Kpigford
New Member
Hi all, my name is Kim. I've been keeping fish in one form or another for around 12-15 years. I started in freshwater with cichlids. My favorite specimen was a female umbee cichlid that had an amazing personality. Around 8 years ago I decided to give salt water a try. I had a 40 breeder fowlr for a while that ran well but needed to downsize when I moved into a small apartment. I switched to a 5 gallon nano reef tank (huge learning curve). Had that tank for close to 5 years before a power outage took it out. I shut it down though I still have the tank and occasionally get the urge to set it back up.
I currently only have a 10 gallon innovative marine. That tank was set up around 9 years ago and has gone though some ups and downs. I've finally setted on a low maintenance set-up with mostly softies. I do water changes weekly and occasionally test parameters but let it be for the most part. At the moment it's over run with gsp but I kind of like the swaying grass look. For the past 2.5 years after losing my captive brand mandarin to a heater malfunction the tank got pretty neglected and ran fishless with just corals, snails, and a lone hermit that might be immortal (he's been in there since the tank was set-up and has survived 2 different crashes). Recently, I decided to add fish again, got the tank cleaned up and added (not all at the same time) 3 sexy shrimp, a barnacle blenny, and 2 young green banded gobies (1 of whom sadly disappeared the first 36 hrs in the tank). The blenny is having some issues but will hopefully pull through.
Outside of fish I'm a professor at my local University. I have my Master's in Zoology and a PhD in Science Education. I currently teach biology to undergraduates and education courses for the grad school. I've always loved animals and had pets growing up. Between my partner and roommate we have 6 cats. I have a standard poodle, a blue tongue skink, a crested gecko, and my haflinger pony. Life stays pretty busy but I'm happy to be here and join in on conversations. I've visited the site for many years but never set up an account.
I currently only have a 10 gallon innovative marine. That tank was set up around 9 years ago and has gone though some ups and downs. I've finally setted on a low maintenance set-up with mostly softies. I do water changes weekly and occasionally test parameters but let it be for the most part. At the moment it's over run with gsp but I kind of like the swaying grass look. For the past 2.5 years after losing my captive brand mandarin to a heater malfunction the tank got pretty neglected and ran fishless with just corals, snails, and a lone hermit that might be immortal (he's been in there since the tank was set-up and has survived 2 different crashes). Recently, I decided to add fish again, got the tank cleaned up and added (not all at the same time) 3 sexy shrimp, a barnacle blenny, and 2 young green banded gobies (1 of whom sadly disappeared the first 36 hrs in the tank). The blenny is having some issues but will hopefully pull through.
Outside of fish I'm a professor at my local University. I have my Master's in Zoology and a PhD in Science Education. I currently teach biology to undergraduates and education courses for the grad school. I've always loved animals and had pets growing up. Between my partner and roommate we have 6 cats. I have a standard poodle, a blue tongue skink, a crested gecko, and my haflinger pony. Life stays pretty busy but I'm happy to be here and join in on conversations. I've visited the site for many years but never set up an account.
