By John Carlin
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: March 12, 2008

I was one of the youngsters in that scene, and the fascination with catching fish and watching them swim has not waned some 40 years later.

I am a fish geek.  There – I said it.  Notice I didn’t say a “recovering” fish geek.  I’m happy with where I am.  I think it’s in my DNA, it just took me a while to figure out that everybody’s heart doesn’t race when they walk by the fish department at Wal-mart.

If you’ve watched the Viewers’ Voice segment on the news, you may have seen newsroom mascot, Nemo – the clownfish swimming in the mini aquarium on my desk.  You probably didn’t see the yellow watchman goby that lives in the rocks, or the pistol shrimp that lives in a burrow with the goby.  (The fish protects the burrow, which the shrimp digs and maintains)

You may think it’s boring.  You probably think I’m nuts.  I think it’s cool.

A Flame Angelfish in John’s 72 gallon tank
It gets worse At home there’s a 72 gallon tank in the study, and a 29 gallon tank in the basement – all saltwater.  There’s also a 55 gallon freshwater tank near the pool table with fish and plants from the Amazon. 

In the freezer/storage room there are numerous tanks on special shelves in case some of the fish need to be treated for parasites or other ailments. 

Did I mention that my son works in the fish department of a local pet store and that he has two aquariums in his bedroom?  Apparently he got that same gene.  There’s nothing he can do about it.

Live corals thriving in John’s current tank
Between the stint in Wisconsin and today, there was the brook on my grandfather’s farm where I spent summers sliding my hands under rocks – occasionally finding brook trout. 

There was a 50 gallon aquarium I bought at an auction for $7.50 and filled with 2-inch smallmouth bass that I caught in a local creek at night with a flashlight. We fed them moths that fluttered by the porch lights in the evening.  Fascinating.

There were countless minnow traps thrown into practically any water just to see what was there.  (The minnows sometimes became bait, otherwise they were returned.)

The African fish tank
Not so long ago my attention turned to freshwater fish from Africa.  From the so-called “rift” lakes of Malawi and Tanganyika.  People who keep these beautiful fish can tell at a glance which fish come from which lake.  Purists maintain they should never be combined in the same tank. (No harm to the fish—it’s just not done!) I once agonized for weeks whether I should mix these fish.  I eventually did.

You see?  This is a bad case.

Some people browse entertainment websites in their spare time.  I subscribe to Reef Central.

When I run, the iPod has music on it, but I’m probably listening to a podcast from the Talking Reef, as host Rob discusses things like the value of 10,000 K metal halide bulbs compared to 12,000 K. 

It’s not always that boring, sometimes he talks about sand filters and using macro algae to remove nitrates from the tank.

You KNOW I just have to be a blast at a party!

Somewhere on a recent reef forum, under the name of the guy who started a thread, was his original saying, “Who knew a box of water could be so much fun?”

Perhaps, I did.