About Me

5:50 PM philosophyeverything 0 Comments

But there is one that ultimately shows itself and overlap with every single aspect of life. That is, Philosophy. Some of us maybe into gadgets, fashion or food (namely few). You maybe a gadget geek. A fashion crazy. Or a food connoisseur. But when we truly dive into any topic in the world, what comes next is, Philosophy. You start knowing what's good and what's not. It isn't what's being taught out of the textbook. It isn't what the mainstream likes you to believe. You instinctively knows what work and what not. This is the philosophy of -what your are into-.

This is the reason i started this blog. I am an aquarist or rather just, fishkeeper. I cannot say i like all the types of fishes in the world because that would be an over statement of my zealous desire to have you believe me. But this hobby has came, stayed, burned and died on me and reignited that has taught me alot of practical knowledge.

Something about myself

I am a fishkeeper from the sunny island of South-East Asia, Singapore. I have been keeping fishes fulltime for nearing 3 years. What i meant by fulltime? No i am not a fishkeeper by profession. But i have dedicated most of my free time to fishkeeping, bouncing from one farm to another, one LFS to another on my free time or weekends after work. I started fishkeeping 3 years ago with a half foot tank. Keeping Tetras, Cories, Shrimps and plants. I met failure with that tank. All of my fishes died. I spent hours researching and thinking what could went wrong. But then i moved on and things got real when i bought an Asian Arowana. But still, i met with failures. From not preparing a decent filtration system to a bad choice of Water Conditioner.. The size of my tank kept expanding too. From half a foot, to one foot, to two foot, to three foot and finally ended up with a four foot tank now (120 Gallon). I will love to entertain the idea of a bigger tank in future but i will leave that to future circumstances. Currently i am keeping an Asian Arowana (that has been with me the longest), several Mahseers (Kelahs), Probarbus Jullieni (Temoleh), Datnoid Microlepis, Pleco, Silver Dollars and a Red Tail Catfish.

I have tried expanding my knowledge in other fishes. Other than those i have now, i have had Peacock Bass, Sting Ray, Ciclids, Bumble Bee Gobies, Skinhead Barbs, Bettas (was for a while a Betta Breeder), North Thailand Datnoid, American Tigerfish (Datnoid), Tinfoil Barbs,  Fei Feng (Flag Tails), Tetras, Cories and Shrimps. I am looking forward to expanding my tanks in the future so i can get to know more fish types and different kinds of filtration systems or products.

Why PhdFishkeeper?

No, i do not have a Doctorate Degree in Marine Biology or fishkeeping. And i definitely do not dare to proclaim myself as a Phd in fishkeeping. But i have chosen this name to represent the passion and ongoing knowledge acquirement in fishkeeping. The idea that to embrace fishkeeping as a Science coupled with experiences. And i hope by sharing these knowledge i could entice more people to turn to this hobby and for those already into this hobby, to perpetual the passion and love for fishkeeping.

I started off this hobby just like most of us. Researching for alot of information online. Because that is only what i could do. Most Local Fish Shops (LFS) doesn't have the extra service of imparting the knowledge of fishkeeping. To be fair, that is not business. Having a rent to pay and hundreds of customers coming and going can get one pretty tired. So i turned to the internet (who would not?!) nowadays almost every kind of information can be found online (the amazing century we're living in isn't it!). But after all the said and done, i have realized that not all of the information that we find online actually works. Most are out of the textbook, meaning they are being repeated again and again from people to people without any hesitation and these people probably didn't try it out to see if it works or not. These are information that old timers would chuckle at. These are information that let one pay more money than what he or she could get it to work much cheaper.

One more reason i started this website is after an experience with a newly made friend. He had a Shrimp tank but his Shrimps kept on dying. After knowing keeping fish is one of my most passionate hobby, he engaged my help in finding out the root of his problem. On upon viewing his tank, i noticed several problems that could result in his Shrimps dying. From an unsuitable filtration to the temperature, and the lack of an established Nitrogen Cycle, i knew something else had to be done. After helping him restart and regain his passion in Shrimps keeping, he mentioned that i could put my knowledge to better help more people like him. Providing something that just works, not out of the regular textbook and something doesn't require one to be a rocket scientist to understand.

So here i am. I definitely doesn't qualify for the term of old timer in fishkeeping. Nor i am the most professional or experienced. But what i am saying here works for me. And has worked for me for the past 3 years of full time fishkeeping. Throughout my website you will learn that i am an advocate for learning through experience. Hence you will find i maybe doing things that doesn't follow what the mainstream says but try out ways that i feel is appropriate (without harming my dear wet pets). I will too refrain from topics that i myself have not experienced or lacking knowledge of (which i have extended my invitation to others who are similarly experienced in their aspect to write for the Guests Articles Column). I just hope i can debunk some of the myths and help readers save some money for the happiness of both his or her pets and themselves. 

Thank you for being here.