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Thread: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

  1. #1
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    Wink Is the aquarium hobby dying?

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    Hi All You Wet Fingers,

    I have been a member here for some time. I was just wondering “how come aquatic quotient has become so quiet ever since it reopened.” Any of the senior members can highlight? Is the hobby dying or everyone moved to a different website? Cause I remember it used to be be buzzing with post and questions and hobbiest sharing their experiences. We even had senior members sharing their reviews on new aquascaping products constantly. My question is, what has happened?

  2. #2
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    I have some friends who also keep fishes too like Bettas or predatory fish. But many of us don't discuss about it when we're around one another so I guess we probably also won't do so online. But I think the hobby is still doing well today.

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  3. #3
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    No, I don’t think that it is dying. Many LFS still have many customers like C328.

  4. #4
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Probably to do with convenience. If we had a telegram chat created it’ll probably be great, with people having questions getting a quick reply


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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Quote Originally Posted by El-nemo View Post
    Hi All You Wet Fingers,

    I have been a member here for some time. I was just wondering “how come aquatic quotient has become so quiet ever since it reopened.” Any of the senior members can highlight? Is the hobby dying or everyone moved to a different website? Cause I remember it used to be be buzzing with post and questions and hobbiest sharing their experiences. We even had senior members sharing their reviews on new aquascaping products constantly. My question is, what has happened?
    The nature of the internet has changed. It is a lot more commercial today than it used to be. People used to pay money to host their own content - personal websites, forums like Aquatic Quotient, etc. Over time, Facebook found out that harvesting our personal information and sending us targeted ads (i.e. manipulating us to buy stuff) was profitable, and that it's a good business model to tempt us over to to host all our content there for free. So everyone has gone to Facebook. But Facebook has a different nature than a community-owned forum.

    In short, we were cheap, and we got an internet that's run by people who think of us as ways to make money.

    There are some good groups on Facebook. But the content can't be picked up by search engines easily anymore. Which probably means lots of good stuff is made and lost and made and lost again and again over the years.

    And also, separate from the above, is that forums were maybe a result of computing being done on large screens, with nice keyboards to type on. Now that people have gone to mobile computing, the size of content seems to have become smaller. Articles became shorter. Even videos too (compare Tik Tok with Youtube, maybe). People don't want to struggle with walls of text (like the one I am producing here). Image searches became a lot more popular than text searches. Video searches are now available. Why look up a written tutorial when a video tutorial is available?

  6. #6
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Some of the points here hit the mark . But I guess ( speculating on my part ) is that they may not have enough space at home to have some aquarium . I say some because most aquarium keeper I know not only keep 1 tank but are always planning to have more but because of space constraint can only make do with 2 or 3 . Couple with the electrical cost and weight limitation for those staying in HDB flats , the pursuit for bigger tanks are always placed on the back burner . Myself included .
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
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  7. #7
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    There is another thread earlier, inquiring about the same thing. The industry players has already given their thoughts. The take away were :-

    "This business you can get by day by day, it wouldn't make you a rich persons"
    "Hobbies comes and go"
    "Business not growing because they are too many distractions"
    "Older generation move to planted tank"
    "Everybody's dislike most is water changing, very physically tired."


    Of course they are some optimism with the direction of the hobby, but I feel these are more of a believe than fact.


    UKAPS, Planted Tank, PaoPao SZ forums/platforms are still very active, though not as active as before.


    I buy a fair amount of stuff on carousel and facebook and almost all the comments I get are "No time for maintenance, so giving up". So what is no time?


    Recent videos, have shown that Josh Sim and BaLÁza ****as (Green Aqua) advocating that it only takes 10-15mins to do maintenance / water change. In fact Josh does 3 water changes and maintenance 3 times a week on all his 3x 5-6 feets tanks. So technically it only takes 45mins per day, and only 3 hours for his weekly maintenance. So what's the problem?


    The truth is, it doesn't take 10-15mins to do your maintenance unless you have a nano tank. I have a 2 feet and a 3 feet high tech planted tank in the past. I can assure you it takes at least an hr to finish your maintenance and even longer if you need to clean your canister and trim your plants.


    These are my just simple routine.


    1) Fill 60L of tap water to quarantine tank/ de-chlorinate.
    2) Siphon 60L out of display tank to holding pail: siphon dead plants matters, organics and detritus.
    3) Siphon dirty water in holding pail to drain.
    4) Clean pail of heavy sediments.
    * I do (3) and (4) 3 times, because my pail is only 20 L.
    5) Use cloth to wipe down and clean algae from glass.
    6) Clean cloth of algae and dry. *refer to 6A if cleaning canister.
    7) Start pump in (1) and top up fresh water into display tank.
    8') Dry hose, and clean pump for storage.
    9) Wipe dry any water from display tank.
    10) Mope dry floor, kitchen, living room and restroom. Clean mope and dry.


