New smart Fish tank Startup business

[SimoneFestugato]

Hello everyone,

my name is Simone and I am currently exploring the fish tanks communities to validate the idea (or not) to open a startup of smart fish tanks.

I currently see all fish tanks in the market as not very "smart" or connected with the latest technologies. I see a lot of products for the fish hobbies (tds meter, ph meter, temperature reader, water chiller, water heater, etc.) all disconnected from each other and not part of the whole fish tank system.
Wouldn't be great if all of these technologies would be integrated in a single fish tank? With a single display that controls all interactions?

I'd like to know your opinion about this topic, kind regards!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Freshwater aquariums work better when things are simplified. The only technology you need is a filter, a heater, and a light and these dont need to be integrated with each other. Apart from temperature you dont need to be constantly knowing water parameters, and temperature can be monitored with a £2 thermometer. I dont remember the last time I checked water parameters, certainly not in the last 2 years. The only app I have is for one of my lights settings, and the only time I need to access the app is to reset the light settings when we have a power failure, and when our clocks change in the autumn and spring.

The hobby is full of products and gadgets that dont do anything useful, and that solve problems that dont exist. Their only reason is to to remove money from unwary, inexperienced hobbyists. If you want to add another such product, then good luck to you. But it should be with the knowledge that it's of no use to anyone who knows what they are doing, and it's only purpose is to make money. It won't be any benefit to the hobby.

Salt water is another matter. These systems are available on that side of the hobby. Systems that monitor parameters and intervene to keep these parameters where they need to be are common in the saltwater hobby as parameters are more important there. These systems can run into the £1000s, but you can justify it as saltwater aquariums are more costly in general and spending £1000s to protect your investment is more reasonable. Not many people are willing to invest £1000s to monitor a freshwater aquarium costing £100s.

Im sure this isnt the answer you want to hear, but on the freshwater side the hobby doesn't need this, and on the saltwater side it already exists. If there was any money to be made with what you suggest, the big boys would be doing it, and where there is money to be made, they already are. Don't waste your time or money on this.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

Hey Aiken Drum,

Thanks for your answer! It was full of insights and it is pretty clear to me that your opinion is based on practical experience that does come with time.

I have taken part of some exhibitions already and if I compare what you have just written with what I saw in the exhibitions, I can see you do have a point in your statements.

Maybe I should design a product that could save money (and fish lives) to the inexperienced hobbyists?

If the idea of a smart fish tank is already taken, I am also thinking to redesign the fish tanks in such a way that different tanks could be all connected with each other in a way similar to LEGOs such that a customer could customize his/her own fish tank. Do you think this could potentially be a business idea?

 

[Aiken Drum]

I dont think physically connecting aquariums is a good idea.

Fish are creatures that interact with each other. These interactions can be peaceful or not. You want to keep fish in a manner where the interaction can be controlled, and you do that by keeping fish together that are compatible with each other. If you want to keep more fish of different species together, that are compatible, the cost effective way to do this is to get a bigger aquarium, not try to link aquariums together. Aquariums are just boxes made of glass, they are fairly cheap compared to all the equipment you attach to them, or all the fish you put in them.

If you search around on the Internet, you will find people linking aquariums together with bridges.

These make a fun YouTube video, people often try them out for a bit, its fun to see fish move from one aquarium to another and explore different spaces, but they arent practical long term.

The hobby works when it's simplified. Products that do what they say they do, products that solve actual problems, products that are easy to use and maintain. These are the things the hobby needs.

I'll give you an example. Im not sure what your experience in the hobby is, but there are products commonly called "bacteria in a bottle". These products are meant to contain the microbes that are responsible for the nitrogen cycle, and help you to cycle your aquarium quicker. When these products first hit the market, they where all based on research on what happens in water sewage plants. Unfortunately aquariums and sewage plants arent the same, although the filtration systems have similarities. Experienced hobbyists generally agreed that these bacteria in a bottle products did nothing useful. Time moved on, and research on actual aquariums found that the microbes that inhabit real aquariums arent the same as they always assumed. The beneficial microbes that flourish in high ammonia conditions found in sewage plants arent the same microbes found in low ammonia conditions found in aquariums. You will still find reference to nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria even though these types of microbes simply arent found in established aquariums. Following on from useful research done on actual aquariums, these products are getting better because they will contain the actual microbes that do the work in actual aquariums, rather than similar microbes that inhabit similar environments. Once someone gets the product right, and puts something on the market that actually cycles an aquarium with a bottle full of stuff, that product will be the best selling product on the market. Those products that dont work still sell by the way. And the ones that dont work very well sell better than the ones that work better. And thats down to marketing. Inexperienced hobbyists will buy things that don't work if they are told it does something useful.

