First I believe that explanation is in order. People must be a little bit curious how anyone can pick up a nickname like fishman. Well it all started back in grade school. You see I was a swimmer and I swam a lot. In fact I swam all the way through my college years and by now my brains are water logged! In those years I studied Biology during the winter and spent about 6 summers of those years working at North Ave Beach in Chicago as a Lifeguard/Mate. Of Course I Graduated to get a "normal" job: Electron microscopist / Lab Director.

The Fishman's Resume

Now that that is all over lets get back to the fish.

In order to express my sincerity about fish cultivation and husbandry let me tell you a bit the different places I have been collecting. My fish experience started out very young. I was about 4 years of age and my Dad (Biology teacher) kept an old steel frame, slate bottom fish tank full of algae, snails, and guppies in one of his work rooms. I used to spend hours staring into that darn tank. Years later I had tanks that I started to gather here and there (did they add up). Now I own 4,000 gallons of water in tanks! My first 55 gallon long tank was just right for an African rift lake tank. I stocked it with Lamp. brichardie(s), and J. maleri. at first. These fish I still own descendants of today almost 15 years later! At the age of 23 I went to the Southeast Orient with a genetic professor from Drake University. Maybe if you read FAMA you have heard of him; Gene Lucas (Maybe you even saw my picture in one of the monthly publications?). We went there to set up the foundation for later trips to catch and study Siamese Fighting fish (Beta splendens). Our travels extended to : Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Java (Jakarta) and finally Borneo. Man what a trip !! I am sure that Gene wants to set up a trip in the near future. My next two trips were down the Amazon river on October 1995 and September 1997 with the Amazon nut Safari group. We caught lots of fish on these trips. Many of these fish I am still breeding today and I have a serious commitment to captive breeding.