The Goldfish Report editors have a page on this site to communicate important information about the GFSA's premier print publication. The September-October issue should be out any day now. Go take a look here. We hope everyone has enjoyed what has now been a year publishing top quality content in a full color format!
If you have let your membership lapse or have been thinking about joining the GFSA, now is a great time - here is a form you can print. To submit material for the Goldfish Report to editor Matt Lyon, please see the updated society contact info. Articles and photos in electronic form are particularly appreciated.
The current line-up of people filling the GFSA offices is on the society officers page. The events calendar covers 2003 events and activities: we are now past the last 2003 event we know of. We would still like to expand this calendar to reflect the tropical fish shows that support a significant goldfish class and, for that matter, any other goldfish-related events. So if you have a show or event please send us an email or use the submission form on the calendar.
Seasonal Advice
People in many areas of the US are entering a period of significant temperature variations. Inside, home heating systems are coming on as temperatures drop, while outside 30F swings in temperature over 24 hours are pretty common. For the goldfish, particularly in smaller tanks and ponds, this means they may be seeing significant temperature changes.
First off, for robust, healthy goldfish, temperature changes of 5 to 10F are not a big deal, particularly if they are not instantaneous but rather occur over a number of hours. In the wild, goldfish will come to the surface and bask in the sun ... so they will actually seek out temperature changes! However, if you are concerned, there are a few things you can do. First is to cover the tank or pond. Not "air tight" but enough to reduce convective heat loss and evaporation. This can help stabilize the temperatures a lot. For aquariums, a heater can be used to set a lower bound on temperature (say 65F, if you can find one that goes that low), to moderate possible day-night temperature swings.