Jeremy Basch lives in Columbus, OH, but is originally from Westlake, OH. He started keeping fish over 22 years ago when his father took him to a pet shop. Just short of his 17th birthday, Jeremy started working at one of the local fish stores and started to acquire various sized aquariums and fish. He became hooked and setup his first fishroom in 2004. 

Currently Jeremy is on his forth modified fishroom design, which now contains 100+ aquariums ranging in size from 2.5 to 150 gallons. Over the years, he has had over 50 species of fish spawn in his aquaria, including many cichlids, catfish, rainbowfish, killifish, livebearers and invertebrates. Jeremy was the first person in the world to have the Jaguar Catfish, Liosomadoras oncinus, spawn and give viable offspring!

Jeremy’s primary focus is on the cichlids and catfish from South America and killifish from West Africa. He is a current member and the former chairman of his hometown club, the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts (CAFÉ). Other fish associations he has belonged to include: the Ohio Cichlid Association, the Greater Cincinnati Aquarium Society, the Catfish Study Group, the American Killifish Association and the American Cichlid Association. He has written a several articles which have appeared in the Buntbarsche Bulletin, the CAFÉ Menu and Amazonas. His article in Amazonas shared his first successful breeding of Liosomadoras oncinus, the Jaguar Catfish. Jeremy can be seen at many fish shows and conventions throughout the Midwest. 

Jeremy’s talk highlights a group of catfish that is just now gaining in popularity, the Wood Catfish or Auchenipteridae. The talk will consist of the history, ecology and biology of these fish along with sharing tips on how to be successful with this group of fish. I will share at the end of my talk some of the new species coming into the hobby along with information on the spawning of the Jaguar Catfish.