My first tank and catfish

Hi all, my name is Tom Mulders and I live in a small village in the Netherlands, next to Amsterdam. I have been a fish nut since the age of 7, when I got my first tank. I will never forget the fish that came with it: an American catfish (Ictalurus nebulosus / brown bullhead). After it had eaten through the gold fish, it started to outgrow the tank (50x30x30 cm). I finally had to release it into the wild, when the tank got damaged (me dropping a rock in it when changing water: learning lesson 1: gravity under water is still gravity). The best spot I could find at the time was near Roermond, in the river Maas.... 

In all my ignorance I helped contribute to some real fauna destruction, some 27 years ago, way before I read Tijs Goldschmidt's book "Darwin's Dreampond".

This very accessible book describes in a colourful way the destruction of the Victoria Lake cichlids by the introduction of non-native species. It also elaborates on evolutionary development of the many different cichlids species inhabiting the great African Lakes. You can read more in the reviews on Amazon: Darwin's Dreampond: Drama on Lake Victoria

Some 4 years later there was a big news article in the local press, showing a picture of a proud fisherman who caught a full grown American catfish at the exact same spot I had released it... Looking at his size and belly, I am sure it must have had the best time ever :-)


Around 2004 I started with a new tank, which measured 150x50x50cm (59x19.7x19.7 inch / 99 gallon) in which I kept a fantastic couple of the Parachromis Loisellei. I really loved these fish!!!

Here is a video of the loiselleis feeding on small (dead) fish:

And here are some pics of the Parachromis loisellei male:

And an image of the Parachromis loisellei female:

Hope you like them!