April 2010 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

A P R I L 2 0 1 0The Minimalist AquaristDoing more with less and keeping it simple: Panama— Article and Photos by Rein & Char Breitmaier, KWAS (mrrein@gmail.com)We begin a new destination this month albeit not terribly farfrom where we left off. A mere few hours drive from CostaRica, yes I said ‘drive’, where we found ourselves mid-way intothe Country of Panama and into ‘the Canal Zone’. And fellowreaders, to a place where English is spoken, the AmericanDollar is the only domestic currency in evidence and folksactually keep and talk ornamental fishes.create enough bio-waste to quickly plug this little pump’sintake. But hey, we’ve found fish.TMA was excited to find fishes in the marketplace. Okay thefirst encounter wasn’t a traditional 4-square aquarium with allthe filters, skimmers, and lights but it had goldfishes!The ceramic tub had a recirculating pump which was no longerfunctioning, but in the greater scheme of things was supposedto pump up into the highest faux bamboo pot, which then fillthe second pot, subsequently the third and finally tumbled backinto the base. The setup was not unlike cement water featuressold back home that sometimes double as a bird bath - I mightfind one on the patio at our house. Look closely however andyou may spot that a tiny air pump was hung onto the side ofone of the upper chambers with an airline extended down intothe water below. Don’t see any bubbles? Well I didn’t either, soapparently the “Sonic Silent & Powerful” air pump was toomuch of the former and not enough of the latter. As we know,goldfish aren’t going to quibble as long as you change the waterand give’em food and in that regard these seemed fine.Those of us who have played with these things howeverrecognize that a) the goldfish will soon outgrow thisenvironment, b) even if the water pump was working, thesurface disturbance from the final pot dumping into the bottomchamber would make the fish difficult to see, and c) goldfishNext up I spotted a great advertisement in a pamphlet in astore. You may have found them before but TMA had not. Theholy grail of aquarium keeping – zero water changes! Of coursethe photo showed what had to be a planted 100 gallon tankwith angels, discus, et. al, and everything peachy andwonderful without ever sucking on another siphon hose. Wow!I can’t speak to how many of these units have sold in Panama,but I have seen the rivers here. The water flows (read that as‘changes’) quickly and plentifully, so the advertising claim of“just like in nature” seemed a tad vacuous.The fine print noted that this system handles up to 20 gallons ofwater so I reasoned the accompanying photo must surely have5 of these hanging on the back with at least ten of the littleplastic towers coming up out of the gravel. Don’t see them inthe photo? Neither did I. We wondered whether these ads weretargeted at North American ex-pats who spend the wintermonths here in the balmy warmth because the locals we met6