Member Spotlight on steveangela1

I am a 31 year old mother of 2 boys and one baby on the way, due in August. I am also a respiratory therapist. I got into the aquarium hobby when my soon to be 4 year old was going through a rough phase with speech delays however was very obsessed with fish. I have kept tanks before since I was a kid. This was a lot different though, I went and bought some guppies for him and the child who could not plainly speak began speaking instantly. That night he told his dad "shush the fishes are sleeping!" the first plain sentence he had ever spoke (at age 2). That night he woke me up at 2am to tell me even more about the fish.

One thing led to another, the guppies had babies I got obsessed with raising the babies so I got a small fry tank and raised them. Then I got a 10 gallon tank and severely overstocked it with everything from tetras, barbs, guppies, a peacock eel, crab you name it. I learned what ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites were when I lost my eel. Once I got the grasp on that I really got obsessed with fish keeping. I was not only successful with the little guys but I wanted bigger and better so we got our 55 gallon African Cichlid tank. WOW that was a big leap from a 5g, 1g, and a 10g. I gathered information for their proper ph, stocked up on crushed coral, limestone from a local lake and cycled my tank (unlike my tanks before that were never cycled). We stocked about 5 new cichlids once it was ready and learned fast what species mixed and what different. I think I have lost count after about 32 species that I have kept and or spawned. We then also learned peacock cichlids do not mix with mbuna thus getting another tank our 36 gallon bowfront.

Recently I have been obsessed with spawning cichlids. I have spawned many species and now sell them. I make only enough money to buy my chemicals and food which is enough for me.

• 10 gallon kenyi grow out tank. PH 8.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10 ppm, ammonia 0
• 5 gallon green spotted puffer quarantine until de-wormed PH 7.6 nitrite 0, nitrate 10 ppm, ammonia 0
• 36 gallon 2 bushy nose plecos, PH 8.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10ppm, ammonia 0
• 55 gallon African cichlids (kenyi, flavus) PH 8.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10 ppm, ammonia 0
• 58 gallon polit group, tropheops loner, met zebra, cynatilapia afra group PH 8.0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10 ppm, ammonia 0
• 14 gallon biocube: saltwater reef tank, 14 lbs live rock, inverts, false percula clownfish, and coral ph 8.2, nitrates < 10, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, calcium 420, phosphate 0, and hardness 8
• 1 gallon, 5 gallon and 10 gallon empty right now
• 20 gallon African cichlid grow out tank

Feeding: I feed my mbuna a mixture of fresh veggies: peas, zucchini, romaine lettuce, bloodworms, and spirula flakes. My puffer is eating a marine pellet and bloodworms. My corals are getting a broth of their water with zooplan, a vitamin mixture, and frozen food. (Along with nemo).

Maintenance: I do water changes 2 times a week on all tanks, once to vacuum and one just water change.

I had been planning for a bigger saltwater tank, and numerous others however with the new baby on the way I am waiting to get settled down once it's born. I do however have plans to turn my 36 gallon into a West African Cichlid tank, using driftwood, and oak leaves for tannins and numerous African plants.

Ad Konings (his books are amazing), fishlore has helped me a bunch, and of course my husband and kids for helping me buy my tanks and putting up with all the water messes.

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