FishChannel's Aquarium Fish Experts

Some of Our Fish Experts have been writing for Aquarium Fish International, Freshwater And Marine Aquarium, and
FishChannel.com, since their inception. Many of Our Fish Experts have been involved in the aquarium hobby since
childhood and are now some of the most respected people in their fields – with credits including books and scientific journals.
A fishkeeper of any level should be able to find helpful information in this section that will add to their enjoyment of the
hobby.

David A. Lass

David A. Lass has been keeping tropical fish since he was 12 years old, which is many years ago. He has been involved in
most aspects of the hobby, and currently wholesales fish to retail stores in New England. In addition to the tanks for his
business, David keeps a number of large planted tanks, including a 300 gallon with altum angels, discus, rummy noses and
many catfish. David is the FishKidz columnist for Aquarium Fish International and a moderator on the FishChannel forums.
David firmly believes it is never too late to have a happy childhood.

Neale Monks

Neale Monks has been keeping aquaria for more than 20 years but has always been particularly interested in oddball and
brackish-water fish.

Neale studied zoology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, after which time he worked as a marine biologist before
earning his Ph.D. in paleontology at the Natural History Museum in London. He now writes for most of the major fishkeeping
magazines and writes the monthly Fish Health exclusive for FishChannel.com. He recently edited 'Brackish-Water Fishes',
the first truly comprehensive account of this increasingly popular part of the fishkeeping hobby.

Joshua Wiegert

Joshua Wiegert keeps a number of aquaria dedicated to native fish, goodeids, killies and any fish he’s not familiar with. A
former college math instructor, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in aquatic ecology. He is interested in preserving native fish species.

Joshua wrote the Conservation Corner column for Freshwater And Marine Aquarium magazine until May 2009.
Conservation Corner started back up as a FishChannel Exclusive in July 2010.

Jeremy Gosnell

Jeremy Gosnell’s fascination with aquatic animals started at a young age. After keeping freshwater aquariums as a child,
Jeremy began raising discus fish and keeping marine aquariums. Jeremy was soon propagating corals and breeding
clownfish and other marine animals. Jeremy is a PADI certified Dive Master and Beautiful Oceans coral reef biology science
instructor. He is interested in the ethical and environmental concerns associated with the aquarium hobby. In addition to a
variety of feature articles, Jeremy wrote the Below the Surface column for Freshwater And Marine Aquarium (FAMA)
magazine from 2005 to 2006 and FishChannel.com from 2006 to 2009.
J. Charles Delbeek

J. Charles Delbeek has been caring for marine organisms in closed systems for more than 30 years, and he currently
maintains ten exhibits at the Waikiki Aquarium. A certified SCUBA diver, Charles has made more than 300 dives in locations
throughout the world.

Charles has lectured at more than 40 aquarium-related conferences and meetings, and published approximately 40 articles
in the popular aquarium literature. In addition to writing a monthly reef aquarium column for Aquarium Fish International, he
has co-authored two popular aquarium books with Julian Sprung, The Reef Aquarium and The Reef Aquarium Volume 2.

Al Castro

Al Castro’s interest in aquarium fish began when, as an infant, he was given a pair of goldfish. When he was 11, Al joined
the San Francisco Aquarium Society, and he would eventually serve on the society’s Board of Directors for 20 years. Also a
member of the American Killifish Association, he served on its Board of Trustees for several years. Castro was a fixture in
the aquarium hobby for more than 40 years. He worked for 12 years as a professional aquarist at the Steinhart Aquarium in
San Francisco and then ran an aquarium maintenance service. He raised in excess of 825 freshwater and marine species.

Scott W. Michael

Scott W. Michael is an internationally recognized writer, underwater photographer and researcher specializing in
elasmobranchs (i.e., sharks, skates and rays) and coral reef fishes. His passion for cartilaginous fishes resulted in his first
book, Reef Sharks and Rays of the World (1994). He subsequently moved further down the food chain and began
researching the behavioral ecology of reef fishes. In 1998, he started the first of a six-volume series on the fishes that
inhabit coral reefs, entitled Reef Fishes. He has since written A Pocket Expert Guide to Marine Fishes (1999), Aquarium
Sharks and Rays (2001), and Basslets, Dottybacks and Hawkfishes (Reef Fishes Volume 2) (2004).

