Please (Re) Introduce Yourself!

[cabinetmkr39]

Hi I'm David , I started my fish hobby in 1969 in phila with a Metaframe 10 gallon tank with a metal light that got so hot it would burn you set on a metal stand with a bubble up HOB filter and no GFI."Dam that was dangerous" lol. My mother and father always had fish when I was young . Moved to Joppatowne Maryland in 1978 where i bought my first BIG tank 34 gal. Stocked it with fish from all of the local fish stores "Back then there where atleast 10 with in 25 miles of Joppatowne.
I've kept New world , old world , Saltwater for a couple years , Koi still.
Now I breed mostly malawi cichlids Peacocks. Presently have 33 tanks wet with fish.and a 5000 gallon koi pond with over 30 koi in my yard.
Join the CCA a few years back and its been a wealth of info and friendship.There are pictures of my fishroom online here.

 

[cabinetmkr39]

Im on Bills left. Bills the dude from Jerrrrsey with the HUGH Auction on Sept 30 2012.

 

[bschuhart]

Hi, I'm Ben. The fish bug began when my 5th grade teacher asked my to take care of the classroom aquarium, that was 1967. I then got 2 - 10g tanks. Next I worked in a LFS as a teen (Wet Pet Center in Reisterstown, MD). In those days I also raised Paradise Fish in an outdoor pond in he summers.

In college I had a 29g on my dresser in the dorm with Lake Malawi cichlids, a real chick magnet,, or at least I thought so. in the mid 80's I had a 110g Reef tank, then In 2001 it became a fresh water tank. In 1994 I set up a 150g in the School Office were I worked, with Malawi cichlids. 2010- I met Dave (from the post above) and Pat when trying to get fish donated to restock the 150. They told me about CCA, I came to the meetings and my single 110g became a 14 tank fish room in about 6 months. Sorry to say I had to dismantle the fish room and only have a 65g SA and 40g Lake Malawi tanks. a 180g show tank is in the works.

I'm a professional musician and teacher(band director)by trade.

 

[msjinkzd]

• Where you're from

I live in Northeastern York, PA with my husband and two daughters. It is about 1 1/2-1 3/4 hour drive for club, and worth every minute. I lived in Philadelphia for about 10 years, where I met my husband and we started our family. I have college degrees in art, psychology, and art therapy. I worked professionally as a veterinary technician for many years, both at cat specific hospitals, and as an exotic pet technician until we started our family.

• Whether you're a member and why (or why not)

Absolutely! My entire family has a membership. I travel a lot to different clubs and have found CCA to be the most fun group, as well as inviting to families, of all. We all really enjoy hte meetings and hangouts though our schedule has gotten a little hectic as of late and it has made it more difficult to attend them all as my children get older (and busier). CCA gets teh best speakers!

• What kind of fish you keep

As for cichlids, I have west african dwarf cichlids, discus, and my oscar (Captain Crankypants). I have kept and bred a ton of apistogrammas as well as other dwarf cichlids. I really specialize in freshwater invertebrates and nano fish (under 2"). I do have a special fondness and love for extremely large primitive fish (gar and polypterus), of which I also keep. I call them my "big boys" and they are my pride and joy. I also have tons of cories, aspidoras, brochis, ancistrus, hypancistrus, pimlodella, etc that I work with.

• Some fun fishkeeping accomplishments or goals for the future

I hope to hire an assistant and also build a true fish building in the near future. My speaking schedule has really taken off, and I need help (anyone near York??). My goal is to continue to supply healthy, interesting, and uncommon small fish and invertebrates to the residents of the US. I would REALLY like to make it over to visit keepers in Europe, and to hob knob with some of the people who are doing the scientific study on the little creatures I find so fascinating.
For anyone who wants to see pics of more of my setup and critters, I post pretty frequently on my website, msjinkzd.com

Here is a picture of one part of my fish room:

 

[turfboss]

