# [Wet Thumb Forum]-My Rainbowfish will be on television!



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

The PBS (Public Broadcasting Show) "NOVA Science Now" will have a short segment on aquarium fish. They filmed my Rainbowfish tanks and interviewed Dr. Greg Lewbart, who is a widely renowned fish vet. He'll be the focus of the segment. They've also thrown in an interview with a vet student that keeps Koi. 

Show will be on Tuesday, Oct 18 at 8:00 pm. The fish segment part of the show is only about 6 minutes, but it should be a high quality 6 minutes. 

NOVA producer and his crew spent 5 hours at my place to film my tanks, so I expect they will have some good pictures of my tanks and Rainbowfish. And you will get to see my Rainbowfish being fed chopped chicken liver! 

Diana


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## javalee (May 8, 2006)

What an honor, Diana! I'm a huge fan of Nova so it will be a real treat to see "moving" film of your tanks and fish there. Nova is such an incredible, high-quality science show. Congratulations!


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

NOVA is definitely a class-act. It was Dr. Lewbart's suggestion, since I have consulted with him about my fish, that I be included in the show.

Believe me, I feel honored.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

That's awesome, Diana? I love NOVA! I'll def. watch... did they film those cool blue guppies from your book, or is it exclusively about Rainbowfish?

-ricardo


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Cool! Its on my calendar to get home by 8 to watch it!

Congratulations on being selected for the feature! NOVA is GREAT programming! Always one of my favorites. Its the kinda show that can make you interested in a topic, even if you didn't think you'd be interested when it began. So I'm going to make sure my father watches it, too, LOL! He hasn't seen my tanks, so he asks questions like "A third tank? How is it different than the two you already have?"

Chopped liver, eh? A yumma yumma.

Are you interviewed? I hope so! 

I'm really looking forward to watching this - thanks for letting us know!
-Jane


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I hope they got pics of your plants too!


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thanks for all your enthusiastic comments. I too love to watch NOVA.

NOVA Science NOW, stepchild of regular NOVA, has a format like 60 minutes. They'll have 3 different topics with the fish only one of the 3 topics. So we may have to watch the entire 1 hour show to see the 6 minutes of fish.

Alas, I will not be on camera. They wanted me to talk about my relationship with my fish, whether I had named them, etc. This subject just didn't work for me. Now, if they had asked me about soil substrates and plant growth, I would have waxed enthusiastic. 

However, the producer assured me that there will be shot of my hand with a chopstick feeding the fish chicken liver. 

In answer to Ricardo, I'm sorry but it will just be the Rainbowfish. No guppies!

I'm not sure what else they'll have, but Dr. Lewbart's interview should be interesting. I can hardly wait!


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

For everyone not from the USA, you can watch NOVA scienceNOW online, here on their website. The October 18 show will be available to watch from October 19.

I will definitely be watching!

From Alex.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thank you Miss Fishy!


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## krazy (Aug 24, 2005)

I didn't catch the entire program, but I did catch shots of your rainbow tank. It was much more impressive to see video tape than the pictures that I've seen. And though I can't talk my husband into going that natural, it was an inspiration to us both.

Thanks,
Krazy


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## Aquatic addict (Apr 14, 2006)

Your rainbowfish looked great! Do they have an agent?


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

You can watch it online:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/04-rx-flash.html


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Hey! I saw your fish! I got home late so I mised the first 40 mins or so but I think I got it right at the start of the fish segment. There was like a 5 second clip of you feeding your rainbows... were there any other clips that I missed?

-ricardo


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Diana,

I went back to the links Betty posted - they have a "slideshow" presentation with audio narration in which they show your rainbowfish and discuss Fish TB. 

The narrator said that the rainbowfish have the same form of TB that can infect humans.... there was some comment about "you wouldn't want to stick your hand in this tank......". 

This got me thinking.... aren't most American kids vaccinated against TB? What if someone grew up in another country, or was simply not vaccinated, is it really communicable from the fish TB? 

How did you determine that your fish have TB? I'm sure it must be pretty common among aquarium fish in general, so am I putting people at risk (like my BF, who grew up in Calcutta) by keeping fish? I don't mean to sound alarmist, but instances of TB, especially in urban areas, is on the rise. So if its the "human" form of TB, why is it that I've never heard mention about aquariums being a possible reservoir for the disease?

Have other folks watched the slideshow presentation (4 segments - infectious disease, cancer, common ailments/bouyancy issues and physical accidents) and found the way the information is presented to be a bit worrisome? It makes it sound like its dangerous, and I'm sure that if one commercially available aquarium fish has it, a large percentage must. 

Thanks,
Jane


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## javalee (May 8, 2006)

Jane, I bet they're refering to Mycobacterium marinum. It can be passed to people, but it's not the same TB that people pass to one another through respiratory infection. The "fish TB" can only cause skin lesions or granulomas in people. Don't worry much about it.

We had a discussion about it a while back:

http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/...791064061#4791064061

Diana, your fish were so beautiful and healthy-looking! I tried to distinguish some plants too!


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Oh good. Thanks, Javalee, that eases my concerns. I thought it was odd when they said that........ So, don't go messing around in your tanks with large open wounds on your hands, right?

I'll go read the other thread..... 

Thanks again!
-Jane


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

I have a friend who was moving stuff around in his fish tank and he had an open wound (some cut or something.) In any case, he developed a pretty bad rash as a result.... so yeah, if you have an open wound, wear rubber gloves.

-ricardo


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Lovely fish and plants, Diana! I wish they had shown more of your tanks. How old are the larger Rainbowfish? 

From Alex.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

The two Boesmannis (purple and orange fish) are both at least 10 years old. One Boesmanni is the same one centered on the book's cover, and that photo was taken over 15 years ago. The other Boesmanni is his son, one I raised from eggs a long time ago.

I never expected them to live (or me to be keeping them) that long! These fish are tough.

The other Rainbowfish are about 3-5 years old.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Congratulations Diana! I'm bummed that I missed it! Did they send you a copy?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

You didn't miss that much. The PBS website listed in earlier letter/this folder has the picture.


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