You know, to understand this note you must understand just exactly from whence I came. I have come from an era that is a million miles from today. I come from "angel hair" for filter material and "metal tanks" put together with some black gooy stuff that eventually went hard and the tanks leaked. My first fish was a betta that was kept in a "wine glass" tank of about 1 gallon and that was about 1956-57...yes that's right the fifty's. Now the fish was really my mom's but when no one was around I pretended that it was mine so...it was mine...but I really didn't get my own tank until oh...maybe 1963-64. Now this tank was mine and it was right beside my bed and it was 10 gallons with a full hood and I watched the fish every night for hours as I fell asleep. I might note that after several months the "Blue Acara" in the tank spawned and I was hooked...now guys, to give you an idea...this was before "Dyna-Flow" power filters...several years after this a new tank came out and I remember talking with Stan (he owned the shop in Gary, Indiana) that well, the 10's and 20's might hold up okay but any larger tank without the metal on the edges would not hold on anything deeper that about a foot...so these new fangled "all glass" tanks would never last...Silastic, by Dow Corning...not bad but not for deep tanks...it'll never make it. Then there was this little fish from Africa...Pseudotropheus...I couldn't remember names then but the place in Africa was Lake Nyasa (I know it became Malawi or something but it was originally Nyasa). Mean little buggers, and the males turn color....what do you mean there is now a "Cobalt" fish from Nyasa? Angels ... yes, any color you wanted as long as it was silver...once in a great while there was an all black, and once in a while there was a black-lace...but it was silver, and if you could breed them you would probably make a million dollars and retire...wild angels were very common. "Rams", well now, this fish was a veritable rainbow of deep exaggerated colors...blues, reds, yellows, purples, with an elongated spike to boot. Discus...I can't even begin to tell you how fascinated I was with these "kings" of the Amazon. This brown fish with the blue and red in the fins...oh and then those "heckel" ones with the stripes of blue...I would go to Stan's shop and watch his 55 gallon metal tank with the 8-10 full sized discus for hours... and then there was this man in Florida...a man that not only knew how to breed the discus but was actually breeding them to change their color, like guppies. Ladies and gentlemen this was the middle and late 60's...it was an exciting time... the fish that were wild were nifty...filter knowledge was changing even faster than it is now. But there was one thing for sure...Jack Wattley must be a god...he not only breeds his discus but he actually goes to South America and catches the ones he wants to use for breeding. I mean, come on...a man only has so many hours in the day, how could one man be so blessed? The years went by...I moved to Florida (St. Petersburg) in 1973 and I stayed in the hobby most of the time between teaching school and coaching, but Ft. Lauderdale just never was on my list of places to go until a couple of months ago, and there I was at the home of Jack Wattley...I mean you have to understand...who do you admire most? Who has accomplished something you only dream about? What would you call them? Mister Wattley...sir...Jack...I had no idea so I used them all. I found a slight smallish man who was willing to answer all of the questions that I asked. He took me to his fish room and apologized to me for letting it get so messy. But then I saw some babies eating off a set of parents...I was absolutely fixed. This world famous man was taking time out of his day to talk to me and let me watch as his fish were spawning and doing discus things. He also showed me his method of raising the babies separate from the parents...you know there are some people who say his method is out-dated...well I wish I had his discus...most of all I would wish that when it is all said and done I would hope I could have contributed 1/100th of what Jack Wattley has to this hobby...and most of all, I would wish that the nay-sayers were as willing to talk and show as Jack was--this gentle, gentle man that has time for everyone...this man that spoke to me as a peer. I thank you Sir for an afternoon that I will never forget...I was never so fascinated with the "king" of the Amazon as I was that day... and I will see to it that the fish that I came back with will get the best of care!!!...and Jack----say hi to your granddaughter, she must still be so very special.

Back to the future...sorry for my wandering but I really had a time! OKAY all you fish goofs, here's one for you. Tank...135 gallons...special built...maybe 3 feet tall--much taller than normal by 10-12" anyway. Problem--catfish won't live in the tank. Originally there were six albino Cory’s and 3 Panda cats were put in...after 2-3 months only one panda was left...three more albinos were purchased...dead the next day. The fish in the tank are angels (7-8) and about 30 huge cardinals...no fish other than the cats have been lost. We setup a 10 gallon quarantine tank bought 6 Cory’s--put them in the Q. tank...okay for 2 weeks...put three of the six in a net in the big tank suspecting depth as the problem (???) I know that sounds stupid...they were fine for 2 days...water is okay, let them go in the tank and they were all dead the next morning, the three in the Q tank are still fine after 4 more weeks...now seriously folks does the depth thing now sound so stupid? Think about it...this is for real!

Remember now, sometimes I write what works for me......having trouble hatching angel (cichlid) eggs because of fungus. I pull the eggs as soon as I think the parents are finished laying. I put the PVC tube in about 1-2 gallons of tap water with enough methylene blue to turn the water, oh medium blue, I really don't measure...I can see through the blue but not easily...but the point is I don't use ANY water from the tank...and it is right from the tap and it is about 6-10 degrees colder than the tank water with no anti-chlorine put in...I have been doing this for about 2 years. and have had an increased hatch...98+%. I know it's against all of the rules but try it once...cold, chlorine, tap water...Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

How do you make a blacklace angel???...Find blacklace parents...you kinda loose! Blacklace is caused by Co-dominance. That means that both colors will mix instead of one hiding the other (true dominance). Spawn a pure silver and a pure black with and you will get 100% blacklace. How do you get black angels with out black parents? Blacklace parents will give 25% silver...pure, 25% black...pure, and 50% blacklace. Figure that one out...do your genetic boxes it's simple.

AS ALWAYS.................................FINS UP...Mike

The name Lake Nyasa was originally given to Lake Malawi by the early European explorers of the region. The way the story goes is that the lake shore dwellers were asked what the name of their lake was and they replied in Swahili "Nyasa". Now Nyasa really means large body of water and is applicable to many of the lakes in East Africa. The explorers did not know this and the name Lake Nyasa carried on until the late 1960’s when the East African nations received their independence from their European conquerors. Lake Malawi was renamed by those European mapmakers when their error had been uncovered.

Regarding the Cat problem, let me throw in my three cents now that I have a chance. Place a rock at the bottom to create a small cave that will hold an air bubble and pipe air into it.

I believe that the Cory’s are too intimidated to go to the surface for that necessary gulp of air when they are first placed in the unusually deep aquarium. By unusually deep I mean that they have been in holding tanks that are probably no more than a foot deep for the last who knows how many days and with their own kind. After a while they become too weak to surface and quickly die.

Placing an alternative source of air for them while they acclimate themselves to the deeper tanks should help them survive those traumatic first few days.

If any of our readers have any other ideas send them along and we will publish them. This could be the start of a lively discussion. And God knows we need some lively discussions among this group....................JIM