You Know You’re an EXTREME Aquarist When by Susan Priest When you buy aquatic plants at a fish club auction, this is not a sure sign. When you pull a few plants out of your aquariums and contribute them to a fish club auction, this is not a sure sign. BUT, if you keep small, medium and large grow-out tanks for your aquatic plants so you can find just the right size of java fern when you want one, then you know you are an EXTREME aquarist! Changing the water in your betta bowls is not a sure sign. Performing partial water changes on your aquariums is not a sure sign. BUT if you use a baster to dribble the potent water from the bottom of your betta bowls onto your houseplants, and you siphon the “used” water from your tanks directly into your watering can so you can pour it onto your vegetable plants, then not only are you an EXTREME aquarist, you are an extreme gardener as well! Having a bucket labeled “FOR FISH, NO SOAP” is not a sure sign. Having a bucket labeled “FOR SOAP, NO FISH” is not a sure sign. BUT when you have to move the fourteen “NO SOAP” buckets out of the way so you can use the one “NO FISH” bucket to mop the floor, then there can be no doubt; you are an EXTREME aquarist! Buying spring water in gallon jugs doesn’t mean anything, even if you buy them in three-packs. BUT if you have put your toaster oven and your juicer into the cupboard to make room for a double row of gallon jugs on your kitchen counter which contain “aging” tap water, then you are most assuredly an EXTREME aquarist! (Further evidence would be if you know which jugs aren’t aged enough yet, and which ones are, and you always have a couple of empty “spares” for when one springs a leak.) What does it mean if there is dust on your stove or your vacuum cleaner? Nothing in particular unless you combine that with the fact that there is NO dust on your Python or your air pumps. Simply stated, an EXTREME aquarist is probably not an extreme housekeeper, as well! When you go to your favorite store, The Dollar Zone, you spend at least fifteen minutes evaluating the many kitchen utensils as to their usefulness in your fish room, and you spend at least half an hour evaluating the wide assortment of open as well as closed containers as to their usefulness in water changes, as breeding “tanks,” and for transporting your fish (should you pick up an extra watering can?). The amount of time you devote to this is a pretty sure sign in itself. BUT, if you have to run back the next day because you lay awake all night wishing you had bought some of those really cool iridescent glass “rocks” in the shapes of stars and crescent moons to put in the moonlight gourami tank of your dreams, well, there can be no doubt that you are an EXTREME aquarist! You know you are an EXTREME aquarist if you spend $30.00 or more on raffle tickets at the monthly meetings in hopes of acquiring, well, almost everything on the table! (I won’t mention names, but does a certain Gypsy Mermaid we all know and love possibly fit this description?) Going shopping at pet stores that sell tropical fish is not a sure sign. Asking lots of questions of the staff just so you can let them know that you are more knowledgeable than they are is not a sure sign. BUT showing up at the store with your own extra thick plastic bags, your own assortment of nets in different sizes and with bends in the handles at varying positions, and your own bottle of Stresscoat, well, you simply can’t deny it; you’re an EXTREME aquarist! You know you’re an EXTREME aquarist when your out-of-town visitors ask you to take them to your favorite tourist attractions, and you take them to Joe Ferdenzi’s house, Harry Modern 24 Aquarium - Greater City A.S (NY)
September September 20102010
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)
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