The Aquarian's Net
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The Top Ten Reasons I Loved The Aquarium Hobby in 2000

10. Liqui Fresh-

Liqui Fresh was a great idea. Created by Paragon industries, this liquid food was to be a replacement for the disappearing Brine Shrimp. Unfortunately for them there are two factors that really hurt their product. First off this year may have been the largest Brine Shrimp harvest ever out of the Great Salt Lake. What does that mean? Well, there are eggs a plenty and all those outrageous prices will be down to normal levels soon. The $80/can of Brine Shrimp egg days are hopefully behind us.

Secondly, the product wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. I was fortunate enough to get samples of the product before it went to production and was an instant convert. The fish loved it. It was a true suspended food that came in sizes that allowed me to feed every size of fish I owned. From sizes as small as gourami and rainbow fish fry up to 4" cichlids. I found that amazing, especially b/c gourami and rainbow fish fry are so hard to feed. I spent months lauding this wonderful new food, and then I got more samples from Paragon as the product went public…But something had happened. My fish flat out rejected the new samples I received. The color was wrong too; it was not the same stuff. Somebody played with the magic formula. I spoke with Paragon multiple times and they stated that they had made minor changes to the formula, but ensured me nothing had truly changed. Unfortunately my fish didn’t believe them. Somewhere the truth is out there, and though the end was not as fun as the beginning, Liqui Fresh provided a lot of excitement during the last year.

9. Digital Photography-

While trying to maintain this site, it became painfully obvious that if I wanted fish photos I would have to take them all myself. My trusty 35 has served that purpose long and well for me, but it requires a lot of effort and patience. I found that for photos of fish I didn’t own, I’d have to take my camera to petstores that were willing to let me do photo shoots. However, that still took too long, and was expensive for developing. Enter the Digital Camera. It was an early Christmas present that I’ve been putting to good use. Though I feel it’s next to useless for photographing fast-moving small fish, it’s allowed me to photograph 20+ fish in the month and a half that I’ve had it. I still prefer my 35, but for the sake of the site, I’ve enjoyed my HP PhotoSmart 210.

8. Monos-

I’ve been intrigued by Monos (Monodactylus sebae, Monodactylus argenteus) for the last 14 years, but my only attempt at putting them in my fish tank was met with disaster. I’ve heard so many conflicting reports about how to keep this fish that I’d decided I should wait until somebody had a better idea about how to do so before I bought more. Thankfully, that someone was close by. Bob Allen a well-known aquarist and friend began breeding Monos last summer. Here is the real kicker; he breeds them in Fresh water. Since he lives a short distance from where I do, I was certain that the fish would do well in my water if they did well in his.

I took opportunity to pass by his fish farm and do a photo shoot. While there, I bought 4 Monos. They are an awesome little shoal, and have survived quite well for the 2 months I’ve owned them. What’s more, they are growing, which is something I’d never had luck doing. Next for them is a larger tank in March, so they can really get out and do some swimming. Monos are a beautiful, but oft misunderstood aquarium fish that I hope more people can discover. If you do get any, make sure you get many. I’d recommend at least 4-5, as they are social and do better in groups.

7. eAquarian Society-

I had this dream just over a year ago of starting an online aquarium society. I decided that the first thing to do would be to create a site. So The Aquarian’s Net was born. The only problem was that I knew little to nothing about website marketing (still don’tJ ) and I was receiving next to zero hits. So I worked solely on developing the site as a destination point until November of this year. At that point I was receiving over 1,000 hits a day and decided that the time had come to launch the society I’d envisioned so many months before. Things have started off slow as you’d expect them to, but I’m confident that as time moves on, that the "club" will become more than I’d envisioned. It’s a great place for aquarists to hang out and share their knowledge and excitement. Hey if you’re interested, join now!

6. The Multifasciatus tank-

Last year I became first acquainted with the shell dwelling cichlids. In fact it was the Neolamprologus multifasciatus that gave me my first look into the shell-dwelling cichlid hobby. I started with 4 adults in a 10-gallon tank, but soon realized they deserved a larger home.

When I moved in August, I took the opportunity to move them to a spacious 60-gallon aquarium. I like 60s b/c they have a bigger footprint then 55s. This allows a lot more action to happen at the base of the aquarium where the shell-dwellers like to hang out. I now have nearly 100 multis in the tank even though I’ve sold over 20 and I lost 15 when I moved. The tank has divided itself off into 2 colonies and they are nothing short of amazing to watch. Somehow I’ve managed to keep about 40 plants alive in the mix despite the fact that the fish are constantly digging up the sand. Overall, it’s a tank that I enjoy greatly. Some people ask why I would dedicate such a big tank to such a small tank. I tell them if I had a 100-gallon tank, I’d put them in there. There are few times we get to see what happens in nature b/c our fish are too large. Cichlids require territories, and for a 5-inch cichlid, that will often be half of a 55-gallon aquarium.

