Retailers vs. Reality
That is after all what the NCIAC.net exercise is all about. The effort is to achieve conformity between the information retailers provide in order to sell fish and how that compares to the reality of the information available in any number of publications and at a large number of web sites.
I want to see the information--i will come back to read later. (you will want to)
Sometimes discerning the accuracy in the information that is available, through or independent of retailers, is a difficult task. The approach taken at NCIAC.net is inclusive as opposed to an exclusive. The data available in the Baensch "Aquarium Atlas", Dr. Axelrod's "Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fish, and the data available at Fishbase scrutinized and compared. These sources served as the baseline.
Then the information that is more readily available to the casual hobbyist was reviewed. We chose several of the publications and authors referenced by major retailers as sources for the information provided on their web sites. "The Aquarium Fish Handbook", Dick Mills and Derek Lambert; "The Natural Aquarium Handbook ", Ines Schuermann; "Aquarium Fish", Ulrich Schliewen; The Practical Aquarium Fish Handbook", David Goodwin; "Aquarium Owners Manual", Gina Sandford; and "Encyclopedia of Aquarium & Pond Fish", David Alderton were all examined.
We looked at "Aqualog" 1 & 3 (fascinating books. We will add the data available in other Aqualog volumes to our overview of data). We also went on-line a little more. Information available at the American Cichlid Association and other species specific groups. We added information from sites like The Cichlid Room Companion, Planetcatfish, Lake Malawi Cichlids, Loaches.com, Badman's Tropical Fish, Scot Cat, Mongabay, Tropical Resources.net, Bowheads.net, Cichlid-Forum.com, Fish lore.com, Age of Aquariums.com, Fish Geeks.com, and too many more to list.
We examined many of the resources cited at the various sites. We googled. And, of course we looked at what the Retailers provided at their own sites.
We think we have an good overview of the what is available to the general hobbyist community. What we found was surprising when we compared data from the retailers to the composted line on our spreadsheet entitled NCIAC.net.
A very basic look at information is provided. We do not want to be a fish keeper site, so no "care guides" are provided. Rather just the basic for water chemistry, water temperature, species size (Total Length), generic origin of species, tank size, generic species stocking considerations when applicable, diet, tank decor, and random notes on species specific consideration.
The water chemistry is a straight forward range of parameters, species size is the high-end expectation, after that it is relatively basic information.
The cell that requires explanation is tank size. Considering all the resources examined one would think it easy as well. There is a curve ball involved. It is the same curve ball confronted by hobbyists when getting involved in fishkeeping via the Mass Merchandiser end of the market. And, it is the curve ball that changes with every retailer. The curve ball? It is the aquarium SKU's regularly available at retail locations; the standard tanks stocked and readily available.
And, how they stack up against the various sizes recommended by authoritative, hobbyist, and other web based sources.
To get around this issue we addressed it. We utilized the standard sizes of All-Glass Aquariums. We took the oddball tanks (hex and corner units) along with the tanks that are not as routinely stocked or made available chain wide and eliminated them from the mix of considerations (our goal is information that a new or less knowledgeable hobbyist can use vs. what the retailer tells them is ok. We also took full adult size as the primary determinant of size. We did not assume temporary housing and tank upgrades that would be required. And, we took the disparities between expert suggestions for tank sizes and compromised. The compromise being in the favor of Responsible Husbandry, ethical and humane treatment of animals, and the elimination of confusing information regarding appropriate housing needs by the fledgling aquarists.
So, some may say, "wait it is too small", "wait it is too large". If the topic is a question of too large the only concern we have is with the mass merchandisers. Unless they can convincingly present the availability of the less common tank sizes--we will stay with the standard popular sizes as the default.
The size issue is most commonly seen between the 29/30-gallon size and the 55-gallon aquarium.
The people at NCIAC.net hope you find the information provided by retailers as fascinating as we do. You will see we have begun to include Pet Connection Mfg. on our list. They are not a retailer. Pet Connection Mfg is one of the larger suppliers of the small tags seen at so many of the local fish stores.
If you believe any of the information is in error--for either retailers of NCIAC.net--please let us know. Send any comments to webmaster@nciac.net.
I am done reading. Let me see the information.
