Meet Our Contributors
Jen Clifford
BA In Biology – Writer
Jen Clifford has more than 30 years experience as a biologist, aquarist, and fishkeeper. She started her first aquarium in childhood when she snuck a fishbowl into her bedroom and filled it with African dwarf frogs and ten-cent feeder goldfish.
Her passion grew from there, and by high-school she was breeding African cichlids and selling them for profit. At Reed College, Jen made ends meet by caring for the biology department aquariums and mastered the retail side of the industry by working for a local aquarium specialty store.
Jen is an expert in setting up new tanks and maintaining naturally-planted freshwater habitats, and has experience raising a wide variety of aquatic species. She can help you with any of your fishkeeping problems. Whether you need advice on filters or substrate, or just want to know if you should take the plunge and get an aquarium, Jen has the answers for you!
Alison Page
Aquarist 35+ Years – Writer
Alison Page has been an avid fish keeper since she was about 12 years old and has over 35 years of experience. She started off with a simple 10-gallon aquarium setup and two goldfish called Mister and Missus, although she never actually knew which was which!
For her 15th birthday, she was given a tropical fish setup, complete with tetras, guppies, and dwarf gouramis. She was hooked! To date, she has owned many different species of freshwater tropical fish, including cichlids, discus, bettas and piranhas. She’s also successfully raised numerous spawns of kribensis cichlids and bettas.
Alison currently has two large freshwater tanks. The first tank has two huge fancy goldfish who are almost ten years old and still looking as good as ever. In the other, she has a happy community of tiger barbs, green tiger barbs, Corydoras catfish, platys, and mollies.
Wanda C.
Aquarist – Writer
Wanda is a second-generation aquarist from the sunny tropics of Malaysia. She has been helping her father with his freshwater tanks since she was a toddler, and has fallen in love with the hobby ever since.
A perpetual nomad, Wanda does her best to integrate fish-keeping with her lifestyle, and has taken care of fish in three different continents. She loves how it provides a nice break from the hustle and bustle of life.
Her favourite part of fish-keeping? Observing the traits and quirks of every individual fish! From chasing to digging, fish are an adorable species with lots of personality, which makes taking care of them an extremely rewarding hobby.