Where you're from -

I live in Severna Park MD with my wife Cheryl - I grew up in Northern IL and Southern WI - moved to PA in 1973 - to VA in 1978 - and to MD in 1983 (Cheryl is from a little town just out side London in the UK) - In addition to having been raised on a farm in the Midwest I spent 8 years in the USAF (Security Service) - ran the family farm for 7 years before going back to college (at age 32) to get a Doctorate in Computer Science. I worked for different computer companies (Burroughs Corp and CSC) before forming my own company (Verdix Corporation) and taking it public in 1982. About 15 years ago we sold that company and 10 years ago I started another company (TargaPro) marketing and installing synthetic turf systems (hence the Avatar - turfboss).

Whether you're a member and why (or why not) -

As well as being a member of CCA - I am a member of ACA, PVAS and GWAPA. I believe in supporting the organizations which help support my hobby but just as importantly I want to help those organizations become stronger and more supportive of new members as well as those who are just getting started in the hobby. In addition, the camaraderie, the friendships already made and the information sharing I enjoy with the members of the various organizations is what truly makes the hobby so enjoyable.

What kind of fish you keep -

I started my fish keeping back in the early 70's (while at the Univ of Wisconsin) with fancy guppys which I bred and sold to a lfs in Madison. I was out of the hobby till the fall of 2011 when my eldest son (who has 4 tanks) got me interested again. We recently moved into a home with a basement which I have converted to a fish room - and am in the process of redesigning and rebuilding to accomodate more tanks. I currently have 34 tanks (not all full at the moment but working on them). I have several species of Cichlids - from Convicts, Yellow Labs, Red Zebras, FlameTails, Severums and Demadoni as well as several different species of Corydoras and Ancistrus.

Some fun fishkeeping accomplishments or goals for the future -

I have recently started seeing the fruits of the spawning efforts pay off with recent Nicholsi and Albino BN spawns. My goal is to breed and raise the offspring to make a business out of what has become more than just a hobby. I am a DIY guy and love to design and build things which make the fish keeping easier so am in the process of putting in a fish room which I hope to be completely automated - so far I have the house re-piped in areas to install a 5 filter water system and am installing an air distribution system, automated water changing and untimely computer controlled lighting, tank heaters (as required), and humidity and air exchange systems. I am also in the process of setting up my web site to share (with journals and a blog) the development of my fish room as well as to be able to market product to sell.

 

[FishInMaryland]

Hello!!


My name is Ruth and I currently live in Davidsonville, MD. I was born in DC, grew up right down the street from where the CCA meets in Silver Spring, so haven't fallen too far from the tree, really. I started with tropical fish when I won a betta at some garden-home show at the Cap Centre around 1976-77 or so, when I was a teenager. Ended up with various fish in a couple of what were probably 10-15 gal community tanks. After college, I bought a house in Rockville, tried the fishkeeping thing again, but everything kept dying. In hindsight, that was due to a million mistakes that I was making, so my earlier successes must have been due to dumb luck, because I had been making the same mistakes all along. Got out of the fishkeeping hobby.


Fast forward 20 or so years, to about 2004, to the house my husband built us here in Dville, and I got the idea to start up another tank. My husband doesn't do anything small, so while we were out responding to Wash Post ads for 20-30 gal tanks, he suggest getting something bigger, and I ended up with a 125. Had about 8 parrot cichlids that acted more like dogs than fish, and a blue channel cat that was just getting bigger and bigger, and scared the bejesus out of me. After the canisters leaked 2x, putting about 10 gal of water onto our hardwood floor each time, DH said NO MORE! The existing 55 was OK, and after many deaths of fishes in that tank not suitable for our hard, high PH water, somebody at HOT suggested Africans. Thank goodness, because I love them! I have no goals with the fish, since I'm still just tickled that I'm not running to HOT with a problem, or dead fish, every week, and can just enjoy the fish! I have two 55s with mbuna, 4 small angels in a 10g, and about 8 cories in a 20L. All except one of the 55s is in my son's room. Don't know how he can sleep with the racket, but at this point, he probably couldn't sleep without it! At some point, if the basement is ever cleared of CRAP, I would like to set up the 125 down there again, and get the Peacocks or Tropheus that my son wants.



