Grants Pass Oregon Aquarium Secret

Grants Pass Best Kept Aquarium Supply and Information Secret

While this weblog has long carried links to resources from American Aquarium Products and others, I have not posted an updated article/blog post about what many who keep fish (pond or aquarium) in Grants Pass are missing.



"American Aquarium Products" along with its sister site "Aquarium & Pond Answers" have grown into one of the leaders in cutting edge aquarium products (& some pond too).

As examples, American Aquarium Products is the largest seller of High End Aquarium LED Lights as well as T2 Aquarium/Multi-purpose lights in North America!

American Aquarium Products is also the leader and information about the use of Sponge Filters in aquariums & ponds. Although these are not new filters, the sponge filter fell out of popularity due to a lot of misinformation put forth by big box pet stores and disingenuous online retailers and aquatic forums. However the Sponge Filtration article proved how the the sponge filter beat out many popular power filters such as the Bio Wheel in bio capacity

Another unique product that American Aquarium has led the way in use, researched tests, & internet promoting are the Wonder Shells Aquarium mineral blocks. AAP has been using these unique mineral blocks that have been shown to improve essential positive mineral ion levels for 30 years, yet many right here in Grants Pass are not even familiar with this product.


As well these websites have the most researched aquatic articles found ANYWHERE on the Internet.
Many of these articles such as Aquarium Lighting and Aquarium/Redox Balance have received acclaim from around the world (often from researchers outside the anecdotal aquarium/pond keeping industry).

There are many more affiliates now of American Aquarium/Aquarium Answers, especially in their other field of expertise; UV Sterilization!
American Aquarium Products is an industry leader in both knowledge of UV Sterilizers, Clarifiers as well as having one of the deepest inventories of Premium UV Replacement Bulbs found anywhere (many clients hail from as far away as Australia).

UV Bulbs
UV-C Replacement Bulbs from the experts in UV Sterilization since 1979; ONLY quality UV Replacement Bulbs at competitive prices such as the popular 9 Watt UV Bulb

What is sad, despite the many research experts, visitors of sponsored forums, and regular clients of American Aquarium Products and Aquarium Answers, these websites are still not well known in their home town of Grants Pass Oregon, but for a few rude emails challenging information contained in the researched articles only to buy products from less than reputable sellers such as DR. F & S (which is well known inside the aquarium industry for their less than honest business practices).
It does not help when the local paper (the Grants Pass Courier, AKA the "Daily Discourager") ignores their home town aquatic experts when doing a story about poisonous fish a few years back only to get their facts wrong (of course the media nationwide are on a downhill slide).

Hopefully many aquarium/pond keepers will wake up to the internet leader in aquatic information/products in their own back yard before they are lured away (offers have already come in from New Jersey and Texas)to move these internet business base of operations to these states.

Here are a few other popular articles:

Aquarium Information
Basic to in-depth aquarium and pond articles.


Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
The most accurate, researched, updated article on the subject of the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and cycling found anywhere on the Internet!

Freshwater Fish Care, Basics
Sound basic freshwater keeping information from someone with decades of aquarium keeping experience with links to more in depth information for those looking to step up in their aquarium keeping knowledge.

Aquarium Medications
the MOST in depth and accurate source of information about aquarium treatments, from antibiotics, chemical, to organic treatments and most importantly how to properly use them!

Gone Fishing Aquaculture Project; Klamath County Oregon

“The Gone Fishing" Aquaculture Project in Klamath County Oregon

I was recently researching Aquaculture projects in Oregon and I stumbled across this gem here in Southern Oregon (not far from the California border) that I feel my readers would be interested in. This aquaculture farm is used to raise 85 varieties of Cichlids from Lake Malawi in Africa’s Great Rift Valley as well as some from Central America.
“Gone Fishing” sells 250,000 of the fish annually to tropical fish wholesalers from Portland, OR to San Francisco, CA; shipped weekly by truck to Sacramento, and then by air to the various other outlets.

The “Gone Fishing” aquaculture project is located about 10 miles south of Klamath Falls, Oregon, near Merrill in the Lower Klamath Valley adjacent to the Klamath Hills.
The original ponds at this facility were constructed in 1984 and have seen limited use. Ron Barnes started the current facility in 1990 using the effluent from a geothermal greenhouse operation on the Liskey Ranch located on Lower Klamath Lake Road.

Geology/Logistics:
The geology of this part of Southern Oregon in Klamath County consists of large normal fault blocks, typical of the Basin and Range province. The Klamath Hills are typical of these fault blocks, allowing geothermal waters that circulate at depth, and move to the surface in shallow aquifers that are easily tapped for the Gone Fishing Aquaculture Farm.

At the original location, a greenhouse complex consisting of four 6,000 square-foot buildings are heated using a peak of 400 gpm from six geothermal wells ranging in temperature from 80F to 200F and all are around 100 feet deep.
The newer set of ponds are provide geothermal water from a 460-foot deep well that pumps up to 300 gpm of 210F water. The water surface in the newer well is at 120 feet and the line shaft pump bowls are set at 190 feet.