An example of a product that does sell is Seachem Prime. It probably is the best selling product on the market. It's a water conditioner, it removes chlorine and chloramine from tap water, as well as some heavy metals. It's cost effective and it does what it needs to do. It claims to do some other bells and whistles too, which are debatable as to whether they actually do these extras. But the reason it's the best selling product on the market is because it solves a problem that actually exists (chlorine water treatment kills fish), and it does so in a cost effective manner. Experienced hobbyists buy this product, and it's the repeat purchases of experienced hobbyists where the profit is. There are dozens of water conditioners on the market, but Prime is the best seller because it works, and its cheap.

Going back to your smart aquarium idea. It's going to happen, it's inevitable because everything is going that way. But its just not useful. I've just bought a new car, it drives itself (to a degree), has sensors for everything giving warnings about this and that. But is it better? I dont need constant warnings about the weather, or my tire pressure, or lights randomly flicking on and off, or it taking over the steering preventing me changing lanes. It's unnecessary, its over complicated, it solves problems that dont exist. It's not better, it just costs more.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

Hey Aiken!

Wow! I am honored to receive such a detailed and useful response. From my side I perceive it as a great welcome to this site ( I see you are a moderator).

My idea was to physically connect fish tanks in a different way compared to the bridges that require a lot of space, basically, and connect only the tanks. As you said, it is not practical in the long term. The bridges do not allow to compensate some "local" requirements (I am thinking about some furniture in the way or simply parts of the wall extruding for some reason ). But this is only an idea, so far. The big work of the design I haven't figured it out, yet.

I have some basic knowledge about fish tanks because I have twelve bettas (all separated) and I took the chance to explore about the nitrogen cycle, KH, GH, etc. At the end of my tour, I was wondering whether I could make all of this simpler for a beginner and I started to think if there was a chance it could turn into a business.

When I started to raise neocaridina, I failed miserly. Part of the problem was the unreliable supplier that gave me the neocaridina shrimps with parasites (I removed the parasites after 1 week with "Genchem No Planaria" even though the parasites were not planaria, lol, but on the internet I saw many people using "Genchem No Planaria" for different parasites and it worked for me, too). After the parasites, the shrimps kept dying one after the other and the females were always losing eggs. I have checked the internet for weeks and checked the water parameters, too. Everything was perfect to me and to the tests with reagents. This is still a mystery to me. Here I also started to wonder whether I could make all of this simpler for a beginner.

I also bought Seachem Prime and noticed the company inside the exhibitions with their products.
I've been using other brands for the nitrobacteria, vitamins, almond leaves extract and enzymatic yogurt for a while. I can see my bettas are pretty happy. I hope I will not find out one day that I bought one or 2 unnecessary bottles of substances that my bettas do not need.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that a smart fish tank follows "the trend" of a smart house but it is not necessary for the hobbyists as much as a new car with sensors and warnings is not necessary when given to an expert driver

 

[Andy Sager]