I am a member of the CCA because I like the people and I like to hear/see what others are doing. I am the membership chair, which means I maintain the membership list and crank out membership cards. You have probably seen me at meetings, since I usually bring my 7 yo son and my 86 yo mother!

 

[chris_todd]

Hello, my name is Chris Todd and I have a problem. I have too many obsessions. Tropical fish and aquatic plants, amateur astronomy (both visual and astrophotography), time lapse photography, carnivorous plants, orchids, tournament chess, and probably some more I haven't yet discovered.

I can't remember when I joined CCA, but it was not long after I joined GWAPA (one of our friends, Judi, is a GWAPA member and suggested it).

I started keeping fish back in Grad school in Pittsburgh. My graduate advisor had a real menagerie in his house, including snakes, turtles, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and birds, all of which he got at the local LFS, Elmer's Aquarium in Monroeville. Amy and I stopped by there and got a 20 high, and did a pretty standard community tank with a few plants that never lasted very long.

When we moved back to the Baltimore area around 2000, the tank went into storage, but a few years back a friend of ours who travels a lot had an incident with an air hose in his 65g that resulted in the tank draining all over his kitchen floor, so we took it off his hands and the rest is history.

Right now, I only have a few tanks setup, though I have had as many as 19 tanks. I've kept a variety of New World and Old World cichlids, as well as gouramis, tetras, rasboras, rainbows, and catfish of various kinds. I'm in the process of moving my tanks around, and when finished I'll have a planted 75g community tank with mostly SE Asian fish, a 90g with three Oscars (currently about 6"), a 110g African tank with Vics, Yellow Labs, Peacocks and Haps, and a 150g plywood tank that will eventually house some Geophagus and other SA cichlids.

I haven't attended many meetings in the last year, as family/home life and my other hobbies (I mean, obsessions) have kept me busy, but with the basement renovations winding down and the tanks getting setup again, I hope to be more active in the near future. I like being a CCA member because of the incredible knowledge in the club, and the friendliness of everyone I've met here. It's a highlight of any month to get to attend a meeting and reunite with my fishy friends, hear a good talk, and get awesome deals on fish in the auction.

 

[golsama]

Hello everyone! My name is Samantha and I'm from Gaithersburg, MD. I am currently in an accelerated graduate program at the University of Maryland working towards my Master's in Elementary Education (as well as certification).

I have been a member of CCA since March 2010 and have attended all meetings except for maybe one or two since then. I found CCA through the recommendation of an employee at a LFS. I attended one meeting and then went home and officially joined. This club has helped me tremendously and has definitely sped up my learning curve when it comes to cichlids. I am a member because this club is filled with lots of awesome people that I really enjoy talking to and getting to know, has great speakers, and is just overall the greatest club!

I started off with a typical tropical community tank and then became interested in shellies. In less than 3 years, I have gone from 1 10 gallon to 16 tanks ranging from 2.5 gallon (bettas) to 55gallons. I even built a custom 3 shelf tank rack with the help of my handy parents this past summer!

I currently keep both Old World and New World. I have a West African tank, 5 species of Shell dwellers, Julies, Cyps, and Calvus. I also keep quite a few New World tanks. I have a convict pair (feeds the turtles), pair of white crayfis, german blue ram pair, dwarf cuban crays, tetras, rasboras, angels, and BN plecos. In addition to fish, I keep amphibians, reptiles, a cockatiel, cat, and two rescue dogs that make each day a party!

My current goals are to successfully breed my BN pleco pair that carries the red marble and long-fin genes, L. stappersi, German Blue Rams, aspidoras pauciradiatus, and possibly my white crays (thanks Christine! I love them!). I am also wanting to get into salt water.

