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For those of you who are wondering who's behind the website;- just a few details. I have now been keeping and breeding tropical fish since 1993. I had always fancied the hobby and after a chance meeting at the house of a friend and a look at his community tank, I decided to have a go. My chat to him made me realise it wasn't half as complicated as it seemed. This is why I would say to newcomers join a society and talk to aquarists! After this reassuring "chat" I started with one community tank (don't we all?!)with some Wagtail Platies, Cardinals and a few Corys. Later, having spotted one tiny Platy fry in the plants, it was obvious that a second, slightly smaller tank was needed for any fry. However, from there I haven't gone the whole hog and built a large fish house!  My tanks... I now only have 5 tanks in my "den", which is a small room off the hallway. The tanks range in size from a 36"x15"x12" down to an 18" fry tank. All my tanks are planted tanks,as despite my constant breeding intentions, I don't like bare tanks and enjoy the more aesthetic appearance of plants, bogwood and where appropriate, rock formations. This is also more than useful as fry are able to avoid, in some cases, the unwelcome attentions of the adults. I am not a "specialist" but I do enjoy a breeding challenge with any species of fish. In the past I have bred fish as diverse as Iriatherina werneri (Threadfin Rainbowfish ;- very slow growing and challenging, tiny fry ), Lamprichthys tanganicanus, Parosphromenus ornaticauda (small fish but a stunning male) and Xenopoecilus sarasinorum. Present day stock... (June, 2010) Tatia perugiae sp."Big Spot" (still hoping to breed these!). Hara jerdoni;- 4 fish. A pair of Rineloricaria lanceolata Breeding stock... A lively group of Aspidoras sp. "gold";- juv's. (doing well!) Betta rubra fry growing on. Xiphophorus milleri;- fry. Phalloceros caudimaculatus;- fry.  This is one of my typical planted tanks with mainly Java Fern, Microsorium windelov and Anubias all planted on Bogwood. Other plants are Vallis and Giant Vallis, as well as a good floating cover of Amazon Frogbit. I like a busy planted tank but don't class myself as an "aquascaper" (as the photo proves!) The plants I tend to use are the "old reliables" which provide good cover and thrive without too much TLC! Although a fairly predictable list, more details can be found on my plants page, which may help anyone new to the hobby. So there you have it. NOT an expert, still making mistakes, still learning every day and still enjoying a hobby which can give so much pleasure ( and frustration ) as well as finding new friends! |