Student Requires your Expertise... please

[BradM]

Hello, my name is Brad. I’m a design student working on a large project. At this stage, I’m gathering research on the needs of my target audience. Any feedback will help me a great deal. I thank you in advance for your time.

My project is a book for freshwater fish keeping hobbyist. My primary objective is to attract potential new people into the hobby. My secondary objectives include providing logical, easy to understand information for the beginner and reference material that would prove useful for the expert as well.

The following questions will hopefully provide some insight to me.

Also, any demographic information would be very helpful (approximate age, gender, occupation, country) but I leave that option up to you whether or not to include it.

Feel to post your answers here or email me at bradm@bonemouse.com

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

If you’ve ever thought of a concept for a book that you wish had been made, I’d love to hear about. Or any other insights into the hobby that you wish to provide would also enhance my research.

Again, you can post your answers here or email them to me at bradm@bonemouse.com

This project will be continuing through April. It would be extremely useful to have someone who’s actively involved in the hobby to have a continuous dialogue with. If you’d be willing to accept PDFs and provide feedback over the next few months, I would appreciate it (any skill level would be helpful.) Please email me bradm@bonemouse.com

Thank you again!
-Brad

[sigmatauntaylor]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

Age 21, Male, Student, Ohio

1. Beginner
2. I have always wanted fish, and for the first time was able to have them at college.
3. The fish are fun and relxing to watch and learn about.
4. Cycling the tank is my hardest problem, right behind always wanting more fish!
5. "A Guide to Freshwater Aquariums" by Mike Wickham. $2 at wal-mart.
hope this helps

[BradM]

hope this helps

Yes it does. Thankyou!

[lesley]

1. I wouldn't say I'm a beginner, I've done everything the wrong way in the past, and now I'm trying to get it right.
2. Always been interested in science/biology, plus parents always kept fish.
3. No matter how long you have been in this hobby, there is always something new to learn or try out.
4. Always lost fish due to misinformation or no information. I think it's easier now that you can do a lot more research on the web.
5. Alot of the books I looked at when I started out (I was probably only 5 or 6) were pretty much just atlas-type picture books, with very little information.

24, biology student

I'd be glad to look over drafts for you.

[PumaWard]

1.)Novice, definatly not a beginner, but not "advanced" yet.
2.)I first started out in 7th grade. My science teacher had a 10'' oscar in a 55g in the classroom. I immediatly wanted an oscar.
3.)I love keeping living things. Keeping my own ecosystem is a great experience. It is also relaxing, entertaining, and a form of art.
4.) I didn't have any "problems" when I first started out with oscars. The problems happened when I tried to go to a community tank. I didn't know about cycling, so my fish constantly were dying. So lack of knowledge about the whole thing and disease were my biggest problems to begin with.
5.)The Complete Encyclopedia of Tropical Fish by Esther Verhoef-Verhallen It helped me do the only thing I did right in the beginning, get compatible fish that wouldn't outgrow my tank.

As for me, I am 17 yr old female and a junior in highschool.

[Kagh't]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

1-semi-advanced (as some would say, 'shut the hell up, you know way too much, and i don't want you reminding me')
2-getting something that someone else had
3-complete and utter infatuation with everything fishy
4-not having enough relevant information. at the time i started, the internet was still relativly useless, and all the books i bought hadn't been update from the early 90's, and still considered UG the pick of the litter for filters.
5-your and your aquarium by **** mills - contained consise, but really good information on loads of fish. it had good information, and was very easy to understand by me at the time.

17 yr old male, studying for an ornamental fishkeeping and fishery studies degree, england.

[OrionGirl]

female, 30, computer geek, Wyoming

1. Umm? Always learning new things, working on a solid grasp of the chemistry aspect. Comfortable with the biology side of the hobby.

2. Had tanks growing up, really like what fish bring to a home.

3. Still love what my fish bring to my home, and to me.

4. Fish deaths, due to incompatibilities, and lack of research.

5. Didn't have any books when I started out, nor the internet. Setup tanks based on previous expereince--start small and build.