 

[hollyfish2000]

I'm Holly from Gaitherburg (originally from California). I got into fish a few years ago when my horse (my original obsession) was not doing well and I needed to entertain myself. I started (not kidding here) with a five gallon tank and three black tetras. I quickly outgrew the expertise of my local Petsmart and graduated to a 30 gallon cube from Congressional Aquarium (paying full freight!) that seemed freaking huge.

I got interested in cichlids early on -- apistos, rams (blue and Bolivian) and curviceps. Thanks to Andrew TFW (who was exceedingly patient) I ended up getting into peacocks AND plants (not originally in the same tank, but now both of my African tanks are planted). Andrew got me introduced to CCA as well as some members, including Jon and Matt, I later met Tony, who lives nearby, and who I gave the combination to my front door before I'd ever met him in person! I only have four tanks, smallish tanks: 45-gallon mbuna + one ruby red peacock boy ad lucipinnis; 58 gallon rainbow cichlids + assorted cories, BN, tetras, rasboras; 40 breeder wiht ruby red colony and lucippinis; and my 20 gallon high "swing" tank that currently has a pair of rainbow cichlids and a zillion of their babies that I have no idea what I"m going to do with!!!

I have no real goals. I'm happy with my tanks and although there are other fish I'd like to keep, I can't have any more or any bigger tanks than I have. So for now, I just buy more plants! (as you know from previous auctions)

I forgot to mention -- I am both a horse and a dog person with two golden retrievers and two retired racing greyhounds. If you want to know anything about greyhounds (really, the world's most fabulous dog), send me a PM

 

[iamzrad]

Hello everyone! My name is Phil and I currently live in Baltimore. I've been keeping "fish" every since I was little when my parents used to "setup" my small tanks with from what I remember were mollies, goldfish and some tetras. When I was 12 or so, I asked for a larger tank for Christmas (just a tank with accessories, no fish). Well, I received a 29gal from "Santa" that year, from which I later learned that actually my Grandma got for me. I went to Exotic Aquatics (which was directly across the street from me) and got some fish. I think they were mollies and gourami's and such. Side note; I've been going to Exotic Aquatics (too bad they are now gone) ever since I was a little kid. My dad always took me there and when I got older and was allowed to cross the street, I started going on my own. There is a photo somewhere in my parent's attic of me standing on a step stool looking into one of the store's tanks.

I didn't get into "cichlids" and other advanced fish till I was 16. I had a part time job and saved enough summer money to buy a 55gal tank. At this age, EA moved to their last location and since I had a Jeep for my first car, it was perfect! I had no idea what cichlids were but the guys at EA pointed me to the correct section and I picked out the common and most bought "mixed" cichlid tank. There were some red zebras, cobalts and more. I had this setup for about 5yrs and finally decided to go bigger. Bought a 75gal and filled it with peacocks and some nasty mbuna's. At this point, I had a little section of the basement to my "fish room" where I kept smaller tanks for breeding, spare parts and all. I only kept about 4 tanks max for display tanks only.

Fast forward to today and I am in love with cichlids. When I was getting serious into fish keeping I was like everybody else looking online, asking friends and talking to LFSs. I googled "local fish club" and came across CCA. Another side note: I tried to join CCA in August of 2008 but for some reason my email was marked as "spam" and I couldn't get in touch of Pat at all. I think my emails were getting blocked and junked mail. I think CCA switched forums at the end of that year and a new email/member system or something and FINALLY my email was accepted! YAY!

Currently, I keep Lake Tang fish as my main type of fish. I have tropheus, petros, gobies, some syndontis and a few mbuna. My scale of tanks isn't impressive any more as I work 12+hr days and am rarely home. Also, currently looking and finding a house to buy takes up so much time, it's sad to see how little I have time for fish keeping. I do all I can but sometimes, I can't help it. But all of my stock is healthy and sound.

