AA Member Biographies!!

[kansaschick08]

welcome aboard guys.

 

[BeGiNeR_7]

I thought I had posted in all of these but I guess I overlooked this one.

Well, my name is Amanda and I am 22. I am currently sitting on a waiting list for nursing school which is frustrating. But until that goes through I am working for my Mom at an electric company. Boring!!!!!! Other than that I have also been dating a great guy named Aaron for about eight years now. He works for my Dad and hopefully we will get our act together soon, get married and MOVE OUT.

Let's see now as far as my freetime goes I love to read. I will read just about anything that either looks good or is said to be good. But I really love historical fiction. I also love movies and my boyfriend and I are always renting movies. I also spend alot of time at the track watching my boyfriend race. He races motocross so we will travel a lot on the weekends which is fun. I also like to do Yoga everynight to calm myself and keep myself in shape. I guess that's pretty much it for me at least for now.

 

[martins]

this is my first post in AA, here it goes:

My name is Mārtiņš (I bet your PC wont display my name correctly because of the language support)... it is similar to Martin, so dont pay attention to that... as you can probably guess, I dont live anywhere near english speaking countries... Im from Europe, Latvia, city - Riga. (yes, the city where this years Ice Hockey WC will take place)...

anyways, Im 18, soon - 19... So there isint a lot to tell about my career, I have only worked as an youngest electrician at constuction site. Ive noticed that here at AA many guys enjoy computers and tech stuff... so do I... (what could it mean?) I also like taking pictures with old soviet union cameras...

I bought my first tank 4 years ago... My mom was shocked, because I didnt tell or ask anything about fishes, till I bought them... It was 33 L (Im not jet familliar with gallons) tank
Now I own 60 L tank with two goldfish in it...

 

[MickieFish]

I may as well jump on.. this is pretty interesting. My name is Mickie (yup.. for real) and I'm 29 yr old mom of 6 year old twin boys, Ashe and Rowan. Happily married for 6 1/2 years now. Just got my first tank bout 6 weeks ago..and I love it!!

We live near Myrtle Beach,Sc, but I am originally from Atlanta.

I have 2 home based businesses. I make specialty (i.e. 3D) cakes, and also decorated cookies and candies. I also make all natural beauty products with my sister, and sell at local health food stores. Here is one of my cake pics.. I make EVERYTHING edible and by hand. I use no plastic or anything. I use alot of fondant (candy clay) to decorate with. I also teach classes on decorating. Can you tell I'm proud?? LOL

 

[newfound77951]

OK, I'll keep this thread going, it's so fun to read about everyone!

My name is Brooke, I am 29, sort-of single (long story) and am in my 4th year of a PhD program in Biological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. I am lucky enough to live in an apartment in Jamestown, which is very much the "high rent district", so quite a treat for a poor grad student. It also is the sailing capital of the northeast, which is awesome, as you'll see later. I grew up in Massachusetts, in a suburb of Boston, went to Boston University (Biology) and then went to the Landing School in Kennebunkport, Maine for a year after college to learn how to design boats (think Naval Architecture, not interior design...many people get confused). That was the most fun thing I've ever done and also the hardest. 2 years in a small biotech company and then back to school. I would definitely be a professional student if I could! I just took my PhD comprehensive exams, and should finish up my thesis in 1.5-2 years, hopefully.

I think I started keeping fish when I was about 10, had a 15 gallon, then a 45 gallon. Stopped for a while when I went to college, etc. and then started up again about 2 years ago with a 30 gal which was just upgraded to a planted 55. I also have a 5 gal hex at work and a 2 gal. Despite the fact that I am an oceanographer all my tanks have been freshwater so far. Eventually I'll try a SW tank!

Besides my fish, and school (which takes up inordinate amounts of my time), I'm into photography, mosaics, drawing (I do line drawings of people's boats for spare change) and any and all things associated with boats. I have 2 sea kayaks, 2 small sailboats, a rowing shell, a windsurfer and a remote-controlled sailboat. I just acquired an old wooden rowing dory for free which I am going to fix up this summer.