I am willing to review documents and assist in edits. Are you interested in the saltwater hobby as well as fresh water? Tropicals versus cool water? Native species, bio-topes, brackish, etc?

[RTR]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

1. For purposes of the Web forums, advanced, but still learning.
2. A neglected family aquarium.
3. Constant learning.
4. Lack of information.
5. Exotic Aquarium Fishes, by William T. Innes, ninth edition, 1948.

[F.sparverius]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?
.......................

1) Probably intermediate, I've had tanks for about 8 years and my parents had large tanks before that.
2) I love living things, and biology, and those large aquariums and trips to to local stream to chatch minnows certainly did not help.
3) I like fish.
4) Not much of anything, aside from the odd fish dying from old age or being eatten by tiger barbs. I've only had problems with diseases in the past year.
5) " The New Aquarium Handbook" Ines Scheurmann,which is rather funny as it was published in 85'.

It has a wide variety of information in it, from plant keeping to fish keeping to fish biology and much more. Some of it is highly outdated and wrong though. For example...it said to use methaline blue to treat ick. This stuff does not even fase ick.

[sumoschro]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
3. What has kept you in the hobby?
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

1. beginner-intermediate, after everything ive learned here i think its safe to say that;)
2. My dad had a55 gallon in the entryway of our old house, i thoughtit was the coolest thing ever and i had to have one of my own
3. The beauty of a well maintained aquarium and the fact that its actually fun in a way maintaining it and being able to change the way it looks if it gets old
4. keeping the tank clean...I used to be kind of lazy with my aquarium and sometimes algae would grow on the tank to the point where it was hard to see the fish inside...:o
5. Any book by Herbert Axelrod is good, and the Guide to Tropical Aquarium Fishes, cant remember the author though, sorry.

[travelinman1969]

1) intermediate
2) I love fishin( catch and release of course) and love watchin my fish do their thing.
3) I had 3 tanks as a kid and a few here and there, and just got back in it about a year and a half ago. It is so cool to watch the fish react to you and know who the daddy is. Why would you wanna quit?
4)Understanding the bio-load, and water parameter problems. How to set up bio-filters and balancing filtration.
5) None come to mind, but the internet has been a blessing. Especially this site.

[SnakeIce]

1. fish intermediate plants beginner knowlege way beyond experience currently
2. grandpa had a 20 long with guppies and now my dad currently has that same tank... always wanted one of my own, but with plants
3. always something new to learn, watch, raise, dream of having :)
4. I had sufficient knowlege when I finnaly got my own tank that fish compatability and the city water system changeing water on me from hard, high ph to soft neutral and back seasonally were my biggest chalenges
5. I have wanted a tank for so long I can't remember any particular book that was helpfull... now I would have to say my favorite book is on plants- Aquarium Plants by Christel Kasselmann. this book is the most complete up to date book on plants suitible for the aquarium I know of.


If you need another person to interact with on this idea of yours just let me know, I would be happy to lend my thoughts and expiriences.

Pm me if you have any specific questions you want to ask further

[dethjam316]

male, 23, grad student in history, florida

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
::::intermediate--but my memory is amazing, so i can make myself sound advanced:)

2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
::::my father always kept fish when i was growing up.

3. What has kept you in the hobby?
::::an overwhelming urge to spend money, and a secret wish that i'd majored in zoology instead of studying the history of zoology.

4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
::::death of fish? no seriously, probably committing beginner mistakes. i had a 10g with a spiny eel, half a dozen swordtails, and a couple gouramis in it. eesh.

5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?
::::ditto a few that have been mentioned. i have that innes book, too...i believe it's a 50s or 60s edition i found in my dad's collection. too lazy to check.

ps: you guys just wait till i start working on my potential dissertation project...i'm writing a possible chapter as a paper this semester on invasive species in florida as a result of the pet trade.

[OrionGirl]

I'd love to have a copy of that!

