About me...
What got me started?
I first became interested in aquariums about 25 years ago. My dad had a tank, and I used to find myself watching the various different types of fish for hours on end. There was always so much activity in his community tanks, and there was always so much to learn, including trying to wrap my brain and tongue around some of those names! Looking back now, I can see that the seed was planted then. Whilst my dad eventually settled on 'discus' as his focus, these we never my favorite. I always preferred the hyper active fish! Fast forward 25 years, I still find tropical fish mesmerising - the hobby is fun, it's rewarding, and I think it's awesome to have a just a tiny bit of a tropical ecosystem existing in my living room!
Why Rainbowfish?
Have you ever walked into a sweet shop and suddenly, when faced with an array of choices, not known what you wanted? For me, this analogy sums up fish-keeping perfectly! I don't know how many times I've walked around my local fish shops and not known what I wanted. I knew I wanted to focus on a planted tank, but it took me a while to settle on what fish to keep in it. I started off keeping a few tetras along with some South American Dwarf Cichlids, and whilst I can truly say I enjoyed keeping them, I always thought that my tank was missing the 'X' factor. I had always thought that Rainbows are just so dull and drab in the shops, so it wasn't until I stumbled across them when they came with a second hand tank that I bought, that I realised they merited a closer look. That's the problem you see! You need to get them out of the stores and into the home aquarium in order to truly enjoy them.
There is also a lot of variety within the species. You'd be mistaken if you thought rainbows were restricted to 5 or 6 species (you can probably list off the 5 or 6 species that every local fish shop has). In reality, there are dozens of species...multiply these up by the various colour morphs from different locales, and you will soon realise there are hundreds of varieties. The truth is no one knows how many there are. New varieties - various sizes, shapes and colours are being discovered all the time! Rainbowfish are just a tiny segment in the global topical freshwater pie, and from what i've read so far, there's more than enough to keep me going for a lifetime!
As part of this journey, I thought I would keep a record of my successes and trials. That's where this site comes in. It's designed to reflect my learning curve, a continual work in progress, and hopefully an aid to anyone else who is enthusiastic about Rainbowfish. Questions and discussions are welcome - just contact me!
What got me started?
I first became interested in aquariums about 25 years ago. My dad had a tank, and I used to find myself watching the various different types of fish for hours on end. There was always so much activity in his community tanks, and there was always so much to learn, including trying to wrap my brain and tongue around some of those names! Looking back now, I can see that the seed was planted then. Whilst my dad eventually settled on 'discus' as his focus, these we never my favorite. I always preferred the hyper active fish! Fast forward 25 years, I still find tropical fish mesmerising - the hobby is fun, it's rewarding, and I think it's awesome to have a just a tiny bit of a tropical ecosystem existing in my living room!
Why Rainbowfish?
Have you ever walked into a sweet shop and suddenly, when faced with an array of choices, not known what you wanted? For me, this analogy sums up fish-keeping perfectly! I don't know how many times I've walked around my local fish shops and not known what I wanted. I knew I wanted to focus on a planted tank, but it took me a while to settle on what fish to keep in it. I started off keeping a few tetras along with some South American Dwarf Cichlids, and whilst I can truly say I enjoyed keeping them, I always thought that my tank was missing the 'X' factor. I had always thought that Rainbows are just so dull and drab in the shops, so it wasn't until I stumbled across them when they came with a second hand tank that I bought, that I realised they merited a closer look. That's the problem you see! You need to get them out of the stores and into the home aquarium in order to truly enjoy them.
There is also a lot of variety within the species. You'd be mistaken if you thought rainbows were restricted to 5 or 6 species (you can probably list off the 5 or 6 species that every local fish shop has). In reality, there are dozens of species...multiply these up by the various colour morphs from different locales, and you will soon realise there are hundreds of varieties. The truth is no one knows how many there are. New varieties - various sizes, shapes and colours are being discovered all the time! Rainbowfish are just a tiny segment in the global topical freshwater pie, and from what i've read so far, there's more than enough to keep me going for a lifetime!
As part of this journey, I thought I would keep a record of my successes and trials. That's where this site comes in. It's designed to reflect my learning curve, a continual work in progress, and hopefully an aid to anyone else who is enthusiastic about Rainbowfish. Questions and discussions are welcome - just contact me!