Ted’s Fishroom

A Visit to
Jeff Michels’
Fishroom

I met Jeff Michels at the February 2006 GCCA swap meet in Chicago. I did not get much of a chance to look around at the swap until near the end of the day. I wish that I had taken a stroll around earlier and had the chance to talk with Jeff some more. He brought some very nice west African cichlids to the swap, and everyone knows that group of fish is my weakness. I did not have tank space at the time or I would have bought Jeff’s fish; but I did take a business card and stayed in touch. Since then Jeff has become what my best friend. He and I are very active inthe Milwaukee Aquarium Society together, and I hope to drag him kicking and screaming into involvment with the ACA soon. I have been to Jeff’s fishroom on MANY occasions.

Jeff has a large basement fishroom. It is set up as two aisles on either side of a row of center tanks. The center row has three levels of tanks. All of the tanks are positioned end out and extend across the width of the row. Each tank can be viewed from either end and from both aisles. What this arrangement lacks in visibility is made up for by providing a LOT of gallonage for Jeff to work with. Most of the bottom two rows are used for holding, growout and quarantine. The upper tanks are set up for breeding. I will admit that I do not like the end-out system for asthetic reasons… but I am extremely jealous of Jeff’s available tank space! Here are some pictures of the left aisle.

 

Jeff’s business is aquarium maintenance and other activities associated with his ‘hobby’.  He has also reached the pinnacle of ‘Ultimate Breeder’ in the Milwaukee Aquarium Society (though I beat him in 2007!!!!).  Jeff is one of the very few people I know who has managed to make a living with aquariums while not losing interest in his hobby.  Here is a look at the right side aisle in his fish room.  The tanks on the left of this aisle are the same as the tanks on the right side of the left aisle pictured above.

The end of the room has a rack of 30 breeder aquariums.  Jeff also has a rack od small aquariums for fry.  Here are those two racks.

 

Jeff keeps a lot of different types of fish, though fish from West Africa are probably the group that is best represented in his fishroom.  Not only does he have a LOT of westies, but he has one of the rarest in the hobby.  THis fish is so rare that Anton Lamboj suggested in his 2004 book The Cichlid Fishes of West Africa that it may well be extinct.  Guess what… it’s not.  Here it is…. Stomotepia mongo from Lake Barombi Mbo.

Here are some of the other interesting cichlids from West Africa to be seen in Jeff’s fishroom.

Pelvicachromis sp. aff. subocellatus

Steatocranus gibbiceps

Benitochromis riomuniensis

Steatocranus irvinei

Jeff has more than just cichlids.  If the fish is from West Africa, does not grow larger than what Jeff’s tanks can accomodate, and is not a catfish (though I do not really know why Jeff doe snot collect Synodontis), he will buy them.  He has many tetras, and at least five types of lampeye killifish that I know of.  Here is a picture of a group of one his Procatopus sp. types.

One of Jeff’s current projects is a large (220 gallon) tank dedicated to the fish of Lake Barombi Mbo in Cameroon.  I was there the day Jeff filled it up and put in the first fish, a group of Stomotepia pindu.  Jeff has several species to go into this tank, and I am looking forward to watching it develop.  Here are a couple pictures.

I barely stratched the surface of what Jeff has in his fishroom… plus I intentionall left out the specifics as to rack construction, filtration, etc…  This page is open for comments and questions, and Jeff has aggreed to check back regularly and respond.  Get this blog rolling.  If it works, I will try to turn as many fishroom tours as I can into blogs.