I have to agree with Aiken here. Your idea would need to be geared to the uneducated more than the true hobbyist. I worked in many retail pet stores in the U.S. starting back in the 1970s and have seen periods where the hobbyists waned but the desire for fish tanks for furniture increased. The hobby changed from a kid's hobby to an adult's hobby because that was where the money was. Your idea for simplicity would have worked better during that period but home tank maintenance companies filled that void because those people weren't interested in being a fish hobbyist, they just wanted something alive and different from their neighbors. Even that period waned as people got tired of having to actually pay attention to what was happening in the tank in between the times the the service company was going to the home.
There are two types of fish hobbyists: Those who just want to have fish and those who want to learn about the fish. You learn more in the doing, not in the having done for you. Using your own experience with the shrimp, didn't you learn more by needing to find the appropriate medications, suppliers, species than if someone just said " Here, do this and this and that and you'll be okay."? As Aiken stated, a successful tank will have a group of compatible fish species. Because of this, there is no " one size fits all" to fish keeping. Different species need different foods or different temperatures or different forms of decorations, etc. This means that to sell an uneducated person " The answer to fish keeping", to be responsible, it should really not stop at the setup but at the fish source.
On a personal note, my introduction to fish keeping as an inquisitive 6 year old led to a 45+ year career in the tropical fish industry. While my story is unusual, it's not unique. I've been everything from a commercial fish breeder to a wholesaler, importer/exporter, retailer, fish collector, system designer and most of all, an avid hobbyist. I had a certified Ichthyologist as a mentor and he explained to me what was happening within the system. It was from him making do things that I learned how to do them under different systems.
Hopefully this just gives you some more food for thought.

For the saltwater trade, a " done for you" type system can be beneficial for those who are keeping more delicate corals or other more delicate species but for those just keeping fish, I assume the cost of your setup wouldn't really be a financial benefit. That part of the hobby is expensive enough as it is and most of the filtering parts can be DIYed. I was in Brazil at a restaurant that had a 40' long aquarium in the waiting area. My party got a "behind the scenes" tour because the owner was a client of our customer. The tank was run by a computer system as big as a home closet. Here's the catch, even with the computer running everything, the corals in the tank were not doing well. That was part of why my buddy and I were sent to Brazil. To figure out why they weren't. The lighting was wrong, the placement of the corals was wrong, the circulation within the tank was wrong and all those things combined were the problem. So you see, without being involved in the care of the tank, a lot can be missed. It's more than just the system. I can see your system being better for commercial places like this restaurant or say, Dr's offices, business waiting rooms, etc as long as it's connected to a maintenance service if the people don't have the want to do it themselves.

As I said, I've seen a lot of " next best things" in my 60 years in the tropical fish hobby and most of them no longer exist because they just weren't necessary for the hobbyist. I think your analysis here " a smart fish tank follows "the trend" of a smart house but it is not necessary for the hobbyists as much as a new car with sensors and warnings is not necessary when given to an expert driver." is spot on, even for the average hobbyist.

Hope this helps.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Im neither an expert with aquariums, nor driving. I've been in the aquarium hobby on and off since I was a kid, and held a driving licence for 35 years.

Im not saying these smart systems would benefit a new hobbyist, and more experienced hobbyists dont need them. If anything it's the other way round. What im saying is that new hobbyists need something that works, thats cost effective and simple to understand. More experienced hobbyists can handle a bit more complexity and are more likely to invest in something a bit more premium, but they also understand that most of the time there is no need for complexity, and where there is a need you can already find those systems.

If we go back to my car analogy. Back in the day you could do evening car maintenance class, which would enable you to do your annual service, and with a maintenance guidebook do more complex repairs. That's not possible now that cars are closed boxes. Even car mechanics cant fix things any more, all they can do is replace things. Things have got too complex IMO. I guarantee on my new car, if something breaks its going to be a touchscreen, or a sensor, or something else that used to be unnecessary.

Back to aquariums. I can take a filtration system apart and give it a clean every couple of months. Every year or two I can buy a service pack and replace all the parts that get worn over time. If something breaks I can get a replacement part and fix it. If it's something like a heater that breaks and I'm unable to fix it because it's a sealed unit, they are fairly cheap to just replace. Once everything is "smart" and integrated you will lose the ability to do it yourself and once something breaks, everything stops working until its fixed. If your filter breaks and it's controlled by an app, and integrated into everything else you will need to get fluval out to fix it, or you will end up having to replace the whole set up. If this smart, integrated idea does become commonplace in the hobby, it will be with a view to making things more expensive, driving profit etc. But what it will do is make a hobby thats fairly cheap to get into more expensive, and risk potential hobbyists not taking it up.

I really dont see any new ideas coming into the hobby in the next couple of decades. Things will evolve, but there won't be an entirely new way of doing things. If acrylic tanks can be brought down to the cost of glass tanks, they will become the standard. There would be a market for a Bi-Orb style aquarium where the filtration actually works. I think sump filtration will become more commonplace. There will be development of filters and pumps to make them quieter and more energy efficient. But there won't be a radically different, new filtration system.