Last year was a very exciting year for me in fish keeping as some know, my crowned Victorian won multiple awards at ACA! He was a Pundamilia nyererei that just simply shined at the show. I was proud as can be (even though, lol, I wasn't there to except any awards... opps!) But the great members I have met in this club kept me updated and held on to my trophies as I picked them up later the following day. Unfortunately, a few months later in the fall, I found the poor fellow struggling to keep balance in the water and looks as if something made him sick. I was very sadden that I was going to lose this fish and after keeping an eye on him for a couple of days, he didn't make it. His trophies and plaques are hung on the basement wall with a photo of him, in remembrance.

This club is simply amazing and it's members are living proof of that. Never have I seen a more dedicated and resourceful group of people doing something they all love. You all are the core of this club and in the words of every member, CCA IS THE BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD!

 

[WendyFish]

Fish thoughts from Wendy, married to Ethan (ezrk). We live in Reston, VA.

To this day I'm not sure why we started keeping fish. Ethan had the idea that maybe we could look at a tank. We were at a party with one of my colleagues who had an 8ft reef tank in his living room, and just when I started thinking it was beautiful, he mentioned the price tag. (Yeah, finance people are awesome.) Hrm, I'm not so sure.

Shortly thereafter, we took a trip to an LFS to see what they had. I got suspicious when Ethan insisted we take the bigger car. And sure enough, we came back with a tank. We did enough research to feel that between their colors and behavior, cichlids would be the right fit for us. Fortunately for him, while the tank was a bit sudden, I fell in love with the fish.

Today, we have:

• 55 gallon yellow lab + demasoni. The demasoni were our first "oooh wow we want to keep them" fish and while it took awhile to get them settled in, they are awesome and I'm happy with them every day. If I had it to do over, I would not keep the labs. It's too hard to find quality ones and they're chicken sh*ts
• 110 mbuna: L. fuelleborni 2M/6F, Red zebra 2M/7F, Cyno sp. hara 2M/4F (waiting on 2-3 growout females)
• 110 tropheus: cherry spot bulu point, with 8 Syno Lucipinnis
• 20L Small Tank: pair j. transcriptus, 2M/3F l. occellatus gold
• 20L fry/growout
• Flex 2-3 10gall fry tanks
• I have a planted Eheim nano in my office with a pair of threadfin rainbowfish

The 55 gall is part of the wall of our dining room. We love eating and entertaining, and both our guests and we are enthralled with the fish. I love having people over and realizing they're keeping up with the conversation while all they do is watch the fish. The two 110s were part of our much documented living room redo, and when we are done eating dinner and move to drinking wine and eating cheese in the living room, we watch those fish instead of the fish in the 55gall.

We live in a small condo, so we're all about having a few tanks that are as nice as we can make them. It's all about making our fish happier, our sumps quieter, our tanks look really cool, and various other ways of building a better mousetrap. That's more or less Ethan's domain -- I am in charge of the fish and he's in charge of the gear.

We think baby fish are one of the cutest things out there, and fortunately for us, especially the demasoni and julies breed relentlessly. So we are pretty much always raising some fry in smaller tanks we install in random corners of our house. Cat lady much?

I'm a member of the club, which I found in a Google search a couple months after our first tank. I bought "Freshwater Fish Keeping for Dummies" -- I'm not kidding -- and somewhere was the suggestion I should find a club, so I did. My first event was the 2010 summer BBQ and I'll never forget the people who've been kind to me and become my friends along the way.

As most of you probably know, one of my ways of loving on my fish is through what I also discovered through fishkeeping, photography. I got my DSLR about a year into keeping fish in order to take pictures of them. We watch our fish a lot and I feel like I "know" them, so I take huge pleasure in capturing my fish being in character of who I think they are. In real life, I have always loved to travel, and I have found my nicer camera a huge boon to that too. Rather than taking pictures of things just because that's what you're supposed to do, I find myself (fish or otherwise) trying to really see things and store the image of that thought, and that process lights me up.

