually meant God??? OMG, I'm so confused now!!!<br />
<br />
OMG... is it OK to type OMG since the G stands for God??? Or is it OK since I only used the first letter? Confusion is running amuck now!!!<br />
<br />
SMAO!!! Smiling, not laughing, My Ass Off!!!... does anyone really laugh out loud EVERY TIME they type LOL? I guess the <g>or <vbg>really are more appropriate than the overuse of LOL and LMAO.<br />
<br />
I think I'll have to nominate myself for a Pulitzer Prize for this reply... it may well be my best and most satirical reply to an email... EVER!<br />
<br />
Heck, now I might even go into a crowded theater and scream FIIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!.... ooops... now I've crossed the freedom of speech line... but everything up to that point was all OK in my book... although the PC Police may not have agreed.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Amber Berglund<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 8:46 PM<br />
To: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny; 'AquaticLife Moderator'<br />
Subject: Re: Political/religious discussions.<br />
<br />
No Lenny the point is that we're all adults, and if people can't learn to let arguments drop and act like an adult, then those of us in charge need to "be the better man/woman" and help enforce rules so that hopefully we can keep arguments to a minimum.<br />
<br />
politics and religious beliefs are very controversial topics anywhere, and the fact that you had to keep having the last word on the argument shows that you need to learn how to drop it and let everything go back to a more civil tone. You actually encouraged foul language from other members that were arguing with you when you're supposed to be a moderator yourself and keep people in line so to speak.<br />
<br />
It's fine to have off topic posts that people want to discuss, but it's another thing encouraging an argument and rude behavior from other members, and continuing to do so when more than just a few people request that the topic be ended.<br />
<br />
I think you're a great fountain of information Lenny, but sometimes you really like to pick controversial topics and don't know when to drop them.<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 10:44 PM<br />
To: 'arberglund@; <a href="mailto:">'AquaticLife-owner@'</a><br />
Subject: RE: Political/religious discussions.<br />
<br />
I agree that most of us are adults and therefore we should be able to have an open and honest discussion and debate about anything, even off-topic things and folks could just put OT- in front of the subject. You call it an argument, I call it a discussion and debate.<br />
<br />
I have been waiting for the "you had to keep having the last word" card to get played against ME... and nobody else... although I expected it MUCH sooner. ;-) I've heard that MANY times over the past 20+ years but IMO, that's such a pathetic thing that some people say in any discussion or debate... primarily when they don't agree with someone... or when they're losing the debate badly... it's analogous to if you can't win the game, take your ball and go home, IMO.<br />
<br />
Someone is always going to get the "last word" eventually... or not... so that "last word" card should/could be applied to EVERYONE who replied in the thread... or even to those that started the threads (cough, cough), since the threads could have gotten shut down after their "last word" instead of MY or someone else's "last word"... and does this mean that only YOUR "last word" is an acceptable "last word" since you were the last to reply to the last thread??? Or was it someone else's "last word" as the "last word" in the threads? When Bill started the new "Oil???????" thread, if nobody replied, then would you play the "last word" card against him? I hope you can see the lunacy or hypocrisy of someone playing the "last word" card... do they think that only they should have the "last word"? Now, if folks wanted to put a message count or time limit on debates/discussions and the buzzer rings, then that would be a more "fair" way of determining the "last word" but for someone else to try and get in the "last word" by playing the "you always have to have the last word" card, then they are as guilty of the "last word" card as the person they are playing it against... I think that's called hypocrisy.<br />
<br />
Don't look to me to "keep people in line" when it comes to free speech. I'm a bastion of free speechism so I'm NEVER going to shut someone up... especially when it's on such an important topic as politics and religion... the two things that affect our lives (literally) the most. I've stated this many, many, many times over the years when ever politics and religion comes up... and it always will... regardless of how many people do the LA-LA-LA-LA-LA thing. Millions of people have DIED for our rights to have our politics, religion and free speech and while I might piss on Obama's and many other modern politician's graves... both democrat and republican and especially socialist, fascist and communist, I'll never piss on the grave of someone that stood up and DIED for our rights.... namely the founding fathers and early leaders of America and our members of the military... well, maybe I would piss on John Kerry's grave. LOL Someone much smarter than me once said, "While I may not agree with what you say, I'll fight to the death for your right to say it!" or one of the many other morphs of the original saying.... just like I'm replying to your emails instead of just ignoring them or deleting them... as I believe that you have a right to say what you say... but conversely, SO DO I!!!<br />
<br />
I purposely didn't moderate (approve or deny) any of the posts concerning the two political threads and only replied to posts that some other moderator approved, as I knew I would be involved in the discussion and debate and didn't want to be accused of shutting someone up. At any point, any one of the 10+ moderators could have put everyone on moderation, including fellow moderators, just as I put myself on moderation, but NOBODY did so I continued to reply to each and every replies or questions directed towards me.<br />
<br />
Now, as far as the "foul language", that is something that could/should be moderated and it's easy enough for any moderator to open a pending message, prior to it being approved, and remove or change any foul language. I personally didn't use any "foul language", although I did use some "fowl language" <g>, so any messages that contained "foul language" was either from other members and more particularly, from other moderators. "Bullshit" could have been changed to "Bull manure" or "Bull feces" so it wouldn't be "foul language" yet still get the point across to those that agree with them... but to those of us who don't agree with them, we can just delete the message with that subject line or choose to participate in the discussion and debate.<br />
<br />
As far as people that do not want to participate... which unfortunately is a LARGE percentage of apathetic Americans, just like at the polls, they can refuse to show up... or in email terms, they can simply hit the delete key if they see a subject line they are not interested in. That's what I do... it's so simple and it works 100% of the time! Although I show up at the polls 100% of the time since I first registered to vote when I was 18 years old.<br />
<br />
These people that complain and leave the group or threaten to leave the group, because they somehow can't hit the delete key, are simply people that do not believe in free speech or do not agree with what one or another party may be saying so they want to shut everyone up by their pathetic threats to leave. I say... take your ball and leave if you're that kind of person... I'll just get another ball and start the game up again after you're gone.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, based on the number of off-list emails that I got, there are FAR MORE people that agreed with my positions and were glad I had the balls to say them. Unfortunately, those same folks were too afraid of the PC Police to speak up on-list... but I understand when some people are afraid after being beat into submission by the leftist PC Police.<br />
<br />
I might have to morph another old saying... instead of "The only way they'll take my guns, is to pry them from my cold dead fingers!", I'll change it to "The only way they'll take my keyboard, is to pry it from my cold dead fingers!" LOL<br />
<br />
NOW... all this said, in the past few days, I've been looking at all the other BIG Yahoo Groups related to fish keeping and if you look at the message count chart on the home page of these many other groups, messages are WAY DOWN in almost every group in the past two years. Only one group stayed pretty consistent and I was going to look at their messages since they were the only group that was consistent, but they have their messages shut down, except for members, so I can't peek at their subject lines until I have time to do so, now that I've been approved for the group. I'll report back later on that.<br />
<br />
I haven't gone through and read the thousands of threads for the past two years in all the other open message groups, but I have a theory that the message count is down for one or both of the following theoretical reasons:<br />
<br />
1) The economy, unemployment, deficit, national debt, etc., are SO BAD under the last year of Bush and even worse under Obama that people are hoarding their money and are not buying fish so fish talk is down in general. I've also noticed SEVERAL other LONG-TIME online forums that have just shut down and gone away... sites like PlantGeek's, Aquatic-Hobbyist, etc. simply have closed their doors, probably due to lack of participation in the past two years. I'm sure there are many, many others that I do not know about.<br />
<br />
My other theoretical reason is:<br />
<br />
2) Politics has come up far more often with Obama's socialist, big-government, tax-and-spend, deficit spending the national debt by record levels, Obamacare, etc... so these other groups shut other freedom-of-speech-people up often enough that they just left the groups or no longer participate.... or the relatively few people that don't believe in freedom of speech left the groups OR because one or two people left, the moderators got paranoid and became mini-dictators and everyone else kind of shut up too.... hmmmm.. now that theory sounds familiar! ;-)<br />
<br />
As you see, I do neither! ;-) I try to practice what I preach... whether it be fish keeping related or far more important topics like politics and religion.<br />
<br />
Here are several other group's home pages where you can see the message count charts to verify what I've theorized above.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SaltWaterAquariums/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SaltWaterAquariums/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reefcity/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reefcity/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UniQuaria/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UniQuaria/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tropicalfishclub/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tropicalfishclub/</a> (the only relatively consistent message count group)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Saltwater_Fish_and_Reef_Aquariums/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Saltwater_Fish_and_Reef_Aquariums/</a><br />
<br />
And last but not least, <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/</a><br />
<br />
Those are the three biggest FW and SW yahoo groups, in no particular order, and all but one are suffering MAJOR decreases in message count in the past two years and even the TropicalFishClub, which by the way is the #1 group as far as total members, with 2,637 (of course they could have 80-90% spam-bot members harvesting email addresses as well), but they haven't had as many messages as AquaticLife each month, in the past... so I'm not sure what Aaron bases the "#1" designation on the AquaticLife home page to know if he means membership count or message count or if it's like a Nobel Pease Prize (such as Obama's, AlGore's and Jimmy Carter's... when Reagan did FAR MORE to promote and preserve world peace than those three combined and probably more than any other on the list and yet, he never got one... because it's all based on liberal-socialist politics, not on real peace - <a href="http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/">http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/</a>) or many of the Pulitzer Prizes that are based on made up science or facts ... or if the "#1" designation is like when I give myself a "Lenny Award" for outstanding whatever. LOL<br />
<br />
Of course, maybe Aaron designated AquaticLife as #1 because I'm a member! Now that would be worthy of a "Lenny Award"!!!! Let me know Aaron, so I can get that right out to you! LOL<br />
<br />
AquaticLife has lost FAR MORE members due to the overall LARGE number of posts... often topping more than 1,000 a month, than due to the political or religious threads. As I reported in an earlier post, at least 80% of people are on no-mail or special notices only and of the remaining 500 members who are supposed to be getting emails, over 300 are bouncing... primarily due to their email boxes being filled up so new emails are returned to sender. In between the two GREAT DEBATE threads, I offered a solution to at least try and harvest and/or save all of the saltwater members who have come and gone over the years but you and I think Harry were the only other moderators to reply so until Aaron replies with a yea or nay, I've put that on the back burner.<br />
<br />
BTW... I welcome your reply since I certainly wouldn't want to be the "last word". ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 10:51 PM<br />
To: 'arberglund@gmail.com'; 'AquaticLife-owner@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: Political/religious discussions.<br />
<br />
Ohhh.. I meant to add to that utterly ridiculous Nobel Peace Prize list that included Obama, AlGore and Carter... they gave a Nobel Peace Price to: "1990 - MIKHAIL SERGEYEVICH GORBACHEV , President of the USSR, helped to bring the Cold War to an end." which further illustrates the lunacy and hypocrisy and socialist-liberal mindset of that group since THE ONLY REASON Gorbachev helped bring the Cold War to an end was DUE TO PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN AND AMERICA'S MILITARY STRENGTH... do you remember America's Star Wars Missile Defense Program and the "Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech or were you too young?<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife-owner@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of harry perry<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 9:02 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife-owner@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Lenny, this post is a crock of shit.<br />
<br />
In reference to Lenny's reply starting with: "I keep LMAO down here, because you and some of the other mods are the biggest complainers about this thread.... yet they keep on approving the posts. I only reply to the ones that are allowed by someone else in the first place. I didn't start the thread but as long as the mods are allowing one side to post, then they have to allow the other side an appropriate response...."<br />
<br />
Harry replied:<br />
<br />
All you did was make an ass out of all the moderators.<br />
<br />
I for one have no problem discussing politics, religion or anything else. Of course if we discuss this privately you won't have an audience.<br />
<br />
It doesn't belong in a fish keeping group. This is not a forum for involved citizenship.<br />
<br />
Something you just don't seem to get, this group isn't about you and your ideas.<br />
<br />
It's a team effort. It's goal is fish keeping not what Lenny thinks we should be talking about.<br />
<br />
If we want to stick our fingers in our ears or anywhere else it's none of your f------ business.<br />
<br />
We joined this group because we have something in common we love fish.<br />
<br />
We didn't join the Lenny Admiration Society.<br />
<br />
Most of us use our hobbies and interests to maintain our sanity. So when we tune in here what do we get?. More of the same shit.<br />
<br />
I hope we can procede as a team towards the same goal. FISH KEEPING.<br />
<br />
Harry<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 11:10 PM<br />
To: 'harry perry'; 'AquaticLife-owner@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: Lenny, this post is a crock of shit.<br />
<br />
I applaud your freedom of speech but I think you violated Amber's "foul language" rule... and make sure you wash that finger! ;-)<br />
<br />
Your rant's and outrage should really be against those who started the threads and/or the moderators who approved the first message and then continued to approve the follow-up replies... for which I did neither.<br />
<br />
And as far as whether it is my business if you want to cover your ears and ignore things... actually that is my business since ignorant American's are the ones that keep voting in the stupid-assed politicians that are doing the stupid-assed things to America (ooops... I just violated Amber's rule too).<br />
<br />
Once again, I only replied to posts/threads that were first approved by a moderator or by un-moderated members, so if you feel I made an ass out of the other moderators, for those that approved the messages, if the shoe fits, wear it... of course, personally I'm VERY proud of those moderators for having a pair and being willing to approve the messages... but once again, your complaints and anger are aimed at the wrong person. What's the old saying, "Don't kill the messenger!"<br />
<br />
I like that "Lenny Admiration Society" though... maybe I'll start up a Yahoo Group by that name... of course, I'll probably be the only member. ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<strong>Also click the BP or BP OIL SPILL "label" links on the left side to read all of my other related articles about the BP spill.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.</strong><br />
</mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></mailto:aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-81033050830127233202010-06-24T13:31:00.004-05:002010-08-02T13:05:35.381-05:00"How the Government Slowed Down the Gulf Cleanup" by Ernest IstookWhile I rarely copy/paste someone else's material in it's entirety, I think EVERYONE should read this ENTIRE article so I'm having to break my rule today! Please either read the article below or click on this link to read it on NewsMax... and while at NewsMax, subscribe for their FREE News Alerts near the top right corner.<br />
<br />
This is just further PROOF that OBAMA is using Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel's Chicago-style politics of "Never let a disaster go to waste!" in furthering Obama's liberal-socialist agenda and the left's anti-Oil mindset... all so Obama can further tax-and-spend us into bankruptcy while persuing unproven "green energy" concepts.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.newsmax.com/ErnestIstook/Gulf-oil-BP-cleanup/2010/06/22/id/362748?s=al&promo_code=A236-1">http://www.newsmax.com/ErnestIstook/Gulf-oil-BP-cleanup/2010/06/22/id/362748?s=al&promo_code=A236-1</a> </strong><br />
<br />
How the Government Slowed Down the Gulf Cleanup<br />
Tuesday, 22 Jun 2010 03:31 PM<br />
by: Ernest Istook<br />
<br />
Our own government has quietly admitted that America needs foreign help to handle the oil spill — almost two months after pushing that help away.<br />
<br />
Far more oil could have been intercepted before it fouled the Gulf Coast. So why hasn’t our government apologized?<br />
<br />
By refusing foreign assistance, we banned both the latest technology and cleanup vessels that far exceed the capacity of America’s oil spill response vessels (OSRVs). We rejected ships with 10 times the capability of the vessels we used instead.<br />
<br />
In a quiet announcement on June 18, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) finally agreed that we need help, describing a conclusion reached two days before:<br />
<br />
“. . . the FOSC, in coordination with other federal agencies, determined on June 16, 2010, pursuant to 46 U.S.C. §55113, that there are an insufficient number of specialized oil skimming vessels in the U.S. to keep pace with the unprecedented levels of oil discharges in the Gulf of Mexico. Based upon this determination, foreign specialized skimming vessels may be deployed to response operations.”<br />
<br />
Technically, the Jones Act remains unwaived and continues to restrict use of foreign vessels other than OSRV’s. Officials invoked only a limited exemption that was put into law after Hurricane Katrina.<br />
<br />
By their delay, our bureaucracy and government regulation have made a horrible situation even worse. There were two weeks between the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon and the time when the first oil made landfall. And it was almost six additional weeks before specialized equipment from overseas was approved by our government for limited use.<br />
<br />
The Dutch formally offered help on April 25. Not until June 14 did the U.S. State Department announce that some foreign help would be welcomed from the 17 nations who had been trying to assist.<br />
<br />
We violated a basic rule of oil spills: “The key to avoiding catastrophic damage and extreme liability is a fast response.”<br />
<br />
So what’s different about the foreign equipment that at long last is being deployed? Capacity, for one. They can do far more and do it more quickly.<br />
<br />
To protect the North Sea — a major petroleum-producing area — Europe created cooperatives such as Norway’s Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO), assembling resources that far surpass America’s.<br />
<br />
The largest American OSRV I’ve found has only a 4,000-barrel capacity. Compare that to Norway’s new cleanup standards, which state, “An active effort must always be made to achieve the largest possible tank capacity. Under no circumstances must the tank capacity for storage of recovered oil be less than 1,500 m³.” 1,500 cubic meters is 9,400 barrels. None of our U.S. oil recovery vessels appear to come even close to this standard.<br />
<br />
The European Union maintains a multi-faceted inventory of OSRVs. The Netherlands alone lists 11 ships that exceed this 9,400-barrel capacity, including vessels like the Geopotes 14 that reportedly can pick up and contain 47,000 barrels at a time. That’s 10 times larger than any U.S. ship we’ve been using.<br />
<br />
Collecting more oil in each run enables more time spent collecting oil and less time carrying oil back to a storage facility.<br />
<br />
There’s another problem with how U.S. regulations are slowing down the cleanup. The Dutch are now providing skimmers that can be attached to American vessels. But because most of what’s skimmed is unavoidably water, not oil, they complain that America’s EPA standards won’t let them put back the water. Thus their tanks fill up with a mixture that is mostly water.<br />
<br />
That mix is a serious problem. The Incident Commander, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, told the media on June 11, “We have skimmed, to date, about 18 million gallons of oily water — the oil has to be decanted from that [and] our yield is usually somewhere around 10 percent or 15 percent on that.”<br />
<br />
That means 85 percent to 90 percent of what is collected is water, not oil. If complaints are correct, then unless vessels can separate these at sea and discharge the water, most of what they haul back to a storage facility is water. That means six or seven trips to carry one full load of skimmed oil. Complaints are that our EPA says discharged water from the skimming cannot exceed 15 ppm (parts per million) of oil.<br />
<br />
Radio Netherlands reported:<br />
<br />
“The Americans don’t have spill response vessels with skimmers because their environment regulations do not allow it. With the Dutch method, seawater is sucked up with the oil by the skimmer. The oil is stored in the tanker and the superfluous water is pumped overboard. But the water does contain some oil residue, and that is too much according to U.S. environment regulations.<br />
<br />
“Wierd Koops [head of the Dutch consortium, Spill Response Group Holland] thinks the U.S. approach is nonsense, because otherwise you would have to store the surplus seawater in the tanks as well.<br />
<br />
“[Says Koops], “We say no, you have to get as much oil as possible into the storage tanks and as little water as possible. So we pump the water, which contains drops of oil, back overboard.”<br />
<br />
“U.S. regulations are contradictory, Mr. Koops stresses. Pumping water back into the sea with oil residue is not allowed.”<br />
<br />
He is not alone in criticizing America’s restrictions on the cleanup efforts. Several Democrats in Congress have joined the calls to get our bureaucracy out of the way.<br />
<br />
Rep. Corinne Brown, D-Fla., said at a hearing, "We are in emergency mode; we need skimmers . . . There are small boats, I guess, but we need the big ones. I understand they are available in other countries."<br />
<br />
We indeed need the big cleanup ships that America must get from overseas. Who knows how many livelihoods — and how much of the environment — would have been spared if our government had not drug its bureaucratic feet and invited them two months ago?<br />
<br />
BP has apologized. And still must be held accountable. But where’s the apology from our government — and the accountability?<br />
<br />
<strong>Ernest Istook served 14 years as a U.S. congressman and is now a distinguished fellow at <a href="http://www.heritage.org/">The Heritage Foundation</a>.</strong><br />
<br />
----------<br />
<br />
Also, watch this video!!!<br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QyyL50dFkMc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QyyL50dFkMc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<strong>You can read more of my articles about the BP Oil Spill at my other blog, <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP%20Oil%20Spill">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP%20Oil%20Spill</a> </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.</strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-31706399907355474882010-06-17T03:44:00.005-05:002010-08-02T13:04:49.302-05:00My First Online Debate About So-Called Green Energy... All Because I Joked About Setting Up A "Gulf Of Mexico Biotope Aquarium"Here's how it started... in the <strong><a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/48373">AquaticLife Yahoo Group</a></strong>. I'll also be cross-posting this blog on my Rants & Raves Blog at <strong><a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/</a> </strong><br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Amber B<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 11:47 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Is it just me or is the group really quiet lately? I haven't gotten any posts and I even sent one myself ;) lol.<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And my first reply that led to this discussion and debate...<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 1:54 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Have you checked your deodorant and mouthwash lately?<br />
<br />
Just kidddddiiinnnnggggg!!! LOL<br />
<br />
If you look at the group's home page <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/</a>, down near the bottom where there is the Message History table, you'll see that messages always slow down in May, June, July, August. I think this is due to summer time and more kids being home and taking up parents time and computer time, as well as vacations, etc. Granted, messages are much slower this year than in past years. It could be related to the global economy and maybe not as many folks getting into the hobby right now.<br />
<br />
I'm thinking about setting up a new low cost salt water tank right now... a Gulf Of Mexico biotope.... some dead fish, turtles and birds floating on top of some crude oil in a salt water tank. At least it's low maintenance! ;-) LOL<br />
<br />
Or, after all that, maybe it is your deodorant and mouthwash! LOL<br />
<br />
Oh yeah... fish!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Amber B<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 9:22 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Gosh that tanks gonna smell to high heaven Lenny ;) lol.<br />
I think I remembered to wear deodorant... hey wait you guys can't smell me through email ;) LOL<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 9:41 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I forgot to mention that I'm going to have a little burning oil well on the surface of my "Gulf Of Mexico biotope tank" so the smoke should mask the smell of the dead critters. LOL<br />
<br />
While I joke about this... and since I live down here I can joke about it... I actually believe the LSM (Lame Stream Media) is paying far too much attention to the relatively few oil covered birds, turtles, marshes and beaches and NOT nearly enough attention to the 11 workers who died in the accident and the hundreds, even thousands of Americans who will DIE HORRIBLE DEATHS in the coming months and years due to "necessarily skyrocket(ing)" crude oil prices... when they can't afford to heat their homes in the winter and cool their homes in the summer. IT'S TIME NOW, MORE THAN EVER, TO DRILL BABY, DRILL (Oil and Gas wells); BUILD BABY, BUILD (Nuclear Plants); MINE BABY, MINE (Coal) and anything else that is proven to produce low cost energy instead of sending TRILLIONS of more American dollars to foreign countries.<br />
<br />
Oops.. sorry for the semi-political rant but it does have to do with the environment too! I do most of my political rants on my other blog... <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/</a> and my four articles about my thoughts on the BP Oil Spill are here... <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP%20Oil%20Spill">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/search/label/BP%20Oil%20Spill</a><br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And NOW, the JUICY debate and discussion starts...<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:03 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Well.drill, baby, drill, without safety first is what got us into this (Thanks Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney). Do you realize that this has nothing to do with the cost of crude prices as this rig was still years out from actual production. Most of our domestically produces oil is actually exported, so no matter how much you chant drill, baby, drill, it's not going to help us get off foreign oil. What we need to do is work on alternative energy like ethanol and biodiesel from environmentally and renewable sources (can you say hemp and switch grass as well as from agro waste?). The only thing domestic drilling does is make the oil companies richer and the planet less safe.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:55 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
