Some forthcoming goldfish shows to go to...

29^th September 2007 GSGB Open Show and Auction Sale

@ St. Paul’s Church Hall, Chigwell Road, Woodford Bridge, Essex Woodford Bridge

The largest Goldfish Show in the UK and, with 59 different classes for Goldfish varieties, the most comprehensive competitive Goldfish Show in the World! Hundreds of pounds worth of aquatic prizes, provided by our sponsors: Chiltern Aquatics and Aquarian. Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon. NB The Auction Sale is a closed auction, that is only paid-up Members of the GSGB may buy and/or sell Goldfish.

Saturday, 13^th and Sunday 14^th October 2007

The Festival of Fishkeeping @ Hayling Island, Hampshire.

Hayling Update

The ‘Festival’ is an aquarists’ extravaganza with competitions, competitive shows, exhibitions and trade stalls covering interests such as Goldfish, Koi, freshwater and marine tropical, Discus, catfish, reptiles and amphibians. There is a programme of presentations and talks throughout the weekend The Festival is open to both residents and day visitors.

Saturday, 13^th October – GSGB Open Show @ The Festival of Fishkeeping

Sunday, 14th October – GSGB Exhibition of Goldfish varieties

GSGB - Goldfish Society of Great Britain. Non-members may attend the shows to view the goldfish but not buy/sell.

Thinking of getting a larger home for my fishies

I've been toying with the idea of getting a larger aquarium now for nearly a year. It's way overdue at any rate. And what with my 2 house moves this past 12 months, we haven't been able to upgrade. Now that we're in our larger house, the fishies deserve a large space too! A Biorb 30 is far too small for my fishies now. The question is whether I should upgrade to a Biorb 60 and stick with the same procedures or go the whole hog and choose a really large one - the Juwel Vision range comes to mind and are very tempting. Having to change all that water for a Juwel Vision 260 is a bit daunting, plus there's the question of where to put it. At the moment, my Biorb 30 is in an ideal position far away from windows and drafts, while still getting some sunlight in the mornings and evenings. But with the Juwel, I can get more fish!

Then there's the Biorb 60, it's supposedly twice the size of the Biorb 30 but it isn't really. The number of fish can can be contained in an aquarium is determined not only by the size of the aquarium but also the surface area of the water. In a Biorb 60 or 30 by the time you fill it with water there's not much difference in the surface area, and what's more the filter system is identical - that means more water so the flow rate of the aquarium is effectively halved!

Considering that for thousands of years people managed to keep goldfish in just urns and ceramic bowls, maybe I'll stick with the Biorb 30 a bit longer while I think about it a bit more and just be more diligent in my water changes...!