My favorite color is blue and my favorite fish supplier is Dave.

<------ Nerd!

 

[dogofwar]

bump

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

My name is Michael and I've been a member of CCA for about 4 years now. I've lived in Maryland my whole life; I grew up in Prince Georges and Montgomery counties, I currently reside in Baltimore County.

I remember becoming interested in fish as a wee lad feeding crickets and earthworms to my uncle's 75g CA tank that housed oscars, dempsies, convicts, and some other aggressive fish. I was given a 20g tank setup for my 10th birthday that I soon filled with every fish labeled a shark in the pet shops. The tank went through a few phases before it was retired before college.

I found CCA through a post on craigslist as I was surfing for deals on used tanks. I went to my first meeting, a talk given by Dik Au on discus, and was amazed that there was a large group of people so passionate about cichlids. At the time I had 3 tanks, currently I have about a dozen tanks, ranging from 10 gallons to 180.

As you may have guessed from my screen name, my primary interests were discus and africans. I started with some mixed mbuna, and eventually branched out into Tangs, Vics, and other South Americans. I currently have several breeding groups of peacocks, a South American eartheater tank, an all-male Malawi display tank, and a few others.

Over the years I have embraced all of the benefits of being a club member, and have been amazed at what I have learned during that time. I've made a lot of good friends, purchased top quality fish through group buys from club sponsors, helped run an ACA convention, and actively participated in the forum when possible.

I am running for a CCA board member at large position because I would like to give more back to the club. I plan to help with the upcoming Spring event in March, and help in mini auctions as needed. The club has grown substantially in the past few years, and I think its important to reach out to all members to encourage participation in club activities. I've had a lot of fun interacting with club members and hope to continue learning more about my favorite hobby.

 

[fishman13]

My name is Cameron Bradley and I have been in the hobby ever since elementary school. I am getting back into SA cichlids. I work at Hollister Co. and I enjoy working there. Plus it smells realy good I have the cologne from there.

 

[JasonC]

Okay... my turn.

I am Jason. I live currently in the Howard County portion of Laurel, MD. I am a born and bred Marylander, having grown up in both Wheaton, and Burtonsville. Have an undergraduate degree from University of Maryland (when it was still a party school) in Technical Theatre and Design. I currently work for a company that provides in house Audio/Visual service to hotels while trying to pursue a career in theatrical lighting design (Mostly musicals and opera as I can).

I had a family fish tank as a kid... 10 gallon with swordtails and other misc. fish I don't remember much about. I hated having to break the thing down every weekend and wash the gravel out in a colander in the bathtub. The tank was broken down and given away after the last swordtail mysteriously disappeared. We found him several years later perfectly preserved in a nearby heating grate.

About 3 years ago, I started having thoughts about how nice it would be to have a tank in the house. My wife heard the musings and surprised me with a 20H for my birthday... took me about 6 months to get off my duff and actually fill it. Inexpensive tetras, danios, plastic plants. I blame my wife for starting my addiction; she doesn't think that's so funny ;P

I wanted something different for the aquarium, so got some cockatoo Apistos, swapped out the plastic for live plants, gave away the danios for a less frenetic fish, and officially declared myself hooked, found the CCA and attended the ACA convention here in MD.

Along with the 20H that is now primarily home to several gouramis, I have 2 more 20 longs, 2 10's and a 5 set up. Cichlids I am keeping are A. baenchi, A. sp. 'kelleri', and L. Dorsigara. I find I am most attracted to dwarf cichlids. Partially for space reasons, partially cause I like the big fish type moxy that some of them exibit in a small package, but also because I just find myself intimidated by large tanks and large fish. Someday I will try a big tank and big fish, but for now, I feel that I am just not ready for the wet-pet type fish out there.