I can think of many products that could use some improvement. But I'm not a manufacturer, or chemist or biologist that knows how to create those products. Im not a marketing consultant who could get them on shelves and selling.

If your thoughts about new ways of building tanks, then I would have a go at building some out of glass and acrylic first. See how it's currently done. You can look at it with an experienced eye, and make judgements on how things could be improved.

John Deere is a great example here. Their farm equipment is top notch. Very technologically advanced, computerised etc. But when something breaks the only way to fix it is to return it to John Deere and wait a few months for it to be returned. Great while they work, but a disaster when they don't. What farmers need is equipment that can be fixed in the field, and returned to an operational condition in a short space of time.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

I have to agree with Aiken here. Your idea would need to be geared to the uneducated more than the true hobbyist. I worked in many retail pet stores in the U.S. starting back in the 1970s and have seen periods where the hobbyists waned but the desire for fish tanks for furniture increased. The hobby changed from a kid's hobby to an adult's hobby because that was where the money was. Your idea for simplicity would have worked better during that period but home tank maintenance companies filled that void because those people weren't interested in being a fish hobbyist, they just wanted something alive and different from their neighbors. Even that period waned as people got tired of having to actually pay attention to what was happening in the tank in between the times the the service company was going to the home.
There are two types of fish hobbyists: Those who just want to have fish and those who want to learn about the fish. You learn more in the doing, not in the having done for you. Using your own experience with the shrimp, didn't you learn more by needing to find the appropriate medications, suppliers, species than if someone just said " Here, do this and this and that and you'll be okay."? As Aiken stated, a successful tank will have a group of compatible fish species. Because of this, there is no " one size fits all" to fish keeping. Different species need different foods or different temperatures or different forms of decorations, etc. This means that to sell an uneducated person " The answer to fish keeping", to be responsible, it should really not stop at the setup but at the fish source.
On a personal note, my introduction to fish keeping as an inquisitive 6 year old led to a 45+ year career in the tropical fish industry. While my story is unusual, it's not unique. I've been everything from a commercial fish breeder to a wholesaler, importer/exporter, retailer, fish collector, system designer and most of all, an avid hobbyist. I had a certified Ichthyologist as a mentor and he explained to me what was happening within the system. It was from him making do things that I learned how to do them under different systems.
Hopefully this just gives you some more food for thought.

For the saltwater trade, a " done for you" type system can be beneficial for those who are keeping more delicate corals or other more delicate species but for those just keeping fish, I assume the cost of your setup wouldn't really be a financial benefit. That part of the hobby is expensive enough as it is and most of the filtering parts can be DIYed. I was in Brazil at a restaurant that had a 40' long aquarium in the waiting area. My party got a "behind the scenes" tour because the owner was a client of our customer. The tank was run by a computer system as big as a home closet. Here's the catch, even with the computer running everything, the corals in the tank were not doing well. That was part of why my buddy and I were sent to Brazil. To figure out why they weren't. The lighting was wrong, the placement of the corals was wrong, the circulation within the tank was wrong and all those things combined were the problem. So you see, without being involved in the care of the tank, a lot can be missed. It's more than just the system. I can see your system being better for commercial places like this restaurant or say, Dr's offices, business waiting rooms, etc as long as it's connected to a maintenance service if the people don't have the want to do it themselves.

As I said, I've seen a lot of " next best things" in my 60 years in the tropical fish hobby and most of them no longer exist because they just weren't necessary for the hobbyist. I think your analysis here " a smart fish tank follows "the trend" of a smart house but it is not necessary for the hobbyists as much as a new car with sensors and warnings is not necessary when given to an expert driver." is spot on, even for the average hobbyist.

Hope this helps.

Hello Andy!
I am honored to be able to speak to such an experienced aquarist as yourself! Thanks for your insights! I really much appreciated!

In my personal opinion, I had preferred someone teaching or telling me to do this or that to prevent all those poor neocaridina from dying (I'm sorry!), but the passed experiences of companies not surviving the times, this is definitely something to consider!

