Inside, Rusty maintains around 90 tanks equating to over 5000 gallons of water all controlled by an automatic water changing system.
Hello Rusty, thank you for taking the time and speaking to the Central Scene. The first question is usually the hardest, but there’ s always a beginning. When and why did you become interested in North & Central American cichlids?
Lee: Back in the late 1980’ s( a lifelong childhood friend-TJ Delahanty) was In Belize and was working for the Peace Corp and was heading up the department in Belize City. At that time I was keeping mainly African Cichlids and TJ telephoned me and said I have to get down there to see all the cool cichlids in his backyard, so shortly thereafter I and a friend( Garland Bird) flew down and soon discovered a new passion of observing the fishes in their natural habitat. Ross Socolof, a retired fish farmer( now deceased) was my mentor and good friend. He had has visited Belize many times and took me under his wing and quickly taught me everything there was to know about collecting trips. So, from that point on there was no turning back and my 50 tanks or so at that time were soon teaming with the cichlids of Central America( primarily Belizean and Honduran strains) and quickly replacing the mouth brooders of Africa.
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