RMF birthday   8/23/11
To Bob & all crew members,
Thank you for allowing me to follow your journey of knowledge.
Whoever gets stuck with the boss, buy him a cold one, he looks parched!
Tom
<Thanks Tom... I am a bit thirsty, hmmm. BobF>

Here I am mit frauleins at InterZoo!

Now, that's better!

We come, we go, we see the show   5/1/10
Hi Crew,
What did u mean in that note ? The one that said Bob is going away on a trip and might not be back ?
thanks. Blesson
Zackly that Blesson. We come and we go... a person's life/path can/may be measured by what they became by it. B

Sue Garrett WWM Bio

 My love of turtles started when I was 8 years old.  I begged my father relentlessly to buy me one of the mini turtles with the plastic oasis (and requisite palm tree) like my best friend up the street had.  Thankfully he said, No!  Fortunately, though, we lived near a stream, so I had plenty of box turtles to occupy my time. 

 My fascination with turtles resurfaced again years later when I just happened to be visiting Heron Island, Australia during the time of year when the endangered baby green sea turtles were hatching on the beach.  (Ironically, before becoming a marine sanctuary, Heron Island used to be the site of a turtle soup factory.)  So I landed up spending almost my entire time there either escorting hatchlings from their nest, across the beach and into the water to protect them from the birds; or carrying them back to the beach after they accidentally followed the artificial light and literally showed up scratching at the door of my room every night!  The next year, my family teased me that I must have been the reason why the green sea turtles were reportedly downgraded from endangered to threatened that year! 

 Several years later, as fate would have it, another turtle that had lost his way showed up (again) right on my doorstep!  But this time, instead of a baby green sea turtle, it turned out to be one of those same mini turtles my best friend had when I was young!  Even more curious was the fact that although I live on a pond, that species is neither native to my area, nor lives in that pond.  Its still a mystery to this day how he landed up there.  So, all I can conclude was that this must have been my childhood wish finally come true it just took a while!  When I started researching how to care for him, however, I was shocked to find out that he actually wasnt a mini turtle after all, but instead a baby red-eared slider turtle that would eventually grow to be the size of a dinner plate.  And that the only reason they were mini years ago is because they rarely lived beyond a few months.  I was also very surprised to find out that millions still continue to die each year because of poor care and other atrocities.  Since that day, Ive learned a lot more about semi-aquatic turtles (much of it thanks to sites like WWM!), and would like to now share what Ive learned (and am still learning!) with others so that they, like me, will give their turtles the appropriate care they need in order to be able to live the long and healthy life they deserve.   

 When Im not devoting my time to the turtle cause (or my two kids!), I spend whats left of it (ha!) on the human side of preventive health care.  After graduating with a BS in nursing years ago, I initially worked in orthopedics/sports medicine, then shifted over to health promotion and disease prevention.  I worked for several years in health information consulting before taking time off to raise children.  Im currently taking some science, writing, and statistics courses through the American Medical Writers Association where I hope to eventually write about the latest scientific research taking place in the area of preventive medicine associated with aging and lifestyle-related illnesses.

Memory tips? -- 01/13/2010
Bob,
Do you have any tips/advice as to preserving one's memory? It's getting to a point for me, that soon I'll be able to hide my own Easter Eggs.
Cheers,
James
I do... vitamins, daily exercise, crossword puzzles, jumbles... Sudoku? And mnemonic devices... These and engaging ones mind as often and vigorously as possible/practical. Oh, and carrying around ID lest you be "picked up" and can't remember your
name, place. B

The "Salty Dog" and his most lovely wife.

Marco's moray eels 1/6/2008 http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~mlichten/Geo/morays.htm That's a link to pictures of some of my morays for http://www.wetwebmedia.com /WWMAdminSubWebIndex /wwmcrew.htm. Enjoy and take care. Marco Lichtenberger. <Thank you Marco. May I ask, in some of your earliest correspondence, you mentioned selling us/WWM some to-be-transliterated written works... Did you ever get around to these? Bob Fenner>