 

[JDogg]

My name is Jason, 28, Married, live in Minnesota. 3rd year teaching science, going to start soon on my masters in paleontology.

growing up my father had a 20 gallon tank. never cycled, never tested water, did pwc maybe every couple of months, and did full water changes/breakdown and cleans once a year. i am fairly sure he never heard of cycling his tank!!! actual did not loose too many fish that i can remember...

when i moved out i bought my first 10 gal, and did some research. learned about cycling (cycled my first tank with fish cause i didn't know better). Currently i have a 10 gal and a 28 gal at home and a couple of 10 gals at school) just bought a house (apartment is small) so i am trying to resist the mts, but my wife oked a 50 gal!!! will probably replace 2 ten gal at school with something bigger since i am getting a new room next year!

 

[WaterPond]

Hey^^My name is jason too! Anyway, i am 14 and i am in my grade nine year of high school in ontario, canada. Ever since i was little i loved fish! I remeber we had a 20gal in my basemanet and we always had three angelfish. Then i wanted a tank in my room, Ah, i remebr it like yeasterday. My parents bought me a 5gal tank kit, I bought two rummynose tetras and i was hooked!. Of coarse, i was only six at the time so i couldent properlk care for my fish. Poor things. Anyway, I am still into keeping fish, i have four one gallon betta tanks, a 150gal pond, a 10gal FW, a 2gal feeder guppy tank(they keep multiplying!) and a tank where i keep my news where i ocasionally put a feeder guppy in. Oh yes, and i bring my pond fish in for the winter(need a huge rubbermaide bin for that). After highschool i hope to go to university to become a botanist, or biologist, or landscpae architect. I like to garden and and scuba dive in my spare time. I have always wanted a SW tank, but, you know, there is the parent thing getting in the way! Oh well, maybe in University. Anyway, as you can see, i just ramble on. Hope u enjoyed my autobiography.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Hi, I just found this sticky and thought I'd post my bio.

I'm Kristin, 20 years old from Alabama. I am a junior in college, majoring in nursing. I will eventually have a bachelor's degree and become an RN. I want to work in pediatrics. I work part-time in an office of a Children's Hospital. I have been keeping fish for only about 2 years. My first tank was a 10g with 4 danios, 2 dwarf gouramis, and a CAE. I quickly found out that they wouldn't all work. I have learned an enormous amount about fish in the past 2 years. I got my tank only after my ex-boyfriend bought a 5g and stocked it with 6 tiger barbs....not good. My younger brother had a fish tank when we were younger, but it didn't really interest me then.

I now have 3 tanks setup, a 55g, 29g, and a 10g. They are all freshwater planted communities. I have plans to setup another 55g planted and a 38g Asian biotope soon. I am still learning how to aquascape. I still live at home so space is limited. I would love to have a 125g tank though. Someday, when I have a house of my own, I will. I eventually want to step into the world of saltwater tanks.

Along with the fish tanks, I have 2 dogs. Cassie is a 10 year old Sheltie and Chipper is a 9 year old Beagle. Chipper is my baby. He lays his head on my cheek and talks to me.

This is a great and very helpful site and I have enjoyed becoming a member!

 

[LittleNami]

Well, its been a bit since the last post on here, so I feel I ought to keep it bumping along ^^

Heyla! Name's Margaret, but everyone calls me Maggie. I'm 20 and in Minnesota, close to Rochester if anyone wants to know. Currently going to RCTC here for Liberal Arts and a certificate in Health Unit Coordinator, pretty much a secretary for Mayo clinic. I have my 3 year old part siamese cat, Pippen, and my 12 gal tank to keep me company while I try to find a new apartment to live at.

