Importance of Aquahobby

[sahajaydip]

Avik , what I belief that aqua hobby can’t be popular like other hobbies like travelling ,listing music or reading books ,Movies, sports or even photography because of its underlying complexity of aqua science and aqua science is predominant part of aqua hobbies . This hobby requires good amount on knowledge, time and dedication and without those it will be very short lasting .I will agree with Rahul because nowadays it’s becoming more challenging because of the competitive nature of our work, very busy schedule and in addition to that social networking sites and shopping mall culture which are all part of modernization and a we can’t blame them as those are easily available and people enjoys them and it makes them feel more social. But still we can educate people on this and that can work to some extent only if we can inject the zeal of this hobby into their mind. So simply showing them a beautiful nature aquarium or attractive fish we can’t hold them for longer run until and unless we are able to inject the knowledge and passion of aqua science into their blood and the other hand they also have to be capable\eager enough to learn and carry the knowledge of aqua hobby and I belief still the percentage will be less.
And woman part I think they don’t like fish smell  or most are more interested to watch TV serial rest are focused to their carrier or maybe kids not sure…Hope my wife is not watching my post

[ibmsankha]

For me, it is a great way to Relax after a hard day at office. Besides, it is a good way to give back some thing to the environment and nature we thrive in. Only a select few now-a-days have the luck of building up a forest you see...

[avik]

How do you plan to give back something to nature bro..more details on this point please.

[avik]

Jaydip, I think the first step is to convince them to keep a simple tank. Most of us, I think, started from horlicks bottle only. Once they buy the tank and fishes (there ll be very few people who ll care about the cycling things for their first tank) and start coming in the forum, it's our duty to make them advanced. So, let's first promote fishkeeping and then make it more scientific next year.

[sahajaydip]

Jaydip, I think the first step is to convince them to keep a simple tank. Most of us, I think, started from horlicks bottle only. Once they buy the tank and fishes (there ll be very few people who ll care about the cycling things for their first tank) and start coming in the forum, it's our duty to make them advanced. So, let's first promote fishkeeping and then make it more scientific next year.

I agree with you.But again when most of you guys started with horlicks bottle then probably mobile, facebook and malls were not there to distract. These thing are making hobbies more challenging now.
Yes I agree with you that if we first tell complexity and challenges of aqua science then most the starter will be feared to start .Best what we can do at start simply gift a small tank or may be a bowl with couple of fishes to a friend or relatives.

[SanamMarik]

Please Allow me share in brief abt my journey to Aqua World.

It started from the time I cant remember how old was I. Started with edible fishes at fish market. Used to go with dad and get a fish if found a small one alive and then the Horlicks Jars rocked!!

next level was catching fishes with fishing rod and releasing the big ones back to the pond again but keeping small ones in a cemented tank which now is home to 2 ID sharks , a carp and a Rui for last 2yrs. During those times, i kept tilapia, Koi Maach, Puntis, American Rui, Bata, etc. this continued till class 6.

In class 6, as science project, everyone had a topic to write an article upon and share some knowhow. and my topic was "Aquariums". Man!! after school dat day, went to the lfs with mom and got two red cap gold fishes which stayed for around some months and were kept in the cemented tank. before gf was introduced, existing fishes were released bak to our neighbor's pond from where all of them were caught.

2yrs bak when I learned about Nitrogen cycle in tanks, couldnt figure out how did my fishes grow up with great colors and stayed well for 3yrs on avg in dat cemented tank w/o filter and airstone or anything; just feeding, weekly 100% wc and heater in winter. And it was only last year I realized that it was becoz of the thick algae layer on the walls that was doing the bio-chemical filtration for the fishes.

In that project I didnt get gud marks but yeah, if my son someday gets that topic, he will be the topper for the project

In my life most influential people were my Dad and Mom. Dad took me to bazar and got me fishes and mom taught me how to catch fishes with fishing rods and also got me my first Red Cap Gold fish and that why I love that species more than any other.

Also, if we look around us, most of the people who are in the aqua hobby 'seriously', they all started at a tender age and kept it going on. The seeds of aquatic world were sown a very early age which got a ample time to mature as the individual grew.

Hence my guess is, its tough to introduce new people in the hobby. And if some even joins a very few will continue it for a long time.

Another thing I want to point is - the Hobby is not about a person getting a tank just the sake of getting one or to decorate or for all those feng shui stuffs and thn comes the group of people, for whom lfs does the wc and all. in such cases where is the hobby??!! how is the tank owner involved?! I dont think thats hobby, but its like buying a showpeice and keep it there in the showcase that they wont do anything for the maintenance on their own.

Please dont mind me saying this and i apologize if its not so pleasant to some- I am also referring to those people who get their tanks done by scapers like Hamza. Those clients who get such tanks made, i doubt how much they know abt their own tanks. they jst want it as a showpeice. and that why the AMCs exist there to help such people out.

Forgot to mention this one- A few days back I was showing a pic of my recent 3' planted to a colleague and his 1st qstn was, where did u get those plastic plants!!! I was like WT.... I dont think frm my encounters, we can bring genuine people to the hobby in numbers coz I offered friends/colleagues to help setup a planted tank from scratch, but they jst dont wanna spend money/time on it.... most look for readymade tanks...and dats where the hobby ends

[vikramdutta]

Very rightly said Sanam, the plastic plant case also happened with me several times, most of the people don't have the idea of the existance of thess beautifull aquatic plants.

[avik]

Sanam, nice to hear your story, this reminds me I kept "gule mach" once, but u missed the question asked in the thread.

And, next time you offer your best friend/colleague a tank without CO2..just wood, rock, moss and fancy guppy. Choose a person who wants to pay for atleast these items.

[ibmsankha]

@Avik: Not everybody in now a days grow plants you see, except for when those afforestation projects are undertaken. So may be it does not make a lot of difference, still we are growing some plant you see... Afforestation inside a glass box types...

[avik]

Ha ha..ok, point noted.