So much has to do with the down turn of the economy. Also the new generation of people who care more about their video games and money then intrested in animals or nature. The lack of education about the hobby for so many people has alot to do with it. Plus alot of fish that were easy to get in the hobby that people loved are now harder to get if you can get them...... I know a dozen or so people who would go spend $5,000 on a tank alone if they could get snakehead or asian aro "legally" in the US.
What happened to fish keeping?
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Probably, more correctly, you know a dozen or more people who SAY they would spend...on a big tank and an asian aro. But they won't when push comes to shove.
Sometimes I feel like the more endangered, rare, or illegal the fish, the more that many people want to keep it. Once they obtain the "holy grail", most people quickly tire of it...and move on to acquiring the next fish that will demonstrate their status as a "baller"...
Who knows if snakeheads or asian aros will every be legal here (again). The LFS I worked at back in the day carried both. And neither were exactly flying off the shelves...
Matt
Sometimes I feel like the more endangered, rare, or illegal the fish, the more that many people want to keep it. Once they obtain the "holy grail", most people quickly tire of it...and move on to acquiring the next fish that will demonstrate their status as a "baller"...
Who knows if snakeheads or asian aros will every be legal here (again). The LFS I worked at back in the day carried both. And neither were exactly flying off the shelves...
Matt
I learn more on mfk than any other source.until lfs in my area are a total crapshoot.until i knew better i fell for a lot of bad advice that cost $$.if i didnt enjoy it so much i probably would have quit before i REALLY started to like it.
i think it has to do how the stores market their products such as display tanks. i got interested into the hobby after seeing beautifully scaped tanks in fish keeping magazines. in many countries where the hobby is popular, they have many beautiful aquascaped display tanks in stores to give ideas to consumers. whearas where i live, there are virtually very little in terms of plant variety for sale. tropica which is based in europe offers a variety of exotic plants which are not available to the us. also the less knowledgeable consumer may not know the potential for how beautiful an adult fish can become from a drab juvenile. i have to travel over an hour away to get uncommon fish; such as salvini, sajica, and basically anything a petsmart does not sale. this is frustrating because of the potential casualties to the trip home.
The big box stores only explain a part of the decline, for example; the marine side of the hobby is suffering from the same malaise and stores like Petsmart carry no competing livestock or dry goods. Increasing electricity/water costs, less disposable income thanks to the recession are the big factors.
yeah man, how do you afford fish when you live in hong kong?! lol you must be pretty well off
Far from it, i mean i'm comfortable and all, but far from well off...
The thing over here is the fish itself for the most part are quite cheap, unless your looking for specialized fish, such as very rare snakeheads, Aro's etc, in which case you could be talking HKD $30,000 - $100,000+ a fish
But thats not always the case, most of the more common fish are sold dirt cheap... like Yellow Lab Chiclids sell for maybe USD $2 - 3 for four 2" fish...
So for the shops to sell enough fish to cover rent is hard, which is also why a lot of the shops here have now started to sell fully setup aquascaped tanks to help cover some of the extra costs...
In my area we have a bunch of petsmarts, petcos and pet supplies plus in close proximity. Customers always joke with me about the wal-mart fish or the petsmart fish. A few buy from petsmart or petco, but a majority of those customers buy their fish for an uncycled tank and it's destined to die between it's lowered health and unprepared aquarium. A lot of these customers don't buy from chain stores anymore and start buying at LFS or LPS only. I am always at my local chain stores browsing the products and looking for mislabeled fish but they never have anybody in their fish sections.
One of the biggest questions that nobody seems to really be answering though, is what happened to the interest? Lets say people started buying all of their neons and platies at chain stores. Why is there no more interest for the more expensive and exotic fish? Why is there almost no interest in breeding fish anymore?
One of the biggest questions that nobody seems to really be answering though, is what happened to the interest? Lets say people started buying all of their neons and platies at chain stores. Why is there no more interest for the more expensive and exotic fish? Why is there almost no interest in breeding fish anymore?
^ As far as breeding goes, i guess coz it can mean multiple tank setups for the breeding projects, which most people don't have the space and time for...
Now as far as interest goes... i guess from a new comers point of view, it would be why spend so much on exotic fish if you have no idea how to keep them?
And for the more experienced, it could be an issue of tank size / money / special requirements etc that might be putting people off?
Now as far as interest goes... i guess from a new comers point of view, it would be why spend so much on exotic fish if you have no idea how to keep them?
And for the more experienced, it could be an issue of tank size / money / special requirements etc that might be putting people off?