And while America sits on our hands, contemplating "green energy" concepts...<br />
<br />
China is building 500 coal powered electric plants over the next ten years.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6769743.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6769743.stm</a> (2007) - "China is now building about two power stations every week, the top climate change official at the UK Foreign Office, John Ashton, has said."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html</a> (2009) - "TIANJIN, China — China’s frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined, making it the world’s largest emitter of gases that are warming the planet."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://windfarms.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/china-building-500-coal-plants/">http://windfarms.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/china-building-500-coal-plants/</a> (2009) - "At the two minute mark of the video below, from Australia, we learn that China is building 500 coal plants over the next ten years — One new power plant every four days.<br />
China is exempt from KYOTO<br />
Think About it!<br />
In Ontario, Canada, the govt. is filling rural Ont. with wind turbines under the guise of saving the environment and closing our four coal plants. (wind has never been responsible for the closure of any fossil fuel plant) We are going to close four coal plants at the same time China builds one every four days.<br />
Think About it!<br />
In the USA, Obama said he will bankrupt the coal plants.<br />
Think About it.<br />
The Scam is Huge"<br />
<br />
<br />
France gets 77% of their electricity from nuclear power plants. America gets less than 20%.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Unless or until ALL countries are going to go green and green energy is affordable... right now it is subsidized by huge margins by government dollars... meaning taxpayer dollars... so even the folks who think they are buying this so-called lower-priced-due-to-subsidies green energy, the energy still costs a LOT more and other people are paying for it... one day, when we finally start to balance our federal budget and have to start paying off the ridiculous national debt.... but back to the point, unless or until ALL countries are going to go green, it's STUPID for America to KILL AMERICAN'S due to high energy prices while other countries are burning fossil fuels at rates America hasn't ever come close to.<br />
<br />
As far as your comment about "most" domestic oil being exported, that is simply NOT TRUE that "most" oil is exported, it's less than 15% (see *)... and further, it doesn't matter if it was "most" since crude oil prices are based on global supply and demand pricing. What matters is increasing the supply considerably which will drive down the prices to the consumers... and that will also punish the oil companies that you feel are making too much money... not withstanding that oil companies make just a few pennies a gallon after they find the oil, drill for the oil, transport the oil, refine the oil and then deliver the oil and gas to consumers... and the government is taking TEN TO TWENTY TIMES MORE in taxes/fees for doing nothing. Increasing the supply will actually drive down oil company profits and drive up the taxes/fees to the government so it will be a win-win situation as far as most libs are concerned. ;-)<br />
<br />
* - <a href="http://import-export.suite101.com/article.cfm/leading_oil_export_countries">http://import-export.suite101.com/article.cfm/leading_oil_export_countries</a> (2008) (America is number 18 on the list of exporters) - "While the United States exports only 12.6% of its own domestically produced oil, the top 10 oil export countries generate over half of global oil export shipments...<br />
<br />
Countries Exporting Less Than 80% of Their Oil Production<br />
<br />
America uses most of the fuel that it drills at home, as shown by the low percentage for exported U.S. oil.<br />
<br />
1. United States … 12.6% of domestic oil production was exported<br />
<br />
2. Russia … 51.5%<br />
<br />
3. Mexico … 59.9%<br />
<br />
4. Iran … 60.7%<br />
<br />
5. Canada … 73.5%<br />
<br />
6. Kazakhstan … 74.7%<br />
<br />
7. Libya … 77.1%<br />
<br />
8. Venezuela … 78.6%<br />
<br />
9. Iraq … 79.1%.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The planet will be safe no matter what man does to it. God knew we would be a bunch of screw-ups and planned accordingly! Why else would He have created oil eating bacteria??? One of my blog articles has a chart of the worst oil spills over the past 30 years and the Gulf Of Mexico actually had one in 1979 that was TEN TIMES WORSE than the BP oil spill and as far as I can tell, we are all still here down on the Gulf... at least I am. After America ran Saddam out of Kuwait in 91-92, Saddam's forces destroyed thousands of rigs and refineries which dumped A HUNDRED TIMES more oil into their waters and as far as I know, they're still alive over there too. Nature is amazingly resourceful in the way it rebounds from both natural and man-made disasters.<br />
<br />
UH OH... I feel another blog article coming on... but for my other blog, not my fish blog. LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Dax G<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:23 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
you forgot to mention the winbdmills to create power.<br />
<br />
<br />
Daniel<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 11:10 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
In order to have enough electricity from wind, to replace the amount of energy we get from oil and coal, we'd have to have half the country covered in windmill farms and the tree-huggers don't want that either. Even T. Boone Pickens gave up on his concept of building thousands of windmills across the mid-west once he looked into it more. The ONLY reason wind turbines are supposedly cost effective today is because of HUGE taxpayer subsidies and tax credits (OMG.. tax credits = Corporate Welfare.. lol).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/22/news/economy/pickens_wind/index.htm">http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/22/news/economy/pickens_wind/index.htm</a> (2008) - "...Government regulations - Another impediment to large-scale wind generation is a lack of turbines and infrastructure, said Hamilton. Companies like General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), India's Suzlon and Spain's Gamesa, which make wind turbines, aren't building enough of those turbines to meet demand because government tax credits offered to energy producers expire every two years. These tax credits are a big incentive for people to invest in wind energy - Pickens would net $60 million a year, according to Jefferies' Fremont, and that is likely why he's currently pitching his plan to lawmakers..."<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 11:16 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
All of this is Amber's fault for being bored and not getting enough messages from the group.<br />
<br />
LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Amber<br />
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 11:34 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
yes! wait... what? lol<br />
<br />
Amber<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of bill<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:08 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I was wondering how you were making out down there with this mess.<br />
<br />
Drill? Sorry Len, I have serious doubts. When they opted to de-regulate back in the late 60's and 70's they jammed it down our throats that in the long run here in the US ----------------"How we would be paying much less for gas and home heating oil in the 90's and 2000's".<br />
<br />
They are drilling their brains out, making money hand over fist, corporate profits are through the roof, and CEO's have pension and retirement coffers like the national debt and who's paying for it all?<br />
<br />
How much is gas per gallon? OR_----------simply put.<br />
<br />
Are we better off price wise now than in the sixties?<br />
<br />
I think not!<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of AquaHobby<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:52 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Greetings everyone,<br />
<br />
Basically I am silent in the group and do not say much. But this message got my attention due to the fact I feel it is entirely wrong.<br />
<br />
The United States and its people better wake up and the below statement tells me this is not happening and the same old hat is going on in the minds of many people. It make little to no difference if you live in the disaster area or not, as it affects all people, not just a few.<br />
<br />
Until which time the United States and its peoples decide to stop being oil dependent and supporting countries who could care less about the USA they shall always be in some kind of problem. The problem is, too many people are in denial that the USA cannot become oil independent and go to a alternative energy source. We do not need to depend on other countries and be at their mercy for all history. We need to get at it and stop the crap and put money into alternative energy that will help us, no pollute or poison us.<br />
<br />
The question is, what will it take to wake America up, perhaps something worse than this oil spill, which is a total disaster of which many will feel the affects of it for many years. Perhaps if BP lies to the world more about how this happened it will make it better. Living in denial of things is not going to make it better. Ignorance of what is going on is not happiness.<br />
<br />
Brazil became oil independent and if they can do it, so can we. People have got to stop making up excuses and then setting in denial of them. It is ridiculous and how many disaster do we need to through, before someone gets smart? Oil is not the savior of the world nor can it bring independence to the USA that is totally dependent on other countries due to past mistakes and stupidity. We owe more money to other countries and have become so dependent on oil we may well never become independent of anything.<br />
<br />
So to say we need more oil wells and should drill more is a foolish mistake that will only further the disasters we have already gone through too many times. While nuclear power plants provide clean energy, just exactly how safe are they and do we believe them? I don't.. maybe you do. How many times do you get lied too and continue to believe it? All good questions that no one wants to think about.<br />
<br />
These are just my opinions and thoughts on this. I do not point any fingers at anyone nor do I implicate anyone of anything. But the people of the USA better wake up and stop letting other countries put us at their mercy.<br />
<br />
Ivan<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:03 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Amen to that Ivan…<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 2:53 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
The problem with the left is that they want to shut down all low-cost energy solutions and suggest only non-existent or high priced energy as their solution... which would only further bankrupt an already nearly bankrupt America. Viable and affordable "green energy" solutions aren't even on the radar yet... not in the next 10-15 years and possibly much beyond that. By that time, America will have sent another TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars overseas for imported energy supplies. While I certainly do not have a problem with working on "green energy" solutions to America's energy needs, we still need to continue with KNOWN workable energy supplies, such as Oil, Coal and Nuclear UNTIL these "green energy" supplies have proven to be viable and affordable.<br />
<br />
The left and the spineless pol's in Washington have stopped so much of our energy solutions for the past 30 years (such as NO nuclear plants built in that time) while California stopped drilling off of it's coast at the same time it's inhabitants and especially the Hollywood-left have BIG CARS, BIG HOUSES AND FLY LOTS OF JET PLANES... while preaching to the rest of us that we should do without... what a bunch of hypocrites... just like those pol's in Washington.<br />
<br />
If we stop our own drilling, building and mining now, and then in 10-15 years, the "green energy" solutions are not viable or affordable, America turn into a broken down third world country and TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE!!!<br />
<br />
I guess some on the left might think that's a good thing... I DON'T!!!<br />
<br />
And I'll say AMEN to myself for that one!!!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of bill<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:49 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Hi Ivan in South Dakota!<br />
<br />
For a gentleman that usually stays quite you sure have said a lot!<br />
And all of it true, sorry to say!<br />
<br />
Being a bit older than most on the group, I spend a lot more time reflecting on what was, rather than what "is".<br />
<br />
The United States has no intention of waking up, now or later. Why? Easy, there's no profit in it! That's a very sorry thing to say about one's own country but true nonetheless. Our values are such that it's pretty much a come day, go day mind set. I've often heard it said if there is one great downfall of the United States, it is in it's own complacency.<br />
<br />
We proved this all on our own in the months just prior to World War ll and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Why get involved in world affairs? It's not affecting us, why should we brother? Let remain as an isolated nation. Well it did eventually affect us and the main idea or premise was the same. For Japan, it was raw materials for war along with OIL, for its war machine. After the US embargoed its scrap metal and oil export to Japan, they figured it best to move against us first, before we move on them.<br />
<br />
Did we learn? Of course not! We had 9-11, didn't we? Nobody cares, nobody is paying any attention. No money, no profit in it. Is anyone watching the store? No, but they are sure watching the cash register and the American people are as usual, picking up the tab for it. I do believe in our current President but when he said BP paying and picking up the tab, NOT. If they go belly-up and declare bankruptcy, who pays then? Ask those folks in Louisana who are already without lively hoods.<br />
<br />
Somewhere I read a very interesting statement: "Those who do not follow and learn from History are doomed to repeat it"!--------I rest my case.<br />
<br />
Bill<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:59 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
You are overlooking the fact that we don't use any domestically drilled oil.it is nearly all imported overseas. Last I checked, Obama and folks on the left have pushed for clean coal technologies and some of us have been in favor of nuclear plants (not all of the left is against nuclear plants).<br />
<br />
The reality is that over the past 60 years, oil companies have bought up patents for alternative fuel technologies. Do you realize that Henry Ford's first car was designed to run on a battery and that pressure from the oil industry caused GM to pull a very nice and very functional electric car from the market back in the 1990's? I think you need to stop listening to Rush and Beck and do a bit of research on what's really going on Lenny.<br />
<br />
Viable and affordable green energy solutions are here now and have been here for quite some time.<br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:12 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
How can you honestly say, "... the fact that we don't use any domestically drilled oil..."??? If we are only exporting 12.6%, what do you think we are doing with the other 87.4%??? We are using it!!!<br />
<br />
Down here in New Orleans area, we have dozens of oil refineries running 24/7 and they are refining LOTS of Louisiana oil, although there are many tankers of crude oil coming up the Mississippi River or more often, for the super-tankers, off-loading their supply at the LOOP <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Offshore_Oil_Port">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Offshore_Oil_Port</a>.<br />
<br />
NAME ONE VIABLE AND AFFORDABLE GREEN ENERGY SOLUTION!!! And I don't mean a windmill or solar energy panel farm powering someone's house or even a small town out in the country. It might work in very limited situations but that IS NOT VIABLE for major metropolitan areas where the MAJORITY of people live.<br />
<br />
Or.. are you suggesting that the people who decided to move out into the countryside to enjoy the scenic views and open expanses of land have to give up their little piece of heaven in order to put hundreds or thousands of square miles of windmill farms and solar panel farms in order to supply the folks in New York and L.A.??? Those areas certainly DO NOT have the room to put up green energy solutions. Hell.. the Kennedy's raised a ruckus when a project was proposed to put windmills out in the waters near their compound. NONE OF THE leftist-elitists want to put these ugly windmill farms or solar farms or any other kind of energy solution near them but they sure want to have their BIG HOUSES, BIG LIMOUSINES, BIG PLANES and HELICOPTERS to run off all of the energy produced elsewhere. Like AlGore, they're all a bunch of "Do as I say, not as I do!" type people.<br />
<br />
You need to stop listening to Olbermann and Madcow... oops.. Maddow.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of AquaHobby<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:36 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Hello Bill,<br />
<br />
You are so correct, it is all about money and not the welfare of the people. What a sad world we live in indeed. We are doomed and no one cares unless it pays money.....Quite Biblical don't you think?<br />
<br />
You rest your case.....and your case was correct.<br />
<br />
Ivan<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of AquaHobby<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:30 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Greetings everyone,<br />
<br />
Lenny you talking to the people who have head this all before. 35 years ago when I was in my 30's they said the same thing. We need to continue to drill and build more of this and build more of that until which time we can get alternative energy into force. I say it again, Brazil did it, so can we. 35 years later, where are we, no further ahead than we were in the energy dept than we were 35 years ago. So your theory does not hold water, the USA congress and people have been through this over and over again over the last 40 years or more no doubt.<br />
<br />
There is no money for social security, no money for alternative energy, no money for health, no money for this or that, but they can find Billions to clean up a oil mess and find trillions to fight a war. Don't you find that rather odd? The USA is supposedly broke and they are, there is no money for drilling, or anything else or so they would tell you. We do not need to wait another 35 years to have someone say the same things you just said and yet, be no further ahead than we are today.<br />
<br />
Tens of thousands of people have already died, in a so called war, of which that money could have been put into alternative energy, but now our so called intelligent govt would say, we have no money for alternative energy, and blah blah blah. I for one am sick of that nonsense. That is all you head the Bush administration say, we are going to do this, we are going to do that, and all they did was get us into a war we did not need, now we are so far in debt we will never get out of it.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I am done talking about this, it leads to no where and only causes hard feelings. There is no reason to discuss this any further.<br />
<br />
Ivan<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:39 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
What exactly did Brazil do? You seem to imply that they no longer use oil... which is blatantly false. Yes, they had a VERY EXPENSIVE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED ethanol program but they also <strong>drilled, drilled, drilled</strong> for their own oil supplies off of their own coastlines. Ethanol only makes up 15-25% of the gasoline used in their cars... the other 75-85% comes from OIL. Note the below article is about Brazil's Road To Energy Independence... NOT no longer needing oil. <strong>They are producing crude oil at all-time record levels to meet their country's needs</strong>. They were also a MILITARY DICTATORSHIP when they started this government funded program... something we aren't YET!!!... although some on the left pray for a socialist dictatorship before they go to sleep every night. I DON'T!!! I pray to God, not the BHO-Messiah.<br />
<br />
Here's a snip from a WashingtonPost.com article from a few years ago...<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/19/AR2006081900842.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/19/AR2006081900842.html</a><br />
Brazil's Road to Energy Independence (2006)<br />
<br />
"...That experience has been a sometimes painful 30-year evolution, marked by plenty of foresight and numerous false starts. It was born of a uniquely Brazilian political and economic environment, but industry analysts say it nevertheless provides lessons for a fledgling U.S. ethanol program that is already on pace to dethrone Brazil's as the largest in the world.<br />
<br />
Subsidies and Mandates<br />
<br />
Brazil's military dictatorship launched the national ethanol program in 1975, when about 90 percent of its fuel consumption depended on foreign oil. The government offered subsidies to sugar cane growers and forced service stations in every town of at least 1,500 people to install ethanol pumps. By the early 1980s, almost all new cars sold in Brazil ran on 100 percent ethanol.<br />
<br />
But as the decade progressed and the military government was replaced by democracy, oil prices plummeted and the subsidies granted to ethanol producers were eliminated. Sugar processing plants turned from ethanol to edible sugar, creating a shortage of supplies at service stations. The auto industry, which had dedicated itself to ethanol-only cars, stopped producing them almost entirely.<br />
<br />
"It was as if from one day to the next, the people who had ethanol cars had a problem on their hands, because no one wanted to buy them," said Henry Joseph Jr., head of the engineering program for Volkswagen of Brazil. "Ethanol cars went all the way from more than 90 percent of sales to less than 1 percent..."<br />
<br />
And from this more recent source...<br />
<a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/024082_Brazil_ethanol_oil_independence.html">http://www.naturalnews.com/024082_Brazil_ethanol_oil_independence.html</a><br />
Brazil's Oil Independence May Not Be a Model Worth Emulating<br />
Saturday, September 06, 2008<br />
<br />
"Brazil is having another banner year. It has reached energy equilibrium, exporting as much oil as it imports. <strong>Its production of domestic oil is at an all time high</strong>, as is the production of sugar based ethanol. At the service stations, ethanol is for sale right along side of the gas pumps. Brazil is also the destination of U.S. lawmakers and venture capitalists looking for America's future. As the by products of Brazil's quest for energy independence become known, it may be time to question the zeal with which some American's seek to emulate this model..."<br />
<br />
Read the entire article to find out the "by products" of their quest. Here is part of the negative effects of ethanol production...<br />
<br />
"...Another part of this capital was used to purchase more than 20 million hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) of Brazilian land, particularly in the mid-west regions and the Brazilian agricultural frontier. The rest went to the Amazon. The result is exploitation of Brazil's abundant natural resources and biodiversity.<br />
<br />
This exploitation can be best characterized as agricultural monoculture. Eucalyptus, a plant extremely useful for electricity generation and ethanol, is to be cultured exclusively throughout a section of the country in the south all the way to the border with Uruguay. Thousands of hectares of industrial plantations will be destroyed to create what is in effect a green desert. Sugarcane monoculture for ethanol production and export will also be expanded, including 77 new ethanol processing plants that will be built along four major pipelines..."<br />
<br />
Oh yeah Eric... and all that Sugarcane and Eucalyptus farming and all the farming run-off and the taking of the Amazon also hurts fish... a LOT more than oil rigs which are actually homes to thousands of fish.<br />
<br />
You seem to want the government to be the solution to all of America's problems when in fact, the government is the cause of most of America's problems... not the solution. All of the things you complain about in your last reply... "no money for social security, ... alternative energy, ... health(care), ... war..." are ALL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS that you admit are broken.. although I personally think our war machine works quite well! ;-) Well.. who do *you* think has managed to run them all into the ground... that's right.. your so-called all-knowing, all-powerful government. So how can you possibly think the government can do something else right... so-called "green energy"... when nearly everything else they do fails. If it wasn't for the private sector being involved in many other government programs, those programs would likely fail as well.<br />
<br />
I don't have any hard feelings. Maybe I'm blessed but I can have an intelligent debate without getting mad or having any hard feelings. I may not invite everyone to a "beer summit at taxpayer expense" afterwards but I won't have any hard feelings. I'll still sleep like a baby tonight... although I heard a comedian once explain how that analogy is so NOT TRUE since babies don't sleep very long between their two hour scream-fests for feeding times. LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Steve S<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:25 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Bill,<br />
<br />
The price of oil is not set by the oil companies. It is set by the market and what people are willing to pay for it. By people, I'm not talking you and me, but those who make their living buying and selling oil for others, be they countries or companies. The industrialization of Asia, particularly China, has placed a new strain on the supplies of oil and help cause prices to rise.<br />
<br />
While there may have been some deregulation of oil, it is still a heavily regulated business. The real problem is that the environmentalists have made it very difficult for companies to drill in this country, on shore and off shore. Apparently, there is a large reservoir of oil under the upper Midwest of this country just waiting to be tapped. Some think that it could supply this country will all the oil it needs, and more, into the foreseeable future. However, no one has been allowed to tap it to even test the viability of drilling in that area, and to get solid estimates about how much oil there may be there.<br />
<br />
Presume a gallon of regular gas cost $0.33 in 1965. Today, that same gallon would cost $2.28 according to <a href="http://www.usinflationcalculatior.com/">http://www.usinflationcalculatior.com/</a>. Using <a href="http://www.gasbuddy.com/">http://www.gasbuddy.com/</a>, it looks like the price of regular around here is about $2.69. So, yes, prices have increased, but not by as much as most people think. (My current car requires premium, so I really had no idea what regular went for.)<br />
<br />
\\Steve//<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Steve Szabo<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:42 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Eric,<br />
<br />
I hate to burst your bubble, but there is not an electric car made that could get me through one day on one charge of the batteries, though the Tesla comes close. Other alternative fuels are non-starters, where do I purchase them when I need them?<br />
<br />
Where is your proof that the oil companies have been buying up patents for alternative fuels?<br />
<br />
As far as your assertion that GM had to pull an electric car from the market in the '90's (I do not even recall them marketing one, and I used to be a big car freak), it was probably more to consumer acceptance, or, more correctly, absence of consumer acceptance of the vehicle. Whether it was a design issue, or the fact it was electric, I would not know, since I do not recall such a car.<br />
<br />
The fact is that every alternative fuel thus far developed has drawbacks that will prevent, and have prevented them from becoming acceptable to the general public. None of them have proven to be as inexpensive as gasoline (or diesel) or produce the amount of power per given unit as gasoline. Until these factors are overcome, you can go ahead and blame the lack of a viable alternative fuel on the oil companies quashing them (the other popular target are the car companies themselves).<br />
<br />
I'll return you to your regularly scheduled aquatic discussions. Don't forget that algae is being investigated as an energy source.<br />
<br />
\\Steve//<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of AquaHobby<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 6:46 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Hi Eric and all,<br />
<br />
How very interesting you should bring up the electric car and there was also a car that run on water. About 6 years ago, CNN news brought that subject up and had people call in (remember the call CNN days, they still do it but very limited). My brother in law called them and asked why the car industry took it off the market and what did they have to replace it and why there was a cover up about it, believe it or not, CNN news would not discuss that and hung up on him. What does that tell you?<br />