The "food for the mind" that you have provided is more than enough to reconsider my idea from a different perspective, and probably to move one with a different idea that can help the hobbyists not only for the maintenance, but also for the caring of the fish tank. Maybe the marine systems are more suitable to justify the cost of an integrated/automatic system.

Right now, I come to think of a software that can help hobbyists to design the fish tank for themselves. Not everyone has the time or he/she is willing to learn about their pet fish and a "compact"/software solution might be the answer. The software should have a database for: the right place for the heater, for the filter, the right lights, and more help about what types of fish are compatible with each other. When I first got a betta fish, I've put it together with smaller fish, not knowing that bettas are predators.
Maybe a software could provide some help for those in a hurry? It would have been suitable for your customer's client to have a feedback about their setup (lights, placements and circulation) in advance. Basically I am just saying that a software that could teach hobbyists like you and Aiken, would be beneficial and maybe it would help people to be responsible. ChatGPT is already doing something like this, but obviously it is not specialized in this field.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

Im neither an expert with aquariums, nor driving. I've been in the aquarium hobby on and off since I was a kid, and held a driving licence for 35 years.

Im not saying these smart systems would benefit a new hobbyist, and more experienced hobbyists dont need them. If anything it's the other way round. What im saying is that new hobbyists need something that works, thats cost effective and simple to understand. More experienced hobbyists can handle a bit more complexity and are more likely to invest in something a bit more premium, but they also understand that most of the time there is no need for complexity, and where there is a need you can already find those systems.

If we go back to my car analogy. Back in the day you could do evening car maintenance class, which would enable you to do your annual service, and with a maintenance guidebook do more complex repairs. That's not possible now that cars are closed boxes. Even car mechanics cant fix things any more, all they can do is replace things. Things have got too complex IMO. I guarantee on my new car, if something breaks its going to be a touchscreen, or a sensor, or something else that used to be unnecessary.

Back to aquariums. I can take a filtration system apart and give it a clean every couple of months. Every year or two I can buy a service pack and replace all the parts that get worn over time. If something breaks I can get a replacement part and fix it. If it's something like a heater that breaks and I'm unable to fix it because it's a sealed unit, they are fairly cheap to just replace. Once everything is "smart" and integrated you will lose the ability to do it yourself and once something breaks, everything stops working until its fixed. If your filter breaks and it's controlled by an app, and integrated into everything else you will need to get fluval out to fix it, or you will end up having to replace the whole set up. If this smart, integrated idea does become commonplace in the hobby, it will be with a view to making things more expensive, driving profit etc. But what it will do is make a hobby thats fairly cheap to get into more expensive, and risk potential hobbyists not taking it up.

I really dont see any new ideas coming into the hobby in the next couple of decades. Things will evolve, but there won't be an entirely new way of doing things. If acrylic tanks can be brought down to the cost of glass tanks, they will become the standard. There would be a market for a Bi-Orb style aquarium where the filtration actually works. I think sump filtration will become more commonplace. There will be development of filters and pumps to make them quieter and more energy efficient. But there won't be a radically different, new filtration system.

I can think of many products that could use some improvement. But I'm not a manufacturer, or chemist or biologist that knows how to create those products. Im not a marketing consultant who could get them on shelves and selling.

If your thoughts about new ways of building tanks, then I would have a go at building some out of glass and acrylic first. See how it's currently done. You can look at it with an experienced eye, and make judgements on how things could be improved.

John Deere is a great example here. Their farm equipment is top notch. Very technologically advanced, computerised etc. But when something breaks the only way to fix it is to return it to John Deere and wait a few months for it to be returned. Great while they work, but a disaster when they don't. What farmers need is equipment that can be fixed in the field, and returned to an operational condition in a short space of time.

Hey Aiken! Thanks again for your messages. I have carefully read your infos.

It's definitely very hard to have the right path drawn in front of anyone, no one has it , and there are many obstacles and many uncertainties. I am just very happy I am here talking to you in this community because it is truly providing many exceptional infos about the hobby and the needs that experienced aquarists have.