Re: Marco's moray eels, writings  1/6/2008 Oh yes, the spiny eel piece was in CA, the mangroves I found already covered well by Anthony, for the irrubesco piece I'm still searching for sometimes seen females with a red caudal, and I hope mine start breeding... Barry White does not always work. <Well... he is dead> For the South American puffers piece I wish I had some pictures of the specimens from the 80s C. psittacus, nowadays all turn out to be C. asellus. There are several other pieces in the making, proper pictures are often a problem for me, since I do not have pictures of fish I have kept 5-20 years ago and started writing about fishes not so long ago. <Ahh. If I have any that are of use, you have to but ask> The article on moray eel toxins was - thanks to your help my friend - in TFH 09/2007. <I must have missed it... or perhaps the current "cold" is malaffecting my memory> The one on moray eel sexing needs some more pictures. E.g. I found a male snowflake about 50 km away, but it's hard to get the serrated front teeth into a decent photo, although they are well visible with the eel in front of you. Some other pieces (puffers, morays) have been offered to print magazines first and are waiting to be published within the next months. <Good> I also had a lot to do with marine fishes from tropical Brazil. Besides that, is there any specific topic (puffers, morays, predators in general) we'd need an article on? Marco. <Oh yes. Many for sure. Danke, BobF> 

Neale Monks Neale Monks began keeping fish in the early 80s, and since that time has tried out most of its specialisations, but his favourite bit of the hobby is brackish water fishkeeping. He is fascinated by those fishes able to adapt to environments with varying salinity, and quickly learned that the boundary the hobby places between "saltwater fish" and "freshwater fish" is an arbitrary one that doesn't mean much in the real world. After ignoring the aquarium books of the time and going by the scientific literature, he learned that many aquarium fish supposedly strictly freshwater or saltwater fish are also brackish water fish in the wild, and put this to the test in two 200 gallon tanks at the university he was studying at. Communication with fish collectors, ichthyologists, and experienced aquarists has reinforced his view that much of what is published in the aquarium literature about brackish water fish is hopelessly inaccurate and out of date. Neale began keeping an online compilation of his observations in 1995 as the Brackish Water Aquarium FAQ, and in 2006 TFH published Brackish Water Fishes, a book edited and partly authored by Neale describing the variety of brackish water fishes in more depth and more authoritatively than ever before. Besides brackish water fish, Neale enjoys keeping coldwater marines, catfish, dwarf cichlids, pufferfish, and oddball livebearers, particularly halfbeaks.

Offer of WWM help?  - 03/10/07 > Please do let Jeni (or whoever) know that I'd me more than happy to  help out with any brackish/oddball Qs that come up. Obviously gratis. > <Oh! Neale... is this an offer of help in responding to such queries on WWM? We would definitely be interested in your help here... and I do think you will be greatly motivated to "fill in" the enormous gaps/missing articles et al. as you see/come to find them... Please do make it known if this is your intention.> Robert, Precisely so. Happy to help answer the "post bag" as and when things come in. I just did a couple today for PFK, and they're fun. I can't pretend to be as expert on pufferfish as Jeni, but I flatter myself that my general knowledge of things brackish is adequate for most tasks. I shall endeavour to uncover such gaps in the WWM web site article roster that I can! Feel free to point me in the direction of bits you'd like me to focus on. I'm very much at your disposal. Neale

Please welcome Rick Novy to the WWM Crew     8/23/12
I've nowhere near the breadth and depth of knowledge Neale carries around in his head, but within my own scope of knowledge I'd be happy to help out.
<We/I just ask that you state what you think/feel is useful, correct>
I can speak with confidence on livebearers, some Killies, and a few brackish species.  Basic freshwater fishkeeping is another area.
<Ah good>
Just let me know what you need me to do.
<I welcome you to our association. Please send along a short bio. for posting; perhaps your FB, sci-fi links
Your email folder name: RickN
Re: Please welcome Rick Novy to the WWM Crew - 8/23/12
Bob,
If this is being posted on the WWM website please strip my phone number out. Thanks.
Rick
<Ah yes... have left off all contact info. Can/will put your website on if you'd like. BobF>
Re: Please welcome Rick Novy to the WWM Crew
Website is fine.  I'll be sending you a bio later today.
RN
<Tres bien! And a pic if you'd like. BF>
www.ricknovy.com
Bio and photo - 8/23/12
Rick Novy has been keeping fish for most of the past thirty years and is a member of the American Livebearers Association. Right now, he lives Arizona, which supplies some interesting (and often frustrating) challenges in the form of extremely hard water and very warm tank temperatures.
Early on, Rick kept tetras, but interests have since migrated to livebearers, Killies, some of the smaller cichlid species, and the amazing Australian desert goby.
His education is in the hard sciences (physics, mathematics, engineering) and he tries to balance that knowledge of how things work with the mysteries of why things work.  He is also a writer of both fiction and non-fiction.  Articles on the Endler's Livebearer have appeared in the ALA Bulletin and in WetWebMedia Online Magazine.
Rick's fiction falls into the science fiction category, including a parody on the Steampunk subgenre he calls "Fishpunk."  You can learn more about his writing and how to get your hands on it at www.ricknovy.com<Thanks Rick. Will get posted on the morrow. BobF>
Bio addendum
Bob, would you drop this into the end of the bio I provide please?
Twitter: @ricknovy
<Sure. B>

