Re-introducing myself

To all those that know me here, sorry I haven't been on here much since I came to Japan. It's been fun, crazy and scary all at once. But all and all I am still happy to be here!

For those that don't know me, my name is Todd, aka Me, I breed African cichlids including 2 species of Frontosa, and half a dozen Victorian Cichlids. Most of which are extremely rare. I moved to Japan March 22nd 2011 (yes really) to be with my wife, but left all of my Fish in the care of my Brother who has kept New World Cichlids and Salt water in the past. It was slow going for awhile there as he learned the ropes, but I just had my original strain of Christmas Fulu come back to the fish room in Washington, and he is now up to his neck in fry (see my post in the offering to sell section). I'm am very stoked to have these back in the collection.

Anyways I am going to try to be more active on this forum, I have been mostly hanging out on Frontosa.com, and Cichlidsofvictoria.com, but really miss talking with Washingtonians and seeing what you are all into. Any group buys lately BTW? If anyone has any questions about keeping Frontosa, Victorian cichlids, or whatever I am more than happy to help.

Me.

Hey, welcome back. While in japan you MUST go to Takashi Amanos aquarium. He is one of the godfathers to fish keeping and is largly responsible today for people putting aquatic plants into aquariums. It has been a dream of mine for several years to go and see his place. He is a big insperation to people all over the world. Btw how is the fish scene there? Are you keeping any tanks?

I expect pictures galore of Takashi's aquarium.... lol please may I live through you?

Thanks, and ok, I will look it up. The fish scene here is impressive in the sense that even the cheesy department stores have very very very clean tanks with very nice PLANTS, thanks to Takashi I am sure I have seen a couple middle sized fish shops, one was amazing for the size, the other one had mostly shrimp, but used 40 gallon breeders for $5 each! and used eheim cannisters for $20 each, granted they weren't the big ones, but still! To answer your question, no fish for me yet, but I am thinking winter time I will make the plunge. 20 dollar filter and 5 dollar tank kinda inspired me. I am thinking Discus or Tropheus. Or Both

On a side note I was really pissed when I asked the customs people at the airport in Narita what their rules and fees were for carrying fish on the plane from the US. They said there was no limit, and no fee's, no quarantine, nothing nothing, just bring them on over!!! Man!!!!! I would've brought 20 of my Mpimbwe fry, and at least once bag of Victorian Cichlids had I known!! Oh well. Next time I go to the US I will be buying a water proof shock proof suit case for my return trip

Back!

Hey Todd, great to hear from you man! All your breeders doing okay with the family taking care of them?

Yes, they went to my brother, and he is doing a good job with them, though he just now has started stripping them, so not too many fry at the moment. How are things in your fish room Larry?

Things are going pretty well. We survived the move with only two tanks that cycled expectantly and one of those I caught before any significant issues. I lost some red zebras and rusties in the other tank but they are my "prized" fish. The setup has 8 20L and 3 40BR tanks in the fish room, plus 2 125g show tanks downstairs and Laura has a 55g plus a 10g and a Fluval Edge up in her office. We did crash her colony of OEBT shrimp in the move (or afterwards I think) but they show good signs of recovery over the past month.

Do you have any tanks running over there now? I know space is always at a premium, so you might have to go a different direction than we did here.

Has life begun returning to normal?

Sounds like you guys are having fun!

No tanks yet. $5 used 40 gallon breeders down the street have me very very tempted. We actually have allot of space here, but my wife is being a big of a stick in the mud. I am sure I can have one tank, two may be pushing it right now. I will admit I am not too eager to go crazy with fish just yet, since we still may not be staying long. Bringing me to your last question. Things are only normal in the sense that the Media has plenty of people convinced the danger is over. However their are still 3 reactors in full melt down after 5 or 6 months, we visited Kyoto and using our dosimeter found that the radiation there is actually higher than in Tokyo! I made the mistake of saying this to a friend while I was drunk at eatery in Kyoto, forgetting many more people in Kyoto speak or understand English. There was a very quick EHHH!!!???? Response from most the restaurant. Anyways, so without going on too much of a rant, things aren't normal, but there is a major effort by Japan and the US to make people think it is. I see many Americans returning to the area, with a sorta look of "Lady Gaga said it's safe" on their faces. This is true in case you missed it. She came to japan and said she wants the world to know it's safe. Too bad she is wrong.

Here I am still ranting, haha. In conclusion, me and the misses are being as safe as practically possible. Eating imports, drinking imports, but breathing the glowing air. Had a lovely typhoon a couple days ago

Welcome Back. Glad to hear you are being as safe as possible. I'm looking forward to hearing about your fish adventures and any aquatic culture impressions.

welcome back Todd!

Thanks Spyral, How have you been? you still keeping Mpimbwe?

@VSkitchen, I really want to go fishing in the Tama river. There are cichlids galore apparently from owners that couldn't keep them. It is nick named the Tamazon.