Curtis Jerrom has been a hobbyist since 10yrs old, starting in Northern Manitoba with a gifted chrome sided tank! From there many trips to the local library and reading volumes of books on tropical fish, yes my number at the library was 639 as it was all over the library cards related to anything aquarium based! From there it became a source of relaxation from a chaotic childhood, creating underwater worlds where fish would breed and I would raise them to sell to the local shops! I was able to go to University, studying Geology and working in the energy industry! Travelling for work created another opportunity to see countries that were heavily involved in tropical fish. This created an opportunity when I was in Colombia and I quickly set up a business with my son to import fish! First orders were tiny and now after 13yrs the side hustle has been growing. I have been actively importing fish mainly from Holland in the past 6yrs and Colombia and specializing in rarer varieties of wild phenotype trying to promote wild strains of rainbows (blame Gary Lange/Marcel Wutherich), Corydoras (blame Hans Evers, Paul Belanger and Ian Fuller) and nano fish from SE Asia (blame the female members for this push, in our club)! I currently run a small fish room of 18 fully landscaped tanks of various sizes and quite full of fish from the top to the bottom.
I am very busy with my 4 adult kids and wife, walking our dog, cooking/bbqing/baking, especially around the holidays! I am behaving as the President of the Calgary Aquarium Society (2022-present) with my main goal of promoting the hobby and growing the club membership by creating value! I take pride in always getting the hobby out to the community with active interests from the local pet shops, and local school teachers. I find joy in talking to people about the hobby, getting them to understand its medical and mental benefits to our wellbeing albeit the pocket book does take a hit!
AS you will see, I have a sense of humor!