Who's Who in El Cerrito: Dave Lum

Name: Dave Lum

Age: 49

Occupation: owner of Tropical Fish World

How long have you had your store here in El Cerrito? Since 1990 – twenty years.

How do you like being in this area? This area has been okay for us. It's a good location. It's right on San Pablo, a lot of traffic. But we were actually busier when Target was across the street. When they moved it kind of slowed us down a little bit, not as much traffic. I think Safeway's coming in next year though, so hopefully that will bring in more traffic.

What motivated you to start working with fish? A long hobby. I had fish when I was young; I started at thirteen years old. I just couldn't get enough of it.

Do you have a favorite fish? I like a wide variety of fish. I don't think I have one specific favorite fish. I like saltwater, freshwater, and tropical fish. I pretty much like all fish. I don't think there's one specific area where I like one particular fish. I like fish in general.

For somebody starting out with fish, what would you suggest? I would suggest a tank that's not too small so you don't have to upgrade too soon. At least a 10 or 20-gallon tank. The thing is people who start really small with a little fish bowl, after about maybe a couple of months go, "Oh, it's not working out — we need to get a tank." So I think a ten-gallon tank would be good as a starter, maybe a twenty-gallon.

What's a good starting fish? A good starting fish would be normally a goldfish, but as long as you have a heater in there you can put in other tropical fish as well, like neon tetras… I think the easiest would be goldfish. It's a cold-water fish, so they don't require any heat, and that would save first-timers electricity. I think goldfish would be the basic to start off and then from there to tropical fish and then ultimately, saltwater.