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Re: LOW COST TECH/ HIGH COST TECH
low tech/high tech
Interesting how this topic is going on, since I tried to avoid this as
the main issue in my post. It's all so interesting that few, if any,
have come up with the same definitions. Perhaps it can't be done, but I
think it is important to get some kind of handle on these terms or
perhaps not use them as loosely as we do.
I see 2 problems with out a definition of terms. Both relate primarily
to beginners.
One problem in having an arbitrary definition of "-tech" is what I
tried to address in the first response. That is, what does a beginner
think when they read here, that a low-tech plant tank took 4 years to
mature? If I was a beginner, I could easily think that it is the norm
then for any plant tank tagged as low-tech to take 4 years to succeed.
Since that is not the normal (or even near it) time it takes for most
low-tech plant tanks to mature, the statement (not by intent) becomes
very misleading.
In my always humble opinion, I wouldn't even consider a tank that used
an UG filter and only gravel as a substrate, as even a low-tech plant
tank, but instead, it's a low cost-tech FISH tank.
-----
There are certainly exceptions to this thought, but I suggest as did
someone else recently, that low-tech really has more to do with cost and
speed of growth than anything else. In fact, I wonder if instead of the
term low-tech, it would be better referred to as a low cost-tech. I know
there are many out there that don't think this is a big deal, but I do.
I do, because I deal with a lot of beginners every day. I also know
the majority wouldn't be beginners if they had to invest in what I
consider commercial, high-tech set-ups. Perhaps, more than most, I have
a special interest in seeing this hobby grow. However, the bigger this
hobby gets the more likely it will benefit all hobbyists.
I suspect there are now thousands of aquariums where fish are
swimming over such low-cost material as Kitty -litter, back yard soil
and with sugar and yeast plastic cola bottles hanging around somewhere
close by. I also suspect this will lead many to high cost-tech that
would have never been willing to lay out the bucks initially without
some success with a lower cost method.
I know it's _NOT_ the norm, but there are people in this group that
believe, if you can't spend the big bucks or understand a great deal of
what is being said here, then you shouldn't even get a plant tank. That
kind of thinking makes for a great substrate additive.
DAN (TKLM)