Work in retail for JCPenney, which I hate, and also the local heave ho girl for our local garden shop, Perennial Barn. Got my muscles from hauling trees and using our skidloader to load mulch ^^

I'm an artsy type, hence my aquascaping obsession shortly followed after by pottery. I can't do that whole "have this many kids, have been married this long" thing ^^ Still single, maybe for the better. Also into gaming, pc and console, doing outdoorsy stuff, philosophy, and just hanging out with friends ^^

Found this place when I was looking for information on live plants, which I got into from my mother. She's always used plastic and I hated it, so I got my own tank and got plants ^^ But I've been loving it here, its been so nice to be able to get straight answers or even good suggestions from so many people.

~Maggie

 

[boardsurfer]

My name is Mike. I'm 33 years old and love living on the coast. I got my name "boardsurfer" because I love surfing and have been doing it for all but 8 years of my life. My first freshwater tank was about 15 years ago and my first saltwater tank was about 4 years ago. I graduated from college, used to work for a software company until I realized it wasn't so fun being in front of a computer all day in a cubicle. I went to work dark outside, and came home with it being dark outside. Never got to see my son. His name is Haden and he's 1.5 yrs old now. Been married for 5 years. Now I'm a Realtor where I live and I love it. Sell a house, make a trip to the LFS! That's my life.

 

[blondinkaya]

Hi, I just found this board over the weekend.

My name is Chris, I'm a almost 33-year old (will be in a couple of weeks) stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of my 11-year old and 3-year old boys. I'm attending school full-time starting this fall, majoring in elementary education. My hubby and I just celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, and our gift to each other was setting up our 75-gallon aquarium after 4 years of emptiness. We live in South Cackalackie (errr--Carolina); hubby's in the Air Force, and we're really hoping we don't have to move anymore (especially since we've finally gotten over our fear of setting up our tank again).

Okay, I think that's it. Oh, and I tend talk to much and half of what I say doesn't make sense ...

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Like everyone else... i must have overlooked this stickie too.

Anyway, my name is Jake and im addicted to my aquarium. I am 27 years old and live and work in Chicago as an Architect. I have had aquariums pretty much my whole life, and I didn't realize that I didn't know anything about them until I started frequenting this site. I live with my lovely girlfriend in a small apartment on the cities north side. I have a small 4 gallon planted tank on my desk here at work, with 2 sunburst platties in it and I have a 56 gallon planted discus tank at home. Just want to say hi to everybody, its a joy to be part of this extensive and knowledgeable group.

 

[Guest]

Hello My name is Willow, but most people call me peanut. Professionally I use my middle name, because both willow and peanut sound kind of silly.


I am 30 years old, I live in Melbourne, FL. I work in IT as a programmer, primarily C# and SQL. I started my first tank 4 months ago and now I have 5 of them. I also have 3 cats (Cosmo, Beaker, and LBC) and two toads (Hatch and Sawyer) and 4 tree frogs. My favorite TV show is LOST.

I enjoy my fishtanks because I live in a condo and it allows me to do something similar to gardening. I also love animals (if you can't tell by my zoo). I am the proud auntie of 14 nieces and nephews. I am single, but dating my neighbor (most of the time anyway). I recently lost my job.

I enjoy reading, I am ex navy, I graduated from U of M (M GO BLUE). I am originally from Michigan, Lansing area.

I also love to work on cars, I have a beautiful convertible. I especially enjoy working on car stereos. I love to cook and watch movies. I am a caretaker by nature, very mothering, although i have no children of my own.

I am also a diagnosed Borderline Personality, which adds quite a bit of spice to life, lol. However, I am generally a happy person. I also enjoy house plants. I have never been married and have no plans to ever do so. My dream is to one day have a small house on 5 wooded acres near mountains and with lake access. I want a dock dog (like a springer spaniel or irish setter) a pole barn for a cattery and would like to run a pet store of my own someday.

I love the outdoors, hiking, biking, camping, fishing, etc. I also enjoy shooting guns, but only at targets, never anything alive.

Someday I want to try a saltwater tank, but I am scared =).

I guess that covers it =).

 

[MSU Fan]

Hi! My name is Craig, and my wife is Holly. We both post under this user name, so the tone of the posts may vary a bit...anyway, we have been married going on two years this month, so yay us! We live in Appleton, WI, but both grew up near Detroit. I went to Michigan State University, so boo FishyPeanut(lol)!

