Hello From Aquarium Fish and FAMA

[I3u11he4d]

really......how random are they ?

 

[Berko1]

Welcome Scott! I've been looking for a good fish magazine to subscribe to. I like the fact that you care what people have to say and are open minded to input either positive or negative. I think I will give your mag a shot.


btw a Zebra Pleco article would rock.

Thank you. I hope that it is both educational and fun too!

 

[Berko1]

Hello and welcome.As for your mags I personally do not read them beyond the magazine rack on too many occasions.I would say that the first thing I notice is that the articals seem to be focused on the 5 to 6 year old crowd,how many times can you explain the nitrogen cycle to your subscribers or how a sponge filter works.I understand trying to reach out to newbs and kids but enough is enough.Try reaching out to evryone i.e. cichlid lovers(and not just the africans)salts and fresh,north and south america,asia,oddballs,inverts,plants,the latin speakers,techies and do-it-yourselfers.COLUMNS FOR ALL .Beef it up alittle let it grow up and play with the big boys,no offense but if my thirteen year old will pass up your for another than it has to be talking to wrong crowd(7 th grader reading at a 11th grade level who loves fish and fishkeeping and is just gettin started).I hope that I wasnt to brutal for ya,I just givin you my opinion.If your mag Improved abit I would definitley pick it up.Hope this will be helpfull and I'll keep an eye out for those changes.The lay out isnt bad now but it could be better same with some of the photos some good some not so(not the best of quality).As awhole I would suggest that the mag should get much deeper in pretty much evryway.Hope I didnt hurt anyones feelings,You should meet me in person I'm even more charming ANd again welcome to MFK......

When is the last time that you took a look at the magazines?

 

[Berko1]

Hi Scott,
I'm 26 and come from a long line of fishkeepers (Grandfather,father and uncles)
I had my first fish(guppies) when I was 4 with them came a simple version of birds and the bees lol.When I was 6 I had my first 10 gallon tank and have either had fish or been around them since.Currently I prefer the ''Primitives'' lungfishes,gars
and especialy polypterids/bichirs.Yes I read several magizines monthly plus one magizine online.My favorite magizine is TFH and yours is my second favorite.I realize bread and butter fish is where the entry level is into the hobby but I think your mag could be improved by a colum for more advanced keepers,this could show new comers to the hobby many species they might not realize are out there and may eventually may want to keep-Anne

Have you seen our monthly feature in AFM, Aquarium Frontiers?

 

[Berko1]

Hi again i'm in my late thirty's .
I don't really think there is much for AFM to offer me in ways subcribing ,THe magazine is well written but does not really cater to the advanced aquatist in terms of accurate information and specialatity breeds when there is an article on something interesting such as the Zebra Pleco it seems to me that it is the condensed version and the info is from a short description off the shelf aquarium referance manual and does seem to be a bit dated at times and with some in-accuracy that goes with it.
The Formatting of the salt /fresh water seems a little odd ,it to me looks like the magazine is catering to the advertisers more then the reader a lot of related atricles pop up as the sales of equipment increases in a area i've noticed this trend with saltwater the magazine has way to many salt water articles ,I really don't think anyone who keeps serious saltwater tanks (reef) would buy AFM for reasearch or vise a versa .
I understand the need for diversity and I do enjoy the odd article out of interest in the salt area ,maybe i could make a a suggestion maybe the the magazine could have more conformaity towards the areas dedicated to the fresh/salt area and also increase the over all lenghth of the articles in both areas also expanding the magazine its self to make it a little more interesting to read takes me a couple hours to read all the articles.
The other issue i have is the way the hobby is treated in regards to the level of fish keepers , the kids sects are great we all have to start some where but maybe a sect devouted to advanced keepers an area that is avoided by most forums i think a small editoral monthly on issues or equiptment that dosnt get brought up much in forums or fish stores for that matter such as water chemistry in the advanced stages such as GH and KH this would help remove the redundency of the common cycling article which my self i could not read another one however if the chemical break down of munciple tap water and the explainations of clorine choramines were disscused and ways of neutralizing would be interesting.
equipment for the hobbist also would be more interesting if sand filters and uv sterilizers also media the benifits of buying from E-stores as opposed to the local mega chain could help aquatist advance in the hobby .
Well Scott I hope this helps you some and gladly will give you more indepth info if you like hard to cover al issues in a forum.
Happy fish keeping.
FNH..

Have you seen our 'Aquarium Frontiers' feature every month in AFM?

 

[Berko1]

Hi All,

I think that the 'General Aquaria Discussion' area is a better place to continue this, don't you think?

I've started a thread there so please come over and tell me what's on your mind!

Plus I'll be able to become a full member by posting there. This thread doesn't count towards posts.



See you all there!

And thanks again for the warm welcome!

Yours truly,

Scott

 

[I3u11he4d]

When is the last time that you took a look at the magazines?

I pic it up everytime I go to the book store.I also pic up all the other fish mags (5 in total) but I usually only buy 2 and FAMA is rarely one of them.The only reason I'll pick up FAMA is for a specific artical.I do like the fact that Julian Sprung is writing a column,I own all of his books and am a big fan.The other thing that bothers me is the amount of adds,in so cases you have 4 pages of adds and 1 page of artical.One FAMA mag I do have is from Oct.2005 has a Planted tank artical that is 2 and a half pages long but there are 5 and a half pages worth of adds.My favorite fish mag (that shall go unnamed)has even more adds than FAMA but they do not let the adds overwhelm the artical.What was up with that whole haunted aquarium castle story.If I wanted to read a story I wouldnt buy a fish mag,I buy those to learn about fish!Come to think of it the only reason I had that issue is because it was givin to me buy a friend who works at MLFS and gave me some back issues she had laying around

 

[Tokalosh]

Welcome SCOTT..

 

[Berko1]

Welcome SCOTT..

Thank you!

Can you tell me a little about yourself as a hobbyist and what magazines, if any, you read and why?

Thanks again.

Scott