Future goals, just get smarter and better with my fish. I would like to see them all breeding obviously. Not really for profit as I doubt I would ever try to mass pull/raise fry, but I definitely agree, like most, that a breeding fish is a happy fish. I would like to think that the creatures in my charge are happy being there. My tank area (cant really call it a fish room) is a haphazard mess right now. I think that my biggest goal is to get it organized, and get a nice rack system built that will both allow me to have more tanks, but would also look good enough to keep m'lady happy as my tanks have to share living space instead of having their own room. Species that I would like to work with in the near future... Apistogramma sp. 'Schwarzkinn/Black Chin' which was just described as Apistogramma allpahuayo, more dwarf Acaras, and maybe make a jump over the pond to West African dwarfs. Have had my eye on P. Sacrimontis as it is a CARES species. Also, I would like to get over the phobia and start working with wild-caught fish instead of only tank strains.

Well then... this has gotten a lot longer than I thought it would. I'll stop now.

 

[turfboss]

Looks like we have about a 12% response

Wow - with 200 active members would have thought more would have responded - Matt has 3 or 4, Tony and Pat each a couple - so out of the 34 responses only about 27 folks have found the time to let us know who they are - I am surprised since the 100 or so at most meetings are very friendly and outgoing and would have thought they would be more responsive. Keep trying Matt nice to know who folks are, where they are from and what they are thinking about for the future.

 

[dogofwar]

Yes - please folks - spend a few seconds to introduce yourself, especially if many folks don't already know who you are!

Matt

 

[mdlnewman]

Micheal Newman

Hi my name is Micheal, I'm an alch...umm I mean a fishholic.

Mike Newman from the Glorious suburb of Glen Burnie, MD, been married 20 years have one ridiculously large child(Logan 13yo 6'5") a Pembroke Corgi and 3 fish tanks.

I have been an on and off fish keeper for 20+ years. My first foray was in the mid 90s with Mbuna, I had a really nice trio of breeding Melanachromis Johanni, they kept me in fish food.

Current tanks are 92gal corner mixed reef, 65g planted discus and 28g nanoreef.

I joined the club 2-3 years ago. I enjoy the meetings and hanging with the peeps I've met here.

 

[thedavidzoo]

Where you're from
My name is Esther David. I currently live in Arlington, VA but have lived in numerous places around the US and in Germany. I'm half German and half US Army brat and married into the Army. Hooah.

Whether you're a member and why (or why not)
I am a member because of the benefits (I'm cheap), group buys, etc. and to gain knowledge of the fish variety. Once I glom on to an obsession, I, well, get obsessive about it, not necessarily big (like a whole fish room), but I want the details just right. And of course, to come to the meetings to hang out with like-minded, fantastic folks and listen to phenomenal speakers.

What kind of fish you keep
I have a 75 with Tanganyikans: Yellow Altolamprologus calvus, Callochromis pleurospilus, C. leptosoma "Utinta", Paracyprichromis nigripinnis, a single Tanganicodus irsacae, a colony of N. multifasciatus and a BN.

Also a 29 gallon that is my juvie growout tank with a few barbs, BN and a dwarf gourami.

Both tanks sit next to my desk in my computer room, so I am almost always right there.

Some fun fishkeeping accomplishments or goals for the future
I'm just happy that every fish I have kept to date has spawned for me. I have not always been able to successfully raise all fry, but at least the fish seem happy.

I have very low maintenance setups with fake plants. I won't have more than 2 tanks for a long time, if ever. Too much upkeep, and it ceases to be fun for me.
However, I probably will "upgrade" to some less "run-of-the-mill" species at some point. I have thought about maybe getting some C.A.R.E.S. fish.

 

[mscichlid]

Where you're from
MD
Whether you're a member and why (or why not)
I am a founder of CCA and I love this club
What kind of fish you keep
South American: Wild angels mostly, plecos, corydoras, aspidoras, tetras, shrimp, Fundulopanchax, rasboras, endlers, ottos, apistos, crenicichla, lots of plants
Some fun fishkeeping accomplishments or goals for the future
To acquire more species of SA cichlids to spawn
and to try to catch up to Sarah for BAP points