I am 26, she is 27. We both enjoy animals (she more than I), so we have started our own zoo. We currently have 2 cats (Isabella and Nugget), 1 dog (Mishka - a Catahoula Leopard dog for those who want to know the breed), 3 turtles (Roxy - Central American Wood Turtle; Horacio and Little Squirt - Red Eared Sliders), and...fish. We have a 2.5 gal Betta tank and 75g FW currently housing 21 fish.

For those who have read any posts by us, we like DIY. I think that we get pets just for that reason. Our one cat wasn't getting enough exercise, so we built a 7' cat condo. We have modded 3 tanks for the turtles, and have built a stand/canopy for both the 2.5gal and 75gal. I swear, if we are not working on a project, then we are actually keeping the house clean!

In my spare time, I like to read (way too much she says). She is in to arts/crafts. We enjoy watching movies (pretty exclusively HBO). We are also training Mishka to be a Therapy Dog (He's only 1.5 years old right now, so not yet!).

Well, that seems like enough...Thanks!

 

[Sicklid]

Hey everybody! First I want to say that this is THE best forum on the internet, hands down. My names Martin... I grew up on Long Island NY, went to college for Advertising Art & Design, have been keeping fish for years (mom gave me a 10 gallon when I was like 6, had a zebra danio that lived for a looooong time in there, way before I knew anything about water changes. Had a little corner "bubble-up" filter and glass gravel). I now love new world cichlids and am working on becoming a professional Poker Dealer here at the Hard Rock Casino Tampa Florida. I ride dual-sport and supermoto motorcycles (don't expect anyone to know what those are, but they ain't Harleys or japanese "crotch-rockets")! I love photography, painting, illustration, and working with glass and am hoping that Poker Dealing at night will open up my days so I can focus on my artwork while still making some money and paying bills... Can't wait to get a house so I can make my wife (if I can find someone who can deal with me very long) insane with my AQUARIUM ADDICTION!!! Right now my 55 gallon is dry, worked on a DIY styrofoam background and other DIY things (thanks to the GOOD PEOPLE HERE) getting it ready for some new fish soon, as I am going through serious fish withdrawls!

Nice to "meet" everybody! You can see what I look like in the post on that topic...

 

[Reefmonkey]

My name is Mark, and I am an aquaholic. I learned my addiction by watching my dad. He has a fish-only 20 gallon saltwater tank from the mid-70s into the early 80s (I'm 30, so I just barely remember it). When I was in preschool or so, my older brother and roommate (3 years older) got a 5 gallon tank, with the usual starter community fish and plastic shipwreck in the bottom. When I was in 4th grade, I really wanted a pet mouse, my mom bought me my own 10 gallon to try to dissuade me. I got a gerbil in 5th grade, and my mom thought it only fair that I trade aquariums with my older brother (by this time we had moved and had separate rooms), so I got the 5. By the end of 6th grade she got me another 10, which after a while I set up as my first brackish, with a figure 8 puffer, bumblebee gobies, a scat, and maybe at various other times monos and a bullrout. In the meantime, my brother had gotten the first African cichlids I had ever seen- a socolofi and an m. auratus. Then my brother got a 29 gallon and I was envious. When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a 20 gallon hi, made it my first reef tank. In college, I had 10s sophomore and junior year, until I got an apartment, then brought the 20 up, this time as a brackish or african cichlid tank junior and senior years. Switched back and forth from african cichlids to brackish every time I switched apartments through my first few years out of college, until I got a townhouse with friendsin 2003, and then bought a 55, set it up as a reef tank. I found it frustrating, so when I moved in with my fiance a year later, set it up as an African cichlid tank, and that's how its going to stay. This summer I became a homeowner, so I finally got to have the pond I've always wanted - south american cichlids and buenos aires tetras.

