Happy New Year fellow keepers and breeders. The Goldfish Council is up and running in 2018. Last week on January 13, 2018 we had the TGC Research Roundtable I in Tampa. Joshua McWilliams our Director of membership and and the Southern region hosted a great event for breeders and serious keepers on advanced topics like genetics, selection of mates, culling for the future adult fish. Jennifer Lynx from Solid Gold Aquatics is posting some of the lectures on Youtube.
In other news, The staff and I are formulating a nitrate study group. We are looking for 20 people each with at least two tanks to participate in a 6-9 month study, in which using a simple test kit for nitrates and measuring water volumes and frequency we hope to improve our fish health and longevity. Data is going to uploaded by the participants on our web site. We hope to answer the following questions; Is a 50% water change once a week adequate? Does back to back water changes prevent nitrate creep? Which live plant are recommended for nitrate removal? Can you get denitrification in a tank.
We expect that this first study will morph into a program for better fish keeping, that will tackle subjects like fish floating, bacterial density and advanced tank health. Look for this program to kick off before the leaves come back on the trees in the midwest.
Last month I asked for people to consider running for the board in May. Well we have three people joining the nonprofit work in advance of the May elections. Our Judge in Texas, Tony Reynolds is planning on coming on as Secretary, Bao Gia Dang has been working with us for months and is planning on coming to the board as Auction Manager, and Mark Rausa has been already appointed the Director for California and is going to manage day to day web operations and improvements. Yeah! Congratulate these fine folks!! We are still looking for someone to run some spread sheets for us routinely, contact Gary Hater if interested. Mark Rausa (left), Bao Dang and Gary