    6A) Disconnect double taps from canister, and heat up Lily pipes inflow+outflow for easy removal.
    6B) Prep bleach solution and soak lily pipes + co2 drop checker.
    6C) Clean media and sponge.
    6D) Scrub and clean canister tubes, and double taps.
    6E) Remove canister powerhead and clean impeller.
    6F) High dose Prime solution to remove bleach from lily pipes. Use flexi scrubbers to remove dirt from pipes.
    6G) Reheat canister tubes and install back the lily pipes.
    6H) Setup canister filter, prime and start up.


    I do admire esteem aquascapers, but they have to stop telling everybody that this hobby doesn't take time, effort and commitment, just to give this hobby some exposure; at least for aquascapes.

    If you notice by now, this is one of those hobbies that has a lot of words pertaining to "Clean", "Bleach", "Maintenance" etc.


    For other hobbies like catching a movie with friends, playing sports, Gaming, or blogging (instagram/FB) you don't have this sort of "chores".
    Last edited by torque6; 21st Feb 2020 at 12:29.

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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    We have no fish stores in my area...NONE. There was a small pet store about 30 miles away but it closed a few months ago. Not a place you would want to get fish anyway.


    I got my striped kuhli loaches shipped to me from 2 different eBay sellers, one in California and one in Ohio. The only fish I have that weren't shipped are 3 bettas that we bought at the local Walmart (thankfully that's the only type of fish sold there, as those are bad enough!), 1 goldfish that my son won at the county fair, and 1 orangethroat darter that my son caught in our creek.


    I would much rather order my fish from an experienced seller who knows what they have and how to care for them, rather than from a pet store where their only priority is making money. The eBay seller in Ohio even cancelled a sale for me when I asked to make sure that Buenos Aires tetras would be okay with paradise fish! Not a good mix, and she fixed it. Most pet stores, even the mom & pops, would have been all "sure, no problem! You want to put 10 swordtails in a 5 gallon tank with no filter? They'll be fine"


    I would much rather have there be NO fish stores. At least online sellers and breeders care about customers who come back because of a good experience and not because all their fish died.
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Hi, my small business is still running here in my local area. Couldn't share my steps cause filming is taking very much time. Some jobs have to be done, and vlog keeps a side. Now have little bit more time cause of corona. Maybe i should do more videos, but i think nobody is still interested.


    I have joined this forum few years ago. If you want to know more, look in this forum.,, members introduction,,..DSC_0428.jpg

    Sent from my H8266 using Tapatalk

  10. #10
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    I don't think that it's dying, but some people can see it in different areas and regions. In Florida, where I spend the most of the time, I see how people love that hobby. By the way, I've found some interesting references about this hobby in the news of taurus and sagittarius zodiac signs recently (trying to find some relationship things between me and fiancee). Of course there wasn't a word about aquariums, but was all about my favorite hobby and how much time I should spend on it.

  11. #11
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Quote Originally Posted by MattGQ View Post
    I don't think that it's dying, but some people can see it in different areas and regions. In Florida, where I spend the most of the time, I see how people love that hobby. By the way, I've found some interesting references about this hobby in the news of taurus and sagittarius zodiac signs recently (trying to find some relationship things between me and fiancee). Of course there wasn't a word about aquariums, but was all about my favorite hobby and how much time I should spend on it.
    In the states, or the UK, the hobby is still on going from what I can tell. UK especially have very cool weather. Compare their non chiller aquatic moss tanks to us locally, and you will know what I mean.

    Locally, our outdoor temperatures are hitting almost 100 fahrenheit on most days, except for those 2-3 months of wet weather. Couple with high humidity, most tanks indoor without chiller sits at close to 86 fahrenheit. And if you decide to use fans, you increase humidity indoors, and it feels pretty warm. And if you so decide to use chiller, well, things gets even warmer indoors if you have poor ventilation.

    I've kept aquarium for almost 2 decades now. And green lush moss is one thing I can't grow because I neither use fans nor chiller.

  12. #12
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Even if the hobby is dying or everyone else does (hmmm maybe I shouldn’t, given times like ours) or others have vacated to other new media platforms; just as long as my lifestock doesn’t perish, there’s still water from the taps, power for the light and filter, internet connection to this awesome knowledge-full, years-accumulated forum: I’m not going to stop.

    And nothing else matters.

  13. #13
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    I think most people just switched to Facebook.

  14. #14
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    i like to visit fish shops and fish farms here in Singapore

    the popular ones are still crowded with people (before covid and after reopening)

    like someone here said, i guess it's the nature of internet/social media?

    people generally dun like to use forums anymore.... they prefer Facebook, Whatsapp groups or Telegram?