Mike Hellweg

Mike Hellweg has been an active aquarist for more than 30 years and has been actively breeding fish since he was 9 years
old, working almost exclusively with small fishes that mature at 4 inches or less. He is active in both local and national hobby
organizations, and has had dozens of articles published in various publications. Hellweg originally wrote the “Adventures in
Fish Breeding” column for FishChannel.com, which now appears in Aquarium Fish International magazine. He currently
owns and operates a retail fish business.
Steve Meyer

Steve Meyer’s “Ponds and Pond Fish” column was in the first issue of Aquarium Fish Magazine (Sept/Oct 1988) and
continued until January 2006. Steve was quite knowledgeable about ponds, koi and goldfish, and was able to explain these
sometimes complex topics in a way that was easy to understand for both pondkeepers and aquarists. His monthly columns —
along with many feature articles in Aquarium Fish Magazine, Aquarium USA and Ponds Magazine — were filled with valuable
information about all aspects of ponds and koi, and his advice about goldfish (in ponds and aquariums) placed the welfare of
the fish ahead of everything else.

Lee Newman

For much of his fishkeeping experience, Lee Newman has been primarily interested in keeping and breeding cichlid fishes
from South America. His current project is the identification, ecology and husbandry of demonfish, South American cichlids
of the genus Satanoperca. Lee, with an educational background in aquaculture, is currently employed with the Vancouver
Aquarium Marine Science Centre as Curator of Tropical Waters. Lee also enjoys aquarium fish photography and writing and
has participated in several collecting trips to South America.

Scott Hieber

Scott Hieber has kept aquaria since he was 11 years old, “back in the metal frame days.” He has since turned solely to
planted tanks, maintaining about a dozen at his home and workplace. In his enjoyment of living aquaria, he balances his
penchant for simple, easy-to-maintain setups with a lifelong interest in things electric and mechanical. He serves on the
Board of the Aquatic Gardeners Association. He has traveled to the Amazon to see tropical fish and aquatic plants in their
natural environs. Originally from southern California, Scott now resides near the New Jersey central coast. He says he went
east “for the weather.”

Mike Wickham

Mike Wickham has been an aquarium hobbyist since 1964. Having been an aquarium retailer for 25 years, and a sysop on
CompuServe's Fishnet Forum for well over a decade, Mike has helped many hobbyists become successful fishkeepers.
Mike is the author of several aquarium books and a regular contributor to both Aquarium Fish International and Aquarium
USA, including his monthly "Freshwater Q&A" column.
Richard Harker

Richard Harker’s 300 gallon reef tank was featured in Mike Paletta’s book, "Reef Tanks of the World." Harker also has a
2,000 gallon tank that features nearly 100 square feet of stony corals and was the subject of an article in the 2000 Marine
Fish and Reef Annual. Harker has spoken at numerous hobbyist meetings including MACNA and the Western Marine
Conference. He has explored natural coral reefs around the world. He has studied and photographed coral reefs on
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Micronesia, as
well as Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

John Tullock

John Tullock is one of America's leading proponents of environmentally sound aquarium keeping. He is the author of
thirteen books, including the popular Natural Reef Aquariums. His numerous articles have appeared in every major
aquarium publication.

John serves on the board of Conservation Fisheries, a non-profit that operates the only private hatchery in North America
that raises endangered and threatened species of native American fish for habitat restoration and species-recovery projects.
He lives near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tony Silva

Tony Silva has kept and bred discus for more than 30 years. His interest in discus has taken him to Brazil, Peru and
Colombia, where he has observed discus in their native habitat. He has met with aquarists from Australia to Zimbabwe to
exchange information and ideas.

Tony wrote the Discus in Depth column for Freshwater And Marine Aquarium (FAMA) magazine from 2005 to 2009. The
Discus in Depth column is now a FishChannel Exclusive.