I've been kicking this idea around for a while and wanted to bring it to the masses to see what you guys think. Sorry if I sound a lil' preachy but it's in my blood...
It's hard to look around right now and not be depressed. The economy is in the toilet and everyone is feeling the pinch. Just in my area alone I've watched 3 mom and pop fish stores go under in the last couple of years. I'm sure most of you have seen something similar. Prices for everything have gone up. It seems like the recession is making the hobby harder and harder for everyone.
But what if we didn't let it?
As someone who has been a devoted fish keeper for a while now I love answering fish related questions. I love it when people show a genuine interest in my hobby. What better way to find further enjoyment in our hobby than by introducing it to others?
Here's what I'm thinking:
- All of us have friends or relatives who have at one time or another shown an interest in fish keeping
- A lot of us have empty tanks and unused equipment sitting around
- All of us have a passion for the hobby
See where I'm going? Setup is usually the priciest part of getting into the hobby. The best way to grow the hobby during a down time is to do it ourselves. I recently gave my sister and brother in-law an empty 55g which they turned into an awesome reef setup (after considerable research and coaching, of course
). That caught the eye of my little brother who set up a nano cube of his own. That caught the eye of my mom and dad who bought a 70 gallon coffee table tank that they turned into a nice planted setup. At first I thought that this might be an isolated incident. Then I gave away an empty 29g to a friend of mine. 5 months later he's building a 1000g above ground pond for his backyard. His brother in law is looking to do the same thing.
Two empty tanks have now been turned into 7 new fishkeepers. One mans junk turned out to be 7 peoples first step into monsterdom. Even if you don't have the empty equipment to give away you can still be a source of info and a coach for those around you thinking about taking the plunge. If each of us makes the effort to teach just one other person about fish keeping this year we can grow the hobby during a time of doom and gloom. The more people we have in the hobby the easier it'll be to ride this thing out.
It's hard to look around right now and not be depressed. The economy is in the toilet and everyone is feeling the pinch. Just in my area alone I've watched 3 mom and pop fish stores go under in the last couple of years. I'm sure most of you have seen something similar. Prices for everything have gone up. It seems like the recession is making the hobby harder and harder for everyone.
But what if we didn't let it?
As someone who has been a devoted fish keeper for a while now I love answering fish related questions. I love it when people show a genuine interest in my hobby. What better way to find further enjoyment in our hobby than by introducing it to others?
Here's what I'm thinking:
- All of us have friends or relatives who have at one time or another shown an interest in fish keeping
- A lot of us have empty tanks and unused equipment sitting around
- All of us have a passion for the hobby
See where I'm going? Setup is usually the priciest part of getting into the hobby. The best way to grow the hobby during a down time is to do it ourselves. I recently gave my sister and brother in-law an empty 55g which they turned into an awesome reef setup (after considerable research and coaching, of course
). That caught the eye of my little brother who set up a nano cube of his own. That caught the eye of my mom and dad who bought a 70 gallon coffee table tank that they turned into a nice planted setup. At first I thought that this might be an isolated incident. Then I gave away an empty 29g to a friend of mine. 5 months later he's building a 1000g above ground pond for his backyard. His brother in law is looking to do the same thing.Two empty tanks have now been turned into 7 new fishkeepers. One mans junk turned out to be 7 peoples first step into monsterdom. Even if you don't have the empty equipment to give away you can still be a source of info and a coach for those around you thinking about taking the plunge. If each of us makes the effort to teach just one other person about fish keeping this year we can grow the hobby during a time of doom and gloom. The more people we have in the hobby the easier it'll be to ride this thing out.
