Rus entered the aquarium hobby over 30 years ago at age four, with an ill-fated (though influential) shubunkin goldfish named Peter. It wasn’t long after that he began to care for his own aquarium. By about age thirteen, he began breeding fish and various live foods. He soon began keeping and propagating aquarium plants as well. His interest is not limited to aquarium pets. In fact, he has volunteered and worked at zoos, and has kept a variety of aquatic, semi-aquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal creatures. He’s even bred and trained quite a few of them. Fish have always been something of a specialty, though. Rus has published several aquarium articles in Aquarium Fish International. In 2008, Rus and Kelly launched an aquarium-themed podcast, the Aquarimax Audio Show, and thanks to their contributors, continue to enjoy the weekly podcast.

Kelly, the daughter of retired zookeepers, grew up with furry pets, but freely admits that she didn’t know a danio from a dalmatian molly until she met Rus.  She’s made up for lost time, though. Rus never acquascapes anything without consulting her aesthetic sense first. Her favorite fish include bettas, black mollies, koi and fancy- not grotesque-goldfish. She enjoys being the ‘plucky comic relief’ on the Aquarimax show.