Spialz Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hello everyone. My name is Austin, aka Spialz, and I stumbled upon this gem of a forum in my search for shrimp knowledge. I am a 21 year old college drop out working as a department manager for one of the big chain pet stores. I was pursuing a double major in Zoo Science and Field Biology before school got too expensive and I had to quite (I was racking up more debt then I would be able to pay off with my expected salary… ) I live in Kansas with my beautiful fiancé (also a shrimp fanatic). Growing up, my family always had a fish tank. It was the typical tropical tank with ugly decorations, neon colored gravel, and a common pleco that was WAY to big for the tank. I always had a fascination with animals and as i grew older I started collecting my own. Throughout high school I was mostly a reptile guy. I kept and bred leopard geckos (hence my profile picture), crested geckos, frogs, toads, salamanders, and many other species on and off. When I moved away for school I had to sell most of my collection. Living in the dorms, all I was allowed to keep was fish. So naturally, I filled my room with as many tanks as the resident advisors would allow. haha. I kept guppies, mollies, goldfish, and baby albino tiger oscar. I developed a love for the aquarium hobby that was just as strong, if not stronger, then my love for reptiles. When I made the decision to leave school I had to once again downsize my collection. The only fish I kept was the oscar (who I still have to this day). As most of you know, we can't just have empty tanks sitting around. So as soon as I settled down again I started fill in them back up. Currently I have: - 29 gallon with the oscar named Sauron. (He's getting a little to big for it though so I recently acquired a 50 gallon corner tank to move him up) - 20 gallon long with a lion head goldfish and half a dozen ghost shrimp. - 2 bettas. A dumbo double tail half moon plakat and a double tail half moon. - 18X18X24 ExoTerra with a striped Pictus Gecko (also known as a panther gecko). - A Sun Conure named Pogo. - A Green Cheek Conure named Baby. Aaaanndd, my whole reason for finding this forum, I recently acquired a dozen red cherry shrimp. After seeing them for the first time in a local pet shop I fell in love with them. I never thought shrimp could be so interesting, but my fiancé and I find ourselves sitting in front of their tank just watching as they go about their lives. They are still very new to me, and I'm learning all I can, but in the few short weeks Ive had them, they've consumed my life. Ive spent more money then I had ever thought I would just to get the smallest details correct to keep those little shrimps happy. We are already thinking about what varieties to get next, how to build a rack system to house them all, which ones to breed, and for what traits. These shrimp are an obsession. Anyway, I just wanted introduce myself and tell you all a little about me. These forums have been a huge help to me as I stumble through the early stages of this hobby. You guys have been such a great resource for me and I hope to be very active on here and one day have gained enough knowledge and experience to be a resource for someone else. This is still a fairly new hobby, especially in the US, and Im excited to see where it will go next. Thank you all, and happy shrimping! -Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Welcome! This is a great place for learning and sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metageologist Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryboy12484 Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Welcome Austin! Yeah shrimping is very addictive lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Great write up, Spialz! Welcome! So glad to have you here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elo500 Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Welcome and thanks for sharing. Seems like there is always another thing to try in the aquarium hobby. Shrimping has a lot of variety to keep one busy for a long time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OblongShrimp Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Great to have you! Thanks for sharing your background, it is always interesting to hear how people got into the hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spialz Posted July 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Thank you everyone! Glad to be here. I look forward to learning with you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtletanks91 Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Welcome welcome, it's good to have another shrimp fanatic on here, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Welcome. Sent from my BlackBerry 9860 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabor129 Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Welcome to the forum! I'm glad I'm not the only one with a zoo at home!!!! Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pika Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Welcome! Conures are lovely birds... although they sure can make a racket when they feel like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countryboy12484 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Growing up my best friends mom had conures... hers were mean.. they would swoop down on ya and attack... pritty birds though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spialz Posted July 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 They are great birds. We handle ours every day so they are super sweet. Here is our sun conure, Pogo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Spialz, Great sun conure . Conures are big birds in small bodies. My neighbors had half moon conures . We had toucans . Love the sun conures but not familiar with green cheek conure. Pika, The lady down the road has macaws and you can hear them every afternoon when she lets them out for several blocks radius . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc4PC2 Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spialz Posted July 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Louie, here is our Green Cheek Conure named Baby. Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 Oh wow never saw one. They remind me of parrotlets . We have wild love birds in the area (sadly no conures) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 Oh wow never saw one . Does he get along with your sun conure ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spialz Posted July 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 Somes days they do, some days they don't. Depends on their moods. They're like two toddlers. haha Louie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 Conures are birds of personality . I had toucans outside in aviary for years but they are straight forward birds not personality type birds like hookbills . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DETAquarium Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Glad to have you, thanks for sharing your story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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