Re: [Killietalk] "Setting the hook"

[morgrid at comcast_net (Robert Toland)]

I have been keeping fish for a long time but have only been into killifish for about 5 years. Originally I came from a very rural area where the only fish you could get were the normal fish store stuff so I kept a lot of livebearers and cichlids. After I moved to the Portland Oregon area I still kept the regular stuff although I occassionally saw the oddball at the shops here. Eventually I found aquabid on the internet (I think it had just started) and I finally ordered some gardneri from there. After that I found a local aquarium club (Greater Portland Aquarium society) I had never even dreamed that such a thing existed. From there I got exposed to NorthWest Killies and joined and recently I joined the AKA. All of these as well as some other internet sites have allowed me to trade for and buy more killifish.  Although I had known of killifish and had the desire, without actually owning and working with the fish for a while I would have never joined the AKA. 

If we get the fish out there the people will come. There are at least 3 local fish stores here that take and sell killifish and they know of the local clubs and the AKA but I'm not sure how well they promote them. I (like many others) have given away killifish pairs to people interested in getting started but I am thinking maybe 10% of these (or less) get people interested in clubs. I have also given some basic presentations on Killifsh in the community and I am working with my childrens local high school science class on a presentation.

The internet is probably one of the best places we could use, specifically the AKA site. Unfortunately most everyone seems to use this mailing list rather than the site. If the site were used more there would obviously be more information and more hits there and therefore when people used a search engine it would come up more. I have noticed several new people posting on that site with limited responses from some of the more veteran AKA members. For example there are several killietalk posts lately about using blackworms, hatching Notho eggs, raising brine shrimp, etc. this is all stuff that people browsing the web and are not part of this mailing list are looking for. This is also stuff that is repeated from time to time and if it were archived or made into an article would save a lot of cyberspace. Once people come to the site they might stick and then they might look for some fish and then they might want to join the AKA. Please realize I am not trying to be critical here!
  I know we all have our methods that work - I am just making an observation.
 
The reality of it however is that hardcore fish people are few and far between. Most of the hardcores will find the AKA anyway, the only possible thing we could do better is find those few people out there who have the potential to be hardcore killinuts but are not yet.

Sorry that I went off topic a bit I just wanted to expound.
Fincerly,
Robert 

-------------- Original message -------------- 

> After reading a few posts about killies and LFS's I was wondering how people 
> today get caught in the web of killies (no pun intended). Also (chicken and 
> egg -like) where (if at all) did the AKA come into this and how did the 
> addiction get hammered home (AKA F&E Listing, Aqua-Bid, LFS, local fish 
> auction, etc.). 
> 
> Back in the "Bronze Age" (you know, when you had your news delivered on stone 
> tablets)(~1969) I obtained my first tank and a general aquarium book that 
> covered lots of different fish. It had a 4 page section with some photos but 
> most color renderings of killies where the British author said the fish were 
> indeed beautiful but extremely difficult to breed and raise and said that few 
> people kept these unusual fish. It was just the challenge my twisted logic 
> needed and I started to look for these fish in the stores in my neighborhood. 
> I had a very good LFS a few streets up from my northern Chicago apartment and 
> about a month after getting the book some killies appeared in their tanks and 
> I quickly snatched up a pair of chocolate australes. The store had a 3 day 
> guarantee and like most of us know, the male quickly killed the female in my 
> crowded tank and the shop replaced the female since at the time I thought she 
> simply died. Rewind the tape and bingo, female #2 gone also. When I got 
> back to the store they no longer had anymore australe but suggested I visit 
> this old German guy in Lincoln Park whose pet shop specialized in killies. 
> 
> About a week later I made the pilgrimage that probably changed my life (we 
> won't get into that now) and George Maier (for those of you too new to the 
> hobby, George was the AKA's "Mr. Killifish" and wrote a regular column in the 
> AKA's regular publications, "The Beginner's Page" until his death and was 
> responsible for so many people getting into killies) gave me the hour plus 
> intro to killies and I left the store with a pair of killies, a wealth of new 
> knowledge and an application to join the AKA). 
> 
> About 6 months later I moved to Cincinnati, moved a few tanks of fish, lost 
> my killies and didn't join the AKA just yet. Almost 2 years later it took 
> seeing killies again in our new "favorite" LFS to rekindle the interest. 
> This time the breeder who supplied the shop with fish was from Louisville and 
> dropped off fish only when he visited relatives in the Cincinnati area. Since 
> I quickly found out there was no bottomless supply of the fish and it was 
> then that I sent in the application George had supplied me a couple of years 
> before. 
> 
> So it took a book that mentioned killies in a challenging way to spark an 
> interest, a chance encounter at my local LFS to find killies as well as a 
> second encounter to establish an appetite for killies and some helpful store 
> personnel in that initial LFS not worried about their bottom line to send me 
> to a specialist (Mr. Maier) to make the connection to the AKA. What is 
> flabbergasting about all of this is that in the next 30 years I have found 
> few if any LFS's that might have operated this way or knowledgeable LFS staff 
> to explain killie care or even willing to handle killies in the first place. 
> So back to my question, if you are new to killies in the last 5-8 years, how 
> did we snag you? 
> 
> Dave Koran 
> 
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