Keeping a small fish like the multi allows me to see how these fish interact. I got to watch them separate in colonies, and I see how they keep their colonies as distinct units, even though they all share the same 4-foot space. If keeping fish is really about watching them, then there are few fish more interesting and more worth keeping then shell dwellers.

5. Bred Albino Eurekas-

Last year I was excited about buying the Albino Eureka Peacock, this year, I was happy to able to breed them. I was as excited as any new parent when I saw their shimmering little bodies. "Liquid gold" or almost as good. They’ve been a lot of fun to raise with my 1 and ½ year old being the chief caretaker. She always makes sure that they are fed and that she is the one feeding them. I was concerned at first, but have found that as long as I don’t give her too much food she does feed them too much.

I love seeing pretty fish and the Albino Eureka is one of the prettiest as long as you get a good set. Only difficult thing is that you’ll get good and bad coloration patterns from the same set of young. Well worth your time though!

4. Ad Konings-

The legend. Ad came and spoke to our club in July if memory serves me right. It was a great opportunity to be around one of the great minds of the hobby. His discussion was on Lake Tanganyika, and I really enjoyed learning more about a place we’d all love to visit, but few ever really expect to make it there. Most of all I was excited to see how normal of a guy he was. He wasn’t speaking down to anyone. That unfortunately hasn’t been the case with most of the "famous" speakers that I’d heard. Often those degrees go to people’s heads and make them feel more important.

Anyway, Ad was great and I learned more about the whole of the lake, and most importantly the shell-dwelling cichlids that I love so much. My favorite quote of the night was "there are more Julidochromis in dealer’s tanks than there is in the entirety of Lake Tanganyika." Just in case you wondered.

3. Website (the $0.023/hr miracle)-

I feel like I’ve worked 2 full-time jobs over the last year. The one I get paid to do and the one I do for free. I stopped counting when I had put over 1,000 hours into this website, and that’s probably well enough. I began just wanting to put up a site that contained useful information, and then became consumed by my perfectionist side. I wanted everything to be perfect. So I’ve gone through and spent hundreds of hours trying to learn how to manipulate java and perl to do what I needed done on the site. Hopefully the end result has been something that everyone can enjoy. Overall I think the site has been a great success. Of course I’d still love to get the word out better, but with time I figure it will continue to grow if it is as worthwhile as I think it is.

I have received literally a nominal amount of money through advertising, and the demise of Pets.com and the end of the Petopia associate program has hurt any financial gain I might have gleaned. However, I have really enjoyed putting up information and trying to make the site better for the readers. What’s more, being so constantly involved with fish has helped to increase my interest in the hobby. Those are the intangibles that keep me going. There are rewards that can’t be numbered, and many of them come in my email. Thanks all for your support and for making this site a good place to visit.

2. Black Betta (Halloween)-

Every time I visit a pet store, I look at the Bettas. It’s been a habit for years now, though I rarely buy anything. I look because I’d always wanted to get a betta of a different color. I’ve always held out that sooner or later I’d find a purple or green betta and then it would be an exciting adventure.

Well, I was elated when during my normal betta check; I found a black betta with yellow fins just before Halloween. I dubbed him jack and have made him a chief attraction at my house. I looked into breeding, but from my understanding form an accomplished betta breeder, if you breed them, they soon develop melanoma and become rather short-lived. Since I don’t currently have the space I need to properly breed a true strain over the next 7 generations, I’ve decided to keep him the single spectacle that he is. Anabantids are awesome. If you’ve never bred them, start now!

1. The Freshwater Moray-

The first information I ever put up on the web was about the Freshwater Moray eel. That was 3 years ago. I was so amazed by the lack of information at the time, I asked for anyone who knew anything to email me about the fish. I received emails and gathered information. I bought more Freshwater Morays and recorded my experiences. I even "developed" my own "habitat" for the Freshwater Moray. I finally put the habitat together in an article I added to the site this year and received several thanks for doing so. It was a fun, though frustrating article to write. It was one of those experiences that I’m glad that I had, but that I wouldn’t want to do again. The Freshwater Moray continues to be a fascination of mine and I continue to gather information as I can. I hope next month to finally determine the true scientific name of the fish as Al Castro visits our club. (fingers crossed everyone) Al is an ell expert to some degree, and a freshwater expert in every degree. I hope to finally get past that part of the debate and will post the result as soon as I get them.

Learning more about fish is what the hobby is all about, and this fish has continually peaked my interest and excitement in the hobby.

Happy New Year’s All! Hope that 2001 is as exciting as 2000