[adblair]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
I'd love to have a copy of that!

try this
http://half.ebay.com/search/search.jsp?nthTime=1&product=books&keyword=exotic+aquarium+fishes
not the old edition, but less than $1

[OrionGirl]

I have Innes, actually--I was referring to impact of exotic introductions. It's a very big deal in the wildlife & habitat conservation and management arena right now.

[dethjam316]

the history of fishkeeping in the US, its effects (ie, invasive species; florida is perhaps the best example, and i live here, so it makes the research easier), and the stories behind it have been badly neglected in the historiographic record. there are, perhaps, one or two books out there, other than help books for setting up tanks. i mean, you have ecology journals documenting numbers, but it doesn't look at the bigger picture. also, i'm really interested in the science of aquariums v. the live art / ornamental fish concept...and exactly what that means to...well, humans and fish. i'm not sure yet. but i don't have to write that part for a couple years. :D

[mogurnda]

1. Depends on the moment. Advanced, but there's always so much to learn. A few degrees in biology, years working at LFSs, a lot of mistakes that I think I learned from.
2. Won a feeder goldfish at a carnival age 8, then my sister's boyfriend stole a tank for it.
3. Tanks are a source of sanity. Working on them is fun and distracting, watching them is just plain interesting.
4. General managment was the main problem. Always trying to do things too cheaply, and not understanding the basics of feeding and maintenance. Heck, I was 8!
5. For FW, I relied a lot on Axelrod's Encyclopedia of Tropical Fish, and Exotic Tropical Fishes. There was an old book by Douglas Gohm that was my first. I could spend hours sitting in a corner looking at the fish profiles and wishing. Now they seem so incredibly out of date.

Edit:
demographics: Male, age 41, biologist

[adblair]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced) - Beginner with plants and fish
2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby? My grandmother always had a tank of platies and swordtails. I have fond memories of watching them when I was little, and since my kids expressed an interest.....
3. What has kept you in the hobby? Stubbornness.
4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most? Impatience with cycling, overstocking was a MAJOR problem, overfeeding, not enough practical information
5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful? I skimmed through a couple of books, but they mostly dealt with goldfish and fish diseases. I didn't think they had enough practical information. They weren't written for true beginners and they advocated the use of too many chemicals.

Female, not telling my age, consultant physicist/research mathematician/mother of 3

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Female, age 19, Archeaology student


1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)
I would say intermediate.

2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?
The beauty of a well maintained aquarium. I also love animals and want to try everything!

3. What has kept you in the hobby?
The challenge, and the consant need for more more more.

4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?
I guess it would have to be fish compatibility, as well as cycling the tank. (I did the 'just put fish in' cycle, and lost a few). Also getting my plants to grow.

5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?
No I kind of just did what I thought was right. Which luckily turned out ok and I have only ever lost a handfull of fish over the years.

Although I do like Simon & Schuster's guide to Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Fishes as a basic guide with nice pictures. Really more fun to look at then actually read. Also the Andrews Exell Carrington Manual of Fish Health. Really good pictures of diseases and parasties- makes identification really easy.

[kveeti]

1. Intermediate. I’ve kept fish for many, many years but I would only say that I’ve only actually learned what I’m doing in the last year and a half since coming to AC.

2. Fish tank in school, grades 4-6. Then I saw a corner fish tank brim-full with guppies (worse than an LFS tank, I think) at a house I was at for a birthday party.

3. infatuation

4. Deaths. The original fish were fine, but new ones kept dying; tank was not overcrowded. Now I know the term was “old tank syndrome”.

5. No, mostly I 'winged' it.

Canadian female, 45


p.s adblair, I love your answer to #3.

[RTR]

Don't buy an Innes published under TFH. They are heavily adulterated.

[tomm10]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)

2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?

3. What has kept you in the hobby?

4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?

5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

1. Beginner

2. The idea of maintaining another environment in my home. Its not quite an ecosystem but its a whole set of parameters I need to maintain in order to keep the fish happy and healthy. It fascinates me.

3. No matter how stressed out tank problems make me I am still calmed by staring into the tank and watching.

4. Its taken me 4 months to learn how not to overfeed. I feel like an idiot :o Besides that, finding information without using these forums has been the toughest task. I'm always in search of books that contain enough information without being too dry or scientific. I'm still looking.

