right and wrong
There is a disturbance in the force. We must stand up for what is right in the face of tyranny. We are not stong. If a conflict arises we will be squashed. We must avoid confrontation with the despots, and spread our message of peace, love and beauty to the people!
On a more serious note, I went to visit a public aquarium today. I figured they would be a good resource for the feeding and handling requirements of some of the fish and plants I want to keep. So I started asking the aquarium director some questions. He quickly realized what I was trying to do, and told me it was illegal to keep local species and not to try setting up an aquarium. Then he winks at me...
He was feeling uncomfortable with the discussion inside his aquarium, so he asked me to step outside so he didn't have to wink at me all afternoon. Once outside we had a discussion on the reasons for the draconian laws on local fishkeeping. The main issue being they don't want fish released back into the enviroment. It can spread diseases, genetic weaknesses and invasive species.
At the end of our coversation he said to me that I am "dialed in" on the issues, that if everyone would be as informed and responsible as me they could allow native species in private aquariums. He said that while legally I was prohibited from making a temperate aquarium, morally I had every right to do what I was planning.
one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws
-Martin Luther King
In the end the aquarium director told me to avoid inviting the fish cops over when they're wearing their uniforms.
This definately gives me pause. Now I understand some of the true forces preventing temperate SW aquariums. It's not the chicken and the egg, it's not supply and demand. Its the government telling us we can't. Now I can see myself at some point openly challenging the government over the aquarium, as an effort to drum up public interest and support, but thats neither here nor now.
So I'm still considering a temperate tank. It won't be as big as I'd originally planned. I think it might be more focused on displaying a few different species rather then a hodge podge of everything. And I'm working on keeping it in an undisclosed location for now. If they wanna stop me they will have to send their gestapo.
Now I debated with myself over whether to disclose this information, but utimately disobeying an unjust law while hiding does no good. People must see the law in action and feel the injustice of it if we are going to produce change.
Sorry for the long post, and I hope I didn't alienate too many people, but I felt honesty was required.
You going to insulate the plywood surfaces of the tank?
