Many people go to PetSmart, Petco, or even Walmart to look into getting a fish tank for a small space they have available on their desk. They are amazed by how many options there are and how big the fish tanks can get. What they don’t realize is the proper way to take care of the tank they are getting and in many cases how big the fish they are buying are going to get. These new fish keepers have the tendency to get the cheapest fish thank they can get, the most fish they can get, and don’t get any supplies to maintain the health of the fish. Typically they struggle to keep the fish alive for a few months, get frustrated from returning the fish to the store every couple of weeks, and eventually give up. The information given to new fish keepers varies so much from person to person that they end up confused with a huge supply of chemicals, each promised to be the right way. This is what aquarium clubs try to prevent, misinformation that discourages new fish keepers.

Once a month, people gather in groups around the world for the love of animals. They share their passion, knowledge, and experiences throughout their time keeping fish, reptiles, and amphibians. All to educate others for the betterment of animals. Aquarium related clubs have been around in the US for over 100 years. The first was the Boston Aquarium Society in 1916. Ever since more than 100 have popped up around the world.

The Desert Aquarists Society, founded in Tucson, Az in 1974, meets every second Sunday of the month. To spread the education of maintaining aquatic animals. They are one of few aquarium clubs in Arizona and of the numerous in the US. Not all aquarium clubs are created equal. Some focus on selling fish, selling aquatic plants, or the education. The President of the Desert Aquarist society, Alan Thiem, is proud of the club for their focus on education and credits the popularity of the club to their emphasis on public outreach.

During the monthly meetings, a member of the club or a guest will provide a presentation on an aspect of fish keeping that they enjoy the most. This topic could be growing aquatic plants, breeding specific fish, how to start an aquarium, or even how to take proper photos of your aquarium. Every meeting is made so that everyone will learn something new from attending. The club president emphasizes the importance in maintaining an educational aspect in the club to make everyone better aquarists. When the club meeting does not involve a presentation, there is sometimes a “bowl show” where people bring their fish and compete for the most attractive one. In these shows each fish is described in full about their preferred habitat, their origin, breeding status, etc. All fun facts that teach anyone interested how to fully care for and allow the fish to thrive in their possession.

The Desert Aquarist Society also supports the locally owned fish stores to a large degree. Local fish stores are the resource for aquatic hobbyists for uncommon species and specialized equipment. They are also a great place for new fish keepers to go and learn a lot about the fundamentals to successfully keeping an aquarium. Fish store values are in line with the Desert Aquarist Society so they work together to benefit the hobby. The club brings more business to the stores through gift cards and the stores give the club discounts on supplies as well as the cost of the gift cards.

Aquarium clubs are an amazing thing that gets more people into keeping aquariums and helps them stay in the hobby. So many people go to a “big box store” get a 10  gallon and fill it with a bunch of fish the same day and struggle to keep fish alive for months, if not years. This frustration only leads to them emptying that aquarium, storing it in their garage or selling it on craigslist. The problem that leads up to these very common circumstances is the lack of knowledge that gets passed on to the customers as well as the false information floating around in the hobby. The Desert Aquarist Society recognizes this and challenges the difficulties new fish keepers face by providing a community of teachers to help guide them in the path to a successful experience. This gets more people in the aquarium hobby and brings a brighter light to new aquarists.

Aquarium fish keepers only learn more through online resources, fish stores, or books. The Desert Aquarist Society brings people together for the passion of aquatic plants animals to talk about what they love and share their experiences with people that are truly interested. People are able to learn from each other and share plants and fish with one another so everyone is happy with what they keep. This sense of community is what is most important to the Desert Aquarist Society and what they strive for.

Interviewer: Myles Abdul-Bari

Interviewee: Alan Thiem (President) and John Willmon (Vice President)

Interview Date & Time: October 28, 2018

Interview Location: Alan Thiem’s home

Research Questions:

• How long have you been with the Desert Aquarist Society?
• How long has the Desert Aquarist Society been around?
• What is the Desert Aquarist Society trying to accomplish?
• Why should non-affiliated people support this community?
• What do the members of the Desert Aquarist Society get from joining?
• How would you describe the demographic of the Desert Aquarist Society members?
• What is something about the Desert Aquarist Society that you are proud of and why?
• How do you see the Desert Aquarist Society and the aquarium hobby evolving in 5-10 years?
• What is something in the aquarium hobby that we can improve?
• What do you think the Desert Aquarist Society can improve?

Interview setting:

The interview took place at Alan Thiem’s house in northwest Tucson. When I arrived we chatted outside his house with John and Alan while Alan was replacing the headlights of his car. After a few minutes, Alan took me around his house to look at his aquariums that were spread out and had a different theme and purpose. We then went to his backyard where he showed me a 192 gallon tank that he was getting ready to set up in his house. The interview began in the backyard at 4:15pm with Alan’s daughter running around playing in the background. Alan is a man in his early 30’s with 2 daughters and a wife While John is about the same age and goes to the University of Arizona in the school of plant sciences.

