Authors

Dave Acland

After graduating from Coastal Carolina University with a BS in Marine Science in 1996, I started my professional career in 1997 as an aquarist at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC. This was an amazing experience, in which I gained invaluable hands on training in exhibit design and construction, as well as husbandry skills for a wide range of animals. In 2000 I started working at That Fish Place as one of the staff Marine Biologists, with the responsibility of maintaining one of the largest retail fish holding systems in the world. I presently hold the position of Aquatics Director at That Fish Place, where I oversee the operation of our 35,000 gallon retail fish room, our mail order aquarium livestock division (aquariumlivestock.com), and Aquatic Design Studio, our custom aquarium installation and maintenance division (aquaticdesignstudio.com). I also lend technical support to our catalog, website, and purchasing departments for aquatic products. As a Hobbyist I have been keeping aquariums and ponds for over 25 years, and through this time have kept more aquariums and types of fish than I can remember. For the last 15 years I have been keeping saltwater reef aquariums.

Frank Indiviglio

I believe that I was born with an intense interest in animals, as neither I nor any of my family can recall a time when I was not fascinated by creatures large and small. One might imagine this to be an unfortunate set of circumstances for a person born and raised in the Bronx, but, in actuality, quite the opposite was true. Most importantly, my family encouraged both my interest and the extensive menagerie that sprung from it. My mother and grandmother somehow found ways to cope with the skunks, flying squirrels, octopus, caimans and countless other odd creatures that routinely arrived un-announced at our front door. Assisting in hand-feeding hatchling praying mantises and in eradicating hoards of mosquitoes (I once thought I had discovered “fresh-water brine shrimp” and stocked my tanks with thousands of mosquito larvae!) became second nature to them. My mother went on to become a serious naturalist, and has helped thousands learn about wildlife in her 16 years as a volunteer at the Bronx Zoo. My grandfather actively conspired in my zoo-buildings efforts, regularly appearing with chipmunks, boa constrictors, turtles rescued from the Fulton Fish Market and, especially, unusual marine creatures. It was his passion for seahorses that led me to write a book about them years later.

Thank you very much, for a complete biography of my experience click here.

Jose Mendes

That Fish Place’s resident “Cichlid Pro.” In addition to working at TFP for 13 years, Jose’s been breeding Cichlids for over 14 years and has produced over 200 different species. Jose is the man to question for everything cichlid. Check out Jose’s work in the article: Keeping and Breeding African Cichlids in Small Aquariums, and his many other contributions on cichlid husbandry, behavior, and his personal experiences with keeping cichlids from across the globe.

Patty Little

Patty has been a member of the That Fish Place family for 11 years and is a lifetime plant and animal enthusiast. A Millersville graduate, she has been our “plant lady” offering experience and advice on aquarium and pond plants as well as pond and aquarium fish and inverts. Patty has worked in several areas of the retail location. She was a member of the fish room and live fish management team before her present position in web content for TFP, where she continues to share her aquatic interests and knowledge.

Eileen Daub

Like many of That Fish Place’s other marine biologists, Eileen has been interested in fish and aquariums since she’s been old enough to know water is wet. After a brief stint as a United States Coast Guard Academy cadet, she graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a BS in marine science in 2004. Eileen has been a marine biologist at That Fish Place ever since and has worked with the Fish Room staff, marketing and advertising, livestock inventory control and livestock mail-order departments. Her fish room “favorites” are some of the most unusual fish in the hobby: frogfish, anglers, and sygnathids like seahorses and pipefish.

Sam Yost

Sam Yost has recently been promoted to a supervisor in the Fish Room at TFP and is currently a senior at Millersville University, majoring in Marine Biology. Sam has been in the aquarium hobby for several years, keeping mostly “nano” tanks. He started with a 20 gallon and kept going smaller, to a 10 gallon followed by a 2.5 gallon tank. His interests include diving, snorkeling, and reef conservation. His favorite fish at the moment is the Yasha Haze goby, a perfect fit for his nano set-ups.

Jason Tschudy

From a very young age, Jason has been around fish and reading about the ocean. He has developed a large part of his experience through reading about fish and watching their behavior in his own aquariums, primarily tropical freshwater tanks, but some saltwater, too. After starting at That Fish Place/That Pet Place in 2005 he has become much more involved in saltwater and cichlids. This experience has allowed Jason access to study the behavior and needs of various types fish in the aquarium, and increased his interests in the natural behaviors of fish kept in aquariums.