Scott Fellman

My name is Scott Fellman, and I’m a total fish geek. We’re not talking about a casual, scrape-the-algae-off-the front-of the aquarium glass-every- Sunday type fish geek, either. I’m a complete, water-spilling, Tunze-loving, kalkwasser-dosing, hard core fish geek! I’ve mastered the fine arts of hiding water spills from my significant other, ungluing my fingers, and making easy stuff difficult!

In my lifetime in the hobby, I’ve kept just about everything from Anthias to Zebrasoma, and a lot of stuff in between.  If you visit Bob Fenner’s Wetwebmedia.com site, you may have seen my responses  on the “Daily FAQs” page, where I’ve volunteered mentoring other fish geeks from all over the world since 2002, and am co-editor of  WWM’s Conscientious Aquarist on line magazine. By some stroke of luck, I’ve had some of my articles published in FAMA, Anthony Calfo’s “C” Journal, and several other on-line venues as well.

After all these years in the marine hobby, I was getting a bit…well- bored with the systems that I had been maintaining. I yearned to try something different. Over the last several years, I’ve developed an obsession with marine biotope aquariums, and am currently working on a book about them. Marine biotope aquariums are, quite simply, aquariums conceived and assembled to represent a specific environmental niche, such as a lagoon, seagrass bed, rubble zone, etc. Freshwater hobbyists have been assembling biotope aquaria for years, but for some reason, the marine hobby seems a bit slow to embrace the idea.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with the “garden reefs” that we all have maintained over the years, with a wide variety of fishes and invertebrates from different environments. I love ‘em! However, fascinating and unique displays can easily be created to replicate a specific habitat. Biotope aquariums can add another dimension to your hobby enjoyment! Besides, what could be a better excuse to add yet another aquarium to your collection?

In my presentation, we’ll look at a few different biotopes that you can replicate in the aquarium, with detailed information on how to plan and assemble them. We will also review some ideas for unique, more natural aquascaping that you could utilize in almost any aquarium. As a fellow hobbyist, I’ve tried to create a presentation that will provide some good, nuts-and-bolts information on biotope aquariums, and just maybe, a few laughs! My fondest wish is that I inspire other fish geeks to through caution to the wind and embark on their own new adventures in reef-keeping!