Synthesized Reflection & Analysis:

One of the biggest takeaways from the interview of Alan Thiem and John Willmon is that they are proud of the Desert Aquarist Society for providing a learning experience for everyone that shows up to the meeting. People do not have to be a member to go to the meetings and learn or share their knowledge. This allows the general public to learn from very knowledgeable people in the aquarium hobby. The membership is also only $15 annually and $10 for a student, which the money is returned to the members from the raffles that give members gift cards in every meeting. A lot of other aquarium clubs or aquatic plant clubs in Phoenix don’t have the teaching aspect to their meetings. This is important for getting more people into the aquarium hobby and stay in the hobby by having success in the fish and plants they get from stores and the auctions at the meetings. A lot of people get out of keeping fish and plants because they struggle to keep everything alive and that is what the Desert Aquarist Society is focused on changing.

Continuing Questions:

During the interview the two top leaders of the Desert Aquarist Society answered all of my questions in full and completely elaborated all of their thoughts. Almost each answer came with a story or an example that gave me more information than what I was initially expecting. This fulfilled my curiosity so I don’t have any further questions for the Desert Aquarist Society.

Raw Data:

Aquarium fish clubs have formed around the world connecting fish keeping hobbyists for the betterment of the hobby. These clubs bring people together with the common interest of keeping fish and help spread the knowledge of experience. The first aquarium society ever founded is from 1882 in Germany (Nutrafin). The oldest continuously functioning aquarium club is the Boston Aquarium Society founded in 1916. This club is devoted to the increase of the knowledge and interest in the aquarium hobby (Boston Aquarium Society). These clubs rely on their members to benefit the hobby by sharing all they have learned through each member’s time spent caring for and breeding fish. The goal of almost all aquarium clubs is for the older members to share their experiences in the aquarium hobby to those new to the hobby as well as those also very experienced. The clubs are much more of a social gathering than any kind of scholarly meeting. People get to meet up together and share all they have learned as well as trade and sell their fish and plants to each other. This allows people to share their accomplishments in breeding their fish and propagating their aquatic plants. The trading and selling of fish and aquatic plants is often done within auctions where either all or a fraction of the proceeds go to the aquarium club. These proceeds typically go towards supplies required for the club meeting or they fund the travel of guest speakers. These speakers are most often people who specialize in a specific aspect of the aquarium hobby and have donated their time to spread the vast knowledge they have collected in their specialty. This is how aquarium hobbyists are able to learn from each other and integrate what they learned into their own aquariums; to later spread the same information or their own rendition of the information or techniques to more aquarists.

The Desert Aquarist Society in particular has more objectives to minimize the negative impacts of the hobby on coral reefs, endangered species, and the rainforest (Desert Aquarist Society). This mission is employed by spreading the information about the hobby and the many ways aquarists can benefit the environment. Some ways this can be done is supporting local fish breeders so the demand of wild caught fish and coral decrease, as well as supporting local fish stores to keep the hobby thriving in the local area.

Citations:

“Aquarium History.” Nutrafin Aquatic News, 2004, p. 13.

“BostonAquariumSociety.” Friends of the BAS,  http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=55.

Name: Myles Abdul-Bari

Observation Date: October 14th, 2018 2:00pm

Observation Location: Eckstrom-Columbus Library

Going into the meeting I was hoping to understand the reason for this community and what they try to accomplish for each other. The meeting was held in the Eckstrom-Columbus Library in a meeting room. Everyone signed an attendance sheet and members got a small piece of paper with their name on it. The president of the group began speaking, while behind a podium, about the big support the local fish stores give the community. The community and the local fish stores have a great relationship with each other. The stores provide discounts on products for the community to use during meetings and the community supports the local shops with their purchases. The president of the group then had the now comers introduce themselves (me and one other person). We gave our name and the fish we keep then picked a small piece of paper out of a bowl for a raffle. The raffle was for members only and the winners got gift certificates for the local fish stores. These gift certificates were purchased by the president with the money that was raised from auctions from fish, plants, and supplies provided by the members. After the raffle the president said they normally have a presentation from a volunteer about an aquarium topic. This time there wasn’t a presentation so they instead had a bowl contest. Some of the members brought fish that they wanted to compete and everyone voted on two fish they thought looked the best. After everyone voted on the most attractive fish, the owners of the fish described their fish and interesting fact about them. The two winners with the most votes won another gift certificate for the local fish stores. After the contest, the president held the auction and a member helped hand out the purchases. The items auctioned off were provided by the members and all of the proceeds go towards gift cards for the next month’s meeting and supplies for the group. Everyone was really nice about the auctions and let some people win that wanted the item more but keep the prices low. The auctions ended the 2 hour meeting, the buyers paid for their purchases, and everyone helped clean up. What I noticed when the president was going over the gift card options, there was one store that was left out, Tropical Kingdom. I wonder why this store wasn’t even mentioned.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

I will be interviewing the desert aquarist society and observing their group meetings and the community as a whole. This Group shares the love of the aquarium hobby as I do and they share their many years of experience with each other to better spread the hobby and to increase the welfare of the animals in their care. Their upcoming meeting will be on October 14th and its open to the public so we’ll see how it goes.