5. None yet.

[JesseJ]

Male, age 20 in Winnipeg, Canada seeking Wome..... wait a sec. this is the other forum.

1. Mid-level. I don't know everything but I know enough to be dangerous.

2. Fascination with the colours/activity/lives of fish. Mainly the fact that they are very different from all other pets there are.

3. I don't really know. I just like having fish and so I keep buying new ones and adding them to my tanks.

4. I found that there is a real learning curve with fish. but it's not a perfect curve it plateaus at several different points so you only have to learn so much to be in the hobby and be successful. The other problem is that there is so much conflicting information out there that it is hard to sift through and understand what to do when you are just getting started.

5. I've read through a lot of websites and a lot of books but the best one by far is "The Complete Encyclopedia of the Freshwater Aquarium" by John Dawes. It's only about 300 pages but It lists descriptions and very detailed colour photos of about 1500 common fish and about 100 common plants. Plus it has a lot of information on how AND WHY things are done to aquariums.

[RTR]

I like adblair's response on #3 also - I think there is good bit of that in any long-term fishkeeper. A good bit of "I can do this, and understand it, and I will get it right!"

[aquariumfishguy]

1. What skill level would you fall under under? (beginner through advanced)

2. As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?

3. What has kept you in the hobby?

4. When you were starting out, what problems did you encounter most?

5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?
-----------------------------------------------------------------

1. Advanced for my purposes, but always learning more and more every day. I suppose when asking what skill level you fall under, its best to understand that we fit the skill level that fits our purpose. If you are not interested in learning about other fish, or other habitats besides your own, then you will stay a beginner in the "unknown field", but excel in the area that you know best.

2. My aunt had an aquarium which was never kept up, she never did water changes, and never fed the fish more than what was required. It was a horrible site, and I was determined to do things "right" so I started in the world of aquaria...

3. The fact that so many others need help and assistance with this beautiful hobby. It makes you determined to succeed.

4. Ammonia spikes. Back then, we (the general population) didn't have a clue what that was, or even know what it meant to "cycle an aquarium".

5. Actually when I started out the thought of reading a book on these creatures scared me, so I didn't I caught on...and I assume my tank cycled, which left me with minimal problems. More than anything, the Internet has helped me better understand the hobby, even if it was invented many years after I kept my first fish as a child.

[BradM]

Thanks everyone for responding! Common with this type of research, some of my assumptions were correct, while some were way off. :) Those of you who volunteered to act as a further consultant, I will be contacting you in the following week. Thanks again!

-Brad

[aquariumfishguy]

Well now that you have gathered most of the required info, do you mind letting us know what assumptions you had going into this, and what were true, and what was not true? I'd like to expand on this, which is why I'd love to hear what you think, as would many others. :)

[SwedishFish]

1. What skill level would you fall under under?

I would not be a begginer but more of a novice ( almost advanced need to work on technical stuff)

2.As a beginner, what was it that attracted you to the hobby?

lol a pretty betta fish did actually my parents wanted to get me into it and bought me my first betta then in the summer time i got a 10g!

3. What has kept you in the hobby?

To get a setup that worked ! My first selection of fish was poor :( I killed some fish but most survive. I always liked fish from then on! plus I saw the Rainbowshark ( my favorite fish in the entire hobby) I still own one today he is going strong and has reached full size raised him from pretty small to full size!

4. I was frustrated with having to wait to cycle the tank keeping my favorite fish alive. FIGHTING ICH!!

5. Did you find any books that were particularly helpful when you were started out? If, yes, could name them and state why you found them helpful?

Yes here is a list of them: "Setting Up a Freshwater Aquarium" by: Gregory Skomal. "the practical aquarium fish handbook" by: David Goodwin.
"Guide to starting your first aquarium" by Dr. Herbert R. AxleRod

I am a male 15 years old 9th grade in West Virginia Hope this info helps you out and goodluck with your book!