Amir Akhtar

Student in Athens

Amir Akhtar

Student in Athens

One thing about my life that I think is unique is keeping pet fish. From a young age, I have always had an interest about keeping fish. It started with me constantly rewatching Finding Nemo in order to get me to finish my food when I was young. When my family got a fish tank, my dad mainly took care of it until my family and I moved into the house we live in now. From then on I took care of the tank, which kept a variety of fish including a fish that I had for 8 or 9 years. Around 5th grade, I got into keeping saltwater fish and corals in a reef tank. This facet of the fish hobby is much more expensive and requires much more care to keep the animals happy and healthy. In order to get a reef tank which was very costly, I had to get my parents on board, so I had to give a presentation to clearly set out what it takes and the cost breakdown of the reef tank. Meanwhile, I started my guppy fish breeding setup where I bred these freshwater fish for their color designs among other things in my freshwater fish tank. I had my reef tank for a few more years but it slowly fell apart because I couldn't keep up with taking care of the fish tank. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I converted my former reef tank and made it my new freshwater aquarium and began adding fish and underwater plants. Now, I plan in the future to start a much bigger reef tank and relaunch my guppy breeding setup with my brother.