Gerald Griffin first started keeping fish at the age of nine and by ten bred his first fish species Colisa lalia, followed shortly by Colisa chuna (sota), Colisa fasciata and labiosa.  At the age of twelve he read All About Bettas by Walt Maurus and fell in love with wild Bettas, the only problem was that in the 1970s he could not find any living in Oklahoma.  By the time Gerald went to college he found articles on wild Bettas in the school library and joined the International Betta Congress (IBC) and started corresponding with various fish keepers and found some wild Betta stocks and started collecting them and writing articles.

Around the year 2000 Gerald once again got hit with the Betta bug and started keeping domestics again and as soon as he did the wild Betta bug hit him again and he went crazy again collecting them.  He has run over 80 tanks dedicated to a number of different fish.  As he became more involved in his local fish club, the Oklahoma City Aquarium Association, he started keeping a variety of species and have since spawned various Barbs, African Cichlids, Killifish, Native American fish, American Cichlids, Livebearers, and a number of miscellaneous fishes and had diverged into salt water fishes (clownfish and seahorses) for a short time, however wild Bettas and Anabantoids will always be his first love and the primary fish he keeps.

Gerald Griffin is currently the Judging Board Chair of the IBC.  He is also involved in his Local Aquarium Association serving as BAP chair of the Oklahoma Aquarium Association, the Treasurer for the American Labyrinth Fishes Association and the President of the Oklahoma Aquarium Association as well as have been their HAP and Presentations Chair.  Gerald is also the President of the multistate Betta Chapter SCUBA as well as the President of the Oklahoma Betta Breeders Association.  Gerald is also the editor of the official publication of the Federation of Texas Aquarium Societies: FOTAS Fish Tales.