The water from the wells is alkaline with a pH of 8.8 out of the wells, but the chemical composition of the pond liners (diatomaceous earth) and soil surrounding the ponds reduce the pH to about 7.5 as the water flows through the system. The water is primarily a sodium-sulfate type of about 600 ppm that can be used directly in the ponds without harm to the fish. This is about the same chemical composition as the water of Lake Malawi.

The average annual sunshine in this part of Oregon is also quite high (as even winter cloud cover is not as continuous as western parts of Oregon due to the blocking affects of the Cascade Mountains). This also allows for some duplication of Africa’s Rift Lake areas high amount of sunshine, although the lower winter sun here at this latitude does substantially lower beneficial light energy such as UVA as well as PAR light wave lengths (UVB is not considered necessary for fish, while UVC although useful for UV Sterilization as found in UVC Bulbs does not even reach the Earths surface even in tropical latitudes). This may slow the growth of plant material grown in the ponds for these generally omnivorous fish.

A Little History
In 1998, Ron Barnes purchased 80 acres of land just north of the greenhouses on the opposite side of the road. The operation has grown to 37 ponds located on the Liskey Ranch and 35 at the new “Gone Fishing” location.
Future plans (that may already have been accomplished) are to raise food grade Tilapia here as well.

For further information, please see these sites:
*http://geoheat.oit.edu/bulletin/bull23-3/art2.pdf
*http://www.geothermal.org/articles/fish.pdf
*http://geoheat.oit.edu/bulletin/bull24-2/art3.pdf

For more Aquarium Keeping Information/Resources:
Aquarium Information

Winter Pond Care

As winter approaches it is important to prepare you pond for this seasonal change in conditions (depending on your climate zone). In the warmer western areas of Oregon ice is not an issue as much as in the higher elevations of Eastern Oregon.

However leaves that have accumulated from the many deciduous trees that grow in many of the western valleys are a problem.
Leaves that fall to the bottom of the pond decompose adding to ammonia, lowering ph and KH to dangerous levels and sometimes releasing toxic Hydrogen Sulfide. The pond keeper needs to either cover the pond with netting or remove leaves before winter sets in.
Also as temperatures fall below 60 F (15 C) in the pond I feed every other day or less, depending on fish feeding habits. Below 50 F (10 C), I do not generally feed as fish become much less active as their metabolism slows down.
It should also be noted that the protein content of the food should decrease as well while wheat and wheat germ content increase.

Here is a recent news article from Salem Oregon about preparing for winter:
Owners of koi prepare the hardy, colorful fish and their ponds for winter

In regions where icing will occur it is important in winter to keep at least a small section of your pond open for proper exchange of gasses (O2, CO2), if water can still flow into the pond through a water or aeration device, that will work. A minimum depth of 24” will provide enough water space under the ice for fish to hibernate.
An aeration device or pump placed about midway from the surface/bottom that circulates upward generally will keep an area of the pond surface free of ice and allow proper gas exchange. In deep ponds over 5-6 feet (1.75 -2 meters), thermal layering, called thermoclines, may exist. This acts as sort of an “inversion layer” similar to how smog gets trapped in the air in Los Angeles. This traps CO2 and Hydrogen Sulfide near the bottom which is dangerous to fish and in this case you need to add water pumps or aeration devices at the bottom.

For more pond information including Winter Care as well as more resource links as well, please visit this site:

A Clear Pond; Pond Information

Central Point might give exotic pets the boot

Central Point might give exotic pets the boot -An ordinance banning nontraditional critters in the city is under discussion tonight at 7

By buffy pollock
for the Mail Tribune

CENTRAL POINT — Exotic pets ranging from wolves to raccoons to large snakes could be banned in town under a new ordinance before the City Council.

The council will consider the animal ordinance at 7 tonight in City Hall, 140 S. Third St., Central Point.

The proposed law would allow existing pets to be grandfathered in if they are registered with city code enforcement officials by March 12.

The current policy on keeping pets came under scrutiny after neighbors of Blue Grass Downs homeowner Nick Kessler complained about Kessler's pet bobcat, Kona. The Kessler family moved into the subdivision — across from a city park — last summer.

For the full article, please click above.


Comment:

Not really an aquarium or pond story, but considering snakes are being considered, many fish can be thrown into this ban as well. Not that we don not need boundaries on which pets we can keep and not keep, it is possible as in some local and state governments to go too far, especially when bad information is used such as California’s statement that Piranha would populate the water ways (which is not true even for Piranha, as this fish will die off in water below 60-65 F, which there in not a body off water even in LA that does not get this cold in the winter.


BASIC AQUARIUM PRINCIPLES; Information for the proper set up, maintenance, care and feeding for freshwater aquariums

For a great Aquatics Forum where Everything Aquatic is discussed:
EVERYTHING AQUATIC; Aquarium Forum