Speaking of the integrated "smart" systems, I am a mechanical designer and making things easy to replace in case of breakage is part of my job. I was thinking of separated and integrated modules that host the heater, the filter, the circulation, etc. such that in case of malfunction, you take out the broken module and insert the new one. Done.
Following your example of JohnDeere, like you said, the problem is not the substitution of broken parts, but the assistance. Basically the problem does not rely in the technical department, but on the assistance department. So, this brings more food for my poor brain: in case of opening a company about fish tanks, remember to have a section dedicated to the assistance (and let it be fast! Not like JohnDeere's) . Maybe a software, like I wrote above, would be ok?

It's funny that you say that acrylic is more expensive than glass. Here in China we can buy a panel of acrylic (20cmx20cmx0,5cm) for 1 euro and the same panel in glass for 3 euros (ratio acrylic:glass 1:3!). I suppose that over there in UK you have a surplus of silica and glass companies(?).
Since acrylic is very cheap here in China, I have already made 3 DYI acrylic fish tanks and I was thinking to make it a business since I like it. I have seen a lot of videos of how to do it but there were so many hidden "traps" and secrets in making it (and not shown in the videos!!), that it already took me 1 year to do it properly. I suppose that making a glass fish tank would also require as much time, to do it properly.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The thickness of acrylic for an aquarium needs to be much thicker than glass. And acrylic bonding is more expensive than silicone sealing glass.

For example to build a 200 litre aquarium from glass you would use 10mm glass for the front, back and sides. The same size aquarium in acrylic would be 20 to 25mm thickness.

A 1000 x 450 x 10mm sheet of suitable glass is £35. A 1000 x 450 x 25mm sheet of suitable acrylic is £170.

You might get away with building a small betta aquarium out of bonded 5mm acrylic, but medium sized aquariums need 20mm+ and large aquariums might be 50mm.

Acrylic aquariums are typically double the cost of glass.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

Hey Aiken,
here in China you can get 2 panels of glass 1000*450*10mm for about 30 euros (15 euros/ panel). Same price for the acrylic when the panel is 1000*450*12mm. For what I know, 10 mm should be enough for what I've seen on the internet (I never had such a big aquarium, so my experience might be wrong). As far as it regards the glue, I do confirm that the glue for acrylic is more expensive than silicone, though.
If the prices seems odd to you it is just that I live on the other side of the Earth so things are different here (and so are the prices).

I hope to have a chance to get bigger fish tanks, one day!

 

[Andy Sager]

Hello Andy!
I am honored to be able to speak to such an experienced aquarist as yourself! Thanks for your insights! I really much appreciated!

In my personal opinion, I had preferred someone teaching or telling me to do this or that to prevent all those poor neocaridina from dying (I'm sorry!), but the passed experiences of companies not surviving the times, this is definitely something to consider!

I can't speak for everywhere but there is definitely a lack of " experienced" people in the pet shops here in the U.S. so a software that offers better " how to" instructions has some merit. The catch tho is this: Many people here get into the hobby long before they do any research. It's an " impulse buy" sadly. Way back when saltwater fish keeping was less advanced, there was a book called " The marine aquarium in theory and practice" and when someone was asking about starting a marine aquarium, I would highly recommend them reading the book first. The book retailed for $20 and I told the customer "It will be the best $20 investment you make because it will either save you hundreds of dollars by you not setting up a tank or save you hundreds of dollars in fish because you'd know what was going on." You could tell who was going to be successful with their tanks by their response to that. ( And I did get people saying "Thank you for the book. I'm staying with freshwater." )

The "food for the mind" that you have provided is more than enough to reconsider my idea from a different perspective, and probably to move one with a different idea that can help the hobbyists not only for the maintenance, but also for the caring of the fish tank. Maybe the marine systems are more suitable to justify the cost of an integrated/automatic system.

Right now, I come to think of a software that can help hobbyists to design the fish tank for themselves. Not everyone has the time or he/she is willing to learn about their pet fish and a "compact"/software solution might be the answer. The software should have a database for: the right place for the heater, for the filter, the right lights, and more help about what types of fish are compatible with each other. When I first got a betta fish, I've put it together with smaller fish, not knowing that bettas are predators.

Yes, compatibility is a big issue that is not handled correctly here IMO. The internet is full of pages with compatibility charts but I see many fish listed I disagree with or are flat out wrong. Then there's the problem of mixing wild caught fish vs the farm raised fish. Again, the really good information sites online talk about wild fish while most of what is available to the hobby are farm raised fish what have, over time, have adapted to a different water parameter than their wild counterparts. So it's more than just "does this fish go with that fish?"

