Re: Virus? What virus? I ain't got no stinkin' virus! Or...do I?

[Scott <zerelli@yahoo.com>]

Its funny you mention this scenario. I have kept
aquariums since I was about 11 or so, but I really got
big time hooked when I "discovered" cichlids in 1989
after moving to the "big city" (Louisville KY). I
worked in the UofL library and was shelving books when
I found Innes' book. After that I got a cracked 29
gallon tank from an alum in my fraternity and then
found out what real pet stores were like. I killed a
lot of S American and Central American cichlids at
first (well they killed each other mostly), but I was
hooked bad from that point on.


--- Scott Olson <olson7@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I noticed my first symptoms in 1982.  Instead of
> studying, as I should have 
> been, I was looking through aquarium reference books
> at the University of 
> Montana library.  They had the Innes book, the Frey
> book (think?) and an 
> early TFH book or two.
> 
> The pictures of apistos were few and far between,
> and not very good, to tell 
> the truth, but I was very interested in these (at
> that time) rare and 
> hard-to-get little beauties.
> 
> My wife first noticed my illness when I:
> 
> - Began to haunt all three of the local fish stores
> hoping, asking, begging 
> for some apistos.
> 
> - Joined strange organizations like the Apistogramma
> Study Group, the 
> American Cichlid Association and the Pacific Coast
> Cichlid Association.
> 
> - Talked about apistogramma in my sleep.  At first
> my wife thought I might 
> be straying, until I explained that apistogramma is
> not a spanish lady's 
> name.
> 
> I ordered some apistogramma cf caetei and a.
> Steindachneri from one of the 
> two people that advertised apistos at the time in
> the Buntbarsche Bulletin.
> 
> About the time these fish came in, I found one
> lonely little apisto at the 
> lfs hidden among some wild-caught rams.  I asked
> about him, and was told 
> 'six bucks', which at the time seemed a little
> extraordinary for a juvenile, 
> unidentified contaminant, but I bought him anyway!
> 
> I didn't know what I had, so I drew a sketch of this
> little guy and sent it 
> to Mike Wise, who kindly identified it as a probable
> viejita or possible 
> McMasteri.
> 
> The cf. caetei spawned like mad in our Montana
> tapwater - quite a remarkable 
> feat in and of itself.  I started hatching brine
> shrimp eggs and doing very 
> frequent water changes.  It's been downhill pretty
> much ever since.
> 
> After a few years of severe infection, I was able to
> fight off the disease 
> for about seven years (I believe my young son was an
> effective anti-body at 
> the time; he has since mutated into a teenager). 
> Now it's back with a 
> vengeance.
> 
> Have not as yet consulted my physician, as I fear
> any cure may be worse than 
> the disease!  I have not heard my wife mention the
> word lobotomy with any 
> frequency for years, but the word is beginning to
> float about the house 
> again....
> 
> Best,
> 
> Scott
>
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