I've kept aquariums my whole life, but I've become a real fanatic about in late 2005. I have become an information sponge about many aspects of freshwater aquarium keeping. I still have a lot to learn, however I feel that my emerging strengths lie in diagnostics through behavioral and technical means (I have a microscope I tinker with), as well as filtration and water maintenance issues, especially through usage of simple yet powerful means. I like approaching fishkeeping as an art as much as a science, and I think it is beneficial to pay attention to intuition when maintaining aquaria (while continuing to build a good knowledge base to back it up). I also like to consider aesthetics when developing my aquariums, as I have an active artistic side that comes through strongly in this hobby. Aquariums make beautiful living and moving canvasses to work with.

I am working on a master's degree student at Eastern Illinois University in behavioral sciences. I have always been fascinated by animal behavior, and keeping aquariums has been a perfect outlet for my interests in this area. I think goldfish are especially personable and intelligent fish that are very rewarding to interact with. I also enjoy invertebrates very much, especially snails.

I currently have 5 freshwater tanks: a 65 gallon with four goldfish (two pearlscales, a blue oranda and a ryukin), a 46 gallon bowfront tank with a growing group of platies and swordtails and two clown loaches, a 37 gallon tank with two lionhead goldfish, a 10 gallon that that is a mess of plants and is home to a bunch of ramshorn snails, a personality-heavy female betta and her dojo loach sidekick, and a 5 gallon tank full of java moss and java fern with a blue male betta and ramshorn snails. I am working on growing my plant collection and upgrading my lighting in the tanks. I very much enjoy my community tank of tropicals, but the goldfish are really my favorites. I think they are absolutely lovely and fun to interact with, and I can recognize the individual quirks and personalities of each of them. I really shouldn't be getting any more goldfish, but it is hard to restrain myself, so it will be interesting to see what my collection looks like in a few years...

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