Maybe a software could provide some help for those in a hurry? It would have been suitable for your customer's client to have a feedback about their setup (lights, placements and circulation) in advance.

I agree, but this tank was set up by people in the pet industry who should have known better. That has been the biggest problem IMO. Too many people not knowing what they are doing, advising those who know less.

Basically I am just saying that a software that could teach hobbyists like you and Aiken, would be beneficial and maybe it would help people to be responsible. ChatGPT is already doing something like this, but obviously it is not specialized in this field.

I understand and wish you good luck with it. Just keep in mind that animal husbandry is far from simple. There are so many factors beyond, will this.... not kill that.... if kept together.

Keep us posted.

 

[SimoneFestugato]

Hey Andy!
Thank you for your kind message!

I also believe that a good substitution to your book might be necessary. Maybe a software that can help unexperienced people can be a good idea. I have come here to harden my basic knowledge about fish tanks with some experienced people like you and Aiken.

It is definitely not an easy goal but I believe that, under the supervision of some professionals, it would be possible to convert some experience into a database and make it accessible for more people. The database should have some sort of interactions and animations displayed for the user (none of us is willing to read long paragraphs about some fish, IMO). Maybe this could be a good idea and it will definitely take some time to put into action. It will also take a lot of fixes along the way. I hope they will thank me for saving their time and money.

I'll keep you posted!

 

[Andy Sager]

There's another thing ( among many ) to consider and that's the fact that water is not the same everywhere. That means that what might work in one area will not work in another. Case in point, in my state of Florida, the water in the South of the state is rock hard with high pH. The water in the middle part of the state ( where I live now) is extremely soft with high pH. The water in the Northern part of the state is very soft with a more neutral pH. So fish like most of the African Cichlids would do very well in South Florida's water as is while in the Northern part would suffer without adjustments. As an importer in South Florida of fish from around the world, I would constantly have to adjust our water to match what the fish were coming in from. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It just goes to show that there are so many variables to consider when giving instructions. This is why local information is usually the best information. At many of the seminars I attended in past years where fish experts were the guest speakers, they would often add to their speeches " Check with your local shops for your situation. "
Just one more thing to incorporate into your program.

 

[Andy Sager]

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Would something like this be your competition?

 

[SimoneFestugato]

There's another thing ( among many ) to consider and that's the fact that water is not the same everywhere. That means that what might work in one area will not work in another. Case in point, in my state of Florida, the water in the South of the state is rock hard with high pH. The water in the middle part of the state ( where I live now) is extremely soft with high pH. The water in the Northern part of the state is very soft with a more neutral pH. So fish like most of the African Cichlids would do very well in South Florida's water as is while in the Northern part would suffer without adjustments. As an importer in South Florida of fish from around the world, I would constantly have to adjust our water to match what the fish were coming in from. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It just goes to show that there are so many variables to consider when giving instructions. This is why local information is usually the best information. At many of the seminars I attended in past years where fish experts were the guest speakers, they would often add to their speeches " Check with your local shops for your situation. "
Just one more thing to incorporate into your program.

Yes, water quality is definitely something important (among many) to consider and not underestimate. In my case I have 220 ppm here in Shanghai but 1200 ppm in my hometown near Rome ahah
Meaningless to say that my hometown's water is considered the worst in the whole country. In shanghai, on the other hand, water is pretty soft but I need to consider the viruses and bacteria inside the water as the pipes here are pretty darned old and do not respect any regulations, basically.
Just a quick question, Andy, if you don't mind. Do you import any fish from China? If so, what are the fishes?

 

[SimoneFestugato]

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Would something like this be your competition?

This is not competition! This is the end of my dream! They are basically doing what I was planning to do, with time. They even have a section where the customer can customize the fish tank! Darn it!
Well, it is good that the dream ended now and not after a conspicuous investment. That would have been terrible. Thank you again for the heads up, Andy!
Did you notice any other websites like this you have just shared? It could come handy to know more about what is going on in the fish aquarium hobby, just to avoid some strong competitors. I don't like to be crushed

 

[Aiken Drum]

Like I said, these systems already exist on the saltwater side, and they cost a lot. Far too much to be considered a worthwhile investment on most FW aquariums.

