Meet Paybackranch
Sept 2011 Photo Of the Month Winner
Description of the winning picture: My male Bolivian Ram checking me out. He is one of many inhabitants in a 28 Gallon Bowfront tank, heavily planted, as you can see. It is too bad that they are such bland looking fish in dealers' tanks because these really are aquatic jewels. Gentle cichlids that are only territorial when breeding and even then, just keeping the fish away from their eggs. Bolivan Rams are much hardier than German Blue Rams. Mine are tank raised.
How long have you been keeping aquariums? Heavily involved on & off since the early 1980's. President of the South Dakota Aquarium Society for 2 years. Member of the American Cichlid Association for many. Traveled to two ACA conventions with a car full of styros and fish. Bred and sold African Cichlids for years. Lots of fun....Used to have 40 tanks including a 500 gallon show tank that required bracing under the floor. Housed a Red Bellied Pacu, various Plecos and a knife fish. Most of the tanks were in the basement. Air was pushed by a car smog pump rigged up for me by my husband. Moved, sold most of my tanks and was fishless for awhile, but back into it focusing on planted tanks. LOVE the internet and the info that is so readily available. Back then, there was no internet, so magazines & books were the only source of info---and other fish folks, of course.
How many tanks do you currently have running? ONLY 5 for heavily planted tanks. That does not count my spare plants tank and two quarantine tanks.
Species kept? Wow, where to start.... Various nerite snails (horned corona, zebra, tire-track, olive, etc.), malaysian trumpet snails, ramshorn. Bolivian Rams, Threadfin Rainbowfish, Croaking gouramis (a mature trio), Danio Erythromicron, Galaxy Rasboro, many different types of cories, oto catfish, rummy nosed tetras, 16 female bettas as a sorority group in my 46 gallon acrylic bowfront planted community tank with the Endlers, 2 HalfMoon Butterfly Male bettas housed separately in heavily planted Fluval Edge tanks, 1 Dragon Scale Betta housed in a planted community tank, Peacock Gudgeon Goby breeding colony, Class P Black Bar Endlers (no hybrids) & amano shrimp in all of them. In the Fluval Edge tanks (2) there are the micro fish: rasboras brigittae (chili rasboras), ruby tetras, Red LIzard whiptail catfish (L010a (Rineloricaria sp.), RC Shrimp, Mini-Moth catfish (Hara jerdoni). Male bettas mentioned before. (Yes, they can live in an Edge tank--they find the opening for air in very short order) I am sure that I have missed some, but you get the idea. Moved my planted tanks from Texas the first week of February this year--including fish!
What is your super power? Helping new folks get a good start in the hobby. I ran a fish department for a year after going into the pet store with some suggestions....they offered me the job and I enjoyed it so very much. If I don't have the answer to a question, I can usually find it for them. Fairly knowledgeable about what it takes to start and keep a planted or non-planted tank successfully. My tanks are stable and algae free (thanks to the aquatic gardners & lots of trial & error). Very comfortable with South American Cichlids, Central American Cichlids & African Cichlids. Did that for years and years. Helping new folks in the hobby...... growing aquatic plants. All of the fish species mentioned above and more. Especially those cichlids.
Weblinks: paybackranch.com (I am a horse breeder for over 20 years). Retired...or trying to be !!!