A year ago my son Tristan and I started putting together his new business, Tristan’s Tropical Fish, LLC. I thought I’d pass along a little update.
Besides having to construct the infrastructure for his business, we also had a steep learning curve on how to manage the environment of a greenhouse, especially during extreme weather conditions. Aside from all the challenges, the greenhouse has worked out better than we expected. The natural lighting has been a boon for the reproductive cycles of the fish Tristan raises:
Rows of tanks and grow out tubs 
Breeder and fry tanks
His main focus is on dwarf cichlids found mainly in the Amazon River basin. The genus, Apistogramma is his specialty. Their small size, unique color patterns, and active behavior make for an attractive addition to an aquarium. While many of the dwarf cichlids found on the market are harvested from the wild, the fish Tristan breeds and sells are grown in southern Wisconsin. Here a few of the species he raises:
Pelvicachromis moliwe with fry 
Apistogramma panduro guarding eggs 
Apisotogramma macmasteri pair 
Apistogramma netz
Besides dwarf cichlids, Tristan has started raising some of the more common aquarium fish like fancy guppies, angelfish and a few betas. I’m sure it won’t take long to fill up the empty space.
A few months ago, Tristan’s friend and mentor, Ted Judy, made a nice video of his operation. You can watch it here:
For more information, here is a link to Tristan’s webpage: https://tristanstropicalfish.com/