Tropical Fish Hobbyist - October 2010

uwedost is a biologist who has been interested in aquatic life for more than 40 years. He started with guppies at the age of six and has since kept Corydoras, livebearers, African perches, and seasonal African killies. Being so interested in animals living in or near the water, Uwe has also kept snails, crayfish, freshwater shrimps, frogs, and other tropical reptiles and amphibians. He has traveled to Central America to study some of his favorite pets in the wild, and has authored more than 120 articles. ericbodrock started fishkeeping at age 10. He is an active member of the Greater Pittsburgh Aquarium Society where he holds the title of Grand Master Breeder. He has spawned more than 400 species, including over 60 Corydoradinae species. He has worked in the aquarium industry since age 16 and, along with his girlfriend Regina Spotti, continues to operate All Oddball Aquatics, their hatchery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has judged dozens of shows and given presentations. radekbednarczuk lives in Poland and is a graduate of a medical academy. He has written numerous articles concerning fishkeeping and shares his knowledge and experience with hobbyists from all over the world. One of his major interests is South American cichlids. He is a photographer with amazing pictures that are often used in articles and featured on the covers of several aquarium magazines. He also owns and operates a website, www.radbed.com. takashiamano was born in 1954 in Niigata, Japan. He has explored the remote jungles of South America and Africa during his distinguished career as a prizewinning nature photographer and author. His research into tropical fish husbandry and aquatic plant cultivation led to his developing the aquatic plant layout method “Nature Aquarium,” which combines his extensive experience in the observation of nature and his unique sense of beauty. In 1993 Mr. Amano established Aqua Design Amano Co., Ltd., where he serves as president and CEO.

contributors

andrewblumhagen is a former aquarium store owner. He is the former president of the Potomac Valley Aquarium Society (PVAS), and architect and three-time chair of PVAS’s biennial All-Aquarium Catfish Convention. A member of the Capital Cichlid Association, he will be deputy chair of the 2011 American Cichlid Association Convention in Washington, D.C. Andrew is fascinated by the behaviors and interactions among fish and other organisms from the same microhabitats, and is interested primarily in biotope and species aquaria. bobbock holds an MA in journalism from the University of Maryland. Past President of the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA), Bob’s interest in native fishes began at the age of seven when he collected mummichogs from the marshes of the Hackensack River. Bob has kept and bred numerous native and non-native species including sunfish, livebearers, cichlids, and killifishes. He belongs to several aquarium clubs, and his column “The Beginner’s Bucket” appears in American Currents, the publication of NANFA.

Columns & Departments

jason baliban

adventures in aquascaping

ted coletti, PhD the planted tank

mark denaro import report

james fatherree, MsC

the reefer

howardgoldstein has had a lifelong interest in fish diversity, conservation, and their keeping. Howard completed his master’s program in 2009, a project that resulted in the description of seven new species of cichlids from Lake Malawi, Africa. In terms of fishkeeping, he is most interested in North American natives and unusual, rarely seen fishes. Howard and his wife Laura currently live in Victor, Idaho. mikehellweg has been an aquarist and breeder for more than 35 years, working almost exclusively with fishes that mature at 4 inches or less in his 75 tanks. With nearly 200 species from 21 families, he is the top-ranked Grand Master Breeder of all time in his local club. Mike has served as President of the Missouri Aquarium Society, Vice Chairman of the American Livebearer Association, and Historian for the Aquatic Gardeners Association. He has written over 100 articles for various hobby publications and currently owns and operates a retail fish business. tedjudyis an aquarist with over 25 years of fishkeeping and fish-breeding experience. He is a generalist who enjoys all types of fish, from anabantids to tetras, and always finds plenty of space in his fishroom for species from West Africa—especially the dwarf cichlids. Ted has served on the Board of Trustees of the American Cichlid Association and is an active member of the Milwaukee Aquarium Society. He also maintains the websites www.tedsfishroom.com and www.forum.apistogramma.com.

bob goemans marine invert of the month

jeff kurtz
Q&A

adam shappard aquatic plant of the month

philpurser has been keeping freshwater and marine species since the early 1980s. He has authored more than a hundred articles and nine books on the care and husbandry of fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Phil’s second passion is medieval Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic literature, which he teaches at the University of West Georgia.

iggy tavares started keeping fish in the 1960s when he caught some wild guppies in a stream in Africa. At about the same time, he became interested in photography after receiving an Instamatic camera as a birthday present. In the United Kingdom, where he currently resides, Iggy keeps livebearers and community fish but is particularly interested in breeding cichlids, with a view to photographing their behavior, thus combining his two hobbies. He also enjoys traveling and exploring the tropical fish hobby in various parts of the world.