<br />
Big industry runs this world and people have allowed it to happen. They have the people of the USA so frightened and bullied into submission that they I think would agree to anything. We do not live in slavery, but aha, do we? Mental slavery is just as bad as physical slavery.<br />
<br />
There is very little Obama can really do, the table has been set long before he came into office and that table may not be able to be corrected if the setting is wrong or if someone more powerful than him does not want it corrected. President Obama is in a very difficult situation and I would not want to walk in his shoes for the simple reason, he is damned if he does and damned if he does not.<br />
<br />
The world is a horrible mess and it is not getting better and the powers that be do not care, it goes way beyond most people's wisdom and knowledge in this.<br />
<br />
We need to get off this subject matter, it will frighten people and I am sure none of us wish to do that.<br />
<br />
Ivan<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of caroline c<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 7:53 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.. You are the man.. WOW.. and on my fish list. Thank you for saying what I cannot.. may I send this to other friends.. I am on the tea party list.. but, you say it better than anyone.. thank you.. thank you....<br />
<br />
caroline in california<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:45 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Feel free to forward... or better yet, just give them my Rants and Raves blog link, which is mostly political rants and news but also includes product reviews, computer tech articles, etc., <a href="http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/">http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/</a>, as I'm sure this thread will make it to my blog in the next day or two. I'm actually copying/pasting as I type and editing out any names/identifiers other than my own... to protect the innocent and maybe the guilty as well. LOL<br />
<br />
Fish... and this is all Amber's fault! LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:59 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I don't entertain conspiracy theories for very long so I won't comment on them but... although the "Manchurian Candidate-with-a-twist" does pop into my head from time to time. LOL JUST KIDDDDINNNGGGG!!! LOL<br />
<br />
Then there are the major problems of charging all of the electric cars if all fuel powered vehicles were replaced today. The majority of our electricity comes from coal powered electric plants (since we haven't built a nuclear plant in 30 years) so we would be doing away with relatively clean burning gasoline and replace that with burning coal for the electricity... and we'd have to burn a LOT more coal to charge up all the cars. That means "MINE BABY, MINE!" would be the new mantra instead of "DRILL BABY, DRILL!" ;-)<br />
<br />
Of course, I'm in favor of doing ALL OF THE ABOVE when it comes to energy but the DOMESTIC low-cost and viable energy sources should continue to grow until we can lessen our dependence on foreign oil and then we can spend those BILLIONS OR TRILLIONS of dollars that OUR GOVERNMENT makes off of the taxes from all that domestic energy to look at longer term so-called "green energy" solutions.<br />
<br />
FISH!!! And remember this is all Amber's fault! LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:31 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
<a href="file://steve//">file://steve//</a><br />
<br />
The retail price of gas also includes Local, State and Federal taxes, that in some areas, raise the price by nearly $1.00 a gallon. In Louisiana, taxes increase the price by nearly 60 cents a gallon. That equates to effectively, a 30% tax rate!!! since the gas would only be $2.00 without the 60 cents in taxes so the price of gas is actually MUCH CHEAPER than in 1965 since they didn't have all the taxes.. or hardly any on gas back then. Many other areas are MUCH HIGHER in the amount of taxes they add so that the people don't even realize how much they are paying. We had a retailer down here who put stickers on all of his pumps itemizing the various taxes and fees, per gallon, and he found out that it is AGAINST THE LAW for him to publish this information at the pump but there are websites where folks can find out what they are paying...<br />
<br />
Here's a snip from Wikipedia... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax#United_States">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax#United_States</a><br />
<br />
United States<br />
Fuel taxes in the United States vary by state. For the first quarter of 2009, the mean state gasoline tax is 27.2 cents per US gallon, plus 18.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 45.6 cents per US gallon (12.0 ¢/L). For diesel, the mean state tax is 26.6 cents per US gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 50.8 cents US per gallon (13.4 ¢/L).[7] There are also a few states that charge sales tax on top of the excise taxes and the retail price.<br />
<br />
More here... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States</a><br />
<br />
Here's a history of the Federal Gas Tax and States followed suit with their own taxes later on. We can thank Hoover for the Federal Gas Tax... I wonder if that's where the vacuum cleaner name came from... since they both suck! LOL<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm">http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm</a><br />
The Revenue Act of 1932 - "... Together, Hoover and Mills formulated the most brutal peacetime revenue bill the country had ever seen. The bill called for a rise in estate taxes from 23 percent to 45 percent, an increase in personal income taxes from 23 percent to 45 percent, a rise in corporation taxes, a sales tax, a drastic modification of capital gains advantages..."<br />
<br />
Man, this is starting to look kind of fishy! (I wanted to get fish into the reply without relying on the trusty old "FISH!" ending. LOL)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Steve S<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:15 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
For most people, the price they see at the pump is the price of the gas.<br />
Thought of taxes does not come into it at all. I do not know if the federal tax has risen since 1965, stayed the same or declined, but most states have raised their taxes on the fuel since then. It is still amazing to most people that they are only paying a slightly higher amount for gas than they did when they were younger.<br />
<br />
Do keep in mind that the American public, in general, is completely unaware of many things that affect their daily lives, one of the reasons the politicians can hoodwink them nearly any time. Most have no idea how the market works, that oil companies have very little effect on pricing, much as is the case of farmers, who get a very small proportion of each dollar spent on food for their hard work in producing it.<br />
<br />
I probably should look up some of the old ads for fish I have in various catalogues and magazines hanging around and do the same analysis on them to see what the difference in price is today from back then.<br />
<br />
\\Steve//<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:45 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I think people need to be frightened so maybe they will actually take action. Logic and reason hasn’t worked.<br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:14 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Americans are frightened at record numbers! Haven't you been hearing all the GREAT news about the Tea Party Activists???<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of AquaHobby<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:15 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
OK I have said enough about this, it is getting mean now and there is no reason for that. you believe what you wish, I could care less. These were my opinions and that is all, I will not contribute to any further chatter on this as it will go on and on and on and get no where, just like the energy crisis. When you become dependent on another, that other becomes a parasite upon you and that is what the USA has allowed other countries to do to us, make us dependent on them. But you believe what you wish and in 35 years if I am still alive, I will come back and say, I told you so. All this nonsense was said 40 years ago and we are no further now then we were then. Enough said...<br />
<br />
You all have a good day<br />
<br />
Ivan<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:12 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
It seems we actually agree that America should be doing everything possible to become energy independent. There are still PLENTY of proven oil and coal reserves that haven't been touched yet so those should be harvested while we start building LOTS of nuclear plants and working on other so-called "green energy" sources like wind and solar to find out if they are viable before investing government (aka taxpayer) money into them. If they are viable, the private sector and local utilities will gladly jump on the bandwagon. If they aren't viable, let the private sector and investors take the risk, not the taxpayers... we're paying for enough government boondoggles already!!!<br />
<br />
Further, have you ever thought about what might happen to the "wind supply" or wind patterns when we put up thousands of those big wind turbines all over the open plains of America? In the long run, they could disrupt the wind patterns and ultimately affect weather patterns. And all of them solar collectors are HUGE sources of heat that could also affect weather patterns much like the heat generated by the "concrete jungles" (cities) affect the local weather in their areas with more occurrences of afternoon thunder showers. There are global-warming scientists (that's almost an oxymoron.. lol) studying these possibilities already. <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/5651/1719">http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/5651/1719</a><br />
<br />
Maybe you will be the lucky one and not be around to see the man-made disasters caused by all these wind turbines and solar cell farms. I'll still be around in 35 years to see what happens... if America lasts that long... or will it be Amerika by then. ;-)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:36 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Eric said, among other things...<br />
<br />
"The car that was pulled was pretty popular amongst those who were driving it. They made a pretty huge deal over GM taking the car back. Check out he movie.I think I have the title right."Who killed the electric car". ( <a href="http://ev1.org/chevron.htm">http://ev1.org/chevron.htm</a> )"<br />
<br />
Lenny says...<br />
<br />
This car simply was not viable. If not for HUGE government subsidies (1.25 BILLION DOLLARS) and State mandates (mainly Kalifornia), these cars would not have been built and people would not have been able to afford them, which is why GM had to take them back. Some folks complained that they weren't given the option to buy their cars at the end of their three year leases but none of them were willing to pay the $80,000 to $100,000 price tag either... and GM didn't want to have to carry the price tag of producing parts for the few remaining cars... not to mention the potential liability issues. Then when you factor in the cost of electricity and the amount of COAL that has to be burned to charge up these electric cars, they create just as much pollution as gas powered cars. They simply were not a viable alternative to gas powered vehicles. Even todays hybrid vehicles are being subsidized by the government or their prices would not be viable either.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1</a><br />
"While customer reaction to the EV1 was positive, GM believed that electric cars occupied an unprofitable niche of the automobile market as they were only able to lease 800 units in face of production costs of US$1 billion over four years.[9]...<br />
<br />
...GM based the lease payments for the EV1 on an initial vehicle price of US$33,995.[5] Lease payments ranged from around $299 to $574 per month, depending on the availability of state rebates.[citation needed] Since GM did not offer consumers the option to purchase at the end of the lease, the car's residual value was never established, making it impossible to determine the actual full purchase price or replacement value. One industry official said that each EV1 cost the company about US$80,000, including research, development and other associated costs;[60] other estimates placed the vehicle's actual cost as high as $100,000.[5] GM stated the cost of the EV1 program at slightly less than $500 million before marketing and sales costs, and over $1 billion in total; a portion of this cost was defrayed by the Clinton Administration's $1.25 billion Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program..."<br />
<br />
I'm not going to address all the other links since many of them are also based on conspiracy theories.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:26 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
That's fear mongering with lies and mistruths and getting people to vote against their own self interests by corporatist politicians and public figures. People need to see the truth and be fearful of the path their self imposed state of stupidity is leading us..<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 9:46 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
It can also be very easily achievable by installing wither solar panels or using wind turbines on site and not even using any of the energy off of the grid to accomplish this.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:57 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
You still don't accept the FACT that without government subsidies, solar panels and wind turbines are not viable. 99% of the people that are putting these things on their homes/properties are ONLY doing it due to HUGE tax credits or outright subsidies... not withstanding the companies making these things are also getting tax credits or outright subsidies on the production end. Take away the subsidies and they aren't viable. The payback would be hundreds of years instead of the 10-20 year payback for the subsidized products. If we subsidize everybody getting a wind turbine and solar farm on their rooftop, while you may not be paying your electric company, you'll be paying FAR MORE due to government overspending, deficit spending and the interest costs on our soon to be $20 TRILLION national debt.<br />
<br />
My monthly electric bill runs around $100.00 a month. My share of the national debt is around $100,000.00. I can pay a lot of electric bills with that $100K.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:33 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Disrupt the wind patterns.ok.now that was funny Lenny...where did you pull that out of (besides a certain orifice? hehehe)<br />
<br />
The difference in the concrete jungle is that the energy doesn't go anywhere and just gets transferred back into the atmosphere creating temperature anomalies. With solar, it gets transferred into electricity or used to heat water like your water heater. Remember the Law of Conservation of Energy.energy is neither gained nor destroyed.<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:31 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I think your "certain orifice" (quoting you) also applies to much of what you've said. I just didn't go there with you... but now that you've brought it up. ;-)<br />
<br />
I didn't make it up. There are actually left-leaning scientists using government grant money to study this potential wind anomaly. For the folks downwind of these massive wind turbine farms, instead of a normal breeze, the wind will have been disrupted and disturbed by hundreds or thousands of HUGE spinning fan blades. The wind pattern coming off of a wind turbine comes off in a MUCH different pattern than the wind going into the wind turbine. This is why they can't have them too close together. I don't know all of the aeronautical terms but on a different scale, it's the same thing that can happen when one jet flies into the jet stream of another jet and the wind is so disturbed that it causes the following jet's engines to have MAJOR problems. The same thing happens to one boat following another boat with the water being disturbed by the first boats propellers. I think it's called cavitation when it happens to boats.<br />
<br />
And don't forget all of the birds that are killed by these wind turbines every year.<br />
<br />
"The latest independent reports estimate the number of birds killed by wind turbines at about 100,000 per year. That's according to a 2007 report from the National Research Council called "Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects.<br />
<br />
The American Bird Conservancy estimated in 2003 that between 10,000 and 40,000 birds were killed each year at wind farms across the country, about 80 percent of which were songbirds and 10 percent birds of prey. 'With the increased capacity over the last seven years, we now estimate that 100,000 – 300,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year,' said Conservancy spokesman Robert Johns."<br />
<br />
Of course, if I lived near a wind turbine farm, I'd just send Granny Clampet out to collect me some road-kill (or would that be fan-kill???) every day for some good road-kill stew! Hopefully, most of the feathers got knocked off in the process so I have less plucking to do. LOL<br />
<br />
As far as your comment that the heat is used to heat water, the last I've seen of the BIG solar panel farms, there's not a lot of plumbing running off of them to nearby home's hot water heaters. Those farms collect LOTS OF HEAT and there are many ways that they are trying to solve the HEAT issue... but what about the long term effects of having all of this heat build up in areas that didn't have it in the past?<br />
<br />
Further, how will the capture of all of this sunlight and heat affect the earth. Right now, the sun and heat from the sun goes into the earth's ecology but if the world starts putting MASSIVE solar panel farms everywhere there is now farmland or other open space, the sun will not be hitting the earth in those areas, likely affecting the ecology in those areas.<br />
<br />
Whether it's oil, coal, nuclear, wind, sun or any other source of energy, the old "It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature" saying is still applicable and should not be dismissed... as is "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"... so for those folks who think there is a so-called "green energy" solution, who knows what kind of environmental damage will be caused by these so-called "green energy" concepts. I'm not saying we shouldn't explore other options, but don't go blindly rushing into these unknown concepts when they start to be used on a larger scale.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:29 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
And I should add this snip from the Wall Street Journal...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.html</a><br />
<br />
Windmills Are Killing Our Birds (2009)<br />
<br />
On Aug. 13, ExxonMobil pleaded guilty in federal court to killing 85 birds that had come into contact with crude oil or other pollutants in uncovered tanks or waste-water facilities on its properties. The birds were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. The company agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and fees.<br />
<br />
ExxonMobil is hardly alone in running afoul of this law. Over the past two decades, federal officials have brought hundreds of similar cases against energy companies. In July, for example, the Oregon-based electric utility PacifiCorp paid $1.4 million in fines and restitution for killing 232 eagles in Wyoming over the past two years. The birds were electrocuted by poorly-designed power lines.<br />
<br />
Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies. And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.<br />
<br />
A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont...<br />
<br />
...But that said, the carnage there likely represents only a fraction of the number of birds killed by windmills. Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy estimates that U.S. wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year. Yet the Justice Department is not bringing cases against wind companies.<br />
<br />
"Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card," Mr. Fry told me. "If there were even one prosecution," he added, the wind industry would be forced to take the issue seriously.<br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
Is this because the mostly spineless Republican pol's are afraid to stand up to the mostly hypocrite Democrat pol's... or is it because both sides of the aisle in Washington get their bribes from the energy companies and it's ONLY politically correct to attack oil companies and standard electric companies and that Republican pol's don't like attacking any big business and Democrat pol's dare not attack so-called "green energy" companies or fear the wrath of the tree-huggers surrounding their homes and picketing their offices.<br />
<br />
ExxonMobile got hit with $600K in fines for 85 birds, which averages over $7,000 per bird, so the windmill farm industry should be paying over $700 MILLION each year based on the average figure of 100,000 birds a year... or as much as $1.9 TRILLION based on 275,000 birds. Now, factor those fines into the cost of the electricity they are producing and all of a sudden, their prices aren't so affordable.<br />
<br />
The above shows the PURE HYPOCRISY of the so-called "green energy" movement. They can't play on a level playing field and wouldn't exist without LOTS OF GOVERNMENT-TO-CORPORATE WELFARE going to BIG GREEN ENERGY BUSINESSES. How can the left possibly like all that corporate welfare? Oh yeah... they love Government-To-Corporate Welfare when it's going to them and their businesses or non-profit corporations like Acorn.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:14 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
A couple of panels and a single wind turbine will create enough for one house (if you are ever up in the Chicago area Lenny.I'd love to show you my neighbor's house. The have a turbine and 2 solar panels and they make money off of the excess electricity they don't use by selling it to ComEd).they do already have working solar and wind farms that contribute a lot of energy to the grid. They are working on building even more in the SW.<br />
<br />
The farms don't have to be right in the city, just like the electrical generation plants do not have to be right in the city. In LA, there are a lot of open desert areas that can be used quite efficiently and even with little harm to the environment. You can put turbine farms offshore. They can even make use to tidal generators on the coasts. In big cities, they can make turbines that can be attached to the tops of buildings. If you have ever been in a big city, you would know that it is pretty windy.even on a calm day, when you get on top of a sky scraper. Even if it doesn't reduce fossil fuel use 100%, it does reduce it considerably.<br />
<br />
As far as this leftist elitist BS red herring (great way to work in a fish hehehe). here's an infesting article for you to peruse. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/GlobalWarming/story?id=2906888&page=1">http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/GlobalWarming/story?id=2906888&page=1</a><br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:35 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Ummmm... you're losing your street-cred fast here. I can promise you that there are NO "desert areas" in Louisiana... lots of good desserts... but absolutely NO deserts.<br />
<br />
I think I've addressed the rest of your assertions.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:58 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Sure Lenny.People have been using solar and wind for a lot longer than there have been tax credits.next piece of conservative BS?<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:44 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
ALL of the modern and recent solar and wind technology is HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED by government programs... from studies being done by many universities to R & D at many corporations to the actual cost of production and consumer purchase of these so-called "green energy" products. Hell, BHO even has the subsidies and tax credits for caulking windows now. Folks should caulk their own damned windows without expecting other taxpayers to subsidize them.<br />
<br />
Thanks for recognizing my conservatism! I'll sleep much better tonight!<br />
<br />
I don't know what Barbara Streisand (your comment about BS) has to do with my conservatism though.. she's a typical left-wing liberal hypocrite.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 10:56 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
In otherwords you really can't address the other links.typical conservative cop put when faced with facts.<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny [mailto:goldlenny@gmail.com]<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:38 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
A bunch of URL's, without any hint as to what might be enclosed in them, are NOT facts.<br />
<br />
At least provide a snip of what you are hinting at or relying on in the link you provide... or to at least prove you've actually read the content before I'm going to open the link and read through and reply to a possibly LONG page of opinion or conspiracy theories.<br />
<br />
As you've seen, when I reply with my "facts", I include multiple sources and usually reliable or well referenced sources, not just likely opinion pages. If every website was a fact, then you'd be a good conservative by reading my other blog since according to you, it's all fact and not opinion.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:43 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Didn't notice the link on the bottom of the page in reference to wind turbines. <a href="http://www.currykerlinger.com/studies.htm">http://www.currykerlinger.com/studies.htm</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny [mailto:goldlenny@gmail.com]<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:44 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
I provide you links and references to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the NY Times, the National Research Council and the American Bird Conservancy, etc.... and you provide a link to a currykerlinger.com ... WTF is a currykerlinger.com? Is he any relation to curlylarrymoe.com? LOL<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:44 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Didn't realize you meant Louisiana.thought you meant Los Angeles since you were talking about cities like New York.Louisiana isn't a city Lenny.<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 1:13 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
You need to re-read what you're replying to. This entire discussion started with me saying that I'm starting up a Gulf Of Mexico biotope tank with oil floating on the top, dead fish, birds and turtles floating on top and a little burning oil well.... as a joke about what's happening "down here", since I live "down here" in Louisiana. I've made countless references to me living down here dozens of times in this thread and hundreds... no, make that thousands of times in this forum. Your reply saying there were "deserts in LA" was a direct reply to my reply which included this SECOND paragraph:<br />
<br />
"Down here in the New Orleans area, we have dozens of oil refineries running 24/7 and they are refining LOTS of Louisiana oil, although there are many tankers of crude oil coming up the Mississippi River or more often, for the super-tankers, off-loading their supply at the LOOP <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Offshore_Oil_Port">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Offshore_Oil_Port</a>."<br />
<br />
Then in paragraph three, I made reference to "New York and L.A." (note the periods following the L and the A, which stands for Los Angeles, the city, since LA stands for Louisiana). Of course, I didn't say New York City, which is what I was referring to when you look at the context of that paragraph talking about limited land area, so maybe my failure to include the word "City" or not refer to New York as N.Y. was confusing to you since New York is also the State... but even in your below reply, you say "were talking about cities like New York" so you know I was talking about the city of New York and the obvious city of L.A... so now I'm confused about how you could have been confused.<br />
<br />
Your "deserts in LA" comment did not include periods so you were obviously referring to Louisiana, not Los Angeles.... right? But since we both know I was talking about cities, by your own admission noted above, there are also NO deserts in the City of L.A. either... or did you mean to type CA as in California or did you mean the County of Los Angeles, which is not referred to as "L.A." very often, if at all, and if you did a poll of what "L.A." stands for, you'll get a high percentage, of those that have a clue, saying it means Los Angeles? Of course, if you poll the people in L.A., such as Jay Leno does on the JayWalking segments, most of them might answer "Lunar Acclipse"... but if they guessed "Lost Angels", at least they'd be close. LMAO<br />
<br />
Just to make sure I was right about NO deserts in L.A. either, I did a search on the Wikipedia page for the City of Los Angeles <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles</a> and there was only one hit for the word "desert" and it was to a "Further Reading" link to a book called "Cadillac Desert", <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Desert">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Desert</a><br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Eric Roberts<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 12:32 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
