Johannes Graf

My passion for aquariums began when, as a child, I inherited my grandfather's aquarium after his death. The swordtails living in it were my first acquaintance with aquarium fish. To the astonishment of my parents, a passion developed from it, which was interrupted only briefly by the study time and accompanied me my whole life.

Extended Bio

Starting with the aforementioned swordtails, I continued with "Royal Blue" discus (an extraordinary rarity in the 1980s), followed by excursions into the world of tetras, dwarf cichlids, livebearer wild forms (resulting in several trips through Mexico) and Corydoras species, until I came across the rainbow fish at the end of the 1990s. These have not let me go until today and an end is not in sight.

Through the friendship with Dan Dority and Gary Lange and inspired by the travels of Gilbert Maebe the first idea of a trip to New Guinea was born in 2007, which then took place in 2008. From this trip, we brought back e.g. G. dorityi, G. pseudoincisus and M. praecox. This hooked me so much that five more trips followed and only the Corona virus could keep me from the seventh trip so far.

On the sixth trip in 2019 together with Wim Heemskerk, Gary Lange, and Marten Luter Salossa we again experienced a lot and discovered many new rainbowfish.  One of my talks will report on this trip. I thank you very much for the honor to speak at the ACA Triple Crown Convention. 

 

 

Featured Talks
Wapoga River: Collecting Chilatherina alleni and Melanotaenia rubrivittata in the remote wilderness.

Friday - 7-8:30

Commonly found in rainbowfish aquariums today, Chilatherina alleni and Melanotaenia rubrivittata have only been in the hobby since 2012. All aquarium animals go back to this collection. I will report on this exciting trip to the remote wilderness of the Wapoga River in western, New Guinea, with no human settlement for 50 miles around and untouched jungle around us.

Papua 2019: Discovery and collecting of “The Most Amazing Rainbowfish”; Melanotaenia species Kali Tawa and Melanotaenia mairasi.

Saturday - 4-5:30 pm

These two new and exciting species are about to take the rainbowfish world by storm. They have all the qualities that make an ideal aquarium fish: beauty and ease of keeping. I will report from the long journey by plane, boat, truck, and a long and exhausting walk to find these species and their capture.