Meet Bobby Rudro, New WWM Crewmember    3/15/12
Please let me know what you need from me to get the process started.
Bobby,
Cheers and welcome to the WWM Crew. BobF>
A quick Bio for you..
I have been involved in the Hobby/Trade for about 30years now.  Started with Freshwater tanks about 10years old and have had a tank ever since.  Got involved in Marine and Reef tanks a few years later and have been working diligently ever since to limit the number of poor invertebrates that die in my care! ;)  I owned a LFS store for a few years and decided quickly that a hobby and a business seldom marry well together and moved on to the hobby side full time.  My favorite Hobby Fish are certainly the Pseudanthias Genus and I am admittedly a sucker for SPS corals!!  I look forward to providing any help I can with modern Reef and Marine keeping questions!!
Thank you. Will post/share. B

With all this talk of photos.... It dawns on me I've never submitted a pic. I have only one photograph of myself, in Idaho, after swimming in my favorite spot in the Moyie river - and not certain at all that it is decent/acceptable for posting with my bio - too risqué? If so, I'll see what I can come up with. I know there's a camera around here, somewhere. <What a babe! Schwing!> If this *is* acceptable, to whom do I send it? <Uhh, pet fish models inc. Actually this is it> Also, of note, shrimp article is coming along well. I'm not exactly full of time right now, with packing stuff up an' all, but I'm hoping it will come out nicely. <Bout time! Or we'll Photoshop out that rock and give you goose feathers!!!! Bob> Thanks, -Sabrina

LA good times, recruitment, Jordan Stari      3/5/12
Hi Bob, it would be an absolute honor to contribute to WWM. I have learned so much from your site and I would love the chance to give something back. I am available to help in anyway you see fit.
Jordan
<Ahh! Outstanding. I welcome you to our association. Please send along a brief bio. to share w/ the present Crew as well as to post... with a pic if you'd like.
Re: LA good times, recruitment
I have had numerous freshwater aquariums with varying levels of success since the mid-eighties but my interest in marine tanks did not begin until after college. Upon graduation, I moved back to Louisiana and spent every available hour fishing for speckled trout in the gulf. Like the truly great fishermen of my family I was more skilled in telling tales than actually catching fish. One hot fish-less afternoon in the marsh a light bulb went off. I would set up a saltwater tank to see how bait fish/shrimp behave when not attached to a hook. This would provide the edge I needed and transform me into the trout master. There was also the thought- "How hard could it be?" With visions of the Great Barrier Reef in my mind and limited resources I set up a 20 gallon tank of death. Perplexed with why I could not keep anything alive I found a local fish store that provided some basic information and soon enough I could keep minnows alive. I was on my way to becoming the master fishermen of legends but somewhere along the way my minnow research tank was transformed into a tiny little reef. Twelve years later, the trout still elude me but the little minnow experiment has turned into a full blown passion for marine life. WWM has been the most beneficial tool in my quest for knowledge and I truly appreciate the chance to give something back to the site that has helped me so much through the years.
Jordan Stari

New Crew Member: Jordan Stari from LA    2/8/12
All, pleased to introduce Jordan, whom I met last wknd. visiting out in the bayou in Louisiana... his short bio. below. Lynn, you and I may finally get goosed, okay, the momentum to produce that key to marine inverts... a fave area of Jordan's. B

