Hello! My name is Adam Birnholz and I have been keeping fish for about seven years. My interest in fishkeeping started when I was young – and you can fully blame my Mother and father for passing on the bug. Some of my earliest fishy memories were when they “allowed” me to help take care of their saltwater reef tank. And by “allowed”, I mean I would secretly rearrange things to my liking and drop extra food in the tank when they weren’t looking! My favorite memory of that tank was watching the brittle starfish and cleaner shrimp eat after dropping brine pellets in – such amazing creatures.
It came as no surprise to anyone when I took to plunge myself, starting my journey shortly after graduating college with a small (ten-gallon) freshwater community tank. That first year, I was taking the “trial by fire” approach, spending little time researching fish compatibility before making a purchase. That’s how I ended up with a talk full of tiger barbs, fancy guppies, and a balloon ram. Oh did I mention I had rainbow gravel and a castle?
Since then I’ve grown to appreciate the naturalist approach to fishkeeping and strive to make my tanks look as natural as possible. I’ve graduated to a 75-gallon fully planted community tank which sits proudly as the centerpiece of my office. My lovely fiancée Katie has been instrumental in helping me design my tanks over the years, but claims I’m only allowed to have one tank in our two-bedroom apartment. Now how is that fair? In addition to fish, I have two spoiled rotten cats (Wendy and Waverly) and a large collection of Cacti and succulents. You can say I like taking care of and nurturing things!
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