  15. #15
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    it's kind of a vicious cycle

    less people posting in the forum -> lesser updates and responses

    which in turn causes lesser people to visit the forum

    i used to visit AquaQuotient regularly... after it slowed down a lot in past few years, I only now visit it once every months

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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Other than what's already posted in this thread so far, the 1 thing I do notice (at least for Singapore) is the move to fancy shrimps. Planted tank and fancy shrimps, in reality, dont really go hand-in-hand. Hobbists pay good money for their shrimps, and they want to see their shrimps. Shrimps will hide amongst plants if given an opportunity. Also, for planted tanks, the bigger it is (up until about 4 ft), it is easier to maintain (10 more accidental drops of fert will not harm for 4 ft vs 1 ft), but shrimp keepers want small tanks.

    AQ also has a part to play.. AQ archives information well. And in the past, some may be turned off when Mods ask people to do a search instead of asking the same questions again and again. I can see from both angles.. but perhaps that has a role to play.. that most questions (with answers) are already out here.

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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Quote Originally Posted by Nicky View Post
    Other than what's already posted in this thread so far, the 1 thing I do notice (at least for Singapore) is the move to fancy shrimps. Planted tank and fancy shrimps, in reality, dont really go hand-in-hand. Hobbists pay good money for their shrimps, and they want to see their shrimps. Shrimps will hide amongst plants if given an opportunity. Also, for planted tanks, the bigger it is (up until about 4 ft), it is easier to maintain (10 more accidental drops of fert will not harm for 4 ft vs 1 ft), but shrimp keepers want small tanks.

    AQ also has a part to play.. AQ archives information well. And in the past, some may be turned off when Mods ask people to do a search instead of asking the same questions again and again. I can see from both angles.. but perhaps that has a role to play.. that most questions (with answers) are already out here.
    Hardly have AQ associate rank's post here nowadays. It's a nice surprise.

    Planted and fancy shrimps has always been a bad combo. I see a lot of users on facebook citing that their shrimps in their planted tank breeding. With high co2, daily ferts, 3 water changes per week can be breeding, then they truly haven't seen what a shrimp breeding tank looks like.

    4 FT is nice, bigger is better but I think a larger tank = more maintenance. I still haven't figure out how IAPLC award winners can do their water changes for their 4-5 feets tanks in 15mins + siphoning, and they have the mental power to do water changes 3 times a week for 3-4 tanks. My feel is want to lie to promote hobby also not like this. A bit unrealistic and far fetch.

    Most of the people I trade on Carousel said their kids are not interested in this hobby. So it's just a matter of time.

  18. #18
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Quote Originally Posted by torque6 View Post
    Hardly have AQ associate rank's post here nowadays. It's a nice surprise.

    Planted and fancy shrimps has always been a bad combo. I see a lot of users on facebook citing that their shrimps in their planted tank breeding. With high co2, daily ferts, 3 water changes per week can be breeding, then they truly haven't seen what a shrimp breeding tank looks like.

    4 FT is nice, bigger is better but I think a larger tank = more maintenance. I still haven't figure out how IAPLC award winners can do their water changes for their 4-5 feets tanks in 15mins + siphoning, and they have the mental power to do water changes 3 times a week for 3-4 tanks. My feel is want to lie to promote hobby also not like this. A bit unrealistic and far fetch.

    Most of the people I trade on Carousel said their kids are not interested in this hobby. So it's just a matter of time.
    Less interest from young generation.

    Trend changes. Post questions in Facebook group rather than forum.

    But i am still find useful information from this forum.

    I guess those aquascaping tanks only set-up few months before the competition. Typically they will tear down the tanks after the competition ready for next year competition.
    Regards,
    justin_diong

  19. #19
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    Quote Originally Posted by justin_diong View Post
    Less interest from young generation.

    Trend changes. Post questions in Facebook group rather than forum.

    But i am still find useful information from this forum.

    I guess those aquascaping tanks only set-up few months before the competition. Typically they will tear down the tanks after the competition ready for next year competition.
    Correct, there seems to be less interest from younger generation. When I saw Ashley youtube vid on both Jason's and Ken's reply on "How well this hobby is doing", I can already tell. Because the youngest guy in the video already mentioned that doing water changes is mentally draining. To be honest, I spend more time chilling and doing other stuff then religiously doing my water change, scrub my tank walls, bleach my lily pipes etc etc. My mindset is now let it be. Of course, if you let it be, then don't expect Iwagumi IAPLC, or rain forest canopy scapes type of standards.

    Fully agree on those aquascaping tanks too. Setup a few months before the competition. Photoshoot + photoshop, then submit for competition. Around Sep-Oct, tear down and start planning for new scape. Rinse and repeat every year.

  20. #20
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    Re: Is the aquarium hobby dying?

    i guess aquarium-related shows and exhibitions also play a small part?

    remember last time got annual Aquarama or something

    now dun have already

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