“Phil Benes was a long term fish friend of mine and I’m glad to have known him for many years. His contributions to the aquarium hobby are boundless and although best known for his leadership roles in the American Cichlid Association and the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society, his impact extended far beyond those clubs. For example, he was a long term attendee of the yearly Ohio Cichlid Association’s Extravaganza for which he shared best practices from his countless years of leading and organizing outstanding fish conventions. He was a true icon in the hobby and he is most certainly sorely missed.”
I couldn’t agree more. Phil accomplished much in his lifetime and will be certainly missed by all who knew him.
This issue has something for most cichlid hobbyists to enjoy, starting off with two old-time favorites, the convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata by Juan Miguel Artigas) and the chocolate cichlid (Hypselecara coryphaenoides by Dr. Wolfgang Staeck). Many of us started off our cichlid fascination with these easy to keep and readily available cichlids. For small mbuna fans, Patrick Tawil offers up his knowledge on the small Malawi cichlid, Chindongo minutus and for the Westies among us, Dr. Anton Lamboj reviews the little known Chromidotilapia elongata from the “other” Congo. Pam Chin takes us to Mabilibili on Lake Tanganyika and Ad Konings shares his experiences with the Tanganyikan featherfin Cunningtonia longiventralis. That’s in a nutshell what you will find in this issue; enjoy!
