Jim Cooper
New Member
Just thought I'd post a note here, having been away from the hobby for more than 40 years now... I lived in Southern California in the 1960's, and 70's, and was very active in the tropical fish hobby at that time. I made pocket change breeding and selling Bettas while I was in high school, and then later got into cichlids and killies. I remember being blown away by my first sight of some interesting new cichlids that collectively were called "mbuna" and were first coming into the hobby from Lake Malawi. I was one of the founders of a new fish club in San Diego called the "Progressive Aquarists of San Diego" (aka PASD), and editor of the club's publication "The Progressive Journal". Our club specialized in cichlids and salt water. I never personally did anything with marine fish keeping as I couldn't afford it at the time, although having just had my first visit to a good tropical fish store, I am suffering sticker shock at the costs of fish. I am impressed with the advancements I see with the equipment available to support fish keeping (filtration systems, air supply, foods, etc.) but I still see plenty of questions on this forum indicating that people new to the hobby still go through the same learning curve. I'll throw in my two-cents-worth every so often if I think I can be of assistance.
