AmazonTropics.com is the culmination of over 30 years in the fish industry. Owner, Jeremy Basch, started keeping fish when he was just 10 years old! He became hooked when his father took him into a local pet shop. While at the pet shop, Jeremy just could not take his eyes off the saltwater aquarium in front of him. From there he saved his money for a big reef tank.
At the age of 16, Jeremy started working for the largest and local fish store in Ohio. While working at this store, he met a few co-workers around his age who suggested that he experiment with freshwater fish first before going all in on saltwater. Jeremy began by setting up one tank, then two and eventually he had a fish tank in 7 different rooms in his parents’ house! To this day, he is still friends with many of his former coworkers.
Jeremy spent 12 years working for the local fish store and assisted with fish husbandry, quarantine and eventually an assistant manager. This exposed Jeremy to almost every type of fish that comes into the hobby. With an average of 30-40 boxes of fish per week, he lived and breathed fish every day!
Jeremy has also been involved with his local fish club, the Columbus Area Fish Enthusiasts (CAFÉ). Through the club’s efforts, the club grew from less than 12 members to over 75! After 10 years as chairman, Jeremy has since passed on his duties but still assists the club with various functions. You can still catch him at regular club meetings, auctions and conventions around the Midwest.
With several enthusiastic fish keepers, Jeremy now regularly travels to South America. In particular, the group travels to the captivating country of Colombia. The group has been fortunate enough to be able to bring home some of the fish they have collected. Some of these fish species have started to breed forming the first captive groups of the species! Even more exciting, some of these species of fish are likely brand new to science!
Today, AmazonTropics.com houses over 100 aquariums ranging in size from a few gallons to well over one hundred gallons! AmazonTropics.com specializes in catfish of the families, Loricariidae and Auchenipteridae from South America. In fact, Jeremy was the first person in the world to have Liosomadoras oncinus spawn! He has also has had a few other world firsts from the the Auchenipteridae catfish family including Duringlanis altae and Tatia gyrina. Jeremy also maintains a few species from Callichthyidae, Astroblepidae, Cichlidae and Rivulidae.
