The whole trip to Wiscousin started a few years ago when I met Ted Judy at an ACA show. We talked fish for a while down in the show room. Ted had mentioned that he had seen that I was giving a talk for our local fish club. He mentioned that his local club is always looking for guest speakers & if our club would be interested in exchanging speakers. Ted would come speak to our club in April & I would go to his in May.

This turned out to work great. While Ted was in here in town (Columbus, Ohio), he was able to see several fishrooms, including Stephan Tanner's of Swiss Tropicals & our fishroom, as well as a fish store, Aquarium Adventure. And while I was in Wiscousin, I was able to see Ted's Fishroom in Madison, WS & Jeff Michels fishroom Milwaukee, WE, as well as a few local fishshops.

So my trip started off alright but by the time I hit Wiscousin, I somehow had made a wrong turn & was on the wrong highway. A quick call to Ted & a trip to the gas station for a map got me back on the right track. While I arrived an hour or so later then expected, I was warmly welcomed into Ted's home by him & his family.

Ted had to work the next day, so the plan was for me to look around his fishroom while he was working. I was able to get several photos as can be seen to the right. Ted specializes in West African cichlids as well as tetras, some barbs, Betta sp. among other species of fish.

Ted's fishroom consists of each wall of the fishroom containing fishtanks along with a center row of tanks (Pictured right). Larger tanks are typically used for larger species & the smaller tanks have smaller species or are being used to breed various fish species. Ted's water source is a mix of tap water and R/O water (reverse osmosis) to bring the hardness and pH down.

Probably some of the more notable species in his room were a few West African tetras I had never seen before. One was an Alestes sp., possibly A. imberi? (Pictured to the right), another was a Phenoacogrammus sp. that I could not identify. It came in a shipment of fish Ted had ordered. Another group of fish Ted has are the West African barbs, Barboides gracilis & Barbus hulstaerti.

I can't go on without mentioning some of Ted's West African cichlids, Ted's passion are Pelvicachromis species & their relatives. Some of the various species Ted is currently keeping are several P. taeniatus including Moliwe (Pictured to the right) & Lobe & P. aff. subocellatus (also pictured to the right). Two other interesting fish species found at Ted's house are Gobiocichla ethylwyannae & Thysochromis ansorgii (Both pictured to the right). G. ethylwyannae has a motified swimbladder allowing them to fight the current they live in. This is a fish that is a very rare & unusual species that I will have to make room for one of these days.

Ted also had various fish he was breeding including Betta falx, Steatocranus tinanti, Apistogramma hoignei, Hemigrammus erythrozonus & he even got a few coral red pencilfish, Nannostomus mortenthaleri. In this case, the use of R/O water along with some peat is what did the trick to get the pencils to breed. Ted has yet to be able to repeat his breeding success with the Coral Reds but I am sure he will keep at it until he is successful again.

Later in the day it was off to a Milwaukee fishstore, Jeff Michel’s fishroom & to present my presentation to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society. On the way I was able to get a few photos of the Milwaukee skyline & Miller Stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play (Photos in the right). The first fish store was rather large. The outer wall of the store had all the fish tanks (Photos in the right margin) while the center was left for merchandise items and display tanks.

Some of the most interesting species I saw in this shop were true Satanoperca jurupari, Crenicichla lugubris & an unidentified Hyphessobrycon species, possibly a H. bentosi type. I tried to convince Ted he should get some of the tetras as they had an interesting coloration of what a X-ray tetra & a serpae tetra would like missed together.

Also some of the displays were incredible. A fully planted tank, that must have been at least six feet long by three feet wide & three feet tall was laid out with various plant species. Probably one of the neatest things about this tank was that it was not filled all the way. This created a land area as well as a river area. The fish that caught my eye in this tank were a pair of Geophagus sp. "Rio Tapajos I/Redhead". These were actively moving through the aquarium. Upon closer examination, the female's spawning tube was down. I am sure they probably spawned later that day.

Next we were onto to Jeff Michel’s house. Jeff has many different species but also specializes in West African cichlids. Jeff’s main focus are Benitochromis species. Jeff had a lot of different species, some unclassified. Unfortunately the only photos I got at Jeff’s house were of his display of his Stomatepia pindu. Jeff had just resealed the tank and placed the group in there. Having only been in the tank for about a week, they had already spawned.

Probably the rarest cichlid Jeff has is a related species, Stomatepia mongo was thought to be extinct in its native habitat. As it turns out, Jeff was able to get a small group of these recently. From what I heard, they each had their own box. This made each individual fish very expensive to obtain but well worth it for such a rare fish. It is hoped that Jeff has success with this species & is able to spread it around in the hobby.

After visiting with Jeff, we went out for dinner & went to a nice American style restaurant. Then it was off to present my talk to the MAS. The MAS is able to meet at another fish store in the Milwaukee area; this store carries reptiles, amphibians, among other unusual animal species but the largest area is reserved for the fish. All the tanks looked to be in a good condition. Probably the most notable species found at this store were some Keyhole cichlids, Cleithracara maronii.

After looking around a bit, it was time for my talk on Geophagus. The talk went very well after I had a minor glitch with my computer (it didn’t want to bring up Windows). A lot of questions were asked after the talk, always a sign of a good talk I was told by Ted. After my talk it was back to Madison with Ted. We ended the night with a few beers at a local bar in town.

Due to my brother’s birthday Sunday, I decided to drive back Saturday. This turned out to be great. I enjoyed my drive home as the weather was perfect for driving on the open road. On my way back to Columbus, I made a stop in Chicago to see how things were going for the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association. They have their annual show going on. While I was there I was able to check the bulletin board & see a few rooms. Every good aquarist knows the best fish are found in the rooms where fish are sold.

All and all, it was a great get-a-way weekend for me. Big thanks to Ted Judy & the Milwaukee Aquarium Society for inviting me out to speak. Looking forward to when I see all those friendly faces again in the future.