Landscaping aquarium

I grew up in Ireland outside of Dublin and at a young age my father bought a farm, which became my mother’s responsibility. Because it was in wartime, it was mandatory for all owners to cultivate their acreage, as food was scarce.

Previously we had lived in a modest home, and now I was suddenly immersed in farm life as well as school. We had cattle, poultry, horses, as well as a small collection of animals, which I had collected with great avidity.

These included rabbits, mice, guinea pigs and a crow (which I taught to say a few words from), canaries and parakeets, frogs, turtles, and more.

This added to a collection of cats and dogs. The figures ran to fourteen dogs and five cats. Dogs invariably entered chicken coops from time to time, with predictable catastrophic results – all small animals over a period of time would expire, for a number of various reasons.

This, needless to say, would make me feel very guilty, as I had not yet come to a full understanding of life, I had not yet realized that all small animals would leave this world to go to whatever it is that we wait sooner or later. I must admit, however, that carelessness and other interests at times justified the comments.

We had a large number of peons and servants on the farm, which made the TV series Upstairs Downstairs seem very clear when it was seen many years later. Many funny incidents occurred with predictable regularity, the horses came out of their loose boxes, the chickens were euthanized by the dogs, the farm hands and the servants created many complicated “situations” that caused endless problems for my parents. These would be the subject of at least one book, which perhaps one day I will write, but for now I will stick to this subject.

One day they sent me to the city to buy some electrical accessory. It irritates me that I can’t remember what it was, but I walked into a large electrical store that was closing, as the owner had passed away. Everything I was looking for was evidently in the basement of the store, and I was directed downstairs. I guess I found what I was looking for, but in doing so I noticed about fifteen aquariums, almost all empty. I had never seen an aquarium before, and in one of the aquariums in the store there was a lone black molly. An assistant told me that the late owner, Mr. Handcock (that I remember) was a very enthusiastic hobbyist and had this department as a hobby. Because the store was closing, they had already sold most of the stock and equipment.

I knew right away that, come hell or high tide, I had to have that aquarium and the black molly. I didn’t have enough funds with me, even though it was coming out very cheap, I begged the girl to “hold” the tank, etc. plus the molly, I gave her a small deposit and promised I would be back in 24 hours. Taking the bus home, I convinced my mother, to lend me an advance of my pocket money, in fact it took 3 weeks or more, the next morning I was waiting outside the store when they opened, to make sure I could complete the purchase. . Well! That purchase changed my life, within a few months, I had 5 tanks, some bought from the same store, before it finally closed, acquiring other items from other people that I got to know over time. Soon I was breeding Siamese wrestlers, as well as mollies and various others. However, the hobby not only consumed my time and interest, it absorbed everything and more of my strict allowance. I soon discovered that there was an aquarium society in Dublin that I joined with great enthusiasm, and then I learned that there was no distributor with the closing of the Handcock store. Well this opened up a great opportunity as by expanding my collection and buying fish and equipment from England I could pay for my hobby and have even more tanks etc. I called this side business Irish Aquatics and saved enough over the next 5 years of my “trade” to pay for half of my first home. At the time I was in Veterinary College, and although studies, sports, ladies and a host of other activities occupied my time, somehow I managed to continue my hobby and attend the monthly aquarium club meetings.

The club used to have a couple of shows a year, the members, as well as other societies, mainly from the North of Ireland, participated. There were competition categories for the best egg layer, the best life producer, the best fish on display, etc. The most attractive category by far for my taste was the competition for the most beautiful tank. Although the plant varieties were limited at the time, the display tanks were amazing, especially since many members had access to a beautiful red sandstone that they used in many tanks as ornaments to highlight the green plants.

I went on to study Marine Biology, a few years later, as my love for fish surpassed all other interests in life. From there I spent many years in aquaculture and then international fish farming consulting. In 1989 I founded a company in Israel called Red Sea Fish pHarm, in which I still have an interest. In 1994 I started Fish-Vet Inc., which produces software for diagnosing fish diseases, and this software is used by governments, universities, fish farms, veterinarians, and more. As a result of our cooperation with some forty-six professors in sixteen countries in preparing the software, we were able to create some unique specialty treatments, which we also sell throughout the United States. As a result of our cooperation

During 1997 I decided to return to my first love within the hobby. I started growing some plants and experimenting with attractive designs. I found that in order to consistently achieve really good results, it was necessary to pay close attention to many factors, and that this required specialized equipment, which was not readily available, or at least not at a reasonable cost in the US market.