Centerfold models…

[Magnum Man]

… and I took all the science and math available in high school, but started working right away, secondary education was just the school of hard knocks…

 

[GaryE]

I actually suspect that within 50 years, there won't be a fish hobby. Locally, birds were huge when I was in my 20s, and now if you want a canary, it's a mighty search.
It bothers people to cage birds, which I get. It may come to that with fish too.
Inanimate things like stamps never got me, but my Mom and her friends loved them. I never see signs of that hobby any more.

The export hobby from Brazil is shutting down, largely because of a few companies and individuals that treated the country's fauna as a plunder zone. Africa is already poorly represented in the hobby.
Asia is where it's happening, and the Chinese just might save the hobby from obscurity. I don't speak Mandarin, so I can't see what's up, but that seems to be where the hobby is going.

Unless you choose a research based trade, it's going to become harder to be curious. We're going to have AI giving us set, stock answers that will reflect what everyone else says. Internet culture strikes me as a giant mind in early dementia, tearing forward and forgetting at a prodigious pace. I think that's reflected in the fact that in all of the USA, there might still be one good aquarium store per million people. By good, I mean risk takers willing to offer non standard possibilities. I'll wager it used to be one per 100,000.

If no one knows what the possibilities are, why would they look for them? The internet has never even come close to developing something like the Baensch Aquarium Atlas books. Take that kind of learning out the hobby, and we'll fade away fast.

@Magnum Man suffers from fish acquisitionitis (me too) and I think if reading him gets 100 more people afflicted with curiosity about these things, then we can start rolling again.

 

[gwand]

You may be correct but I hope not.

 

[Magnum Man]

think futuristic movies, from 20 years ago... but today everyone can have a huge aquarium with absolutely no maintenance... betting the new, full wall sized, TV's with a "good" aquarium program running at the push of a button, will one day replace all our glass & "real" water tanks... we already have realistic robot pets, that don't have to go outside in the middle of the night, or stink up a litter box...

virtual aquarium for pc - - Video Search Results

The search engine that helps you find exactly what you're looking for. Find the most relevant information, video, images, and answers from all across the Web.

video.search.yahoo.com

some of these are advertised as "most realistic" ... who would have thought African Cichlids & Cardinal Tetras would be fine in the same tank???

and as long as you're at it... throw in a blue Fiddler Crab... there is a job for the young techies... making our future digital aquariums, more realistic, & educational...

 

[gwand]

I will not be around to see that miserable dystopian world.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I don't know about all that. Hobbies and interests and social trends ebb and flow. I share the concerns about AI, VR, social media culture, and the dumbing down of fellow humans. But I think there are always going to be enough of us who recognize our need for real things to keep the torch going. If fish keeping eventually dies out, something will rise to take its place. But I really don't think it will. This might be another urban vs. rural experience, but where @GaryE sees far fewer good fish stores than he used to, I see that I am able to keep fish that I never remotely dreamed of as a kid. The availability of both stock and information is at never-before levels in my world. For me, we're in the golden age of fish keeping.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Also...

I always have a good laugh at the hand shots of new species, when the hand is fluorescent from the photographer playing with colour saturation.

My skin really is fluorescent. Maybe that's why I'm such a terrible hunter...

 

[GaryE]

Also...


My skin really is fluorescent. Maybe that's why I'm such a terrible hunter...

Uh oh, Grinch tendences. Since glofish were developed to glow brighter in polluted water, how pristine is that elk infested paradise that you live in?

When people move slowly out there, are they told to get the LED out?

Sorry, just an attempt at a little light humour there.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Uh oh, Grinch tendences. Since glofish were developed to glow brighter in polluted water, how pristine is that elk infested paradise that you live in?

When people move slowly out there, are they told to get the LED out?

Sorry, just an attempt at a little light humour there.

Go to your room.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

I actually suspect that within 50 years, there won't be a fish hobby. Locally, birds were huge when I was in my 20s, and now if you want a canary, it's a mighty search.
It bothers people to cage birds, which I get. It may come to that with fish too.
Inanimate things like stamps never got me, but my Mom and her friends loved them. I never see signs of that hobby any more.

The export hobby from Brazil is shutting down, largely because of a few companies and individuals that treated the country's fauna as a plunder zone. Africa is already poorly represented in the hobby.
Asia is where it's happening, and the Chinese just might save the hobby from obscurity. I don't speak Mandarin, so I can't see what's up, but that seems to be where the hobby is going.

Unless you choose a research based trade, it's going to become harder to be curious. We're going to have AI giving us set, stock answers that will reflect what everyone else says. Internet culture strikes me as a giant mind in early dementia, tearing forward and forgetting at a prodigious pace. I think that's reflected in the fact that in all of the USA, there might still be one good aquarium store per million people. By good, I mean risk takers willing to offer non standard possibilities. I'll wager it used to be one per 100,000.

If no one knows what the possibilities are, why would they look for them? The internet has never even come close to developing something like the Baensch Aquarium Atlas books. Take that kind of learning out the hobby, and we'll fade away fast.

@Magnum Man suffers from fish acquisitionitis (me too) and I think if reading him gets 100 more people afflicted with curiosity about these things, then we can start rolling again.

I would argue the Internet has also killed local fish clubs. Talk about filling up books with volumes of information. Any of us lucky enough to be a part of that and to just sit and listen to the "old timers" talk, you know what I mean.
I've been involved with many animal.hobbies over the years. Many reptile keepers really keep their secrets a secret. Fish keepers are by far the friendliest people and eager to share information with other hobbyists.