Member Spotlight on Nick Goody

My names Nick, I'm 29 and I'm from Salisbury in England although I now live in Nelson, New Zealand with my wife Lydia (who's a Kiwi), and our 3 year old son Connor. We are expecting our 2nd child in October. I'm a roofer by trade and my life pretty much revolves around Family, Fish and Football! I play striker for Richmond Football Club, which means a lot of training and match time, which combined with the time I spend on my Fish tanks doesn't leave much time for me and Lydia. She is VERY patient!

I've kept fish since I was a kid. My first fish were 2 Goldfish who lived in a bowl, and didn't last long (no surprises there), and I got my first Tropical tank when I was about 10. It was a Community tank that included Bettas, Zebra Danios, Swordtails and Neons, and it wasn't a great success. Since those early days I've had a lot more success with fish, and now have 7 tanks, and Breed a few varieties as well, which I supply to both LFS in town. Fish are horrendously expensive here in Nelson compared to England and the States, so my wife's patience is further tested with the amount I spend!

90 Gallon Aggressive Cichlids
This is the Showpiece tank, containing 1 Red Oscar, 1 Jack Dempsey, 2 Jewel Cichlids, 1 Blue Acara, 1 Lionhead Male Cichlid and 3 Juvenile Convict cichlids who all get along very well, apart from the odd argument! It has sand substrate, a lot of caves and driftwood, and a few fake plants. It runs an external cannister and hood filter, which both do an excellent job, and is heated with 2 300 watt heaters.

39 Gallon Community/Breeder
This where the Babies are made! My Guppy and Platy breeders live here with a pair of Angelfish, a shoal of Neons and a few Bristlenose Plecs. It's planted and has an AquaOne Internal filter and 200 watt heater.

20 Gallon Fry
This is where the Livebearers go to give birth. It's currently housing around 150 fry, they live here until they go to there new homes at around 3 months, so it never gets overcrowded. New additions arrive weekly! It just has a sponge filter and 100 watt heater.

20 Gallon Cube
The Kribensis tank housing my pair of Kribs, both prime breeding specimens and excellent parents. They are currently raising a brood of about 100 fry. Kribensis sell for $35 each at the pet stores here, so my Krib tank is worth it's weight in Gold!

20 Gallon Axolotyl
The White Monsters Lair! This is really Connors tank. He saw an Axolotyl in the Petstore and was fascinated by it, so I donated one of my 20 gallons and set it up for him. The Axolotyl is called 'Ben 10', and is quite tame, eating from your hand and doesn't mind being handled.

5 Gallon Betta Boy
The home of Bailey the Betta

5 Gallon Betta Girl
The home of his Girlfriend.

With the exception of maybe a few more tanks to hold breeding stock I won't be getting anymore tanks until we own our own home. I would like to build our own house, and if and when that happens I plan to have my own fish room, and maybe even incorporate a huge tank into the wall of the house, (floor to ceiling). I would love a 1000 Gallon plus tank, which would be home to a lot of Oscars!

Thanks to all the great people here at Fishlore, who have been a wealth of knowledge and help since I joined, and a special thank you to Shawnie who I can always rely upon to answer any Cichlid related questions I have! And of course to my wife Lydia, who's immeasurable patience with my Fish and the money I spend on them makes the hobby all that more enjoyable!

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