Lets see.Exxon was fines because it killed birds as a result of their negligence that caused a major oil spill. The electric company was fined because birds died as a result of faulty wires. The drop in the bucket that comes from turbines is not due to negligence. Nice try by spouting from yet another conservative mouth piece.<br />
<br />
Eric<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 1:43 AM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
There you go again... not reading my well referenced and quoted material.<br />
<br />
ExxonMobil was fined due to some birds landing in their "uncovered tanks" and/or "waste water facilities", not for an oil spill.<br />
<br />
The electric company, PacifiCorp, was fined for allegedly having "poorly designed lines", which I guess could be extrapolated to mean faulty but the power lines worked as intended, providing power to the people so they weren't faulty... just possibly poorly designed according to some leftist Judge in Kalifornia, which we all know has some of the most whacked out leftist Judges in the country and especially on the Federal 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals... whose decisions are the most overturned decisions of any circuit in America.<br />
<br />
I don't know how you can say "The drop in the bucket that comes from turbines..." when ExxonMobil was fined for 85 birds and Pacificorp was fined for 232 birds AND wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds a year.... according to the American Bird Conservancy, which I can assure you is NOT a conservative mouth piece. If anything, it's a bleeding heart bird-hugging group. Maybe you misunderstood their website title, "American Bird Conservancy: Bird Conservation In The Americas" <a href="http://www.abcbirds.org/">http://www.abcbirds.org/</a>. Conservation is NOT the same as Conservative or Conservatism... but it's an interesting comparison... the Bird Conservancy wants to conserve or save bird lives in America and Conservatives want to conserve our tax dollars and save innocent human lives in America.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><br />
<aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com>On Behalf Of Eric R<br />
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:46 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
And you did specify Los Angeles."the folks in New York and L.A.???" Never saw Louisiana abbreviated as L.A. only as LA. I will assume that was a typo on your part.<br />
<br />
<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> </aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><br />
<aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com>On Behalf Of Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 1:19 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Is it just me....<br />
<br />
See my reply, just sent a moment ago.<br />
<br />
I NEVER used "L.A." as an abbreviation for Louisiana... except for maybe in your mind... but you did use LA as an abbreviation for Los Angeles, in your own words.<br />
<br />
Your confusion is getting the best of you now. You better get some sleep now!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
</aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com><aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com></aquaticlife%40yahoogroups.com>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-63822490554721540542010-05-25T22:18:00.013-05:002010-08-02T13:03:44.161-05:00Why Fish Keepers And Breeders Should NOT Create Hybrid Or Mutant Fish<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Hybrid-Or-Mutant-Fish">http://tinyurl.com/Hybrid-Or-Mutant-Fish</a> <br />
<br />
So... a question about hybrid fish recently came up in the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife">AquaticLife Yahoo Group</a>. <br />
<br />
Here's the question and my answer.<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] My hybrid fish<br />
<br />
Hey guys remember back 3 months ago when my fire mouth and pink convict mated and had off spring? Well the guys are almost grown up.. and yes I know Lenny and others, it's bad to create hybrids but this was an accident.<br />
<br />
These guys are beautiful, they're pink with a black dot and some stripes.<br />
<br />
I posted the new pics I just took on them. Also I'm willing to let go of some of these guys.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
AND NOW MY ANSWER...<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <goldlenny@gmail.com><br />
To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <br />
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 6:41 pm<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] My hybrid fish<br />
<br />
While it probably doesn't matter to most folks if an individual fish owner allows cross-breeding to happen, I DON'T think it's a good idea for that fish owner to distribute them. I'm not a cichlid *enthusiast* so it's probably NOT me that you will hear the most complaints from.<br />
<br />
But your offer to give or sell some to others... now that's the downside of hybrids... when their creators start distributing them around and then folks somewhere down the line allows them to cross-breed once again, especially if it's a breeder that then sells these hybrid-hybrids. It can really muck things up years down the line for folks that are trying to keep their fish lines pure.<br />
<br />
Unlike the AKC (American Kennel Club) and other recognized animal clubs around the world, which track the lineage of registered animals, nobody tracks the lineage of fish so a new buyer of what they think is a very nice looking pure bred fish ends up getting hybridized genetics that results in any offspring, that they thought would be pure, actually being a bunch of mutts.<br />
<br />
Now, that said, there's nothing wrong with a mutt... whether it's a dog (some of my best dogs over the years were GAM's --- Great American Mutt), cat, fish or whatever as long as the person buying it knows it's a mutt... but with fish, often times, they have no way of knowing.<br />
<br />
Personally, I'm of the mindset that there are SO MANY different types of fish out there, especially with cichlids, that I do not understand nor have a clue why the Dr. Frankenstein mindset exists with some mass breeders (not you) who do in-breeding, cross-breeding and then more in-breeding, in order to intentionally create some of the intentional deformities or "mutant fish", like fancy goldfish for example.<br />
<br />
This is also the complaint from most cichlid enthusiasts about the Parrot Cichlid which is now being mass in-bred to create a few of these mutant looking fish out of a hatch of hundreds and most of the rest of the hatch is culled (killed) because their birth defects do not match what the Dr. Frankenstein's were looking for. The same thing happens with fancy goldfish.<br />
<br />
If this type of activity was done with any other pet, with breeders intentionally breeding dogs or cats with intentional birth defects like bubble eyes, brain like growths on the tops of their heads, missing legs or other missing body parts, gross deformities, etc., people would be outraged but in the fish hobby, some people seem to want to collect these mutant and deformed fish.<br />
<br />
Maybe there's a little Dr. Frankenstein (or devil) in everybody... MUAHH-HA-HA-HA HA!!!!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a> <br />
(Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right<br />
side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <br />
On Behalf Of Deenerz<br />
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 8:56 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] My hybrid fish<br />
<br />
Lenny,<br />
<br />
You put that wonderfully!<br />
<br />
I may have to quote you in the future.<br />
<br />
-Mike<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <br />
On Behalf Of Donna R<br />
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:40 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] My hybrid fish<br />
<br />
Thanks for saying it Lenny!<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <br />
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:51 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] My hybrid fish<br />
<br />
Quote away! I actually made a few minor revisions/amendments in my original post, so you might want to quote this new one.<br />
<br />
Heck, I might have to do a new article for my blog. Then you can just post a link! ;-) I'm sure I'll add even more thoughts when I do my blog article.<br />
<br />
BTW, I just did a couple of new blogs in the past week, but one of those was actually an old article that I had written on another forum back in 2005/2006 and finally got around to transferring it to my blog, my "TOP TEN LIST - Fishless Cycling" (with help from contributors on that forum). I did it as a kind of contest where other forum members could contribute and I picked the TOP TEN funny but serious reasons to fishless cycle.... it's called Edu-tainment! (Enter-cation just doesn't sound right! LOL)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of jaiko<br />
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 5:16 AM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] <br />
<br />
Good post Lenny. The problem is i have too many and no space for them (what can i do with these guys?) i don't believe in euthanasia.<br />
<br />
I also belive that hyvrids should not be made as you do. but sometimes<br />
nature can not be control by us mortals.<br />
<br />
Jaiko<br />
<br />
<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <br />
On Behalf Of Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 12:06 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] <br />
<br />
I agree with you on the euthanasia part once the fish have hatched, other than culling obviously deformed fry, which is why it would have been better to NOT let them hatch in the first place if you don't have space for them.<br />
<br />
I've intentionally vacuumed up eggs on numerous occasions for fish that I did not have room to grow out... like whenever my goldfish scatter eggs all over during their mating spurts. I don't have room to grow out a bunch of goldfish so I have to vacuum up the eggs. I think Amber has to remove clutches of eggs from her Apple/Mystery Snails when her tank has enough of them already.<br />
<br />
Now, if you have pure bred fish or snails and you want to get into selling them, or even giving them away for free and you have the space and time to grow out the fry, then it's fine to do that but if you let hybrids hatch, then you just have to accept that they are yours or at least only given to someone who is responsible and explicitly KNOWS that these fish are NOT to be distributed any further... but you may not have control of this person once you give them the hybrids and that means that you could be responsible for hybrid fish getting let loose in the wild or being mixed with pure bred fish causing all of their offspring to be mutts.<br />
<br />
IMO, it's just a situation that is best avoided in the first place.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
On Behalf Of Deenerz<br />
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 8:19 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] <br />
<br />
Someone has to say it.<br />
You may not believe in euthanasia but if there is someone in your area with a cull fish. Aka a fish that eats unwanted fish.<br />
<br />
I was thrilled when my first pair of convicts spawned in about 2 seconds after getting out of the bag I brought them home in. But shortly after that I had 100 + babies swimming around the tank. Removed the parents for a day and let the other fish handle it and all was back to normal.<br />
<br />
Barring that your hands are full.<br />
<br />
Donna's advice is a great for the future spawns.<br />
<br />
-Mike<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Donna R<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Sent: Wed, May 26, 2010 6:00 pm<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] <br />
<br />
You can stock an African tank with natural predators like Synodontis Multipunctatus to handle the fry patrol the way mother nature intended.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately now that they were created and even raised they may need to remain your responsibility.<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <br />
On Behalf Of bill 1433<br />
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:30 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] <br />
<br />
Yes, I'm afraid I must agree with others here who suggest culling, you have little choice and later, as the fish grow out, it could be quite a blood bath if not handled properly. Fights for space as well as food will be rampant and not a pleasure to watch. With the room restrictions you have mentioned from the apartment side of it, there's no way to go. <br />
<br />
A 75 would only take up the difference in width coming away from the wall,if your 40 is a standard 48 x 13 x 16 or 18 inches high. Or with just another foot in length, if you could possibly handle the width, a standard 100-gallon at 5 feet, 21 or 22 inches high, and 18 inches in width would be the best but even this size could not accommodate all sixty of them at maturity.<br />
<br />
The only bright spot may be that is highly likely that these fish may be sterile to some extent and may not breed within themselves. I seem to remember reading some place that when species cross like this that is a normal condition. I was also wondering, and again may have missed the forwarding comment from you, after this spawn, what happened to the parents?<br />
<br />
BillGoldLenny aka Lenny V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12473291500867592185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-87139394031415979852010-05-24T23:55:00.004-05:002010-08-02T13:02:58.568-05:00TOP TEN LIST - Fishless CyclingSo... I started this "article" way back in 2005 in another forum but I decided to move it here to my blog. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
<br />
After I recently posted about the NUMBER ONE reason to "Fishless Cycle", was to give yourself a break from daily PWC's, constant water testing, stress and strain from the constant worry if your fish were going to live or die, etc., I decided to start a TOP TEN LIST.<br />
<br />
<br />
I will edit this first post to make the LIST complete so now I need your suggestions for the:<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">TOP TEN LIST, as of July 1, 2006, for why you should Fishless Cycle:</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>10. A 99 cents bottle of Ammonia is much cheaper than losing ALL of your fish and the cost to replace them.[^](GoldLenny)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>9. Gives you time to get parameters stable (ie. if you are going to have any PH swings they are going to be right from the start), and to find out how it all works without fish lives on the line (like if you have rocks, will they leech? That first month gives you a chance to find out without fish dying.[:O](Hailey)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>8. Gives you time to really research stocking, and decide what you want. Most people decide on one stocking list and then find something else they like better, maybe even two or three times before settling on one.[:X](Hailey)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>7. Can introduce a much higher bioload right from the start (starting your tank with, say, 10 fish instead of 3...makes it a lot more interesting.[](Hailey)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>6. Because a month of time spent cycling is better than a month of money saving for more fish.[^](Krazy_Keeper) ...and you dont have to deal with constant ich in the begining.[:O](TrixR4Kids364)(TIE... lol...I'm running out of room.[^])</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>5. You won't have to worry about a bunch of overzealous PETA members setting up a picket line in front of your house and then throwing a bucket of rotting fish guts on you when you try to leave the house.[](GoldLenny)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>4. Gives you time to make sure you didn't get any defective equipment (leaky tank, spazzy heater, etc).[B)](Hailey)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>3. To give yourself a break from doing daily, twice daily or even every four hour PWC's (25% partial water changes) and the stress and strain from the constant worry if your fish were going to live or die from day to day.[xx(](GoldLenny)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>2. Faster (much faster...a few weeks as opposed to a few months).[](Hailey)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>AND THE NUMBER ONE REASONS (we have a TIE) TO FISHLESS CYCLE YOUR TANK IS:</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>1a. You get to play Mad Scientist! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!![8D](CoolTow1, with amendment by GoldLenny.[}])</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>And since we now have a TIE for the Number One answer...</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>1b. Because you might just get a compliment and a "smiley with some tongue" [] from one of the Mermaids out here![](GoldLenny, thanks to Jillian_05[])</strong><br />
<br />
So post your suggested TOP TEN reasons in the comments section below and I'll combine them to complete the above list. If you have something better, please add to the thread and I may edit this list from time to time. I'll edit it every Saturday if new answers warrant going into the TOP TEN LIST.<br />
<br />
And if you do not know what "Fishless Cycling" is, here is a good article:<br />
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080324030809/http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html">http://web.archive.org/web/20080324030809/http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html</a> (may take a minute to load since this is an archived page)<br />
<br />
And if you are stuck with "Cycling With Fish", here is a good article:<br />
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080822012856/http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishcycling.html">http://web.archive.org/web/20080822012856/http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishcycling.html</a><br />
<br />
Here is the original link to a once VERY GOOD website, <a href="http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/">http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/</a> that has shut down for some reason. At least their articles are archived on the <a href="http://www.archive.org/web/web.php">Internet Archive Wayback Machine</a> (above link) <a href="http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html">http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html</a><br />
<br />
I know a common complaint is people not being able to find the 10% Ammonia Hydroxide (clear ammonia) at their local stores but I recently saw online that Ace Hardware sells their own brand for around $2.00 a quart. Here's their online link to buy it by the case... but the stores sell individual units. <a href="http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1307957&cp=&fbn=Brand%7CAce+Hardware&f=Brand%2F19262%2F&fbc=1&kw=ammonia&parentPage=search&searchId=18414252422">http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1307957&cp=&fbn=Brand%7CAce+Hardware&f=Brand%2F19262%2F&fbc=1&kw=ammonia&parentPage=search&searchId=18414252422</a><br />
Also read ALL of the articles on this page:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html">http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html</a> and ask lots of questions here in the forum until you understand these beginner tips.<br />
<br />
Also read this MONEY SAVING and FISH SAVING page of tips on Filter Maintenance and Cleaning -<br />
<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/notice-this-article-is-very-important.html">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/notice-this-article-is-very-important.html</a><br />
<br />
Thanks and HAVE FUN with this one!<br />
<br />
Lenny V. a/k/a GoldLennyLeonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-23483587427433772102010-05-22T09:35:00.004-05:002010-08-02T13:02:20.143-05:00Transferring One Aquarium To Another AquariumThis is an article I've been meaning to do for a long time, about transferring one tank to another tank with minimal loss of the total ecosystem and making it as easy as possible to do. To simplify the start of this article, I am copy/pasting email posts that I answered in a recent thread on the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aquaticlife">AquaticLife Yahoo Group</a>.<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
On Behalf Of Lainey A.<br />
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 5:54 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Transfering tanks<br />
<br />
I have to transfer my 37 g high tank to one that is less deep because my plants don't like the depth and I feel that I have tried every thing there is to try. My concern with this is - since this 37 is heavily planted, I can't vacuum too much and when I go to transfer all that filthy gravel to the new tank, I am worried about the water quality and that the fish will be harmed by it.<br />
<br />
Should I rinse it? I realize that would harm any beneficial bacteria, but I think this gravel is going to have just as much bad bacteria as good.<br />
<br />
I want to get the fish out of the tank, then remove the plants and this will stir up a major mess.<br />
<br />
(ADDED IN FROM FOLLOW-UP EMAIL)<br />
I forgot to mention that the gravel was expensive plant-growing gravel which is why I'd rather not have to replace it. I am afraid it cost something like $55 per bag shipped. But the plants do very well in it, and they don't do as well in the cheap Petco gravel I have in another tank.<br />
<br />
Not sure what to do after that.<br />
<br />
Thank you for any ideas...<br />
<br />
Lainey<br />
<a href="http://www.grasslandsgouldians.com/">http://www.grasslandsgouldians.com/</a> <br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <br />
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 7:31 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Transfering tanks<br />
<br />
Remember, that in a planted tank, you do not have nearly as many nitrifying bacteria as in a non-planted tank, since the plants are using up the nitrogenous compounds (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all nitrogenous compounds) as soon as they are released by the fish or decaying detritus. Further, unless one has a UGF (under gravel filter), the majority of the nitrifying bacteria will be in their main filter media, not in the gravel. There will be some nitrifying bacteria living on the top surface of your gravel, that is exposed to oxygenated water but any of the deeper gravel will have very little nitrifying bacteria.<br />
<br />
Now, that said, there are a LOT of other bacteria, critters, etc., that make up an ecosystem that might or will be living in your current substrate, to help break down any detritus, so you want to minimize the ecological issues as much as possible.<br />
<br />
Are you planning on using a new substrate in the new tank or the current substrate? That is the first BIG question. From your post, it looks like you are going to try and use the current substrate. <br />
<br />
If this is the case, then you need to put some of the current tank's water (up to 50% or less, just enough for what you need in the holding tub), the fish, decorations and filter system in a holding tub/tank while you make the rest of the transfer. <br />
<br />
Put most of the rest of the water in the new tank, leaving a couple of inches in the old tank with the substrate and plants.<br />
<br />
What kind of substrate? Just gravel or do you have a more expensive plant helping substrate below the gravel? I kind of need to know this before continuing but I'll continue anyhow.<br />
<br />
Next, pull up your existing plants cutting the roots as far away from the plants as possible when you have to cut roots. Put them in a separate holding tub since the root balls will have lots of dirt in them. If you don't have a separate holding tub, put them in with the fish and the dirt will setting to the bottom or be filtered out. The water will just be murkier in the fish tub.<br />
<br />
Now, you are down to just your substrate. Depending on how your substrate was set up and hoping it is all the same kind of substrate and not a layered substrate... place a colander in the tank and using a slotted spoon or spatula or a kitty-litter box cleaner works well also, lift up the substrate and place it in the colander until mostly full. Lift the colander and let the murky dirty water drain and you can even slosh it around a little to get even more dirt/detritus out of the gravel. Place the colander in your new tank and slowly pour the gravel out onto the bottom. Repeat this as needed until you have transferred all of your gravel or as much as you need. The water will be murky but with no filter running, it will settle down... after you finish re-planting all of your plants which would be the next step.<br />
<br />
Once the new tank has the substrate and plants in place, give it a little while for most of the murkiness to settle down. Once it has, then you can transfer the decorations, filter system and fish from their holding tub to the new tank. Once this is done, running the filter system will help to remove any murkiness that is still lurking. <br />
<br />
DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR FILTERS DURING THIS PROCESS. In fact, it would have been best if you haven't fooled with your filter in the past week or so. If you did, hopefully you did proper filter maintenance (<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/notice-this-article-is-very-important.html">SEE MY ARTICLE ON THIS TOPIC</a>) which preserved as many of your N-bacteria as possible and they should have recovered a full colony by now. <br />
<br />
If your filters are really funky right now, then disregard the above and do proper filter maintenance, based on my article, to preserve as many N-bacteria as possible. <br />
<br />
The reason I say this is that the plants might or probably will go into shock for a while and will not be using up the nitrogenous waste as much so your N-bacteria in your filter system will be relied upon much more and any N-bacteria you have will double their colony size every 24-48 hours so you will have to check your ammonia/nitrite levels daily for the week or two after this transfer to make sure you are not having cycling issues.<br />
<br />
After you transfer your fish from their holding tub/tank to the new tank, also transfer as much of that water as possible into the new tank. This way, the new tank's water parameters will be the same as the tank they originally were in since up to 50% of that tank's water went into the holding tub/tank and most of the rest of the water went into the new tank before the substrate and plants. Then the fish and water from the holding tank went into the new tank so most of the new tank's water was just the water from the old tank. Hopefully, you won't have to add more than another 25% of new water to the tank which would be the same as when doing a 25% PWC under normal circumstances. <br />
<br />
Minimizing any additional stress to the fish and plants is recommended during this transition. <br />
<br />
Normally, turning off the lights is recommended when transferring fish but the plants will probably need the lighting to help them recover so you can turn on the lights but if you see the fish acting too stressed, then turn them off. <br />
<br />
I should also add that if you are moving a non-planted tank from a smaller tank to a larger tank, now would be a good time to lessen the thickness of your substrate. Many people, when first setting up an aquarium put in 2" to 3" of gravel on the bottom but in a non-planted tank, this amount of gravel is WAY TOO MUCH and just creates a haven for holding more detritus, making it much harder to keep the aquarium clean. In non-planted tanks, you really only need enough gravel to cover the glass bottom... maybe 1/2" to 1"... just enough to mask the glass bottom and hold any detritus in between your weekly gravel vacuuming and 25% PWC's (partial water changes). This much thinner layer of gravel makes it SO MUCH easier for you to vacuum compared to a 2" or 3" thick layer of gravel. If you think you may want to add live plants one day, save your extra gravel and fill clay pots with a decent plant substrate, topped off by the gravel, as needed for your first plant endeavors instead of going with a thick layer of gravel on the bottom... just in case you decide you do not have an aquatic green thumb. I still use clay pots in my 65G goldfish tank, mainly because too much gravel in a goldfish tank is just too much work at keeping clean and also because the fish are constantly uprooting the plants and it's easier for me to replant them in the clay pots and I can still vacuum the rest of the gravel really good while leaving the clay pots alone for the plants to use any detritus in them as plant food. It works!<br />
<br />
I think that covers it all and since I've been meaning to do a blog article about this topic, I'll probably use your Q & A in this thread as the basis for my blog article. Thanks for bringing this up!<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Refs:<br />
Personal experience<br />
<a href="http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/qa/f/faq0018.htm">http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/qa/f/faq0018.htm</a>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-566302506221373162010-02-09T12:50:00.007-06:002010-08-02T13:01:44.040-05:00Fish Foods - DIY Foods, Live Foods, Retail Foods<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Fish-Foods-DIY-Live">http://tinyurl.com/Fish-Foods-DIY-Live</a> <br />
<br />
This is an article I've been meaning to do for a long time and based on several long answers to the AquaticLife Yahoo Group, I decided to post the Q & A's here as the basis for this article.<br />
<br />
<strong>-----Original Message-----</strong><br />
<br />
From: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/group/AquaticLife/post?postID=kl8d63kri4kd1K0QTMceM44QbkEQkFUwOjt5hPaBHbr-d7b3CI_xoT8EM_jYRtxjs6VFBfdoorBCRTcynAfwaww"><span style="color: #247cd4;">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</span></a><br />
On Behalf Of Noura<br />
Sent: Saturday, January 30, 2010 4:07 AM<br />
To: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/group/AquaticLife/post?postID=kl8d63kri4kd1K0QTMceM44QbkEQkFUwOjt5hPaBHbr-d7b3CI_xoT8EM_jYRtxjs6VFBfdoorBCRTcynAfwaww"><span style="color: #247cd4;">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</span></a><br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Fish Foods<br />
