I was born on February 29th, 1940. This makes me 15 years old! Lol!
I started keeping fish when I was 10 years old. I started with guppies
and livebearers. I developed a Tiger Doubletail Guppy with a yellow
caudal and black spots that had two long spikes on the caudal, one on
top and one on bottom. Even then I began keeping notes on my progress.
I spawned my first pair of bettas in 1952. I then kept bettas and angels
and killies for a few years. Went to Villanova University, and got married,
and started raising a family. I still had my fish.
My first house had no basement. I had one wall in the kitchen/dining room
lined with tanks and jars. We all ate together! Lol! . Then I bought an old
farm house with a basement. There I built my racks and a Mason jar multi-filtration
system for my bettas. I then joined the IBC in the middle 60s. It was then I
discovered I was not alone with my bettas and all my work in trying to produce
a separate color trait was for nothing. It was there I really learned about
betta genetics because I was introduced to blacks. marbles, and the doubletails.
To this day, I still remember going down to Dr. Al and Dr. Sue Liebetrau's house
in Baltimore to the CHBBA meetings. CHBBA was an old betta club (Chesapeake Bay Betta Assoc.).
I started sending fish to shows. I was "blown out of the water" in the first show
but I had two letters sent to me by two judges urging me to continue and to improve
this fin or that color. (Back then, there was no "Novice Class" as there is today.)
I did, and after that I started to place. I would retreat for a year and just work
my genetics. Then come out again bigger and badder than before! I was pretty heavy
into the blacks, steel blues, and doubletail butterflys, and was working on improving
my red DTs. I was asked to be the guest speaker at the Baltimore Aquarium twice.
In 1968, a fatal three year illness attacked one of my children, so I completely
slowed all of my hobby down to three tanks and a few jars. Later on, I was able to
buy some acreage and build my own house, partially myself, the way I wanted it. The
basement had a fish room that took up one half of the basement. The "Laboratory" has
its own lighting, electricity, tank racks, water, and drainage systems. I designed the
fish room to be my "retirement hobby". That was 28 years ago.
Someone asked me why I picked the screen name Olde Dragon. I said because my bettas
are like little water dragons who have distinct personalities and love to battle,
as I do. And I was born in the year of the DRAGON in the Chinese calendar.
Here are some Betta accomplishments. I got them out of three boxes. Lol! The ribbons
were all scrounged up! Lol! It took 4 years of combined shows over a 10 year time.
Shows what good fish and a lot of hard work can do!
