Congrats on the article, Ghori

[29gallonsteve]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27394-2003Oct1.html

[Starry]

Congrats Ghori, that's great! And thanks for the link Steve.

On a related note, am I the only one who feels like fellow hobbyists are only to be found on the web? I don't see how the hobby is gaining popularity at all. I have never, ever, ever met or heard of anyone (offline) who was into plants. When I tell people about my hobby, I mostly get blank stares, and no curiosity whatsoever. Am I alone? When people see my tank, they tend to ask about the fish. What are the called? Do they stay that small?

I'm involved with the student newspaper at my university and I've been toying with the idea of writing an article for the science section - a kind of "science meets hobby" type of thing, just making people aware that this hobby exists. I've never seriously believed that anyone would care though...

[Captain Hook]

I think the hobby is getting more popular and we are seeing an example of it in these forums. As for people that are interested in aquariums, plants, fish, etc. I think you mostly find them at the fish stores. Other than that I rarely find people interested. Mostly people like the looks and beauty of tanks. However, I really enjoy seeing all the young people like myself around here and interested in this stuff.

[Cearbhaill]

I have never, ever, ever met or heard of anyone (offline) who was into plants. When I tell people about my hobby, I mostly get blank stares, and no curiosity whatsoever. Am I alone?
I know what you mean.
Folks I know kind of understand "fish"- almost everyone had a failed aquarium at some point in their life. I think they imagine my tanks as multi colored pink, blue, and green gravel with a treasure chest opening and closing :D .

Then when they actually see my planted tank they are so overwhelmed at its beauty- it's a sensory overload. My serious gardening friends might ask a question or two but their eyes soon glaze over and you can tell that it is just too much information. No one is willing to invest the time and care necessary to learn how to put together such an aquarium much less devote the time needed to tweak and trim.

Without the web support and information I'd be nowhere. My LFS has nothing in the way of plants besides a couple of algae ridden tanks containing floating bunches of anachris and some spindly water sprite. If you want to actually buy anachris you have to point to which plant you're talking about.

Aquabid has made plants so much easier to buy and the forums and Google do the rest. Well, not all the rest- I do a ton of work in that tank. It's the hardest to maintain tank I have but far and away the lovliest.

I'd love to see an article like that in my local paper- maybe a news release is in order?
As life gets more and more stressful and we coccoon ourselves away in our fortified nests, having a serene and tranquil hobby/focal point becomes more and more important.
I know the sofa next to my planted tank is in heavy rotation here after a hards days work. We love our other tanks as well- don't misunderstand. I think there is room for all sorts of aquariums.

But the big planted one is in the living room
:D

[The Gipper]

It is definitely a niche hobby within the aquarium hobby and always has been. That said, plants have never been as popular as now.

30 years ago you'd find anacharis & cabomba at the LFS, maybe some "house plants" submerged in tanks, and that was about it. the emphasis was 99.9% fish. Nowadays, all the LFS in my area (Columbus Ohio) have a high tech plant display tank, and feature umpteen varieties of plants (still with fish). They sell CO2 systems, CF lighting, etc.

It's definitely a bigger part of the hobby than before, but fish are always going to be the showcase.

[RTR]

Well, the majority of my tanks are planted, but they are planted fish tanks, not plant tanks. They are there for the fish primarily, and for me that is unlikely to change. I do believe that many hobbyists have come to see that non-herbivorous fish can look a lot better and likely be a lot better in a well-planted tank. It makes the presence of tanks in the living areas of homes acceptable to a wider variety of folks, who are turned off by glass boxes draped with tubes and wires and sounding like washing machines.

The niche of those growing and aquascaping for the plants first and primarily is still small, as what started folks buying glass boxes was the fish, and I don't see that changing in favor of plant tanks rather than fish tanks. The existence and endurance of that niche is valuable to the rest of us, as it increases access to materials for us. But I don't see it becoming the majority of those keeping glass boxes in their homes and offices.

All JMHO.

[29gallonsteve]

Actually, the credit for the article goes to Giancarlo

[djlen]

Ghori deserves the attention and recognition.
His tanks and posts have inspired and informed many of us for quite some time.

Len

[MrGoodbytes]

Good job on the article :).
I agree with you all on the spread of the planted hobby. Where I live, I have never met anyone interested in plants in person, even at the LFS. I wish I could, because I would really enjoy talking with other hobbyists about plants and fish, but there isn't really much organization as far as clubs or things like that go here.
Now when I think of a possible new tank setup in my head, I always ask myself, "How many plants could I put in there?" or "How would that aquascape look in that tank?". I never really consider setting up a tank without plants.
All of you guys on these forums have really helped me bring out the best with my plants, all the way up from the mushy, green mess that I used to have.

Graeme

[Robert H]

You see people coming to the internet to learn about the hobby because the education at the retail level is still lacking, but many new people are getting into the hobby via the internet.

Perhaps I am in more of a position to see newbies than anyone else because of the nature of my business. My business has also out grown its reliance on the internet to find customers. With all the advertising I do in magazines, I deal with many people who are getting into plants for the first time and have never been on the internet. I even have a certain percentage of customers that do not even own a computer.

While it is still a niche hobby, it is ever growing and there is always a steady stream of new people coming into the hobby. Retail shops are begining to catch on to this, and manufacturers are begining to recognize the freshwater plant hobbyist as a legitimate market with products targeted to them. There are now more lighting options for example specificaly for us now instead of only marine.

Many of the regulars of forums like this one were first inspired by reading Amanos books or seeing a planted tank in a shop, or reading a magazine, and that continues to grow.

The nice thing about that article is that it illustrated the different reasons that attract people to the hobby.... love of gardening as a whole, the asthetic beauty, collecting of unusual plants, or applying scientific principals. We each have different reasons for doing what we do. Articles like that only bring it out to the public eye.

Someone in Ghoris group or the AGA had the good marketing/PR sense to get that article written, maybe someone even had an inside track with the paper. There are many newspapers all over the country with home gardening sections and if the AGA was smart they would do more of this kind of PR.

[GhoriG]

Thanks guys! I think the timing of the article couldn't
be better. Its just starting to get cold and conventional
gardeners are watching their gardens die. A perfect time
to introduce such people to aquatic gardening! The
beginners workshop is tomorrow - I hope we're successful
in bringing a few more people into this wonderful hobby.