 
IIt's time once again for our monthly newsletter and we are proud to announce that we are making great strides to get back up and running after the January ice storms. (See February Newsletter) We have already added a line of reds to our stock and we've also begun to restock our Albino Bristle Nose Pleco's. Plans are in the works as we speak to obtain a line of Greens and Half Black Pastels as well thanks to some wonderful people with the New England Guppy Club and Massguppies.com We would also like to remind everyone that if you are in need of some quality fish flake, please contact us and let us know. We offer a high quality fish flake for a very reasonable price. As little as 2oz or as much as 8oz., and you would also be helping to get our fish hatchery back up and running. We would also like to pause for a moment to remember a friend of ours who recently passed away. Dawsone Lee Chaney was well know in not only the Guppy Community but also the Discus Community. Lee was a big help in getting us started in the hobby and set us up with a beautiful line of Half black pastel's and Double Dark Purples. Many may recognize his user name in many forums and on Aquabid as WildDiscussOne. Lee was living in Atlanta, Ga. and was active in the Deep South Fancy Guppy Association when he passed and much of his remaing stock is being auctioned off on Aquabid. He was a wonderful human being and well respected in the guppy community. You will be missed my friend. This month we would like to welcome our two newest members to the I Luv Guppies Community. Jason Konradi and Jerry Kern as well as Johnny and Sheila. (Sorry about the last names, they wern't provided with the registration process). We hope you all enjoy our site and find it useful and entertaining. As always, if anyone ever has any suggestions or issues that they would like to see addressed in our Monthly Newsletter, please feel free to contact us. This month, we had a very interesting DIY project that was submitted by our friend Ceasar and it addresses an issue that we've all dealt with at one time are another. How to protect your fry from hungry mouths. Guppies are notorious for eating their fry and this is a great way to protect them. In Tank Fry Saver Step 1 Take a 5 ltr. bottle and cut where it is marked in the picture below: 
Step 2 After cutting the top off of your 5ltr. bottle, take some foam board, or any floating material that is aquarium safe, and using your bottle top as a template, trace and cut a ring from your floating material. This cutting will be the inside circumference of the circle below so be sure to allow about an 1" of over hang for the outer circumference. This way the ring will fit around the 5ltr. bottle. 
Step 3 After placing your ring at the top part of what is left of your 5ltr bottle, you can seal it in place using some aquarium safe silicone. 
Step 4 After you have placed your ring on your bottle and made sure it will stay in place by using silicone, you'll need to punch tiny holes all around the base of the bottle. There are a number of ways of doing this but I like to use a fork, heat it by placing it on your stove top and then punching your holes in the bottle. You'll need to heat your fork again after each set of holes. Your bottle will resemble the picture below when you've finished. 
Step 5 To assist with water flow, you can take a power head that has the aeration tube and place the tube into your 5ltr. bottle as laid out below. The power head tube will draw water out of your 5ltr. bottle allowing water from the tank to flow in thru the holes you made earlier with the fork. 
This entire set up will go inside your aquarium thus separating your fry from hungry mouths that may take advantage of their size.  
Featured
Plant of the Month
LUDWIGIA REPENS 'RUBIN'
 Hardiness: Easy
Light Needs: Low to Very High
Plant Structure: Stem
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Ludwigia
Region: Central America
Location: Central America
Size: 4 inches
Growth Rate: Fast
Can Be Grown Emersed: Yes Description:
Ludwigia repens has long been a staple of the planted aquarium hobby. Its attractive wavy leaves and ease of culture have made it very popular. A much more recent introduction by the Danish company Tropica is Ludwigia repens 'Rubin'. This variety from Central America is notable for its slightly narrower leaves and striking blood-red coloration. It is available through trade among hobbyists in the United States and through Tropica elsewhere.
Like the familiar common variety of L. repens, the 'Rubin' variety is very easy to grow and has no particular demands. It grows quickly and equally well in a wide variety of conditions. Unfortunately, maintaining its deep red coloration is somewhat more of a challenge. Strong and unobstructed lighting from sources like power compact fluorescents or metal halides along with a good supply of iron go a long way towards that goal. Surprisingly abundant roots are formed at the nodes and may remind one of trimming the fur of a yak, although their removal does not harm the plant. The only other unusual thing about Ludwigia repens 'Rubin' is its sensitivity to shipping; it usually arrives in much less that perfect condition. However, it always recovers when provided with a good home.
Propagation above or below water is unproblematic and trouble-free. Side shoots are numerous and formed constantly.
As one of the reddest of the red plants, L. repens 'Rubin' is quite an eye catcher. Even a few stems make a big impact as either a neatly maintained mid ground stand or as a group of stems protruding from behind a differently colored plant in the background. It makes a great contrast to either light or dark green plants and looks especially good with Microsorum pteropus 'narrow' or Hygrophila balsamica. We currently have an abundance of Ludwigia and Anacharis so if anyone is in need of some, please contact us and we can set you up with a beginners package for just a few dollars to our I Luv Guppies members.  
The Incredible Edible Egg Alternative fish foods to boost your growth in raising your aquarium fish For many years the first aquarist and aquarist of today are still using eggs for feeding their fish. I remember seeing in some popular tropical fish magazines how Russians have been using eggs to feed their fish since the Iron Curtain made commercially available fish foods unavailable. For years I have been experimenting with using eggs for a food to feed my fish. It has been classified as one of the most nutritionally balanced food known to man and animals. Feeding eggs is easy you can hard-boil an egg and use the yolk in a water suspension much like liquid fry to feed very small fry. Myself when I am in the mood I will scramble a couple eggs and use a rotating cheese grater to make small particles to feed to my guppies. My guppies just love it when I feed them eggs as a supplement to their normal foods.  
I have also experimented with using scrambled eggs as a paste food (somewhat) after cooking the egg I will break apart the eggs in sizes the fish can pick at for the rest of the day, then I net out what is not consumed later. I have read lately the raw eggs are bad for your fish because it contains a growth inhibitor avidin which is de-activated by cooking (heat). In the same article, by mixing the egg white and yolk together the fat content gets micro encapsulated so that the fish benefit from both the egg white and yolk. By mixing the egg well before cooking and then dropping it into boiling water while stirring the water vigorously yet get small particles that can be strained and fed to small fish. If you wish to have larger particles minimize your stirring of the water and the particles will be larger. They also suggested making a custard by steaming your egg emulsion in a custard cup then breaking up into pieces to feed much like paste food. Take advantage of foods that you can find around the house and experiment with them; I am always amazed how simple nutritious foods are used and get great results don't be afraid to experiment.
Article by Ed Chiasson  
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