Nick Andreola lives near Austin, Texas, and has been in and out of the aquarium hobby since the 1970’s. For the last 5 or 6 years his passion has primarily focused on the Lake Malawi genus Cynotilapia. While representatives of many other cichlid types; from Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi haps & peacocks, the Victoria basin, South America and African riverine species, claim some space in his fish room, a quick glance around the room reveals tanks currently housing groups of: Cynotilapia axelrodi , 4 variants of C. afra, 3 variants of C. sp. ‘mbamba’ , 3 variants of C. sp. ‘lion’, C. sp. 'hara', C. sp. 'chinyankwazi' and C. sp. 'elongatus mbenji blue'.

While Nick enjoys writing articles about and sharing pictures of his fish, an overriding goal with this hobby is to disburse as many of the offspring his breeding colonies produce as possible. Through functions with his local group, the Hill Country Cichlid Club, as well as through his associations with groups around the country he is pleased with the number of Cynotilapia enthusiasts who have started new or added to existing colonies of these wonderful fish…..and even more pleased when he hears that they are sharing offspring with other hobbyists in their areas!.