We're pleased to announce the new editor of Practical Fishkeeping Magazine - Alex Bell.
Words by Alex Bell
Many of you have been waiting to hear for a while who will be taking over as editor. So it is with great pleasure and excitement to announce that I will be joining the Practical Fishkeeping team very soon. After being a reader, like you all, for the last 15 years and an occasional contributor for the last 2, it still hasn’t quite sunk in. I remember how it felt to have one of my fish featured in the old community pages, let alone my first long piece.
I’ve been given the opportunity to write this tailpiece as a little introduction prior to starting in the role. Which is the perfect chance to introduce myself to you all and give you a little bit of my history in the hobby. My journey into this wonderful hobby started with a fishkeeping book in a school library. It had me hooked from the first read, opening my eyes to the opportunities of live aquatic plants, natural hardscape and the endless species of fish across the world. A short while later, a 60 litre aquarium was gifted to me by my parents. This aquarium featured the classic mix of community fishes, two rocks placed far too symmetrically and some undemanding plants (vallis and Cryptocoryne wenditii are the two the stand out in my memory) certainly not a masterpiece. Little did they know, it would become a lifelong obsession influencing my major life decisions.
Every opportunity to add a tank to my collection was grasped, including a shrimp tank from a subscription to this very magazine. At the age of 15, I started my career in aquatics working weekends in my local store. I now had an income and discount on fish… nothing could stop me now! This continued for 6 years across a couple stores, including whilst studying my degree in marine biology.
After graduating I needed to find a full time job. I ended up working as a laboratory assistant in an aquatic research facility. Later specialising in working with zebra danios whose role in research has been covered in a few previous articles so I won’t cover that here. During this time I have had the opportunity to work with species and equipment that I would never have been able to do elsewhere.
Perhaps more importantly, it enabled me to convert my garage into a dedicated fish room enabling the growth of my fish collection to 14 aquaria mostly specialising in blackwater aquariums. These aquariums and the fish inside them have helped me develop my fish photography which I have shared routinely on social media (@alexb_aquatics) for many years, spreading the love for tinted waters.
Now you know a bit about me, what should you expect from the new editor? Well first of all, those of you who detest tinted waters won’t need to panic, I won’t be suddenly converting this magazine to a biotope specialty. Although, this is the area I do most enjoy, I have spent my time on the salty side and everything in between too. The content will stay varied and engaging, covering all aspects of the hobby produced by myself and the same excellent group of writers.
Also keep a look out on our social pages and channels over the next few months as I will be developing some new content over there once I am settled in. For now, I’d just like to say a huge thank you to Claire for covering as the guest editor, and all the writers that still produced these excellent articles during this gap in the editorial position. I can’t wait to get started and you’ll be hearing a lot from me soon.