<br />
Hi,<br />
<br />
I have a variety of fish foods, and a variety of fish! Now the delimma if figure out what to feed to whom, and how many times aweek. Your help is needed here.<br />
<br />
Fish speices in the community tanks:<br />
Tank1 : I feed these ONCE aday: Angels, Tetra, Zebra Danio, CAE, and 2 guest Clown Loaches soon to go back to their loving owner ( about 3 weeks from now).<br />
Tank2: I feed these 2-3 times aday: Betta, small corydoras, and guppy fry (not so 'fry' anymore).<br />
<br />
Foods:<br />
Blood worms (freezedried), whole Shrimp (freezedried), sinking sardine pellets, Tubifex cubes(freezedried), Flake food (Ingredients: High class fish meal, plant astaxanthin, animal proteins, soya meal, cereals, fish oil, multi vitamins and trace element), floating granules that I don't know what they contain exactly but they're supposed to be high quality and for all tropical fish, Green Peas (frozen fresh). I occasionally throw finely chopped letuce, but with no mollies around there isn't huge enthusiasm about this treat.<br />
<br />
There are no FROZEN fish foods here, neither live foods, only freeze dried. You see I have been buying all sorts of foods except for those addressing a single species (like cichlids, goldfish, etc..) thinking that it would be better to feed my fish varient foods.<br />
<br />
I have a feeling that I'm too crowded with protein rich foods, and don't know how often should I use them. I'm also considering making my own homemade vegetable rich fish food, but don't know how much gelatin do I need.. have bulk powdered gelatin and I don't want to keep trying different amounts and throwing spoiled fish meals in the trash.<br />
<br />
Any advice?<br />
<br />
Noura<br />
<br />
<strong>My first reply:</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="subject root grey">RE: [AquaticLife] Fish Foods </div><br />
<div class="msgarea entry-content">Fry get 4-5 small feedings a day. Juvis get 3-4 feedings a day. I feed my adult fish twice a day, occasionally once a day or even skipping an entire day but most of the time, twice a day. If you have all stages of fish in a single tank, then you have to feed the fry five times a day and depending on how much the larger fish are going after the fry food, you may have to just feed enough so the fry get their fair share and just consider these feedings as the juvi and adult fishes normal feedings and do not feed them any other foods the rest of the day. You could also try feeding the adults first so they are not as hungry when you feed the fry for two of their meals so the fry are at least getting a better chance at food for two meals.<br />
<br />
You should consider growing some of your own live foods since you don't have those options... I know... as if you don't have enough to do already! :-P<br />
<br />
<a href="http://fish.mongabay.com/food.htm"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://fish.mongabay.com/food.htm</span></a> (top area lists common live foods for fish and further down lists some DIY micro foods for feeding your fry)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Food/worms.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.thekrib.com/Food/worms.html</span></a> (info on culturing your own worms)<br />
<br />
These next three articles have links to culturing most other live foods.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sydneycichlid.com/live-food.htm"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.sydneycichlid.com/live-food.htm</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishfood/"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishfood/</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.algone.com/livefood.php"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.algone.com/livefood.php</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/projects/diy-fish-food/113.asp">How to Hatch Brine Shrimp</a><br />
<br />
Here are some DIY Gel Food Recipes. Stick to the recipes as some other fruits and veggies will cause the gelatin to NOT gel as Amber and I have recently learned. LOL<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=18"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=18</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/Food/paste.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.thekrib.com/Food/paste.html</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sydneycichlid.com/cichlid-food-frozen.htm"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.sydneycichlid.com/cichlid-food-frozen.htm</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/GelFood.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/GelFood.html</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/food_recipes.php"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/food_recipes.php</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><a href="http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-fish-food/112.asp"><span style="color: #9136ad;">http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-fish-food/112.asp</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><a href="http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/Food.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/Food.html</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content">Medicated and DIY Medicated Foods: </div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><a href="http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedFood.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedFood.html</span></a> </div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><br />
<a href="http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedGelFood.html"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedGelFood.html</span></a> </div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content">Here's some articles that someone else recently posted about using unflavored gelatin and also some foods that will mess up Jello but these are mostly fruits but I'm sure some veggies do the same thing.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.baking911.com/howto/gelatin.htm"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.baking911.com/howto/gelatin.htm</span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/foods-that-ruin-jell-o."><span style="color: #247cd4;"></span>htm</a><a href="http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/foods-that-ruin-jell-o.htm">http://chemistry.about.com/od/foodcookingchemistry/a/foods-that-ruin-jell-o.htm</a> </a><br />
<br />
Other fresh foods that can be used are things like green pea *meat* (pinch the skin and let the two halves fall into the water), sliced and blanching Zucchini, cucumber, broccoli florets, etc. I've seen posts of folks feeding their goldfish all sorts of fruits and veggies and many other omnivores and herbivores and I'm sure some carnivores would also like these types of foods.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><strong>Noura's reply:</strong></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><div class="subject root grey"><br />
Re: [AquaticLife] Fish Foods </div><br />
<div class="msgarea entry-content">Thanks Lenny, these are tons of practical information.</div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><br />
The big tank contains mostly juvis, with one exception : Tetras</div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><br />
The guppy tank contains juvis and some fry, only one adult Betta.<br />
<br />
If I'm feeding one tank 18 meals/ week, how many of these should consist of Veggies, Protein-rich frozen foods, and Flakes (which I mentioned their ingredients earlier)??<br />
<br />
Noura<br />
<br />
<strong>My Reply:</strong></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><div class="subject root grey">RE: [AquaticLife] Fish Foods </div><br />
<div class="msgarea entry-content">That depends on the fish and whether they are carnivores, omnivores, herbivores or limnivores. On the Mongabay page about foods, further down on that page, it gives a breakdown on percentages of protein, etc.<br />
<br />
You should probably find/make a decent food with 30-40% protein base and then feed protein snacks (worms, etc.) to your carnivorous fish (Betta for example) and fruit/veggie snacks to your omnivorous/herbivorous fish. If you don't know the primary suggested diets of each of your fish, look at the Mongabay profiles on each species and it will tell you.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content">In another recent thread talking about processed foods, here are some select Q's & A's:</div><div class="msgarea entry-content"></div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><br />
<strong>-----Original Message-----</strong><br />
<br />
From: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/group/AquaticLife/post?postID=YLx0i_uxntAAu9qivR78p9Y-Jydwc4cbGhhixQOIUXV80Ds8HiYWqHrZcBKeKofW0KLWyVbng2i_wTJ38dksMJJg"><span style="color: #247cd4;">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</span></a></div><div class="msgarea entry-content">On Behalf Of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/group/AquaticLife/post?postID=fGMbsrHKNvRIl525MnuFQIqyBaNNFfwIYg_-g8lMo_Ia0YMdCa4l-akmdlgmS6qlhyr0nSs"><span style="color: #247cd4;">Deenerz@...</span></a><br />
Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 3:51 PM<br />
To: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/group/AquaticLife/post?postID=YLx0i_uxntAAu9qivR78p9Y-Jydwc4cbGhhixQOIUXV80Ds8HiYWqHrZcBKeKofW0KLWyVbng2i_wTJ38dksMJJg"><span style="color: #247cd4;">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</span></a><br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Foods my Fish Like<br />
<br />
Kai,<br />
<br />
All of my fish devour New Life Spectrum. I buy it five pounds at a time to get the best price and a cool little fish bucket ;)<br />
<br />
My bettas love it. I gave some to a friend that was running out of "Betta food" and she sad her betta went nuts over the NLS.<br />
<br />
I have two mortar and pestles and grind the pellets into powder for fry or small fish and it is a hit.<br />
<br />
Every time I think I want to try a different or less expensive brand I end up going back to NLS.<br />
<br />
I do not own stock in NLS or know Pablo Teepoot, just like the results from the food.<br />
<br />
-Mike<br />
<br />
And My Reply:<br />
<br />
RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Foods my Fish Like<br />
<br />
Looking at the ingredients for NLS, it looks like they're pretty darned good too! Just watch out for NLS fed fish that smack other fish on the forehead and say... "Should have had a V-8!"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nlsfishfood.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=60">http://nlsfishfood.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=60</a></a> </div><div class="msgarea entry-content"><br />
New Life Spectrum® food is made with high-quality easily digestible South Antarctic Krill, Herring, Squid, and New Zealand Mussel protein, and several all-natural color-enhancing ingredients for a balanced diet that boosts immune system function and enhances the full spectrum of your fish’s color. With the belief that all fish require a complete and fully balanced varied diet, New Life also contains Algae Meal, that consists of Seaweed, Kelp, and Haematococcus pluvialis (a micro algae), a premium grade of natural Spirulina, as well as a fruit & vegetable extract that consists of Spinach, Red & Green Cabbage, Peas, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Kiwi, Apricot, Pear, Mango, Apple, Papaya, and Peach.<br />
<br />
All New Life Spectrum® products also contain a generous inclusion rate of Garlic (Allium Sativum) with the Thera-A formulas containing a mega-dose of this natural anti-parasitic ingredient.<br />
<br />
All ingredients used are almost identical, since we cannot find anything better than what we are using. However, the crude analysis will be different due to the percentage of ingredients incorporated into a specific formula.<br />
<br />
Typical Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Whole Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract (Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear), (various vitamins, etc.)<br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
<br />
Then several questions came up about store bought processed foods, and my reply:<br />
<br />
RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Foods my Fish Like<br />
<br />
I find that most Tetra and many other store-bought processed foods is that they have WAY TOO MUCH AND MANY fillers added to them. Look at the ingredients of your fish foods. If they start off with various flours/glutens/meals (except fish meal is OK since that just means<br />
ground up fish stuff) as their first few ingredients, they aren't the best things for your fish since fish don't really eat a whole lot of corn, wheat, etc. in their natural diets.<br />
<br />
Although they aren't cheap foods, I like the OmegaSea.net foods <a href="http://www.omegasea.net/products.html,"><span style="color: #247cd4;">http://www.omegasea.net/products.html,</span></a> labeled Omega One, but there are other quality foods that are similar with their limited use of fillers.<br />
<br />
Here's the ingredients for Omega One Natural Protein Formula "Freshwater Flakes" food for Tropical Fish:<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS: Whole Salmon, Halibut, Black Cod, Whole Herring , Whole Shrimp, Whole Krill, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, (then all the vitamins, etc.)<br />
<br />
And for Goldfish Flakes:<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS: Whole Salmon, Black Cod, Seafood Mix (Including Rockfish, & Shrimp), Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, (then all the vitamins, etc.)<br />
<br />
As you see, "Wheat Flour" and "Wheat Gluten" are not listed until 7th and 8th ingredients on the tropical food and the 4th and 5th ingredients on the goldfish food, meaning they are no where near being primary ingredients.<br />
<br />
Compare this to the ingredients on most other non-premium and even some premium fish foods and you'll see the flours, glutens and meals listed as the primary ingredients.<br />
<br />
Even what I thought was a premium fish food a while back... Hagen's Nutrafin Max Goldfish Flake Food, has some of the same fillers as the el-cheapo fish foods:<br />
<br />
INGREDIENTS: Fish Meal (which is OK), Corn Flour, Wheat Flour, P.D.P. (means Pre-Digested Plankton), Soy Flour, Oat Meal, Squid Meal, Fish Liver Meal, Wheat Gluten Meal, Squid Liver Meal, Fish Oil, Dried Yeast, Shrimp Meal, Laver Aquatic Plant, Krill, Wheat Germ Meal, (then all the vitamins, etc.)<br />
<br />
As you can see... A BIG DIFFERENCE with the Omega One obviously being a much better food, IMO.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder</div></div></div>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-87774661305601485072009-08-10T11:52:00.008-05:002010-08-02T13:00:59.584-05:00Software, Spreadsheets And Other TechnologyI"m starting off this article with a couple of PAID versions of software but if you read down a little, you will also see a FREE version of software as well as some Excel Spreadsheets that are FREE.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Sea Apple Aquarium Lab - $24.95 U.S.</strong><br />
<br />
If anyone wants to try this program for free for 30 days and then the cost for keeping it would be $24.95, they should probably go to the software creators website, <a href="http://www.aquariumlab.com/">http://www.aquariumlab.com/</a>.<br />
<br />
From the AquariumLab website:<br />
Aquarium Lab is a complete aquarium tracking software package for Windows Vista and XP, that will help you maintain healthy aquarium conditions<br />
Monitor Aquarium Readings: pH, Temperature, Calcium, Alkalinity...<br />
Track Aquarium Livestock including fish, corals, plants and invertebrates<br />
Track Water Changes<br />
Track Food and additives<br />
Project manager and Calendar<br />
Monitor Electrical costs and power consumption<br />
Free 30 day Trial. Buy as low as $24.95<br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
<strong>Aquariogest - $41.00 U.S.</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=presentation"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><strong>AquarioGest Software presentation</strong></span></span></a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software"><br />
</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=fish-plant-atlas-software" title="Fish, Plants and Invertebrates Atlas">Atlas</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Discover Fish, Plants and Invertebrates Atlas illustrated with more than 670 professional photos.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-management-software" title="aquarium management software">Aquariums management</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Complete aquarium manager : watervalues, tasks scheduler and electrical equipments.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=fish-aquarium-software" title="Fish management">Fish management</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Purchase, birth, decease, sale, breedings and cares for each fish of your aquarium.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=plant-aquarium-software" title="Plants and Invertebrates management">Plants and Invertebrates management</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Follow the growth of your aquatic plants and manage the invertebrates population.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-water-log-software" title="Water tests logs">Water tests logs</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Log your water tests, significant indicators, graphs and alerts.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software" title="Aquarium budget software">Aquarium budget</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Control all your expenses and follow the electric consumption of your equipment.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-maintenance-software" title="Tasks planning">Tasks planning</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Plan all your maintenance tasks to never forget them.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-log-software" title="Aquarium logging software">Aquarium logbook</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Note all events of your aquarium.</a><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-calculator-software" title="AquarioGest Assistants / Wizard">Assistants / Wizard</a><span style="color: #3333ff;"><a href="http://www.aquariogest.net/index.php?rub=aquarium-budget-software">Find easily new fish, plant or invertebrate - Aquarium volume calculator - Backup tool - Tools of aquarium calculations & conversions - Units settings...</a></span></a><br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
<strong>AquaLog - FREE</strong><br />
<br />
If you want a free program that does some or possibly all that this Sea Apple one does, you can use Aqualog for free - <a href="http://joejaworski.com/aqualog/">http://joejaworski.com/aqualog/</a>. Besides being available on the creators website, it is also found on reputable download sites like CNet's Download.com <a href="http://download.cnet.com/AquaLog/3000-2130_4-10027868.html">http://download.cnet.com/AquaLog/3000-2130_4-10027868.html</a><br />
<br />
From the Aqualog website:<br />
Aqualog is a Microsoft Windows application that can be used to monitor and log any number of marine, reef, or freshwater aquariums. It is designed for both hobbyist and professional use, providing a convenient way to track water test results, maintenance items (such as water changes and chemical additions), and to keep an annotated log of observations. Click the image to the right to see a screen shot of the main AquaLog screen.<br />
<br />
AquaLog is Open Source. You can download the fully functional version below free of charge. You do not have to register, give out your email address, or send any money to use it.<br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
<strong>Excel Spreadsheets -</strong> <strong>FREE</strong><br />
<br />
These two spreadsheets have been set up by other fish keepers, including the second one that I have modified. I have uploaded these two files to my FileFront page so you can download them for free.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.filefront.com/14247047/Water-Test-Log.xls/">http://www.filefront.com/14247047/Water-Test-Log.xls/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.filefront.com/14247059/Aquarium-Water-Test-Log---Modified-by-GoldLenny---2nd-draft.xls/">http://www.filefront.com/14247059/Aquarium-Water-Test-Log---Modified-by-GoldLenny---2nd-draft.xls/</a><br />
<br />
Below is a SNIP from my blog page on Fish Profiles And Compatibility Charts -<br />
<br />
Here is a download chart in Excel/Spreadsheet format that has tons of information about fish, compatibility, etc.:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.klsnet.com/fish.html">http://www.klsnet.com/fish.html</a> or <a href="http://www.grizzlyrun.com/petedu/fishchrt.xls">http://www.grizzlyrun.com/petedu/fishchrt.xls</a><br />
<br />
Sorry.. the above two links no longer work but I did download these files a while back and I now have them hosted on my FileFront account so you can download them here....<br />
<a href="http://files.filefront.com/13416948">http://files.filefront.com/13416948</a> (ODS file for Sun's Open Office)<a href="http://files.filefront.com/13416958">http://files.filefront.com/13416958</a> (XLS file for MS Excel)<br />
<br />
(If you don't have MS-Excel, you can download a viewer from MS or if you want a FREE full service MS-Office type suite, go to Sun Micro's <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">http://www.openoffice.org/</a> and download their full suite which will allow you to create, view and edit MS-Office documents.)<br />
<br />
This page has a few downloadable fishkeeping related programs... mostly Freeware... and includes two programs under the Software Column of links, for Fish Compatibility named "Can I Keep It?" and "More Can I Keep It?". I haven't checked these out yet but they were recommended by an advanced member of fishforums.net. There are also some other fish related freebie programs on the site. I'm not sure if this is Neal Monk's site but I see "nmonks" in the URL and he has been writing articles for a while about fish. <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/software/index.html">http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/software/index.html</a><br />
<br />
If you know of other free or paid software that will help fishkeepers do a better job, please post a comment below with the information or send me an email - <a href="mailto:goldlenny@gmail.com">goldlenny@gmail.com</a><br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder a/k/a GoldLenny in the forumsLeonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-91592404203547531482009-06-23T23:00:00.008-05:002010-08-02T12:59:34.800-05:00Sick Fish Questionnaire<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Sick-Fish-Questionnaire">http://tinyurl.com/Sick-Fish-Questionnaire</a> <br />
<br />
We understand that if you are having a problem, especially one resulting is sick fish, you want help as soon as possible. In order to give you answers as quickly as we can, we need you to provide answers to as many of the questions below as possible, especially test readings.<br />
<br />
It would be best if you cut and paste this entire set of questions into your first post, in one of the forums listed on the right of this page, to be sure you answer each inquiry.<br />
<br />
Test readings (in numbers) for:<br />
Ammonia:<br />
Nitrite:<br />
Nitrate:<br />
pH:<br />
<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">GH</span>:<br />
<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">KH</span>:<br />
Temperature:<br />
<br />
Also post your tap water baseline numbers if known. If not known, now would be a good time to start finding out what they are. See my article on this page <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/05/find-your-tap-source-water-baseline.html">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/05/find-your-tap-source-water-baseline.html</a><br />
<br />
Tank size:<br />
Tank inhabitants (number and type of fish or other aquatic life):<br />
Water change amount and when the last one was done:<br />
Filter maintenance and what exactly did you do:<br />
How long the tank has been set up:<br />
Water or filter additives or pH adjusters used:<br />
Recent (within 2 weeks) changes or additions to the tank:<br />
<br />
Full description of the problem you have been having, including any odd behavior of the inhabitants or appearance of the tank or inhabitants…some common examples are:<br />
Fish behavior-<br />
separating from school<br />
hiding<br />
breathing rapidly<br />
hanging at surface<br />
sitting on bottom<br />
having difficulty swimming<br />
scraping body on ornaments/plants/gravel<br />
<br />
Fish appearance-<br />
pale or different in color (describe)<br />
raised spots/tufts of cottony material/cloudy patches on skin<br />
fins fraying<br />
chunks missing from fins<br />
open sores<br />
bent spine<br />
<br />
Tank appearance-<br />
whitish cloudy water<br />
greenish cloudy water<br />
excessive algae (specify color)<br />
<br />
We'll try to help as best we can.<br />
<br />
Lenny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vasbinder</span> aka <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">GoldLenny</span>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-81502205728810724282009-05-12T11:04:00.006-05:002010-08-02T12:58:57.847-05:00H.R. 669 Hearing Update - from FishChannel.com newsletterEDITOR'S NOTE (From FishChannel.com Editor)<br />
<br />
Well, <a href="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4626709:5465254088:m:1:162956914:BA493512A9A242B25D7D51406B4030AC" style="border-bottom: #c75500 1px dashed; color: #c75500; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4626709:5465254088:m:1:162956914:BA493512A9A242B25D7D51406B4030AC">HR669</a>, the now-infamous bill that would pretty much end the pet hobby as we know it, appears to be entering possible limbo-land as of the time we're sending this newsletter. (<a href="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4626710:5465254088:m:1:162956914:BA493512A9A242B25D7D51406B4030AC" style="border-bottom: #c75500 1px dashed; color: #c75500; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://echo4.bluehornet.com/ct/4626710:5465254088:m:1:162956914:BA493512A9A242B25D7D51406B4030AC">Read all about it here</a>.) Some believe it has pretty much been killed. Others, and I would put myself in this category, are cautiously optimistic and waiting to see what happens next. Even if this bill is defeated, expect the animal rights and environmentalist groups who are traditionally responsible for bills of this sort to cull another one together sooner rather than later.<br />
<br />
By all accounts pet owners came together in astounding numbers to battle this flawed bill that was based on questionable science. Those who would have been most affected by it are hobbyists who keep reptiles, tropical fish and birds. The majority of the popular pet species of these types of animals are not native to the United States , and the bill would have made it illegal to keep everything from bettas to bearded dragons to budgies. Advocates of the bill would say that species that are judged “safe” to keep (e.g., don't stand to establish wild populations should they escape) would be put on a list of approved species, but to get them on that list would be far from a cakewalk, requiring applications and fees, as well as USFWS personnel time and money that are reportedly nonexistent. Further studies could also be requested by USFWS before adding a species to the approved list, stalling the process even longer. It could take years, if ever, to get popular pets such as those mentioned above added to the list, and in the meantime they would be illegal.<br />
<br />
Hopefully this bill is dead. If so, kudos to everyone who flooded the subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife with tens of thousands of letters and phone calls. Also kudos to PIJAC and USARK for keeping everyone informed. Everybody's efforts were not just impressive, but also vital.<br />
<br />
Russ Case<br />
FishChannel.com Editor<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-news/2009/04/23/hr-669-update.aspx">http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-news/2009/04/23/hr-669-update.aspx</a><br />
(reprinted below) <br />
H.R. 669 Hearing Update<br />
What's the status of H.R. 669 after the hearing?<br />
By Benjamin Weiner <br />
On Thursday, April 23, 2009, the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife met to deliberate, investigate and revise H.R. 669, the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, and decide if it should go to general debate and move forward in the legislative process. The hearing record is being held open for 10 days for responses and to decide whether to proceed. <br />
Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) Marshall Meyers testified before the Congressional Subcommittee regarding H.R. 669 as a representative of pet owners and the pet industry. <br />
In written testimony submitted to the Subcommittee Meyers stated, "We support the development of a strategic, risk-based process to prevent the introduction of invasive species (harmful nonnative species) into the United States." However, the current draft of H.R. 669 "fails to be strategic in that it does not adequately take socio-economic issues and risk management options into account," and would "require funds and staffing not currently<br />
available, nor likely to be available, to the US Fish and Wildlife Service." <br />
Meyers said that they are willing to work with the authors of the bill to craft more realistic legislation that serves the public and affected industries alike. <br />
Congresswoman and Subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo of Guam (who authored this bill) said, "We recognize the bill is by no means perfect and that changes will be needed to address various concerns before any legislation moves forward." <br />
"As it stands, PIJAC still has issues with points of this bill's impracticality or lack of clarity," Meyers said. <br />
Andrew Wyatt President of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) said that the hearing was a "smashing success." <br />
"Two weeks leading up to the hearing, USARK mounted a grassroots campaign of letter writing and phone calls," he said. "We swamped Capitol Hill with almost 50,000 letters that were delivered to Subcommittee members." <br />
