Recent content by GaryE

I have kept a few wild helleri. They mainly came from hobbyist collectors who had sold surplus fish to specialty stores. If you become really in love with these fish, consider joining the American Livebearer Association. A lot of my stock came from Canadian hobbyists in the Windsor area, right...

Agreed. Near doesn't count. A natural disaster killed all the fish but 7 killies, in 40 plus tanks once. Over 300 rare fish. That was bad. I had the entire line of silicone along the back base of a budget priced aquarium split open when we were away for the weekend. All the water went...

The future! With as many tanks as I have, that would break the bank.

I've been stabbed and envenomated by catfish spines - you quickly run hot water on the wound and the venom is neutralized. It still hurts a bit. Nip and nibbles, yes, but I actively dislike large fish predator species, so I never bother with them. I've seen some good cuts on others though...

We never know what can happen to us in the future. I'll never be a junkie, but.

I've seen stores in Europe without cashiers - just security guards. Ditto for taking public transit in many places. I prefer to use a debit card over cash, although it leaves me with no change for people begging. I'll often go weeks without cash - with no problem. My credit card is one I avoid...

Interesting stuff. Years ago, I had sulphurophila for 2 generations, but in hard aquarium water, I never saw that behaviour. Or at least I never noticed it. If I had known then what I know from this post now...

When I quit the AKA, It was 4 times a year, but not every 3 months. They were having trouble getting material, and doing a lot of reprints. The knowledge is there, but they had a patch where it seemed no one was sharing it. As a foreign member, I was there for the JAKA and to support the...

Sports tribal loyalties are big stuff! I find it really hard to be a serious Blue Jays fan because they're from Toronto. They're the only team in Canada, and some of their players are really interesting. Vlad Guerrero Jr was born in Montreal. So I have to be supportive. But it's with a wince...

I'm a Montreal Expos fan, but that's pretty futile... So I follow both the Blue Jays and the Red Sox. Sports are entertainment, so I go with whichever entertains me more. I love the game, but since players come and go, so do teams. I'd like to see the Jays win it all this season, just because...

"I need a water change butler." Alfred. Bring the bat buckets.

"Where everybody knows your name". And I couldn't figure out who Cliff Claven was. Didn;t know he had a last name. Is the JAKA coming out regularly now? And are they actually using Chromaphyosemion?

Tanganyikan Cichlids are not pollution tolerant. The lake is an old environment, and the general goal with them is stability. Plants won't cut it. They're useful, but not miraculous. I used to buy the idea fish had adapted to bad conditions locally. Then I realized how many once common species...

I honestly don't know if I would keep aquariums if I had water like yours. I'm always amazed at how polluted drinking water can be in agricultural/cattle zones. There's a broad area of central North America where this seems a really serious problem, as the people with that problem well know...

Ouch. You should get a big tank and go for walks on it. They must have edited that awful 70s song - "Colorado rocky mountain hiiiigh tds"