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Haas "This is one of my favorite "fishy" photographs. It was taken by Gene Wolfsheimer in the late 1950's or early 1960's when he and Dr. Richard Haas visited two legends of the pioneering killifish hobby in the US, Richard Buettner and Franz Werner (A. franzwerneri). Dick Haas (youngest man in photo) gave me this photo taken at Buettner's Oceanside, California home near San Digo. Dick was a charter member of the AKA, a founding member of the legendary Los Angeles Aquarium Society, a master breeder with a 300 tank fishroom, a professional ichthyologist focused on Nothobranchius species (he collected in Somalia in the 70's and earlier bred and helped to distribute the original N. kirki and even some of the earliest T. dolichopterus imports into the US) and worked with the UN internationally after his retirement. Richard Buettner (shortest man in photo) was a legend in the tropical fish collecting (he went to South America many times) and retail business in NYC in the 1930's. His Empire Aquarium was the premier retail store then and he was the first to import live wild discus in 1932. He had begun as a hobbyist in pre-WWI Germany at the dawn of the hobby. His passion was killies and when he retired after WWII, he moved to California and devoted himself to their breeding. He was a master breeder of the difficult species and kept up with the leading German hobbyists of his era. Franz Werner was a German immigrant like Buettner. He was a leading US killie breeder by the 1930's, often obtaining stock then and later from the great German killie guys like Erhard Roloff (many roloffi species in the hobby) and Karl Berthold (S. bertholdi). He like Haas and Buettner was a charter member of the AKA in 1962 and a close friend and advisor to Dr. Al Klee. He established the connection between US and German killie hobbyists long before anyone did. His standards were exacting, his knowledge vast, his photography top knotch for the era and his breeding articles were exhaustive. Between them, these 3 men were profoundly influential in the Golden Age of the AKA and US killie hobby. Their legacy is woven through all its early years." - obby Ellison Harrison Biochemist, Aquarist, Master Breeder Charles H. Harrison, Ph.D. was born and educated in north Texas. He started keeping killies in 1967, is a long time member of the AKA, and organized the St. Louis Area Killifish Association in 1985. He maintains 30 to 40 tanks of mostly killies, livebearers and small fishes. He also holds the title of Supreme Grand Master Breeder in the Breeder's Award Program of the Missouri Aquarium Society. "My first interest in parasites came in the early '70s while I was working with the Witchita County Health Dept. Being a Chemist by education I was intensely interested in treatments and how particular compounds affected what parasites. Over the years of keeping and breeding many different families of fishes I have dealt with most all the parasites that plague our fresh water community. "I have been frustrated with over the counter cures that don't work and promises from pet stores of healthy fish. Even the best breeders are often surprised to find diseases they have passed on to trusting friends. I have found some substances which work to kill off the nematodes and protozoa that cause most of our problems." Hoedeman JJ Author & Scientist Hoedemann's Dutch language "Aquarium Encyclopaedia" was the gold standard and was translated into English, the distinction between aquarium scince and pure ichthyology blurs in this book as it provides the basis for an introductory university ichthyology education; in no small my this book served as inspiration for the work you are now reading.

Horacek CZKA Icon Petr Horacek has passed away. I have been informed by Karel Brückler, that last weekend from Saturday to Sunday (19 - 20. March 2022) my friend Petr Horacek (1953 - 2022) passed away. It makes me very sad to have lost another friend. Petr was a stone of the Czech Killfish scene. He was the chairman of CZKA for many years and made it compulsory. He was also a member of DKG. Those who are on the way to foreign killifishing events have always met Petr and Karel. Not only did they regularly visit the convention, but also regional group meetings and kill-fishing days of the DKG. At one of these events, they talked to me if they were allowed to join me on one of my prison trips, and I happily said yes. Then we planned the trip FTZ 2009 to Tanzania and they accompanied me on a 6000km trip through Tanzania and Kenya. It was an unforgettable experience for Petr and Karel and every meeting the memories came up and we enjoyed it. Karel wants to accompany me again on one of the next trips, for Petr the deteriorating health condition, unfortunately, another tropical trip was no longer possible. Steffan Fick Huijgevoort Geert van Huijgevoort Killifish imarasario in the Dutch Killifish Club since the the 1980s, long before most poeple had found the Internet. I was in California in 1988 and got a call at my office from Andre Schonewille and Geert, because apparantly I was one of the few other poeple in the then young Internet that talked about killifish, which I had been doing since 1986, running the killies@mejac mailing list. It was a wnderful phone call. We chatted for about and hour and have been good friends ever since. Andre and Geert have collected killies in the wild a few times and hve a very good feel for what fish are around in Europe. Plus they're both really fun people. Andre and Geert Collecting in Panama in 2012 Huntley W Guru The grand master of all things aquaria in California from the last half of the 20th century to the present.