The Bichir Addict - Alexander Gosselin

The Senegal that started it all, Alexander's most active Bichir

Alexander's love for animals goes back to childhood, when he'd play in the river looking for snakes. Like most aquarists, he tried keeping fish and reptiles at a young age, but it didn't stick and he was discouraged.

Fast forward 20 years, Alexander and his girlfriend took a trip to PetSmart to fix up his girlfriend's neglected five gallon tank. This trip changed everything. A Bichir caught his eye, a long fish with an almost prehistoric look to it. As he walked through the store, he couldn't stop thinking about that beautiful, dinosaur-like fish, and by the time he made it back to the fish aisle, his girlfriend had already had the worker bag it up. That one impulse buy was all it took to hook him for good.

One bichir turned into two. Two turned into a habit he never really tried to kick. Today, Alexander keeps five species, Delhezi, Senegal, Lapradei, Polli, and Teugelsi, along with a few catfish, including an iron head driftwood catfish from South America. He's still upgrading tanks to feed the addiction, and shows no signs of slowing down.

The same fearless kid that was once exploring the river for snakes never really left, it just found a new home in a tank.