Man, I wrote all that and all I talked about was the history of my fish keeping. Here's a short writeup of the rest of my life. Got a BS in Biology from SMU in 1998 (how many biology majors do we have here? a lot I'll wager). Got an MS in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science from SMU in 2000. Used to be an environmental consultant, now I work for a Japanese chemical company. I'm married, 1 8yo stepson, live on the west side of Houston. My parents have had a house on Galveston Island, on a canal on the bayside next to a huge saltmarsh, and I used to spend my whole summers down there as a kid, catching fish and putting them in a little aquarium in the house, and I still get down there as much as I can, so I can go kayaking and fishing, both bay and offshore. I also love to go scuba diving, love international travel (favorite places I have been: Tanzania, Zanzibar, Barcelona, Istanbul, and of course I could go to italy every year for the rest of my life). Love to cook, read, jog, paint (watercolors).

 

[drummerj]

Well, im jeff and im from manchester, NH. Im 20 years old, and've been collecting aquariums for a couple of years. In the span of a year and a half to two years, my brother, steven (16) and i have created 11 fish tanks (10 fW, 1 SW just started!). My friends, even the ones with fish, think im insane. The majority of my tanks are african cichlids, but my brother and i have an arowana, several blood parrots, and 2 large oscars. im currently a sophomore studying psychology at snhu, in hopes of it leading to an M.E.D. down the road. id like to be a professor and councilor. hmmm. I've worked in a hannaford deli for 2 years. Besides collecting fish and fish tanks, I enjoy reading (Stephen King, George R. R. Martin) cooking, riflery(right now i have about 11 rifles, ranging from .22 caliber to 7.62x54) and working with my hands, like building things, yardwork, gardening, etc. I love being outdoors. I think kids are wicked cool. oh man. how could i forget! I've been playing drums for about 7 years now. Ive been in several bands, which have all been royal failures.


this is the only site i really truly visit every single day. ive become very addicted.

 

[hc8719]

never saw this thread before. im matt from toledo ohio (you know as katie holmes home town, actually her brother lives a neighborhood away) im 18, and just started college at owens, in hopes of being a dentist, (although being a marine biologist is tempting)

i think im kinda an animal rights activst (i dont free minks from furr coat factories or anything... yet). hobbies include aquariums and staying in shape (except for running, i hate running, thank God cross country and track are over). music preferences are rock, alternative, and mainstream metal (nothing too hard) toledo has some kick *** concert tours every so often. other pets include: the largest german shepherd you've ever seen (126 lbs as of august) as well as a chihuahua, which if you dont consider a dog, i dont blame you, shes not mine.

been keeping fish tanks for 12 years now, just picked it back up in april, after a 1 year hiatus

 

[flushingfish]

Okay my turn.

My name is Bob and I am a Hotel Front Office Manager in New York City. I have lived in New York all my 46yrs. I can usually be found in one of 4 places .. at work, in the kitchen, at the gym or in front of my tanks. In the 5 months I've been in the hobby I've grown from your basic plastic decorations to a fully planted setup with CO2 and ferts. I am also a Culinary School grad ( French Culinary Institute same school as Bobby Flay and no I don't know him.) If anyone needs recipes just ask..I'll try to help.
My wife and I have 2 girls 16 and 6 yrs old that keep us pretty busy as well.

 

[Regen311]

I guess I should add mine to here as well

My name is Andrea, I'm 21, 22 in March, and wil be graduating this year from Ohio Northern University with a physics/math double major and astronomy minor. I've been busy I'm applying to graduate schools right now (such a pain) for Medical Physics (masters). Now I'm just waiting to hear back from them. I've been doing the fish thing for 3 years. My first tank was 10 gallons, the next year I got a 20 gallon, and now I have a 55 gallon. I play guitar, go see a lot of live music, LOVE jazz especially. I've been coaching soccer a little bit lately, which I love. I've lived in Ohio my whole life, but was fortunate enough to spend the summer in Davis California doing research. I got a free place to live, free food, transportation costs and a $300 a week stipend on top of it I thought it was a pretty good deal, and one of the best times over! Living 30 minutes from Napa Valley kinda got me obsessed with wine though. So I guess I should add that to my list of likes, good wine