Wyatt added that on top of that were thousands upon thousands of phone calls, e-mail and letters directly to Subcommittee members. <br />
During the hearing, Congressman and Subcommittee member Henry E. Brown of South Carolina said, "Like members of this Subcommittee, during the past few weeks I have received thousands of calls, e-mails and letters written by constituents in strong opposition of this bill." <br />
Later, Wyatt quoted Harry Burroughs of the Subcommittee staff as saying, "I haven't seen a letter writing campaign like this in 30 years! You should be proud of yourselves." <br />
Subcommittee member Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa, a co-sponsor of the bill, congratulated Meyers, PIJAC and the pet industry for the tremendous grassroots response that has been generated, noting that it is important to have input from constituents on these issues. <br />
Wyatt added that Faleomavaega said that the letters and phone calls hit them like a "buzz saw." <br />
"We're so proud of all the people out there that did what they were supposed to do and sent letters and e-mails and phone calls," he said. <br />
Russ Case, Editor of Aquarium Fish International and FishChannel.com, expressed relief at the outcome. "I'm happy that the bill may be in trouble in its current form, but as we all know, the groups who are against the keeping of exotic pets will return with another. For now I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'll be waiting to see what they cook up next." <br />
Both PIJAC and USARK expressed that no current action is required by the public and that more updates are to come. <br />
PIJAC Website - <a href="http://www.pijac.org/">http://www.pijac.org/</a> <br />
USARK Website - <a href="http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-news/2009/04/23/www.usark.org">http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-news/2009/04/23/www.usark.org</a>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-49817880701883375732009-04-20T12:23:00.006-05:002010-08-02T12:58:27.289-05:00OPPOSE HR 669 - Fish and other non-native animals importation banEDIT ADDED 4/22/2009 -<br />
<br />
To watch this actual Committee hearing live, go to <a href="http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273&Itemid">http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273&Itemid</a> and under:<br />
<br />
Thursday, April 23, 2009:Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Legislative Hearing on H.R. 669, choose the LIVE VIDEO or LIVE AUDIO webcast.<br />
<br />
(END OF EDIT)<br />
<br />
This seems to be one of those pieces of legislation that crosses the political spectrum. As a conservative and businessperson, I am against government interference with the business industry... especially at a time like this when jobs and businesses do NOT need another hurdle to jump. In reading the many forum posts, blogs, etc., I also see that many of my liberal e-Friends also oppose this legislation as many of these folks are also pet owners and see the damage that will be done to the pet industry. It seems the ONLY people in favor of this kind of legislation are the PeTA and HSUS types that believe that animals actually have Constitutional rights. Of course, these two groups raise tens of millions of dollars... probably hundreds of millions... and actually DO NOTHING to help the animals they claim to want to save. PeTA has been caught killing over 90% of the animals it "saves" and then illegally dumping their carcasses into the dumpsters of other businesses. HSUS dose NOT have a single shelter and just rakes in unsuspecting donor's money and then spends it all on lobbying, jet-setting and eating nice expensive Washington, D.C. meals... probably including the various and delicious meats they want all of us to give up. Speaking of meat... now, it's on to the meat and potatoes of this blog... (nice segue.. huh! lol)<br />
<br />
PIJAC and NAIA, both pet industry trade groups, have been working hard against the passage of this bill, House Resolution 669, a/k/a HR669, a/k/a H.R. 669. NAIA Trust (the political action end of NAIA) has set up a CAPWIZ webpage so you can easily fax an opposition letter to your politicians so you can let them know to opposed and vote NO to this bill which will severely and adversely affect the fish keeping industry, including hobbyists. We've been discussing this A LOT in the AquaticLife Yahoo Group and many other forums have very active threads going on about this proposed bill.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/home/">http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/home/</a><br />
<br />
If you've never been involved in grass-roots politics and/or are not familiar with CAPWIZ, let me know if you have trouble migrating through the process and I'll help out. It's really simple once you do it.<br />
<br />
There are many other websites with online petitions, etc., but CAPWIZ will put a faxed letter into every one of YOUR politicians hands so you won't have to worry whether or not they see the online petitions.<br />
<br />
This message on AquaticLife has a YouTube video and another website set up specifically to oppose HR 669.<br />
<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39341">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39341</a><br />
(START SNIP)<br />
Most of the fish we keep in our aquariums could soon become illegal to transport or breed. This proposed bill would very soon destroy our hobby entirely. Please check out this very good video concerning HR 669 and then go to the easy to use web site to tell your congressman what you think.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FPfL212CB8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FPfL212CB8</a> (and other follow-up YouTube's)<br />
<a href="http://www.nohr669.com/">http://www.nohr669.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.stophr669.org/">http://www.stophr669.org/</a> (added to this blog but not on original post)<br />
(END SNIP)<br />
<br />
And this post - <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39405">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39405</a> which has a form letter that clubs/associations can type out on their letter head and fax or email to PIJAC representative who will be at the 4/23 hearing.<br />
<br />
And this post - <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39416">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/message/39416</a> has an article showing where the New England Aquarium has come out against HR 669.<br />
<br />
And this PIJAC document which has all of the committee members and their phone numbers, email addresses, website contact forms, etc.<br />
<a href="http://www.pijac.org/files/public/669_Short_W_Comm.pdf">http://www.pijac.org/files/public/669_Short_W_Comm.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a> (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Summerfun<br />
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 12:16 AM<br />
To: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Subject: RE: Fish importation ban. H.R.669 and other non-native animals as well.<br />
<br />
Aquaticlife. I would mind join possible other groups you have. I don't have the connections you have about to H.R.669 bill. So if you have any thing please send it our way and I will pass it on to the big guys of Michiana Aquarium society. We just had a fish auction sat. and they gave us a hand out and talked to every one at the auction. Hope you knew I was tring to help and not step on toes. Thanks again. Kelley<br />
<br />
"A True Friend walks in when the rest of the world walks out"<br />
<br />
--- On Mon, 4/20/09, Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <goldlenny@gmail.com>wrote:<br />
<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <goldlenny@gmail.com><br />
Subject: RE: Fish importation ban. H.R.669 and other non-native animals as well.<br />
To: "'Summerfun'" <kid_collector_06@yahoo.com><br />
Date: Monday, April 20, 2009, 12:39 AM<br />
<br />
Which group? I belong to several Yahoo Groups and other forums and we've been talking about it like crazy the past couple of months in nearly every forum I'm in.<br />
<br />
Let me know which group as I have a good post with the best website to go to which is one of the trade industry group websites where they have a CAPWIZ website set up to fax Congressmen directly and it's free and easy. And another trade industry group that have the email addresses to the Congressmen on the committee hearing the resolution.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
(Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Summerfun [<a href="mailto:kid_collector_06@yahoo.com">mailto:kid_collector_06@yahoo.com</a>]<br />
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2009 11:30 PM<br />
To: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
Subject: Fish importation ban. H.R.669 and other non-native animals as well.<br />
<br />
Hello again Since you are well know in the group I thought I would see why no one has been advertising to ban non-native fish. Unless fish are listed on an approved list, the fish couldn't be imported , moved from state to state. You couldn't breed them, export them. Trade in a species would come to a halt possession would be limited.<br />
<br />
The best way to learn about the details is at <a href="http://banner.pethobbyist.com/spclick.php?id+438">http://banner.pethobbyist.com/spclick.php?id+438</a><br />
<br />
You need to act now, on April 23rd 2009 The Natural Resourses Committee of the U.S. Congress will hold a hearing on H.R. 669, a resolution that will in effect ban importation., interstate transport and the private ownership of most birds, mammals, reptiles and fish as pets. If H.R. 669 is adopted as written only these non-native animals would be allowed. Any cat, cattle or oxen, chicken, dogs, donkey or ass, goat, duck, domesticated members of the family Anatidae (geese), goldfish, horse, llama, mule or hinny, pig or hog, domesticated varieties of rabbit, and sheep.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-31273871774980852042009-02-11T07:58:00.023-06:002010-08-02T12:57:37.701-05:00Fish Jokes & Cartoons - Some May be PG or R Rated<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Fish-Jokes">http://tinyurl.com/Fish-Jokes</a> <br />
<br />
I've been wanting to start up a "Fish Jokes" page for a while but kept putting it off. The other day, an esteemed member (who will remain nameless) of the AquaticLife Yahoo Group sent me an email with a list of some that he thought might be too raunchy to send out to the group and after I got his permission, I am posting them here as the start of my new "Fish Jokes" page. They are now further down since I've added several new jokes/pics since then.<br />
<br />
Added 05/23/2010 - <br />
<br />
Question:<br />
What is a nitrate?<br />
<br />
Answer:<br />
Cheaper than a day rate.<br />
<br />
(Thanks to \\Steve// again!)<br />
<br />
And this next cartoon is thanks to Enid R.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA9fOmYbOppuTx7wUEwB-OO0ZpWFLHiqqz2BCbGqW9nVaV0ZBUIiEj_C5F8TvtCPYhvAxcpIUbvSCzqETjshnnzmq3THfl7Qm2_hOcXx4SkW-BYNrmYKsUpJrqd_eDK2joXJyrOAfSzCG/s1600/m9aek8%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA9fOmYbOppuTx7wUEwB-OO0ZpWFLHiqqz2BCbGqW9nVaV0ZBUIiEj_C5F8TvtCPYhvAxcpIUbvSCzqETjshnnzmq3THfl7Qm2_hOcXx4SkW-BYNrmYKsUpJrqd_eDK2joXJyrOAfSzCG/s400/m9aek8%5B1%5D.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Added 04/30/2010 - </div><br />
Two Goldfish are in a tank, one says to the other, "You man the guns - I'll drive"<br />
<br />
(Thanks to \\Steve// from the AquaticLife Yahoo Group)<br />
<br />
Added 01/13/2010 -<br />
<br />
Larry the Lobster and Sam the Clam were old fish-buddies. But one day a terrible tragedy befell them. CLAMBAKE! And they were delicious.<br />
<br />
So Larry the Lobster and Sam the Clam went swimming up to fish-heaven where fish-St Peter met them at the gate. "Larry the Lobster," he said. "You've been a good lobster all your life. Welcome to fish-heaven." And fish-St Peter gave him his harp, and his halo, and his wings.<br />
<br />
"But Sam the Clam," he said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm sorry, you have to go to fish-hell."<br />
<br />
So the two old friends said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.<br />
<br />
Half an eternity later, Larry the Lobster began to miss his old pal Sam the Clam so he asked fish-St Peter for a pass. Fish-St Peter thought about it for a few moments and suddenly a digital watch appeared on Larry the Lobster's arm. "OK, you have six hours. But you must keep your harp with you. It's the only thing that will protect you."<br />
<br />
Larry the Lobster thanked him excitedly and went swimming down to fish-hell.<br />
<br />
Turned out that Sam the Clam had opened up a club. There was music, there was drinking, there were half-naked lady fishes dancing on the counters! YEE-HA! PARTY TIME!!!<br />
<br />
But time passed quickly and soon Larry the Lobster's alarm rang. The two old friends said their goodbyes and Larry the Lobster went swimming back up to fish-heaven. But he wasn't making such good time because he'd had a few too many (wink, wink) Shrimp Cocktails...<br />
<br />
Larry the Lobster slipped through the gates just as fish-St Peter was closing them.<br />
<br />
"Larry the Lobster!" fish-St Peter exclaimed. "Where have you been? You almost didn't make it back in time. Is that lipstick on your collar? Is that liquor on your breath? And WHERE'S YOUR HARP???"<br />
<br />
Larry the Lobster, unsteady on his feet, looked at one claw. Nope. Not there.<br />
<br />
He turned and looked at the other. Nope, not there either.<br />
<br />
So he shrugged and he sang,<br />
<br />
"I left my haaaaaaaarp in Sam Clam's discoooooooo..."<br />
<br />
I can hear you groaning from here...<br />
<br />
(Thanks to Kai from the AquaticLife Yahoo Group for this one)<br />
<br />
<br />
Added 10/03/2009 -<br />
<br />
<a href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/funny-pictures-goldfish-asks-for-help1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/funny-pictures-goldfish-asks-for-help1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 617px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 462px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lq6NOwkjy9E&hl=en&fs=1&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lq6NOwkjy9E&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
Added 09/16/2009 -<strong> </strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>GARDEN SNAKES CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR POND AND WATER GARDEN KEEPERS</strong><br />
Snakes also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis) can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes.<br />
<br />
Here's why.<br />
<br />
A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze.<br />
<br />
It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants. When it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.<br />
<br />
She let out a very loud scream.<br />
<br />
The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa.<br />
<br />
He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor.<br />
<br />
His wife thought he had had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance.<br />
<br />
The attendants rushed in, would not listen to his protests, loaded him on the stretcher, and started carrying him out.<br />
<br />
About that time, the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.<br />
<br />
The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor who volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.<br />
<br />
But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa.<br />
<br />
The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her.<br />
<br />
The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.<br />
<br />
The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that the snake had bitten him. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.<br />
<br />
By now, the police had arrived.<br />
<br />
Breathe here...<br />
<br />
They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little garden snake!<br />
<br />
The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.<br />
<br />
Now, the little snake again crawled out from under the sofa and one of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over, the lamp on it shattered and, as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.<br />
<br />
The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, neighbors saw the burning drapes and called in the fire department. The firemen had started raising the fire ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires, put out the power, and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).<br />
<br />
Time passed!<br />
<br />
Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car and all was right with their world.<br />
<br />
A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night.<br />
<br />
The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night. And that's when he shot her.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337022300167135426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sckd4PVS-PCxVVGrfxxD54dPAvOsqdJF0VUJ3J4uvpKKsVpa_t1vw3P00tKSO8CYZnMs_b7FlefC4X_6U1GB_M4afb7StC6Epf0r1ywwxSt0fqe3ZMqBUNRG9zJlRAHv646uTnwNs1yt/s400/Goldfish+Cartoon.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 342px;" /><br />
<br />
<strong>"Kids On The Ocean"</strong><br />
<br />
This may be a tad too raunchy for general publication, but I thought I would share it with you guys, the moderators, so you can have a chuckle tonight.<br />
<br />
1) - This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, age 6)<br />
<br />
2) - Oysters' balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6)<br />
<br />
3) - If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don't have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. ( Wayne , age 7)<br />
<br />
4) - Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She's not my friend any more. (Kylie, age 6)<br />
<br />
5) - A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 8)<br />
<br />
6) - My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and pots and comes back with crabs. (Millie, age 6)<br />
<br />
7) - When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn't blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans. (William, age 7)<br />
<br />
8) - Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really? (Helen, age 6)<br />
<br />
9) - I'm not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write. (Amy, age 6)<br />
<br />
10) - Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers. (Christopher, age 7)<br />
<br />
11) - When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin, age 6)<br />
<br />
12) - Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on each other. (Becky, age 8)<br />
<br />
13) - On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass. (Julie, age 7)<br />
<br />
14) - The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don't drown I don't know. (Bobby, age 6)<br />
<br />
15) - My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn't know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom.<br />
(James, age 7)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
BIG MOUTH BASS MAILBOX -<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337024541684738434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd-j5UFNBAZBCoQX4GAdE6xXGLYMAKl4TshadClkPFtOFEsMaouDfBwVRdesA0eOPSMwhLr-jWCnsmoLXpbJyci5_aEEKxqpmg9am2LDqbEy7XvMwaG6Ue-xgNkXNVE_IIISo_5wkSjI0/s400/mailbox-large+mouth+bass.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br />
THE TIDES HAVE TURNED!!! -<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339269837538767778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lmXaN5VfSwCn0xDZ5i18E5L5RCWJJNLmu4hNrJSo8l0tSl_yvG5XoriieYuREACq7-ekMlatvkYrdqws-5zzsEnH5I0SVczaSxzoYET6Z4Yi7Ci3EbBdhMgbpXjHrSHCbRZwKdSEXf-2/s400/Fish+looking+at+cat+in+bowl.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 284px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="left">LITTLE GIRL BURYING HER GOLDFISH -</div><div align="center"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyCRL5gMc49hjg6UL_5oiugZFqQQMKK9HfViLuzgheNUa-Dlpmqzx0O_yzovI5sBeUerfIoVR9yfkvD7WZKmw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<div align="center"></div><br />
<div align="left">POST TURTLE - </div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366715633707212018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6r0PH45K6mXf4xbYQqDLfA4Frr_f8fOGiSqNTfhN5ep3A4Ydr7kHwf8NKMyz3aR5TyZgBTcv2jtNvI2J1cFSSsfxD4O4y0uE-QfDArPInzF4umVvrw9dpL8oJhPCsgcw3uNMKpo_wjub/s320/Post+Turtle.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
Turtle Joke??? Yeah, I know, it's not a fish... but it is an aquatic turtle... a Red Ear Slider. ;-)<br />
This has been around for a while, but now is even more relevant to the times...<br />
<br />
YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS RANCHER'S OUTLOOK & COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO LIFE<br />
<br />
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who's hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his being our president.<br />
<br />
The old rancher said, 'Well, ya know, Obama is a 'Post Turtle''.<br />
<br />
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was? The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'.<br />
<br />
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. 'You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, and he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with'.<br />
<br />
Amen<br />
<br />
---------------- <br />
I think this next one is self explanatory... thanks to Gwydryn/Enid for emailing it to me.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367729038984188418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLlqGF7ov0eZm1yagD45Boad_YNPkiyKHfD7cEuDFlFR53VDmWCMoEe7NyuEBCMN025sdirurIRKG6K6mWVFx7et5KdDHcqW_T7SpPTQh9pvNpUgL7DAFB-GLMk6L29jnivy0FGTSe1OH/s320/Batman.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 292px;" /><br />
--------------<br />
<br />
If you have any fish jokes or cartoons, please email them to me or post your jokes in the "Comments" below.<br />
<br />
Lenny V. a/k/a GoldLennyLeonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-12603724949464558482009-01-06T10:23:00.012-06:002010-08-02T12:56:40.512-05:00Driftwood Cleaning & Curing.... Now, why didn't I think of this???<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Driftwood-Cleaning-Curing-Buy">http://tinyurl.com/Driftwood-Cleaning-Curing-Buy</a> <br />
<br />
Updated - May 02, 2010 - <br />
<br />
I was just reading my most recent edition of TFH (Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine), the February 2009 edition (why do magazines come out one to two months early anyhow?) and in the Q & A section, someone asked about the difference between store bought driftwood and the kind we might find in the wild. While reading the answer, mainly being that the store bought has already been cleaned and cured, the answer went on further to explain how one might cure/clean their own wild found driftwood... and now to the "Why didn't I think of this?" question. <br />
<br />
Of course, the answer mentions scrubbing each piece with a scrub brush to remove dirt/debris from the surface. Do not use soaps or detergents. Then boiling each piece for about an hour. I've used a large crawfish boiling pot for this but I know most folks do not have crawfish boilers.. so here's the BIG answer... "...Larger pieces may need to be placed in your dishwasher on the hot cycle (using no detergent). Boiling will not only kill microbes, algae spores and other undesirable organisms, but it will also help to leach out the tannins and open the pores of the wood, allowing it to become saturated faster so that it will sink more readily in your aquarium..." and Lenny's additional tip... remove any water spot remover stuff and run it on the full cycle... not that pansy energy saving cycle. LOL <br />
<br />
WOW... I never thought about putting the big pieces in the dishwasher for the boiling/sterilization process. While boiling for an hour would be better, since the wood would be soaking in the water which would help it to sink easier, running it through your dishwasher is a more readily available "tool" in most households. Just make sure you remove it before the missus gets home as she might not appreciate a big hunk of wood being in the dishwasher when she starts putting all your dirty dishes in the dishwasher... you know.. the ones that you left sitting in the sink while you sterilized the driftwood. <br />
<g><br />
Heck.. the dishwasher can also be used for sterilizing our nets and other aquarium tools as well as any used stuff you might buy. Beats the heck out of watching that pot boiling on the stove. <br />
Please contact the law firm of Dewey, Skruem and Howe for any pending divorce advice as a result of following any advice in this post. LOL <br />
<br />
Here's a few more articles on preparing driftwood for your tank but none of them mention the above "Dishwasher" method. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php">http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2250&aid=3319">http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2250&aid=3319</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tetra-fish.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268">http://www.tetra-fish.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268</a> <br />
<br />
And some other good links... <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/wood.shtml">http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/wood.shtml</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/55482-diy-driftwood-aquarium-safe-woods.html">http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/55482-diy-driftwood-aquarium-safe-woods.html</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/aquascaping.php">http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/aquascaping.php</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5283">http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5283</a></span> <br />
<br />
And a couple of low-cost places to buy driftwood... <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.aquariumdriftwood.com/driftwoo.htm">http://www.aquariumdriftwood.com/driftwoo.htm</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18311/cl0/driftwood">http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18311/cl0/driftwood</a></span> <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
(Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)<br />
<br />
Here's another long reply of mine to a recent post on <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aquaticlife">AquaticLife Yahoo Group</a> with some more information and tips...<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny <br />
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2010 10:45 PM<br />
To: 'AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com'<br />
Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Drift Wood<br />
<br />
I wrote an article on my blog a while back about "Driftwood Cleaning And Curing" but I also have several other links and references. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2009/01/driftwood-cleaning-curing-now-why-didnt.html">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2009/01/driftwood-cleaning-curing-now-why-didnt.html</a><br />
<br />
OR <a href="http://tinyurl.com/Driftwood-Cleaning-Curing">http://tinyurl.com/Driftwood-Cleaning-Curing</a> <br />
<br />
Your best place to find it is along the shorelines, banks and shallows of waterways in your area... preferably the least polluted waterways. It's probably illegal to collect it from the wild but you know what they say about breaking the law... it's only illegal if you get caught. :-O If you're not doing any mass collecting, I doubt that anyone would care. If you don't want to break the law... but I'm like that little devil on your left shoulder saying "Do it... get the driftwood!"... you can listen to the little angel on your right shoulder and buy it and I included a couple of links below to lower cost places of buying driftwood online. The eBayer collects it from their own land so it's legal. If you have your own land with a waterway running through it, you should be able to find some yourself.<br />
<br />
Oh... that little devil just thought of something else. If you do decide to go scavenging for your own, bring a couple of bags and act like you're picking up litter along the waterway and just throw your wood in the bag like you thought it would be considered litter. Then head home and get rid of the actual trash and then follow the cleaning process mentioned in my article above.<br />
<br />
Here's some more links from my Favorites folder, that I probably should just add to my article. Some of these may be duplicates of what I already have in the article. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/wood.shtml">http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/aquascaping/wood.shtml</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php">http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/driftwood.php</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2250&aid=3319">http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2250&aid=3319</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/55482-diy-driftwood-aquarium-safe-woods.html">http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/55482-diy-driftwood-aquarium-safe-woods.html</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/aquascaping.php">http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/aquascaping.php</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tetra-fish.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268">http://www.tetra-fish.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5283">http://thegab.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5283</a> <br />
<br />
Some inexpensive places to buy it...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquariumdriftwood.com/driftwoo.htm">http://www.aquariumdriftwood.com/driftwoo.htm</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18311/cl0/driftwood">http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18311/cl0/driftwood</a> <br />
<br />
A type of driftwood that is becoming popular is Mopani Driftwood, which is often talked about as being so dense and heavy that it sinks immediately and doesn't leach tannins but much of this may be misinformation... unless you are buying it from a source that has already cured the driftwood by boiling/soaking it many times to fully clean out all of the tannins. Otherwise, it is a good type of driftwood once it is properly cleaned and cured. Here's TheKrib's and AquariaCentral's take on Mopani and other driftwoods.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/driftwood.html">http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/driftwood.html</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149046">http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149046</a> <br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a> (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-----Original Message-----<br />