Offer of help, Simon Trippick Joins the Crew! 1/7/10
Hi Bob,
<Good day Simon>
I wrote an article for you guys a year or so ago about an ATS that you have on your site that you now have in your FAQ's. You asked if I would have the time to help out on your site. I (politely!) refused at the time because I did not have the time, but my wife has now moved away during the week to do her PhD and I find that I am at a bit of a loose end on the evenings now, so I would be able to give an hour or so 4 or 5 days a week at least.
<Great>
If you are still in need of people then I would be honoured to volunteer!
<Indeed we are>
Thanks very much,
Simon
<Thank you for coming forward. If you would, please forward a brief bio. for posting (w/ an image/likeness if you'd like as well). The log-in for our webmail server is: XXXX
I look forward to your input. Cheers, Bob Fenner> 
Simon Trippick bio.  1/7/10
Hello to you all and thank you for welcoming me to the crew so readily! Here is a quick bio of my fishy experience, but the picture will have to wait for a bit until my wife gives the necessary clearance! I hope this is ok!
I live in England, I am 33 years old and have kept fish since I was 8.
My first tank was a freshwater 'community' set up that included tetras, gouramis, mollies and a pair of convict cichlids that we were assured would all 'get along just fine'. The outcome was inevitable, but the convicts had babies and I was hooked!
I kept various American cichlids over the years, took them with me to university and back, all the while my tanks, and the cichlids, just kept getting bigger and bigger. I then landed a pretty decent job, bought a house and suddenly had space for a six foot tank. It was then I moved into marines and with the arrival of my Emperor Angelfish my love for the hobby really took off! Combining amazing animals and their interactions, the ability to 'tinker' continuously, build things, change equipment and a near inexhaustible supply of reading material, as well as the fact that there is something new to learn every day means that it is never dull for me, or mundane, but always just marvelous! Keeping fishes and corals and learning about them has opened my eyes to what is happening to the world, and because of it I am a fundraiser for the Marine Conservation Society. I do not subscribe to some peoples thoughts that our hobby is bad for the planet, rather that it is a means to educate people into caring for it a lot more than they do right now.
Anyway, 5 years on and I've married the girl of my dreams and sold my house, but I still have the six foot reef tank, only now it's plumbed into two four foot tanks at the beginning of a multi-habitat system that is my next project.
As far as answering questions is concerned I am most comfortable with things in the reef department, but since I have always had a large lionfish, my weakness there is small fishes because I have never really kept them. I can also help out with fish health in general if required, and I know a bit about cichlids as well. I have helped out on a forum before and have just got back on there after an absence, so I do have some experience answering fishy questions. I hope I can do a fine job helping fishies and people all over, and please don't hesitate to tell me if I'm not!
Thanks again for welcoming me to the crew and I'm looking forward to working with you all.
Simon

Marine Conservation Society & fundraising   4/15/10
This is a note of thanks to all who supported me in the recent Bath Half Marathon, both fellow WWM crewmembers and readers/ posters alike! You sure are a generous lot, and in total I managed to raise £301.00 for the Marine Conservation Society. It did take me far longer than I wanted though, a colossal 2hrs and 9 minutes, but I did manage to drag my weary legs & knees around the final bend at last!
<All's well that ends well...>
Thanks again to you all, our planet certainly needs peoples such as you! Simon.
<Thank you Simon. BobF>

Simon et ux Kim

Lynn Zurik 4/2/07 Hi Bob!    We met when you were up here in Seattle last year giving a seminar for the local club. I really enjoyed meeting you and getting a chance to chat for a bit. Regarding my joining the crew, yep, I'd love to give y'all a hand however I can.  My main strength is ID'ing critters but I'm sure I could help in the other areas as well. LOL As long as it's not FW, it's been way too long since I've done that! I started off with SW in '73 when I was in HS and never went back ;-) <Ahh!>    As for the article(s), we've been trying to come up with things to do to help newbie members at WWF so we've decided to write some short articles to post there. <Wiki fashion? Or individual effort, or?> We're hoping to get a lot of member participation in writing these articles, but in the meantime, I'm working on some critter ones. The first will be "Things that go 'click' in the night". Part one will be on Pistol shrimp, part 2 will be on mantis. <Sounds good> Right now I'm doing the research and hoping to get it posted later this week. While it's not going to be something that will be long enough (or probably technical enough) for WWM/CFA, it should be helpful for a newbie who's been wondering what those sounds were! <Mmm, actually... will make the offer to conspire with you, give you use of my image work if it will help... Edit, lengthen and help you market such pieces to the pulp and e'zines> I would, though, like to write something in the future for possible submission. <Please do> I love taking photographs, so perhaps I could submit something there as well(?). Here's my profile page - if you have a chance you can check out some of the photos I've taken. LOL But they're nowhere as good as yours or Zo's! <Mmm, a matter of practice, gear and opportunities taken...>     http://wetwebfotos.com/Home?action Request=userview&userID=2470 <Very nice... really like the close-ups of the polychaetes>    Thanks and have a great week!    -Lynn <And you as well... And thank you for coming forward. Our webmail log-in: XXXX And a link to familiarize yourself with a few of the conventions we use: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWM AdminSubWebIndex/crewsupwebmail.htm Welcome to our association. Bob Fenner>

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