MACNA 2011 Presenter Profile: Tony Vargas

Tony Vargas started his aquatic adventures at the age of seven, with Guppies in a pickle jar. Shortly thereafter, he was breeding a large host of freshwater tropical’s. In the early eighties he took a giant leap forward and assembled his very first salt water aquarium (fish only). Moving on to more challenging waters, in the mid 1980's, he took another leap forward and experimented with marine invertebrates and corals. Moving forward in the late eighties a handful of aquarist including Tony were among the first in United States to successfully keep and maintain Acropora alive in captivity, long term. Tony began to share this experiences and knowledge with others through the many articles he wrote in a column titled "Feature Coral" for FAMA magazine. One of the Acropora articles in FAMA was acknowledge in Carden Wallace text book on Acropora titled "Staghorn Corals of the World".

Today, Tony SCUBA dives around the world taking underwater photos and observing many of these creatures in their natural environment. With his writings he has effectively communicated his experiences and observations. Tony has traveled the States and Europe giving lectures and consultations on corals, reef fish husbandry, and complete system design.

Recently, Tony has completed work on his forthcoming book titled "The Coral Reef Aquarium". This book focuses on the basics of reef keeping, how to properly assemble a coral reef aquarium (five great examples), and the long term care of these critters in a captive environment. Forward by Sanjay Joshi and Preface by J. Charles Delbeek.