Nemo in my tank

Want an aquarium at home? Or even a bowl for your living room? Abhilasha Ojha suggests some newer, more exotic varieties of fish now available at pet stores across the country.

On July 5, 2009, Bangalore will host a particularly interesting event called Aquatica 2009. According to Madan Subramaniam, chief editor of Indian Aquarium Hobbyists, a Web portal where aquarium enthusiasts share their experience and knowledge of keeping fish at home, Aquatica 2009 will feature Takashi Amano, a renowned nature photographer and aquascapist. “India hasn’t seen an event like this before,” adds Adit, who is also on the organising committee of the event. Adit, on his part, has been a long-time aquarium hobbyist and has, over the years, also been breeding fish for those who want to keep them in aquariums not just in residential areas but also in offices and other commercial places.

 

PROFITABLE FISHING

Aquascaping: Landscaping for an aquarium
Rs 1-8 lakh

Crystal red shrimps: Pretty useful scavengers
Rs 300-5,000 each

Gold and silver Arowana fish: Auspicious favourite of Ekta Kapoor
Rs 7,000-50,000 each

Chrusopterus: Perhaps inspired Jules Verne!
Rs 10,000-15,000

But he also does aquascaping, a fairly new concept in India and one in which he has been trained by expert Amano. Just what is aquascaping? “It’s an attempt to understand how to ‘keep’ fish — and not cram them — in an aquarium. For any aquarium enthusiast, the first lesson is to create a landscape within an aquarium that is realistic and close to nature.” Adit, for his part, has aquascaped over 50 aquariums in the metros, including Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, and says that enquiries continue to pour in from other cities too. He combines plants, rocks and driftwood to create an ambience that’s as close to what the fish would inhabit in nature.

The equipment that Adit works with is imported from Amano’s office in Japan. Special “wave” scissors that can trim weeds and plants comfortably in water cost Rs 6,000. A 50-metre biodegradable thread that is used to tie plants in water aesthetically costs Rs 350. The cost of just aquascaping an aquarium is Rs 1 lakh. “It can vary,” Adit adds. He’s done an aquarium for one business leader for Rs 8 lakh.

Adit also breeds fish for those who want an aquarium in their home. It’s a reason why he says he’s logged on to the Net to do constant research, so that he only brings to India and breeds those fish that can survive in this climate.

His interest as a hobbyist hasn’t waned. “I have seven planted aquariums at my place,” he says, “and sometimes I wonder — from where I began, I have come a long way.” Having lost count of the number of fish in his home, he says that there are at the very least 300-odd crystal red shrimps. “These act like scavengers, and help in the maintenance of the aquariums so these, I must add, are a must for any aquarium hobbyist. One can get the shrimps from him (at Rs 300-Rs 5,000) or other stores. The shrimps are barely an inch long, and the smaller they are, the more expensive they get.

As interest in feng shui rises among Indians, many now want to keep fish because they are believed to bring good luck. Feng shui experts advise people to keep goldfish (“Nine goldfish and one black,” says Jayant Kumar, owner of Apna Aquarium, a Delhi-based pet store. “Usually that’s the way to start an interest in keeping fish,” says Adit, who adds that just the thought of goldfish swimming in a clean glass bowl is enough to make him happy. He’s right: for those who want to start experiencing the joy of keeping fish (not to mention being responsible for them too), there’s no easier way to start keeping goldfish at home.

However, for those who are serious about fish and keeping them at home, choices are aplenty. At Apna Aquarium, for instance, gold and silver coloured Arowana fish are selling for Rs 7,000 each. Considered a favourite of the maharajas, as Kumar puts it, “this breed continues to attract a lot of attention”. And while Kumar excitedly tells us about this breed, a source adds that Balaji Telefilms’ head Ekta Kapoor recently ordered six Arowana fish on the suggestion of her astrologer. She’s kept them in her head office in Mumbai’s Andheri area and, in this case, each fish (two feet long) cost Rs 50,000.

While the Arowana fish is demeed auspicious for homes, another kind, bred especially in Malaysia and called the flowerhorn fish, is also becoming popular. It costs at least Rs 20,000 each. “It’s a fairly new entrant and is still considered rare,” confirms Kumar, who says that he’s flooded with enquiries for flowerhorn fish. Other newer entrants include silver neon tetra (Rs 200 upwards); pleco, which is suited for bigger tanks and eats algae (Rs 8,000); and the very beautiful hibiscus fish (Rs 800-10,000).

A personal favourite, though I don’t have much experience in keeping fish, is Chrusopterus, a tropical aquarium fish that must have been the inspiration behind Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo. With a golden base and two bright blue colour bands at the base of the body, this breed is considered highly intelligent. These beautiful creatures retail at Rs 10,000-15,000. Let your fishy story begin.