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Re: Size of market



>>Here are some clues:  There are about 1000 members of AGA.   There are
about 1400 readers of APD.  There are 10 million homes with aquariums in
them (most empty in the garage I would bet).  My guess is about 3000 PTHs,
but I want to hear your guess.<<

Well if thats true Dave, I guess you cant expect more than 3000
subscriptions for your magazine? I wouldnt begin to guess how many serious
plant hobbiests there are in the USA. I do know that by far the majority of
the plants sold at your local aquarium store are to people who do not know
how to care for them and keep coming back to buy more. I had a customer from
the local PCCA society that would buy $20 worth of sword plants from me
every month...month after month for the same 40 gallon tank. Most of these
people do not want to be educated about the hobby either..believe me, after
a couple of long arguments of "I have been doing this way for 20 years" I
gave up. How many plants does Florida Aquatic Nurseries produce every year?
They are by far the largest wholesaler in the USA. One insider told me that
Arizona Aquatic buys about $80,000 worth of plants a year. They only have a
very small peice of the market I am sure...then there is the pond industry
which by some accounts is much larger than the aquarium industry. Could
Tropica really make it here? I dont  know, but they would have to make some
pretty major changes in their marketing strategey in order to do so. Not
impossible.But is it really any different any where else? Canada? How many
plant people can there be in Canada? :) Europe? What percentage of the
overall aquarium enthusiasts there are serious about plants? What I am most
interested in seeing is a greater variety of different species that are not
commonly available here now through traditional commercial channels. More
Cryps, more naitive plants, more rare and unsual. Tropica doesnt add all
that much new to the pot, no pun intended.

Robert Paul H
http://www.aquabotanic.com