From: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com <br />
On Behalf Of melindas<br />
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:52 PM<br />
To: AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Drift Wood<br />
<br />
I want to find some drift wood for my Aquarium and Fire-belly toad tank, and I don't want to go out and buy it. So my question is, Where would be the best place to find some, does it matter the type of wood, and how would I treat it if I went to a lake or a river and brought some home?GoldLenny aka Lenny V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12473291500867592185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-86009455235973515892008-12-26T17:20:00.006-06:002010-08-02T12:53:33.393-05:00Brita Filters and Pur Filters (was Re: Newbie with a fungus problem)When you say your "baseline tests were zero for ammonia at first then went up the next day"... was that for your tap water baseline? Did you add dechlor to the tap water immediately before testing or strictly rely on your Britta filter? My first thoughts would be that the Brita filter would catch the chloramine but we know carbon doesn't catch ammonia but is supposed to catch chlorine... so I'm not sure how it treats chloramine (which is a combination chemical made of chlorine and ammonia). But then I would think that Brita and Pur would add something to their little tap water filters that would catch the chloramine since I'm sure their customers expect it. <p>Here's what Brita says...<br />
<a href="http://www.brita.com/us/support/about-impurities/">http://www.brita.com/us/support/about-impurities/</a><br />
BritaR water tastes better because BritaR filtration systems reduce chlorine (taste and odor)1. Because BritaR filters remove only small amounts of fluoride over the life of the filter, you don't have to worry about missing out on the benefits of fluoride in your tap water.2 <p>How the BritaR Faucet Filter works<br />
An added layer around the filter traps large particulate matter from the water. Activated powdered carbon acts like a sponge, sucking up Chlorine (taste and odor and Benzene). A zeolite acts like a magnet attracting Lead </p><p>Then from the FAQ page...<br />
<a href="http://www.brita.com/us/support/faq/faucet-faq/">http://www.brita.com/us/support/faq/faucet-faq/</a><br />
The BritaR Faucet Filter removes microbiological cryptosporidium and giardia. It also reduces lead, TTHM, VOCs, lindane (pesticide), 2,4-D, alachlor, atrazine (herbicide), chlorine (taste and odor) and sediment1. For more information about the impurities that BritaR Faucet Filters reduce, including any health risks they may help avoid confusion. <p>NOTICE that it specifically mentions "Chlorine" but doesn't mention Chloramine... and then it says it only "reduces chlorine", not remove it completely.... things that make you go hmmmmm???? <p>To be "Fair and Balanced", here's what I found on the Pur website...<br />
<a href="http://www.purwater.com/#/contaminants">http://www.purwater.com/#/contaminants</a><br />
<a href="http://www.purwater.com/manuals/PUR_Filter_Comparison.pdf">http://www.purwater.com/manuals/PUR_Filter_Comparison.pdf</a><br />
Well.. unfortunately, you'll have to read the Pur website yourself since the Pur website relies on Flash Player and PDF file to display what their filters do but they also do NOT mention anything about removing or reducing chloramine... only REDUCING chlorine. <p>Unless someone else can find something definitive and in writing from either of these companies, I would strongly suggest that you NOT rely on these faucet filters for removing chlorine or chloramine from your tap water to be used in your fish tanks. You should still use a dechlor product when using these types of filter systems. They might be OK in removing some other nasties that our fish may not like but they do not make the water completely fish ready. <p>Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a><br />
(Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right<br />
side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month) <p><p>-----Original Message-----<br />
From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a>] On<br />
Behalf Of Menagerie_Manager<br />
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 3:35 PM<br />
To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? <p>Lots of stuff to catch up on. I'll post a complete update later<br />
tonight. <p>- Concerns about chloramines started, I believe, because my Baseline tests<br />
were zero for Ammonia at first and then went up the next day. I'll verify<br />
that before my post tonight.<br />
- Red streaks still pretty much the same - will try for a picture.<br />
- All fish eating and CB much more active, but does still rest more than<br />
the others.<br />
- Bought the dechlor because I wanted to stop using the Brita tap filter.<br />
It didn't cost much, so no big deal if I need to stick with the Prime. For<br />
some reason I thought maybe the chloramines were coming from the filter, but I'll do another Baseline test on just the straight tap water before I do<br />
anything. I'm sticking with the Brita for continuity until the fish don't<br />
need any more meds. I'll check with the water company on Monday.<br />
- Did a big PWC today pre-PraziPro, because it seems to need at least 3<br />
days between treatments. Can I just treat replacement water if I need to do<br />
a PWC before then? <p>More later. <p>DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
(CB, Lucille, and Raven) <p>----- Original Message -----<br />
From: "Raymond Wetzel" <<a href="mailto:sevenspringss@wmconnect.com">sevenspringss@wmconnect.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:sevenspringss%2540wmconnect.com">sevenspringss%40wmconnect.com</a>> ><br />
To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ><br />
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 12:48 PM<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? <p>With the amounts of water you are changing daily, I'm now beginning<br />
to get suspicious of the ammonia and nitrite test results remaining<br />
at their previous levels. If this continues, I'd have to suggest<br />
your looking further at these tests, their reagents or the manner in<br />
which they're being read. If these are found to be A-OK, then I<br />
would suspect that (1) much of you present ammonia is from your water<br />
supply coming to you as chloramine, and/or (2) your filter is far<br />
from being cycled, or by now the ammonia-converting bacteria should<br />
be sufficient to take care of any influx of new ammonia/ammonium,<br />
even though the nitrite-converting bacteria may not yet be expect to<br />
keep up. We'll work on it though. <p>Noticing Lucille's Septicemia is unchanged. While its not especially<br />
expected that all fish involved, affected by the same parameters<br />
which may have brought this on, should necessarily develop<br />
Septicemia, after time exposed to these same parameters (if they do<br />
still exist) it could be looked forward to seeing some development of<br />
this in the other fish. If its possible, can you get a pic of<br />
Lucille, showing these streaks? <p>Are all fish still eating? If it does become necessary to treat for<br />
Septicemia, it should be welcomed to note that it is deemed safe to<br />
use Maracyn II (an antibiotic of choice for Septicemia) in conjuction<br />
with PraziPro. Too, PraziPro is seen to be a rather mild medication,<br />
which also should be a welcomed bit of info. <p>As Lenny mentioned, there's no need to get a dechlor in addition to<br />
Prime, as Prime will do the same thing. Your apparent (by you) need<br />
for a dechlor might suggest to me that you feel you have chlorine in<br />
your tap water which you want to detoxify. Are you quite sure you do<br />
not have chloramine in your tap water, and if you know you do (but<br />
then, why would you want a dechlor?), you should be aware that your<br />
Brita filter on your water supply may not remove chloramine -- or may<br />
be only limited in its effectiveness against chloramine. If you have<br />
chloramine, which I just assumed all along as more and more water<br />
companies are converting to this, not only should you have been using<br />
at least your Amquel+ all along (preferably, Prime), but you should<br />
not consider using a dechlor (which removes chlorine only) in an<br />
effort to save money, as was suggested unless you're sure you only<br />
have chlorine. Otherwise, you should use Prime now, and continue to<br />
use it if your ammonia results indicate your having this waste<br />
product and regardless of your Brita filter, if you know this is in<br />
your water supply. A quick call to your supplier should tell you.<br />
Ray <p>--- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ,<br />
"Menagerie_Manager"<br />
Tuesday Night Check in (Day 22 of Salt - Day 6 of reduced)<br />
Tank readings @ 10:30AM: pH: 7.6; Ammonia: slightly<br />
under .25ppm;<br />
Nitrite: .25ppm; Nitrate: 5 -10ppm<br />
5G PWC @ 1PM<br />
6G PWC @ 11:30PM<br />
maintaining salt at 1tsp/G<br />
Added 1tsp of Amquel+ to tank (1/2 dose, because I don't have an<br />
airstone)<br />
Lucille's Septicemia unchanged<br />
<br />
I'll be going to the pet store tomorrow and will get the Prime and also some Dechlor so I don't have to use my Brita filter. I keep telling myself to get it and I keep forgetting. </p><p>DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
(CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
<br />
----- Original Message -----<br />
From: "Raymond Wetzel" <sevenspringss@...><br />
To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</p><p>Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:51 PM<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? Q FOR RAY<br />
<br />
Again, good to see their size difference is now noticeable. You can grow fish from small and their day to day growth is hardly obvious. Then, all of a sudden you might take note of the difference, when seeing them from a different perspective (and that might not only be from a different viewing angle). Prime would be the better choice to use, and you wouldn't have to worry about any partial oxygen depletion affecting the fish as a result of it.<br />
With your recent PWC's, you tank should be fairly free of leftover medications; this should help in giving the fish some needed stimulation (like a breath of fresh water) before medicating with the PraziPro. No doubt now, as the fish are filling out their 20 gallon tank, that you can see why a much larger tank will be needed. Always nice to see fish thriving, which their growth often indicates. Any improvement in the red streaking of the fins? Am hoping that eliminating the free-ammonia (NH3) by converting it to NH4+ will address that issue, as it was that which brought it on, but if it<br />
becomes necessary Maracyn II (Minocycline) can be used to clear up<br />
bacteria hemorrhagic septicemia, although we'd rather not go that route right now unless absolutely necessary. As per usual, keep us posted. Ray<br />
<br />
--- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
, "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
<a href="mailto:menagerie_manager@&gt">menagerie_manager@&gt</a>; wrote:<br />
Well, if I'm going to want an airstone to feel safe using the Amquel+, I might as well price the Prime while I'm there. No connection between the<br />
Amquel+ and the fish growing. That was a side note. I've been so focused<br />
on the health problems that I hadn't noticed the growth until a couple of<br />
days ago, when Lucille cruised past CB and I thought, "Wow! She has got to be three times her size!" That's mass-wise, not length-wise. I think she's<br />
about half an inch or so longer than CB, but all three were about the same<br />
size when they arrived. But then I stood back and looked at all three and<br />
realized that even CB has grown some in the last month. They were in a 10G tank for the last year, so now they're filling out their 20G tank. </p><p>DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
(CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
<br />
----- Original Message -----<br />
From: "Raymond Wetzel" <sevenspringss@><br />
To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a><br />
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 6:51 AM<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? Q FOR RAY<br />
Lowering the water level will help increase the aeration as the outflow from your filter will have a further distance to fall, and while helpful, may not necessarily create near as much surface circulation as would an airstone.<br />
I do not understand what you're saying. What does using Amquel+ or its often needed increase in aeration have anything to do with your fish growing? I don't see any connection here except that if you don't use Amquel+ to convert your ammonia (and increase the aeration as needed) you fish may not live long enough to continue to grow.<br />
I also don't understand the sudden awareness that your fish are growing now; since when have you suddenly become aware that they're growing? Since you first started posting their problems, or since you lowered their water level, or since you started your PWC regimen or since you started removing the salt (???); I don't understand how you mean this. Unless stunted, under normal conditions and with proper maintenance, fish continue to slowly grow constantly -- even if imperceptibly.<br />
<br />
My first choice would have been SeaChem's Prime for use as a Chloramine neutralizer, but with your already having Amquel+ I couldn't in good conscious send you out to specifically just get Prime. Prime has never been seen to cause a problem (as far as I've ever become aware of) in the way of deceased fish as a result of using it, regardless of any manner of aeration.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, while the original formula Amquel (note -- no +) which has been discontinued never created a problem, this newer formula of Amquel+ has been reported to lead to many fish deaths when even slightly overdosed -- and there's no way of knowing exactly how much is needed when the water company may increase or decrease their usual level of chloramine at any time. After learning how this new formula works, it has been recommended to increase the aeration when using Amquel+ as a precaution, even though it may not normally be needed. There have been far fewer fish death reports as a result of this; and I would not rely solely on the relatively smaller benefit of lowering the water level for this increase in aeration. Ray<br />
<br />
In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com&gt">mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>&gt</a>; , "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
<a href="mailto:menagerie_manager@&gt">menagerie_manager@&gt</a>; wrote:<br />
<br />
I totally understand. I think it was after I first mentioned having used the Amquel+ a couple of times that Lenny suggested I lower the water<br />
levels to get better aeration. I'll use it, but only as a last resort, since the goldfish are growing, now.<br />
<br />
DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
(CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
<br />
----- Original Message -----<br />
From: "Raymond Wetzel" <sevenspringss@><br />
To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com">mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a></a><br />
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 1:10 AM<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? Q FOR<br />
RAY<br />
Yes, Amquel+ is quite safe to use with PraziPro. Its strictly a<br />
chloramine neutralizer which breaks the chlorine -- ammonia bond<br />
and converts the ammonia to ammonium. Increased amounts are best<br />
used with the benefit of added aeration which aids in the safety of process of this conversion, whether or not its used in concert with anything else. I mention this as, with just the use of Amquel+ alone in normal usage for chloramine neutralizing, there have been reports at times of fish dying from the use of this product, when the oxygen balance hasn't been maintained during its use. The ammonia -- ammonium converting process uses oxygen. Unless the chloramine added to your water is excessive and you need to use more Amquel+ than one normally might, it should be totally safe, but I mention using an airstone only to play it safe to cover any possibility and to ensure adequate O2 levels (I like safeguards -- even if not needed).<br />
Ray<br />
--- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com&gt">mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>&gt</a>; , "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
<a href="mailto:menagerie_manager@&gt">menagerie_manager@&gt</a>; wrote:<br />
<br />
That link I sent for you to see my salt levels is just a link to the AquaticLife Files Page's "Water Chemistry" folder. None of the other files on that page are mine. I don't know enough about fish to be writing info sheets. lol!<br />
I do have Amquel+ on hand. I'll use it if 2 PWCs a day doesn't do the<br />
job. Is it safe to use along with the PraziPro? (which should have arrived<br />
by today, but I guess Christmas has the mail slowed down)<br />
<br />
OMG! I cannot believe how HUGE Lucille is getting! She's almost twice<br />
as long as CB, now, and absolutely gorgeous. Gotta get that big tank as<br />
soon as possible.<br />
<br />
DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
(CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
<br />
----- Original Message -----<br />
From: "Raymond Wetzel" <sevenspringss@><br />
To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com">mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a></a><br />
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 12:13 AM<br />
Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? Q FOR<br />
RAY<br />
Good to see that the white spot on Raven has cleared up; one less thing to have to worry about. Goldfish should have no osmotic problems at 1 tsp/G salt, and there's no need to add any more if the septicemia gets worse. One tsp/G is not much more than the token recommended level of 0.6 tsp/G when we say to use 1 Tbs/5 Gallons when treating Ich -- for even the most salt-intolerant fish, like Cory's and Tetra's. With nitrogenous waste still present in your water column, I would not reduce your salt level much lower.<br />
<br />
When opening the link for your files to check out your Excel Sheet for salt levels, I noticed one of your other files with a heading, "Should I Change The Water During The Initial Nitrogen Cycle," to which the opening statement was, "Not if you can avoid it." This of course is quite true, as the more water you change (and the less ammonia and nitrite are available for the nitrifying bacteria), the longer it will take to cycle the tank. But there comes a time, if these consistent levels affect the health of your fish, that changing out water can no longer be avoided. This is primarily why we advocate fish-less cycling -- it can otherwise rough on your fish.<br />
<br />
There is a helpful point I left out from my lost post only as I had forgotten to include it again (and just another reason why I hate losing a post), which should be useful to you. To at least address the toxic issues of your ammonia poisoning, this waste product being the more toxic of the two (ammonia and nitrite), by using Prime (SeaChem) or Amquel +, this ammonia will convert to harmless ammonium which will still be used by your nitrifying bacteria. This should help if you feel you need to reduce the salt level somewhat to avoid osmotic problems, as well as not going too ballistic in changing out water -- while increased PWC's are encouraged to further reduce your nitrite, this is not quite as toxic as ammonia -- besides,<br />
your cycle should be near complete.<br />
<br />
In looking over your salt reduction chart, it's now more understandable when you say you added salt while at the same time reducing the total salt level. Had you not added back the 1 tsp/G of salt while doing the PWC at the 2.29 tsp/G level, it would have dropped to 1.91 - 1.92 tsp/G instead of 2.08 tsp/G. I know you've since done more PWC's, but I can see by this exactly where the salt went each time. Ray<br />
<br />
> > > > --- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> , "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
> > > > <menagerie_manager@> wrote:<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > OK, I'll be maintaining salt at 1tsp/G unless CB has<br />
> > trouble<br />
> > > > with<br />
> > > > > osmotic problems or Lucille's septicemia gets worse. I<br />
guess<br />
> if<br />
> > > > they both<br />
> > > > > get worse I'll have to separate one out.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > The white spot on Raven has gone away, so I'll wait on<br />
> the<br />
> > > > Acriflavin.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > Rather than try and explain verbally where I am with<br />
the<br />
> > salt<br />
> > > > level and<br />
> > > > > how I got there, I've updated my Excel sheet:<br />
> > > > > <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a><br />
<<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a>><br />
> > > > 20Chemistry/<br />
> > > > > scroll down to "DebRs Salt levels.xls".<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > I'll start doing 5G PWCs twice a day and see if that<br />
gets<br />
> > the<br />
> > > > ammonia<br />
> > > > > and nitrate down.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > (I really do want my mommy, now)<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > -------------message inserted for continuity-------------<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > Monday Afternoon Check in (Day 21 of Salt - Day 6 of<br />
reducing<br />
> > it)<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > Oh snap! I just came to check my email *after* doing<br />
the<br />
> > > > PWC. The<br />
> > > > > salt is now down to 1tsp/G. I really think I needed to<br />
lower<br />
> it<br />
> > > > yesterday<br />
> > > > > just to keep CB alive. She's eating, now, and no longer<br />
> sitting<br />
> > > on<br />
> > > > the<br />
> > > > > bottom of the tank looking like death warmed over. Lucille<br />
is<br />
> > the<br />
> > > > stronger<br />
> > > > > and larger of the three fish, so, unless the septicemia get<br />
> > worse,<br />
> > > > I'll<br />
> > > > > leave it at 1tsp/G and just try to get the ammonia and<br />
nitrite<br />
> > > > lower. Will<br />
> > > > > the zeolite help with this level of salt in the tank?<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > - Tank readings @ noon: pH:7.6 (anything I can do to lower<br />
> > > this?);<br />
> > > > > Ammonia: slightly under .25; Nitrite: .25 (if my baseline<br />
> > hadn't<br />
> > > > been zero,<br />
> > > > > I'd think the test wasn't working right); Nitrate: 10<br />
> > > > > - 3G PWC @ 1pm<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > -------------End of message inserted for continuity---------<br />
--<br />
> --<br />
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > From: "Raymond Wetzel" <sevenspringss@><br />
> > > > > To: <<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ><br />
> > > > > Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 2:15 PM<br />
> > > > > Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem? Q<br />
FOR<br />
> > RAY<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > Hello Deb, As mentioned in my previous post, I intended on<br />
> > doing<br />
> > > a<br />
> > > > > follow-up, but wanted to get that info to you ASAP. I did<br />
> want<br />
> > to<br />
> > > > > address this post of yours from late (11:20PM) Saturday<br />
night,<br />
> > > which<br />
> > > > > I saw yesterday/Sunday morning. I have not replied to any<br />
of<br />
> > your<br />
> > > > > more recent messages between when I posted to you last,<br />
around<br />
> > > noon<br />
> > > > > on Friday, and this message of yours directed at me as you<br />
> were<br />
> > > > > directing your messages elsewhere and being assisted<br />
> accordingly<br />
> > > (I<br />
> > > > > don't like to meddle). When I did see your message, I wrote<br />
> > you a<br />
> > > > > long detailed reply to all matters of it, and I was about 2<br />
> > > seconds<br />
> > > > > away from sending it when my power went out -- the storm<br />
here<br />
> > was<br />
> > > > > pretty intense. Always my luck though when attempting to<br />
send<br />
> > > > > something I spent a lot of time on, but this time I can't<br />
> blame<br />
> > my<br />
> > > > > lousy 'putor (which any other time is the usual cause).<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > I doubt I'll remember all I wanted to advise you of, as<br />
that's<br />
> > > > > normally what happens in these instances (nothing new to<br />
me!),<br />
> > but<br />
> > > > > I'll try. For starters, I wanted to mention that it never<br />
> hurts<br />
> > > to<br />
> > > > > feed pea meat, as you've been doing, in hopes that might<br />
> correct<br />
> > > any<br />
> > > > > constipation issues (and hopefully might be the root cause<br />
of<br />
> > the<br />
> > > > > problem), even though that's doesn't appear to be the<br />
problem<br />
> > > here.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > It's encouraging to note that CB is acting a bit better,<br />
which<br />
> > > > > indicates he still has reserve strength (always a good<br />
sign).<br />
> > On<br />
> > > > the<br />
> > > > > salt issue, I noticed on 12/18 (Thursday) that the salt<br />
> content<br />
> > > was<br />
> > > > > at 2.75 tsp per Gallon, and after you did the PWC around<br />
Noon<br />
> > that<br />
> > > > > day, it was at 2.29 tsp/G. At that time you stated you<br />
> intended<br />
> > > on<br />
> > > > > holding the salt at around 2 tsp/G. I hadn't seen anything<br />
on<br />
> > any<br />
> > > > > PWC you may have done on 12/19 (nothing posted on any PWC's<br />
> that<br />
> > > > > day).<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > Your next post seems somewhat conflicting and a bit<br />
confusing<br />
> > when<br />
> > > > > your mention of a PWC on Saturday 12/20 stated that you<br />
> > REPLACED 1<br />
> > > > > tsp of salt per Gallon, yet the salt level DECREASED to 2.08<br />
> > > > > Tsp/Gallon. Looks like you were adding salt, but then the<br />
> > > > > measurement comes out to be less -- I have to assume you<br />
> decided<br />
> > > not<br />
> > > > > to add any salt. You did state you intended to hold the<br />
salt<br />
> a<br />
> > 2<br />
> > > > > tsp/G., which I was about to suggest, but I see you made<br />
> another<br />
> > > PWC<br />
> > > > > since then, dropping the salt content to 1.73 tsp/G at 11:00<br />
> PM<br />
> > > > > Saturday night. I would have told you not to reduce it any<br />
> less<br />
> > > > than<br />
> > > > > that (maybe even get it back up to 2 tsp/G), but I had no<br />
> power<br />
> > > > > here. I see since then, you did another PWC yesterday,<br />
> reducing<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > salt even further, to 1.2 tsp/G; I hope you have not taken<br />
out<br />
> > any<br />
> > > > > more salt than this.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > For any slight fungus issues that might remain, you can use<br />
> the<br />
> > > > > Acriflavin (API's Fungus Cure) I recommended, which is<br />
> extremely<br />
> > > > mild<br />
> > > > > and will not add any stress of being "over-medicated." I<br />
hope<br />
> > all<br />
> > > > > fungal issues are cleared up at this time though. On the<br />
post<br />
> > of<br />
> > > > > mine on salt (message # 34503 -- 12/17/08 1:20PM) which you<br />
> were<br />
> > > > > unsure of, you might want to refer back to that, especially<br />
as<br />
> > it<br />
> > > > > contained other info. I did say that -- if you still see<br />
some<br />
> > > > > fungus, you could give them another treatment of Fungus<br />
Clear<br />
> if<br />
> > > it<br />
> > > > > looked threatening, while you waited for the PraziPro (which<br />
> > might<br />
> > > > > get to you today or tomorrow). At this same time though, I<br />
> said<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > salt can be reduced. Adding to this, the fish would enjoy a<br />
> day<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > clean water (the salt can remain at its present level, but<br />
the<br />
> > > > > previous meds should be eliminated) before treating with the<br />
> > > > PraziPro.<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > The last thing I wanted to mention was that there is no<br />
other<br />
> > > > > medication you could use in place of the PraziPro -- at<br />
least<br />
> > > > nothing<br />
> > > > > near as good that would help with their type of internal<br />
> > parasite<br />
> > > > > issue. Even if there were (which there isn't), it wouldn't<br />
> pay<br />
> > to<br />
> > > > > start messing with all kinds of other meds and then still<br />
use<br />
> > > > > PraziPro on top of it all. that's about all for now. You<br />
> will<br />
> > > have<br />
> > > > > to now definitely do larger PWC's to reduce your ammonia and<br />
> > > nitrite<br />
> > > > > (while keeping up your salt content), as you can't have<br />
these<br />
> > > levels<br />
> > > > > remaining the same, at around 0.25 ppm. The longer these<br />
> > > > nitrogenous<br />
> > > > > wastes stay at this level, the more toxic they will become<br />
to<br />
> > your<br />
> > > > > fish -- which is why they're starting to get septicemia<br />
> (right,<br />
> > > you<br />
> > > > > can't use an ammonia absorbing zeolite if you have salt in<br />
the<br />
> > > > > tank). Do several PWC's per day if necessary to get these<br />
> > levels<br />
> > > > > down. Ray<br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > ><br />
> > > > > --- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> , "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
> > > > > <menagerie_manager@> wrote:<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Actually, I don't have a specific LFS, other than<br />
> > PetSmart<br />
> > > > and<br />
> > > > > I don't ask them for any advice on anything except for where<br />
> to<br />
