June Program

Date: Sunday, June 11, 2006
Place: Room 101, Casa del Prado, Balboa Park
Time: 7 pm.  Arrive at 6 pm to sell items at the monthly auction; Auction begins at 6:30
Program: "Managing a 100 gal Planted Tank", presented by Mark Ferguson

Bob Goldstein: Ultimate Tropical Fish Hobbyist

It may come as a surprise to newcomers that the tropical fish hobby is like other specialty interest hobbies: Not everyone stays involved for a lifetime.  Or if they do, their enthusiasm wanes to some degree.  That is why I am particularly delighted to hear someone like Rosario LaCorte, who happens to be about my age but much more accomplished as an aquarist, tell me that he still feels like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the fish hobby. 

I don’t think that Bob Goldstein has ever used that same phrase to me, but his enthusiasm, too, remains unbridled, and I can’t think of any tropical fish hobbyist who has had such breadth in his endeavors.  I resonate with his enthusiasm in that he finds nearly every species of fish exciting.  Once again, however, here is someone who has most assuredly accomplished a lot more.  Make that exponentially more.  In fact, try as I might, I can’t think of anyone who has quite the breadth of experience that he has. His first love was the killifish group, and I suspect that it is still his most ardent passion in the fish hobby.  Is there any other aquarist who has spawned killifish, neons, catfish, cichlids, and marine fish species?  I’m talking hobbyist here, not professional, but I’m not sure that he would be shaded by any professionals either. 

Part of Bob’s achievements has been in the sharing of his experiences.  I recall when his book Cichlids came out in 1970, it was much ballyhooed as the “first book on a single family of fishes.”  That seems hard to believe now, but it was something of a pioneering work.  Later came the classic Cichlids of the World in 1973.  That book is still popular today, even after all these years and all the competition from books by specialists.  For unlike those snobbish aquarists, including this one, who consider the family Cichlidae the most special of fishes, Bob’s tastes are ecumenical, and he was soon on to other pursuits. 

A trained biologist, Bob’s specialty was parasitology, not ichthyology, but he combined his vocation with his avocation when he wrote the classic Disease of Fishes.  Although Bob has kept and bred the widest spectrum of fish species of anyone I personally know, his interest doesn’t stop there.  He is also an avid sports fisherman, and he has written articles and books in that venue, too. 

Bob received his Ph.D. many decades ago from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and I have often called him one of the smartest guys I know, as he has not infrequently helped me understand something about the biology or chemistry of fish or fish keeping. However, he is quick to point out that his wife, Joyce, is the smart one in the family.  She also has a PhD, and she is a senior scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Services. 

Although Bob and I have been friends for many decades, it was a friendship of correspondence, born of a mutual interest in fishes.  The first time I met him was when he visited San Diego when he was doing some environmental consulting, for the government, I think.  Whoever sponsored him, they put him up in the swankiest hotel available.  I still recall my wife and I visiting him in his room.  My wife was content to put up with our talk of fish, while she marveled at and explored the luxurious accommodations.  At the time, I was the father of young children, and neither my wife nor I did much traveling in those days, but Bob could talk about his travels across the country and around the world, meeting with people I only knew through correspondence.  I was taken with his quick mentality and avid enthusiasm for nearly everything.  Nowadays, I travel, too, but when I discuss the destination with Bob, he has usually already been there and can give me pointers on what to see.  An example was the big island of Hawaii, which I just took my wife, son, and granddaughter to within the past year.  Bob told me where to find some interesting frogs, and I found them.  The difference was that Bob had taken some back home to attempt to propagate them.  Although I am interested in nearly everything biological, I don’t quite have the energy of a Goldstein to explore keeping so many different types of species. 

The thing about Bob’s energy and inquisitive mind is that it is not limited to biology, as he is pretty tough to stump in just about any subject area.  An accomplished photographer, Bob supplies articles to a host of magazines on a variety of subjects.  In addition, he is president of an environmental consulting firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has resided for many years now.  During his last visit to our area, he was receiving calls on his cell phone about an empty rental unit.  Rental units in addition to his hobby and business?  The idea here is that Bob is a person of tremendous energy, and our hobby has benefited from it. 

To my knowledge, Bob was the first person to author a column devoted just to cichlids.  It appeared in Tropical Fish Hobbyist many years ago, and it became so popular that Bob had to get an unlisted number to ward off calls from countless hobbyists who didn’t factor in the different time zones across the country and around the world. 

Another pioneering venture of Dr. Robert J. Goldstein was to keep native fishes.  This was an area of neglect, as most tropical fish hobbyists want only exotic species.  Besides, most of us only see the fish species caught by fishermen—and they don’t look that great dead!  This component of the hobby gave Bob a chance to collect in his own country and the motivation to explore the country streams in Georgia, where he lived first, transplanted from Brooklyn, and later North Carolina.  From these ventures came another classic book American Aquarium Fishes. 

Then came the breeding of marine species.  For those who don’t know, the captive propagation of marine fishes was once thought to be impossible.  That was because nearly all the coral reef species have a pelagic larval form that is dispersed to the open seas.  It was thought that providing the excellent water requirements and different types of food would be impossible.  Bob wasn’t the first to break through this barrier, but he was in the vanguard, and he has spawned many marine species.  That is something that even dedicated marine hobbyists can seldom claim on their resume.

Not content with simply spawning marine fish, Bob got involved in keeping captive reefs.  As might be expected, Bob learned a lot, and he shared his knowledge with interested parties, once again, in a classic book, The Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook, published in 1997. 

Now for the changeup pitch.  Bob’s last two books have been on bettas, Bettas in 2001 and The Betta Handbook in 2004.  See what I mean?  I don’t know that there is any such thing as an “ultimate aquarist,” as many hobbyists and professionals have pioneered various fields and have accomplished a lot, writing several classic books along the way.  But nearly everyone tends to specialize.  I don’t know anyone who has covered the entire field the way Bob has, while at the same time giving in depth and accurate information when he publishes. 

While Bob’s books are classic, he is something of a classic himself.  His type of enthusiasm is contagious.  He makes the hobby that much more fun, both in person and in his writings, not to mention his photographs.