I am often asked, “How did the Babes In The Cichlid Hobby get started?” And I always reply, “Babes In The Cichlid Hobby, what a story that is!! In a nutshell it started in the mid 90’s at the American Cichlid Association’s annual convention. As women fish keepers in a male dominated hobby we were desperate to experience all things cichlid, the only way we could get the fish boys attention was to appear as though we were plotting and planning something. In the early years we just made them nervous with our antics, surveys, midnight speakers, etc. Then we started to pass the hat at the hospitality room and we were amazed at the results. Who would have thought that 22 years later we would still be extorting money from mostly male fish keepers to use for our passion: Cichlid Research and Cichlid Conservation?

-Pam Chin