My name is Barry Meiklejohn and I was born in Melbourne in '63. My father
was in the army and we travelled every other year so I have lived in most
states of Australia during my "formative years". As a kid I remember
having the typical 18in aquarium filled with dying neons and gouramis etc.
I currently live in Brisbane with my wife Karen and our 9month old daughter
Rebekah (the Squirm).
After school I became an Air Traffic Controller and this led to a few
outstation transfers for my wife and I. The important one was Mount Isa
(Queensland) where I bought a four foot tank to keep tropical fish. Well
the fish kept dying so I decided that Cichlids were probably hardier.
After an accident with 10 firemouths I decided that the fish in the
aquarium shop thought of me as "Old-man Death" with cape and sickle. I
started going out to the local creeks and collecting fish. I was also
reading books etc and improving my "aquarium management skills". I got to
the stage where I had a sleepy cod, two archer fish and six barred grunter
and another tank of rainbows. These fish kept lasting and lasting so I was
wrapped, I think I had learned about water changes :-)
My wife and I used to chase moths around the house to feed the archer fish
who used to spit at them to knock them off the cover glass, that was a
funny site. The rainbows turned out to be Melanotaenia splendida tatei
(the desert rainbowfish) and were pretty in a pastel sort of way. They had
a silvery pink body and dirty yellow fins.
When I moved to Brisbane in '91 I went along to the Queensland Pet & Hobby
expo and met ANGFA. Through this organisation I have learned a lot about
water quality and fish "phsycology". It never ceases to amaze me the many
startling colours that the rainbowfish family can present to us, but I also
am keen on many other species of native fish. Currently I have a tank
setup to breed desert gobies (although I think the snails are eating the
eggs?), a 12in sooty grunter, a 14in Neosilurus ater and 5in spangled
perch. I have just completed a pond to breed honey blue-eyes (which are
endangered here) and have plenty of fry swimming around the surface. I
have to wait til they grow a bit to see if they are the blue-eyes or some
Eddy Bay macullochi I put in to condition the pond. I have a 4x2x2 in my
study full of rainbows and am trying to learn a bit about plants from Dr
Bruce and Peter Surmon.
I have been extremely happy with the camaraderie that I have seen fostered
amongst members of the ANGFA, RSG, IRG and am happy to be a part of it.
Currently I am vice president of ANGFA Queensland and I have served on that
committee for the past 4 years. I was elected to the National committee for
the third year at the AGM in Melbourne, currently serving as Membership
Officer. I spent three years as treasurer to the Queensland Federation of
Aquarium Societies and for two of those years managed the Queensland Pet
and Hobby Expo. I also edit and print the ANGFA Queensland newsletter and
assist Adrian Tappin with the National Bulletin. Most of my spare time is
spent trying to decipher a doctors writing when I type up the A-Z's :-)
At the moment my job requires me to undertake a rather intensive training
course of which I have just completed the first part. This unfortunately
means I have less time to contribute to the RML but I am still enjoying the
banter and substance of "our" list.
Regards,
Barry Meiklejohn.