<< If aquariums stores relied on the Hobby Aquarist they would
all go broke!>>
I have had many a dealer tell me the same - the only thing they like about
us ( the hobbyist that is) is that in some obscure way we help promote fish
keeping and they get a dollar out of it along the way.
<<Without going into detail it is a well known, but unpublished fact in the
trade that most fishes sold to the general public are dead within 6 to 12
weeks. Much the same as most kittens & birds sold through the pet trade.>>
And native fish usually die even quicker according to some. I suspect that
the recent trend towards cheaper wild-caught fish from the north may have
been a factor in this. As an aside the same holds for aquarium plants,
whether they are true aquatics or not. It is a sad but true situation that
99.9 % of all the thousands of wild-harvested Aponogeton bulbs sold each
month allover Australia are doomed to die - maybe not as quickly as the
fish but just as certainly.
Thank you Adrian for brightening up our day :-)
Bruce Hansen