#MyTankMonday - Andrea Freel

Name: Andrea Freel

Age: 39

Location: Glasgow

After missing last week, I am happy to bring this weeks MyTankMonday. Andrea comes from the Czech Republic which has a huge aquarist hobby scene. Like most of us, Andrea was around fishtanks from a young age. Her parents kept south American cichlids when she was in pre-school. At the age of 7, the family aquarium was moved into Andreas bedroom and changed into a community tank with mainly Tetras.

More tanks followed this one, either for breeding or experimenting with different species and so on. The hobby stopped when Andrea turned 14 and it took 25 years for her to return to the hobby. foFour years ago Andreas son was born and she called him Oscar! The love for fish never left her and last year she returned to the hobby officially with a liking for Apistogramma and the love her favourite Tetras.



The latest "work in progress" is a very stylish display which consists of two (yes two tanks) TMC Optiwhite aquariums which sit on TMC Stands. Each tank has its own separate external Sun Sun filter and external Hydor heaters. These are both intended on hosting a pair of Apistogramma Elizabethae Sao Gabriel in one tank and a male Apistogramma Miua in the other one.

This stye of aquascaping is ofter referred to as the Diptych style.

Andrea has a strong passion for tetras and this stems from breeding neons as a child. heres the current collection.

Wild Caught Hyphessobrycon red-blue peru tetras
Knodus Borki (blue tetra)
Hyphessobrycon Amanda (ember tetra)
Hyphessobrycon Megalopterus (black phantom tetra)
Hyphessobrycon Heliacus (kitty tetra)

Amongst the Tetra you will also find some Corydoras Schultzei Black, Corydoras Pygmaeus and Apistogramma Agassizii.

each aquarium has the exact same equipment. All external for a minimalist look

Apistogramma Elizabethae Sao Gabriel female

What appeals to Andrea are the smaller fish. She enjoys keeping small american cichlids in pairs or large shoals of smaller tetra. Its the personality that comes with a pair cichlids that attracts her to them. 

For the future, Andrea has her eyes on some more wild caught Apistogramama and other dwarf American cichlids such as Dicrossus or Biotoecus species. Something that has always been an idea is an Asian tank filled with hundreds of of Rasboras.

We all know things do go wrong from time to time and Andrea recently had her fair share of that. She lost her female Apistogramma Miua along with some corries after a bad batch of pellets. Now she is stuck with two males ( in separate tanks) and has not been successful in sourcing another female yet.

Also, when she was young, she used to do many things wrong. washing filters with soap for one. This could have been a disaster story but intact this was at the time she successfully bred neon tetras (by accident). 


When asked about her favourite aspect of fish keeping, Andrea explains that she likes being able to mix the different kinds of science and art. The also enjoys getting to know other hobbyists. 

I have to admit, I have been inspired by the current work in progress and Ive been following the updates. I may even get some Apistogramma once I've got my next setup ready.

Well, its good to have another MyTankMondy for you all to enjoy. Remember, if you would like to feature next week, contact me on lothianfishkeeper@gmail.com




Hope you all enjoyed this and a big thanks to Andrea for managing this so quickly and being ill at the same time.




bye for now