> > > find<br />
> > > > > stuff in the store. There was a good one not too far away,<br />
> but<br />
> > it<br />
> > > > > went under last summer sometime. I know of another one<br />
> nearby,<br />
> > > but<br />
> > > > > it's a dirty little place and I doubt they have a website.<br />
I<br />
> > was<br />
> > > > > just wondering if there was anything that most fish stores<br />
> carry<br />
> > > > that<br />
> > > > > would help, as the PraziPro didn't arrive today.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > I've given the pea meat at least three times in the<br />
last<br />
> > two<br />
> > > > > weeks. I was just thinking about trying it again. CB<br />
> actually<br />
> > > came<br />
> > > > > to the top for flakes tonight, instead of just sitting there<br />
> and<br />
> > > > > maybe picking at whatever happened to fall nearby.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > As far as the salt, I can't find the post, but I<br />
> thought<br />
> > > that<br />
> > > > > Ray had said it was ok to give other treatments along with<br />
> salt.<br />
> > > I<br />
> > > > > just had to make sure the malachite green was gone before<br />
> giving<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > Fungus Clear and that the Fungus Clear is gone before I do<br />
the<br />
> > > > > PraziPro. I was only lowering the salt to counter the<br />
osmotic<br />
> > > > stress<br />
> > > > > that I was seeing. I don't want the fungus to get a<br />
foothold<br />
> > > again<br />
> > > > > before I can get rid of the parasites. SHOULD I CONTINUE TO<br />
> > LOWER<br />
> > > > > THE SALT, RAY??? I haven't done my PWC, yet, for today.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 4:08 PM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > What's available at your LFS? It's hard to suggest<br />
> anything<br />
> > > > else<br />
> > > > > without<br />
> > > > > > knowing what's available. Do they have a website?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Have you tried feeding the green pea "meat"? Besides<br />
the<br />
> > > > > potential for<br />
> > > > > > internal parasites, there's also the chance of<br />
> > constipation...<br />
> > > > > and it's also<br />
> > > > > > a good thing to feed fancy goldfish green pea "meat"<br />
once<br />
> a<br />
> > > week<br />
> > > > > or so just<br />
> > > > > > to keep them "regular" since they are prone to digestive<br />
> > > system<br />
> > > > > disorders..<br />
> > > > > > which often leads to swim bladder disorders.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Going from memory, you started off with Malachite Green<br />
> for<br />
> > a<br />
> > > > few<br />
> > > > > days which<br />
> > > > > > wasn't working. Then the salt and didn't you also do<br />
the<br />
> > > > Maracyn<br />
> > > > > 2? And<br />
> > > > > > then the Jungle Fungus Clear... right? Why did you add<br />
> salt<br />
> > > to<br />
> > > > > this last<br />
> > > > > > PWC? I thought we were phasing the salt out with each<br />
> PWC?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Before starting the PraziPro, you need to get rid of the<br />
> > rest<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > the meds.<br />
> > > > > > I'm concerned the fish are going to get overly stressed<br />
> with<br />
> > > too<br />
> > > > > much meds.<br />
> > > > > > When I've had sick fish to treat, I usually give them a<br />
> day<br />
> > of<br />
> > > > > just fresh<br />
> > > > > > water between treatments to give their kidneys a chance<br />
to<br />
> > > rest<br />
> > > > > between<br />
> > > > > > treatments... kind of like, there's nothing like good<br />
> clean<br />
> > > > fresh<br />
> > > > > air for<br />
> > > > > > us.. same goes for the fish with good clean fresh water.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > You can run fresh carbon in your filter to filter out<br />
any<br />
> > meds<br />
> > > > > that are<br />
> > > > > > missed by PWC's but carbon will not filter out salt so<br />
> only<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > PWC's will<br />
> > > > > > slowly reduce the salt.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Lenny Vasbinder<br />
> > > > > > Fish Blog - <a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a><br />
<<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are<br />
> listed<br />
> > on<br />
> > > > > the right<br />
> > > > > > side, alphabetically under Labels and also under<br />
Archives<br />
> by<br />
> > > > > Year, Month)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----<br />
> > > > > > From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > [mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ] On<br />
> > > > > > Behalf Of Menagerie_Manager<br />
> > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 1:31 PM<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Saturday Afternoon Check in (Day 19 of Salt)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > - 3G PWC last night @ 11PM (replaced 1T salt - level is<br />
> now<br />
> > > > > 2.08tsp/G)<br />
> > > > > > - Tank Readings @ noon today: pH: 7.6; Ammonia:<br />
> > under .25ppm;<br />
> > > > > Nitrite:<br />
> > > > > > .25ppm; Nitrate: 10 to 15<br />
> > > > > > - CB has pretty much stopped eating. I'm still offering<br />
> > Tetra<br />
> > > > > flakes,<br />
> > > > > > because when she does eat, that's what she goes for.<br />
Maybe<br />
> > the<br />
> > > > > carbs will<br />
> > > > > > keep her going until the PraziPro arrives and gets a<br />
> chance<br />
> > to<br />
> > > > > work. If it<br />
> > > > > > doesn't arrive today, Is there something I can get at a<br />
> LFS<br />
> > > that<br />
> > > > > might help<br />
> > > > > > until Monday?<br />
> > > > > > - Raven is looking stronger and her appetite is very<br />
good.<br />
> > > > > There's a tiny<br />
> > > > > > white area on her dorsal fin that I'll keep an eye on.<br />
> > Adding<br />
> > > > > anything to<br />
> > > > > > the tank before I treat the parasites will probably<br />
finish<br />
> > CB<br />
> > > > off.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Menagerie_Manager<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 9:59 AM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > The goldfish spent about a year in a 10G tank before<br />
> coming<br />
> > > here<br />
> > > > > to the 20G.<br />
> > > > > > There was a 4th goldfish until sometime over the summer<br />
> when<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > previous<br />
> > > > > > owner's grandson poured hot candle wax into the tank.<br />
> Since<br />
> > > > these<br />
> > > > > three<br />
> > > > > > weren't affected, I think the other one probably ate<br />
some<br />
> of<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > wax.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Lucille is definitely longer than the other two, but she<br />
> may<br />
> > > be<br />
> > > > a<br />
> > > > > bit<br />
> > > > > > swollen, too. Whether that's from the salt or the<br />
> parasites,<br />
> > > > > remains to be<br />
> > > > > > seen.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Last night (ok, 2:00 this morning), I did one final<br />
check<br />
> on<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > fish before<br />
> > > > > > going to bed. they were at the front of the tank,<br />
looking<br />
> at<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > Christmas<br />
> > > > > > tree lights. They must be feeling a little bit better to<br />
> > even<br />
> > > > > care about<br />
> > > > > > that.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 3:00 AM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > As far as Lucille being larger. It could be from water<br />
> > > retention<br />
> > > > > due to<br />
> > > > > > osmoregulatory problems... hopefully not... or if it is,<br />
> > > > > hopefully she'll<br />
> > > > > > start to expel the water as the meds are reduced.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > It could also be that Lucille was not as affected by<br />
> > stunting<br />
> > > so<br />
> > > > > it wasn't<br />
> > > > > > permanent for her... so now that they are in a larger<br />
tank<br />
> > (or<br />
> > > > > same size<br />
> > > > > > with frequent PWC's, which simulates a larger body of<br />
> > water),<br />
> > > > she<br />
> > > > > is growing<br />
> > > > > > and just happens to be growing faster than the other<br />
two.<br />
> > > > > Hopefully, they<br />
> > > > > > all recover from the earlier likely stunting issues.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > I just peeked at your first message and the answers<br />
wasn't<br />
> > > there<br />
> > > > > and I don't<br />
> > > > > > recall the issue coming up since but how long were the<br />
> three<br />
> > > > > goldfish in the<br />
> > > > > > previous owners care? (Trying to determine an<br />
approximate<br />
> > age)<br />
> > > > > What size<br />
> > > > > > tank were they in? Is the current 20G the same tank they<br />
> > have<br />
> > > > > been in from<br />
> > > > > > the beginning?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Lenny Vasbinder<br />
> > > > > > Fish Blog - <a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a><br />
<<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>><br />
> > > > > <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a> <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>> ><br />
> > > > > > (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are<br />
> listed<br />
> > on<br />
> > > > > the right<br />
> > > > > > side, alphabetically under Labels and also under<br />
Archives<br />
> by<br />
> > > > > Year, Month)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----<br />
> > > > > > From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > [mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>> ]<br />
> > > > > > On<br />
> > > > > > Behalf Of Menagerie_Manager<br />
> > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 10:52 PM<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Thursday Night Check in (Day 17 of Salt - Day 2 of under<br />
> > > 3tsp/G)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > - 3G PWC @ 3pm (salt now at 2.29tsp/G)<br />
> > > > > > - Tank readings @ 11pm: pH: 7.6; Ammonia: bet .25<br />
> > and .50ppm;<br />
> > > > > Nitrite:<br />
> > > > > > .25ppm; Nitrate: about 15ppm<br />
> > > > > > - The fish are acting a bit more energetic today, esp.<br />
> since<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > last PWC.<br />
> > > > > > I'm thinking of holding the salt at 2tsp/G to keep any<br />
> > fungus<br />
> > > at<br />
> > > > > bay until I<br />
> > > > > > can treat with the PraziPro.<br />
> > > > > > - CB still breathing heavy and doing the<br />
spitting/choking<br />
> > > thing<br />
> > > > > occasionally<br />
> > > > > > - These guys/gals were more or less the same size when<br />
> they<br />
> > > > > arrived about 3<br />
> > > > > > weeks ago. Lucille now looks quite large next to Raven<br />
and<br />
> > CB.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Menagerie_Manager<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 12:03 PM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > That's good to hear about the cycling.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > I'm fairly sure the salt is at 2.75 tsp/G right now, and<br />
> > will<br />
> > > go<br />
> > > > > down to<br />
> > > > > > 2.29tsp/G with today's 3G PWC. See my Excel file, "DebRs<br />
> > Salt<br />
> > > > > Levels" for<br />
> > > > > > how I'm figuring the concentration of salt in the water,<br />
> > since<br />
> > > > > there isn't<br />
> > > > > > really 20G in the tank right now.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> <a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a><br />
<<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a>><br />
> > > > > 20Chemistry/<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> <<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a><br />
<<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a>><br />
> > > > > 20Chemistry/><br />
> > > > > ><br />
> <<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a><br />
<<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a>><br />
> > > > > 20Chemistry/<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> <<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a><br />
<<a href="http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%">http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/files/Water%</a>><br />
> > > > > 20Chemistry/> ><br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > I'm seeing the slow gulping with CB, not all the time,<br />
but<br />
> > > after<br />
> > > > > exertion<br />
> > > > > > (eating, etc). But what I'm guessing is choking is a<br />
> shaking<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > the head,<br />
> > > > > > backing up and spitting action, kind of like when a fish<br />
> is<br />
> > > > > eating and<br />
> > > > > > breaks the food up by spitting it out repeatedly, only<br />
> she's<br />
> > > not<br />
> > > > > eating at<br />
> > > > > > the time.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Lenny V. aka GoldLenny<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 7:27 AM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: RE: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > The climbing nitrate level is just the result of your<br />
> > nitrogen<br />
> > > > > cycle nearly<br />
> > > > > > completing. Before, you were having to do PWC's to keep<br />
> the<br />
> > > > > ammonia/nitrite<br />
> > > > > > levels low, apparently, you may now have nearly enough<br />
> > > > nitrifying<br />
> > > > > bacteria<br />
> > > > > > growing in your filter, etc., to handle the<br />
> ammonia/nitrite<br />
> > so<br />
> > > > > you should<br />
> > > > > > soon see both of them staying at 0.0ppm and you'll do<br />
> PWC's<br />
> > to<br />
> > > > > keep nitrates<br />
> > > > > > in check and also to replace/dilute the dirty water.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > OK. Presuming you were pretty close to 0.3% (3 teaspoons<br />
> per<br />
> > > > > gallon) of<br />
> > > > > > salt, changing out 3G (or 15% of the 20G tank) would<br />
bring<br />
> > it<br />
> > > > > down to<br />
> > > > > > 0.285%. So, each time you do a 3G PWC with clear water,<br />
> > you'll<br />
> > > > > bring the<br />
> > > > > > current number down by 15%, so the next 3G will bring<br />
the<br />
> > > 0.285%<br />
> > > > > down to<br />
> > > > > > 0.242% (multiply the current number by .85 to get the<br />
new<br />
> > > > > number). You will<br />
> > > > > > see a diminishing return with each PWC but after about 5<br />
> of<br />
> > > the<br />
> > > > > 3G PWC's,<br />
> > > > > > you could increase the PWC amount to 25% (5G). After<br />
> about 5<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > those, you<br />
> > > > > > will have negligible levels (less than 0.05%) which<br />
would<br />
> no<br />
> > > > > longer be<br />
> > > > > > providing any kind of therapeutic benefits or causing<br />
any<br />
> > > kinds<br />
> > > > of<br />
> > > > > > osmoregulatory issues.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > The "choking thing"... does it look more like yawning?<br />
Or<br />
> a<br />
> > > slow<br />
> > > > > gulping<br />
> > > > > > motion?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Lenny Vasbinder<br />
> > > > > > Fish Blog - <a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a><br />
<<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>><br />
> > > > > <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a> <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>> ><br />
> > > > > > <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a> <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>><br />
> > > <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a> <<a href="http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com">http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com</a>> > ><br />
> > > > > > (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are<br />
> listed<br />
> > on<br />
> > > > > the right<br />
> > > > > > side, alphabetically under Labels and also under<br />
Archives<br />
> by<br />
> > > > > Year, Month)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----<br />
> > > > > > From: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > [mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ]<br />
> > > > > > On<br />
> > > > > > Behalf Of Menagerie_Manager<br />
> > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 12:23 AM<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Subject: Re: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus<br />
> problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > Wednesday Night Check in (Day 16 of Salt)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > - 3G PWC @ about noon (did not treat replacement water<br />
> with<br />
> > > > salt)<br />
> > > > > > - Salt now approx 2.75 tsp/G<br />
> > > > > > - 11pm Tank Readings: pH: I'm going to say 7.6, and<br />
that's<br />
> > > > > probably what<br />
> > > > > > it's been all along; Ammonia: .25ppm; Nitrite: slightly<br />
> > > > > over .25ppm;<br />
> > > > > > Nitrate: 15 - 20 (kind of a surprise after yesterday's<br />
> level<br />
> > > and<br />
> > > > > today's<br />
> > > > > > PWC)<br />
> > > > > > - Not seeing any fungus right now. Only extreme<br />
exhaustion<br />
> > and<br />
> > > > > that choking<br />
> > > > > > thing that CB does. I saw Lucille do it once this<br />
> afternoon.<br />
> > > > > > - The PraziPro should arrive any day.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----<br />
> > > > > > From: Raymond Wetzel<br />
> > > > > > To: <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 1:20 PM<br />
> > > > > > Subject: [AquaticLife] Re: Newbie with a fungus problem?<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > With your removal of the Fungus Clear, and your lowering<br />
> the<br />
> > > > salt<br />
> > > > > > level, I trust most or all of the fungus has been<br />
> > eliminated.<br />
> > > > > When<br />
> > > > > > are you expecting the PraziPro? If not for a while, and<br />
> > > > > especially<br />
> > > > > > if you still see some fungus, I'd give them another<br />
> > treatment<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > > Fungus Clear if it looks threatening, but the salt can<br />
be<br />
> > > > > reduced.<br />
> > > > > > The fungus should be gone right now though; if there's<br />
> just<br />
> > a<br />
> > > > bit<br />
> > > > > > remaining, you can add some acriflavin to the water (in<br />
> the<br />
> > > form<br />
> > > > > of<br />
> > > > > > API's liquid Fungus Cure) which is very mild.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > If the fungus is gone, just wait for the PraziPro to<br />
start<br />
> > > > > treating<br />
> > > > > > them for the internal issues. CB may be having trouble<br />
> > > adjusting<br />
> > > > > > from flakes to pellets, if this food is new but often,<br />
> fish<br />
> > > will<br />
> > > > > > reject any kind of food as their internal infections<br />
> worsen<br />
> > > and<br />
> > > > > will<br />
> > > > > > act in the manner you're describing.<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > I see your nitrite is up, unless that figure is a result<br />
> of<br />
> > > your<br />
> > > > > not<br />
> > > > > > being able to determine the color chart match. I also<br />
> > noticed<br />
> > > > > your<br />
> > > > > > two pH readings -- the results received from both test<br />
> kits<br />
> > > > (high<br />
> > > > > > range pH and low range pH). In any case, it looks like<br />
> more<br />
> > > > > frequent<br />
> > > > > > PWC's are in order; I would not do larger ones as you<br />
> don't<br />
> > > want<br />
> > > > > to<br />
> > > > > > reduce the salt too fast at any one time. Ray<br />
> > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > --- In <a href="mailto:AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com</a><br />
<mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%25">AquaticLife%</a><br />
> > > > > <a href="http://40yahoogroups.com">40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>><br />
> > > > > > <mailto:<a href="mailto:AquaticLife%2540yahoogroups.com">AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com</a>> ,<br />
> > > > > > "Menagerie_Manager"<br />
> > > > > > <menagerie_manager@> wrote:<br />
> > > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > > Tuesday Night Check in (Day 15 of Salt) (Removing<br />
> > remainder<br />
> > > of<br />
> > > > > > Fungus Clear with carbon filter)<br />
> > > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > > - Ph: 7.5 or almost 7.8 (see my post on lighting and<br />
> test<br />
> > > > > > results); Ammonia: .25ppm; Nitrite: .25ppm; Nitrate:<br />
10 -<br />
> > > 15ppm<br />
> > > > > > (depending on lighting)<br />
> > > > > > > - Lucille is sitting most of the time at the bottom.<br />
CB<br />
> > and<br />
> > > > > > Raven, also, although they're a bit more active than<br />
they<br />
> > have<br />
> > > > > been.<br />
> > > > > > > - CB still breaths a bit heavy and sometimes acts<br />
likes<br />
> > > she's<br />
> > > > > > trying to spit something out (backing up and shaking<br />
> head).<br />
> > I<br />
> > > > did<br />
> > > > > > see her spit out a piece of food one time that she was<br />
> doing<br />
> > > > > this.<br />
> > > > > > Could she be having trouble adjusting to the Omega One<br />
> > pellets<br />
> > > > > from<br />
> > > > > > the Tetra flakes?<br />
> > > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > > I think it may be time to lower the salt level some.<br />
> What<br />
> > > I'm<br />
> > > > > > seeing now, other than the stringy white and clear poop,<br />
> > > pretty<br />
> > > > > much<br />
> > > > > > fits the descriptions I've read of osmotic stress, and<br />
I'm<br />
> > not<br />
> > > > > sure<br />
> > > > > > how much more CB can take.<br />
> > > > > > ><br />
> > > > > > > DebR and the Three Goldfish<br />
> > > > > > > (CB, Lucille, and Raven)<br />
> > > > > > ></p>GoldLenny aka Lenny V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12473291500867592185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-73620194735937238472008-12-17T13:43:00.005-06:002010-08-02T11:52:14.443-05:00Tetra Easy Balance With NitrabanOn another blog and in various forums, I read some good but mostly bad about this product, Tetra Easy Balance With Nitraban. Here is one such <a href="http://aquarium-journal.com/2007/04/tetra-easy-balance.html">blog</a> about it, that claimed it was good, and my reply... <a href="http://aquarium-journal.com/2007/04/tetra-easy-balance.html"></a><br />
<br />
The blogger asked:<br />
<br />
"Whats in it?... I had a number of concerns on this front...<br />
The most that Tetra will say is that EB contains “essential elements” and vitamins which are often absent from tapwater. “Essential elements” I take to mean minerals and trace elements, and I have myself confirmed that their claim that it contains all of the nutrients needed for plant growth. I have never fertilised my aquaria in two years."<br />
<br />
And my reply:<br />
<br />
Here is "What's in it?"... and more... from a recent post of mine in another forum.<br />
<br />
Here is a snip from Tetra's website information on their product...<br />
<br />
"Tetra Easy Balance: Change 50-75% of your aquarium water at least once every 6 months, provided Easy Balance® has been added as recommended and the aquarium is other wise properly maintained."<br />
<br />
When I first heard about Tetra Easy Balance a couple of years ago, I was very leary about the fact that it was advertising that people could go six months without doing a partial water change... a MAJOR piece of BAD ADVICE, IMO. I don't think that any company involved in the fish keeping industry should be giving that kind of advice while promoting weekly dosing of their chemical compound.<br />
<br />
I kept trying to find out what was in the product and it took quite a while to find the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on the product since Tetra does not make it available on their website. I eventually found the MSDS on WalMart.com as they have the MSDS' for all products that they sell available on their website... which is what all companies are supposed to do.<br />
<br />
Here is the link to the Walmart.com MSDS for Tetra Easy Balance. <a href="http://msds.walmartstores.com/cache/2258_1.pdf">http://msds.walmartstores.com/cache/2258_1.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Here is a snip from the MSDS list of "dangerous components:"<br />
Sodium Hydroxide (up to) 2.5%<br />
Tartaric Acid (up to) 2.5%<br />
Formaldehyde (up to) 2.5%<br />
<br />
The other ingredients are Sucrose and Water (89.4%) and an undisclosed 3.1% of something.. or maybe it's 3.1% Sucrose but the MSDS doesn't clarify what the missing 3.1% is made up of.<br />
<br />
I am still unsure whether this is the MSDS for Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban or an earlier version of EB (without Nitraban if there was such a version) as I have not been able to find an MSDS with the "full name" listed... only "Easy Balance".<br />
<br />
The other potentially very serious negative about the product is that the "nitraban" is actually some kind of little pellet that gets distributed into the gravel and then these pellets dissolve. If you have foraging fish like goldfish, certain cichlids, etc., they could easily ingest these pellets and who knows what kinds of side effects that would have on the long term health of the fish.<br />
<br />
There is a forum thread that I read a while back about a guppy tank where the guppies did not breed or have babies even once during the time of the Easy Balance dosing on the tank.<br />
<br />
IMO, anything that stops guppies from breeding has to be a serious chemical compound that can't be good for our fish. If Tetra was to re-market the product as a fish birth control and give full disclosure of the negatives of the product, then I may not have as many complaints about the product.<br />
<br />
Hope this helps.<br />
<br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a>Leonard Lenny Vasbinder -- Actor, Filmmaker, Student, Computer Guy, etc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02421171401546784933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5321838726436158647.post-81692129480544709932008-12-14T11:27:00.007-06:002010-08-02T11:51:29.385-05:00Book Review - "The 101 Best Tropical Fishes" & Tropical Fish Hobbyist MagazineEarlier this year, I switched from the paper Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine to the digital subscription... which was only $1.00 a year... but after getting tired of reading the magazine online, which isn't as conducive to my reading throne.. lol.., I decided to switch back to the paper magazine. As part of signing up for a two year subscription, I got a free 2009 Fish Calendar and also got to choose from a couple of books. I chose "The 101 Best Tropical Fishes" (Plus 33 Species To Avoid) by Kathleen Wood.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/101-Best-Tropical-Fishes-Fascinating/dp/1890087939">http://www.amazon.com/101-Best-Tropical-Fishes-Fascinating/dp/1890087939</a> <br />
At first glance, it's a pocket sized 4" x 8" plastic coated soft cover book with 191 pages. It's well illustrated with profiles on each of the fish. As I started looking at the introduction and first chapters where they talk about tank sizes, etc., I started getting that queasy feeling. They have a section called "Model Community Tanks". I'm only going to list two out of the five examples for 10G tanks to see what you all think. They do have the scientific names next to the common names but I did not include them for most of the below since they are easily identified by their common names. <br />
-------- <br />
10-Gallon Peaceful Global Community<br />
Top Swimmers<br />
2 Dwarf Gouramis (male-female pair)<br />
Midwater Swimmers<br />
5-7 Glowlight Tetras<br />
Bottom Dwellers<br />
3 Albino Aeneus Corydoras<br />
2 Otocinclus vittatus <br />
-------- <br />
10-Gallon Amazon Quiet Pool<br />
Top Swimmers<br />
3 Marbled Hatchetfish<br />
Midwater Swimmers<br />
12 Neon Tetras<br />
Bottom Dwellers<br />
3 Panda Corydoras<br />
1 Clown Pleco <br />
-------- <br />
In the above example, a Clown Pleco reaches 4" to 5" and is very wide bodied, so it's not like a 4" torpedo shaped fish... and it is an eating-pooping machine like most plecos. Just the Clown Pleco would be a big bioload for a 10G tank, IMO... but maybe a small school of Neons would be OK with it. Normally, a 4" to 5" fish should not be kept in a 10G tank but at least a Clown Pleco isn't a big swimmer so the limited tank size won't affect it as much. I just wouldn't do it as a planned stocking. <br />
They also had a livebearer tank with 6 fancy guppies (2 males - 4 females), 3 swordtails (1 male - 2 females) and 3 Bronze Corydoras. <br />
Now, personally, I would consider these examples as VERY overstocked... especially considering what would happen within a month (or even days) in the livebearer tank... but what do some of you other experts out there think??? <br />
Should this book be considered just another crappy book that leads so many newbie's into tragedy... like so many other books that I've seen or am I just being too cautious about overstocking? <br />
The article on my blog for "10 Gallon Tank Stocking Suggestions" doesn't come close to these levels of stocking for a 10G tank... but then the fish will be much happier and the hobbyist won't be stuck with tons of tank maintenance, fish health issues, etc., by following my guidelines versus what is found in many books. <br />
Compared to Aquarium Fish Magazine, which has some really BAD info in it at times, Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine is a MUCH BETTER magazine but I'm not too happy about them promoting the above book. <br />
Links to subscribe to TFH, get a FREE no-obligation copy of TFH Magazine or subscribe to the digital version, go to the "Free Offers" link on this blog (see link under Labels). <br />
Lenny Vasbinder<br />
Fish Blog - <a href="http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/">http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/</a> (Links to any articles referenced in above reply are listed on the right side, alphabetically under Labels and also under Archives by Year, Month)GoldLenny aka Lenny V.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12473291500867592185noreply@blogger.com0