Whats in the future for fishkeeping?

[Mylek]

Fishkeeping will never die. I will however state that most of my generation (I just turned 21) has no interest. Most of them don't have any interest in anything. They have too much crap going on to take much time for hobbies.

When you get to a certain age, get a family, settle down into your own house. And get some real money in your hands, many take up they're childhood hobby. From age 15 to 30ish there are so many other things that happen that fish keeping aint something that many do... Its an hobby that wont impress too many girls

And most of the real sweet stuff you see beeing buildt and kept are for them 50+ lads that have paid off they're mortage, bought that sportscar and gotten them kids through college. Many have a lot of space after them kids have moved out as well. That 50+ gang typically go after their hobbis with money, time and effort that no other age can muster. See this in my father -he just bought himself a wreck of a wooden boat, it wont even float Im sure, and the time and the money he is spending is insane... Just build himself a 100m2 garage to have as a workspace... Whem Im his age Im doing the same with my hobbies

 

[Kdcarey]

wow i grew up with a 135gal salt thx to my mom an bout 6 moths ago she wanted to get rid of it cuz "no1 cared" but i recently bought a lil 20L guppy breeder tank. n i found this site n if it wasnt for this site i wouldnt be addicted. I hve been sik for past two weeks n if i can open my eyes i am on this site!
A new LFS opened up near me n i went in probably 8 times and it was open for 2 weeks.
They got used to me n i became like a buddy. At there grand opening they raffled off a nano reef n big surprise I WON! (It was rigged) So now i hve 2 salt n 2 fresh tanks. thanks to this site i cant stop thinking and talking bout fish. My friends think my fish r cool, but they're lazy. My whole family thinks im a freak, but my mom likes fish so its all good. Im bout to get a bigger FW fish tank. If it wasnt for this site I wouldnt be OBSESSED!!!!!!!!!!
Im 14 so eat tht. tht is teen #2

 

[Mystix212]

At my fish club, you wont find any member under 30 years old. Except me. They were pretty shocked when they saw a teenager just rock up to this club one night, becomne a member and almost outsmart some other people.

I think the hobby will aspire to great heights in the form of technology, but the amount of abused fish and pacu's un a 10 will always grow.

 

[Taz2478]

more hyrids will def come just look at the Mbuna's, catfish and of course Flowerhorns & Parrots. crazy mixes that either people don't really care and sell cheaply or people get fascinated with and sell high.

hopefully more people breed cleanly and share with the hobby through sites like this and selling/auction sites. maybe even come up with a certification like dogs have or just known good breeders.

don't really know where filtration can go. longer lasting and/or more reusable products. more computerized of course, basically the only thing they haven't connected to a server or the web. UV replaced by a brighter, lower powered, longer lasting light like lasers. the filter from Nemo would be nice LOL

going from hoping a store gets something in to being able to order it yourself or tell a shop where to find it has def helped the hobby grow.

the future is bright for the hobby but could def use some conventions here in the U.S.

 

[crashinc25]

Perhaps my perceptions are incorrect?

Anybody with teenage children have thoughts on this?

I don't have kids, but I was a kid not too long ago. I was into fish like 10-12 years ago. I remember not being able to find many fish places and not being able to gather the information as easily as now.
I ran my tanks as I was told by the fish places I could find with a phone book and just driving around. I only bought what was in the fish stores and really never questioned the ethics and knowledge provided by those directly involved with fish sales or the people I met while in the fish stores.
Now it's so much easier to reach information overload with the net and forums like this. Fish stores are easier to find; they were always around, just not as easy to find. As for the mega-low marts and missing mom & pop places, I would attribute that to natural growth and society changes. More Home Depots and conglomerate places pop up everyday in all industries, not just fish related places.
I don't see fish keeping as a fast moving juggernaut by any means. There are advances in technology, but I think it takes much longer for changes to be accepted as noobs jumping in usually call on the veterans for advice more-so than any other hobby/interest.
Another point on the mom & pop places..... I don't know how many times I walk into a dark damp place filled with UGF's, and decaying equipment with floaters in many tanks. They need to make a profit or course, but anything "modern" is priced so high that it bars most from buying the "new" equipment.
This is a limited industry with a limited clientel. Although those us of associated with MFK or other forums would like to believe it's an enormous industry, it really isn't compared to technology for example. Computers generally are outdated in 6 months, where we are just getting our systems stable at that age.
My $0.02

 

[Dasmopar]

Well I think it's clear that in the future the only fish on the planet will be the northern snakehead so we will have sankeheads then.

A few or my freinds and myself go on what we like to call Fish tours. We go up into MI and hit all the privatly owned stores cause thats the stores that have the odd balls tucked away in the corner. Here in Toledo the mom and pop stores are almost all gone. it is sad... However while on these "tours" we see alot of people between 16 and say 35ish. I think the hobby is still popular with kids but like others have stated kids are pretty busy and broke. I kept fish for yrs as a kid then got my first car. Fish went away for a long time. I bought my first house and got married, then bought a 75g and it has been down hill ever since. So I guess what I'm saying is don't count the younger ones out yet. Let them find their selves and then they will come back.
My parents never had fish tanks when i was a kid. it all started with me buying a 10g with my grass cutting money and a few goldfish.

 

[Morledzep]

Perhaps my perceptions are incorrect?

Anybody with teenage children have thoughts on this?

i don't have teenage children.. i have young adult children. My oldest son is 29 and he is absolutely certain i'm nuts for keeping fish. But his oldest son LOVES watching my fish and helping me take care of the tanks. When they were here i let Michael use the vinegar and water spray and a dish towel to wash the outside of the tanks.

my middle son thinks i'm excessive.. he asks why i can't have "normal" fish or have a "normal" amount of tanks.. like ONE.. lol.

My youngest son is the only one that is showing a real interest. But he wants african cichlids.. but he doesn't want a big tank, he's happy with his little 29 with his 3 little africans and a couple synodontis petricola.

if my kids are representative of their generation fishkeeping, especially monster fishkeeping is in serious trouble. But i have high hopes for the next generation of my family.. as i'm going to need someone to take care of my arowana when i die..

 

[AMG]

I see higher restrictions on fishkeeping & distribution due to irresponsible people letting fish loose into the wild.

Collecting some wild caught fish breeds will become illegal.

Higher priced color variations of fish like the Electric Blue Jack will drop in price considerably.

With the high level of hybrids in the hobby, finding pure breeds will become even more of a chore. Perhaps even more expensive to attain.


That's my 2 cents from the crystal ball.

 

[Dovii dude]

This is only my opinion but i see a lot of "Mom and Pop" LFSs going out of business soon due to on-line ordering wich is a real shame.I also see many of the hard to find species being harder to find due to outragious priceing.I also see less and less knowlegable people working in LFSs due to pay rates,wich in turn will cause a lot of newbies to drop out of the hobby because of failures in fish keeping.Now i cant speak for how it is in different cities and towns,but i know how it is here in my city and it doesnt look good.

 

[ceeej31]

in the future i see more species being selectively for new varieties
like albino-hypo clown loaches imagine that