 

[Andy Sager]

Yes, water quality is definitely something important (among many) to consider and not underestimate. In my case I have 220 ppm here in Shanghai but 1200 ppm in my hometown near Rome ahah
Meaningless to say that my hometown's water is considered the worst in the whole country. In shanghai, on the other hand, water is pretty soft but I need to consider the viruses and bacteria inside the water as the pipes here are pretty darned old and do not respect any regulations, basically.
Just a quick question, Andy, if you don't mind. Do you import any fish from China? If so, what are the fishes?

I used to many years ago. My suppliers were in Hong Kong tho. I remember from them we got mainly Guppies, Neon Tetras , some Bettas, Redtail and Rainbow sharks and Goldfish. ( But I got the better quality Goldfish from Japan. ) They had lots of other fish to offer but honestly, I could get most of their other offerings cheaper elsewhere. I bought through a local consolidator so I didn't need to have a big order from any one place to save on shipping costs. I bought mainly from Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok and occasionally Tokyo. Back in the 70s and early 80s, these were the best ( and almost only) places to get fish from. Now, there are so many places between Vietnam, Indonesia, EU, Malaysia, and on and on and on to choose from and that's not including the South American exporters.

 

[Andy Sager]

This is not competition! This is the end of my dream! They are basically doing what I was planning to do, with time. They even have a section where the customer can customize the fish tank! Darn it!
Well, it is good that the dream ended now and not after a conspicuous investment. That would have been terrible. Thank you again for the heads up, Andy!
Did you notice any other websites like this you have just shared? It could come handy to know more about what is going on in the fish aquarium hobby, just to avoid some strong competitors. I don't like to be crushed

Actually, I don't actively keep up with all the new technology companies these days but that one happened to come across my facebook feed. My most recent hatchery closed after a hurricane took out most of my customers about 7 years ago. Now, I concentrate more on local wild species of freshwater fish that I can trap in a culvert in front of my property. I do a lot more traveling these days so keeping species that require much maintenance is not practical for me. The local stock can remain in outdoor tanks and pools and are used to periods of starvation and poor water quality. Most of what I keep have short lifespans ( 1-3 years) so that all works best for me.
Dreaming is always good and I always like to boost entrepreneurship but sometimes, ideas come too late or are focused on the wrong markets. ( I've had my own experience with coming up with an idea too late. ) And of course, having been in the hobby and business for so long, I've seen so many products that have come onto the market but the final reality is that there has been nothing new that has come on the market that does something other than what was done 60 years ago when I got started. They just did it in a different way. Sadly, people are people and can be very gullible. I refer you back to the Pet Rock fad of the 1970s. Some inventive entrepreneur put a plain ol' rock in a box and sold an estimated 1.5 million of them. ( I'm glad to say I did not buy one. ) Made him a fortune. So keep dreaming and searching for a market you can provide a service to. Don't be discouraged. Find a product that you can do better than what is currently available. ( Or like I say, " Build a better mouse trap. " ) If you look at this picture closely, this came from my most recent hatchery. You'll see an old style box filter and an old style sponge filter. Why do I use them when there are so many newer filters? Because I've used them before to create literally millions of fish for the trade and THEY WORK and they were cheap. Could I have used the newer filter styles? Sure, but they wouldn't yield a better result. Nobody to date has built a better " mouse trap" of these, just more expensive ones that do the exact same thing only differently. So maybe your future market is not in the pet industry? Maybe it is? Just find something you are passionate about and see if it's something you can provide something better than what is already out there.
As for " Well, it is good that the dream ended now and not after a conspicuous investment.", it's always best to invest in the research before investing in the product. Investing can be time, money, materials, etc but in the end, it will either save you long term money or long term time. If you want to try something for the pet industry, spend some time in your local pet shops. Talk to the proprietors about what they find is a problem for them or their customers and see if you can fix that. Pick up the more international hobby magazines ( i.e. Amazonas, CORAL, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, etc.) and go through the ads in them to see what has been developed. The best products solve a problem that exists or problems other products create.

Hope this helps.