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Aquariums take center stage in the home

By David Momphard
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Nov 03, 2005, Page 13

PHOTOS: AGENCIES

Not long ago Lin Ching-lung (林慶隆) was selling monitors for a local computer manufacturer when he decided his life was too monochromatic. He'd been despairing for some time about what direction to take when he decided to take the plunge and pursue as a profession the hobby he'd enjoyed all his life.

Lin opened his East Sea Aquarium Design about a year ago and the shop has transformed the look of west Taipei's Ningxia night market. Now a street known for its succulent seafood offers passersby a different perspective on their dinner. And Lin, for his part, is reeling in clients.

"I was always stressed as a salesman," he said. "But this doesn't seem like selling at all. I come here, open shop and maintain my tanks just as I would do at home for relaxation. The tanks sell themselves."

Part of the reason, Lin believes, is his predilection for coral and living plants in his aquarium design and the fact that an increasing number of aquarists are themselves adding more plants and coral to their tanks.

With living plants and coral becoming an increasingly popular part of fish tanks, more people are taking up the hobby.

"My dad had a big fish tank in the living room," Lin said. "But it was just that, a big tank with a single arowana in it. He said it brought him good luck.

"That used to be the only kind of tank you'd see in Taiwan, big tanks with goldfish or a fish its owner thought would bring luck. Now people are discovering that plants and coral make a beautiful aquarium, there are a lot more people taking up the hobby. I hear in Denmark that it's even common to have fish tanks that don't have any fish!"

Indeed, Lin says more of his clients come to him with questions about keeping coral than they do with questions about keeping fish, citing the fact that there is a lack of this type of information in either books, or on the Web -- especially in Chinese.

He's not complaining about the questions, though. He said his best customers are those interested in filling their home aquarium with coral, partly because coral sells at a higher price than most fish -- usually NT$1,000 or more for most species -- and because they're often repeat customers "It's not easy to maintain," Lin said.

"They'll come and buy a few coral, then take them home and watch them slowly die. Then they come back and buy more. ... My business card has my cell number on it and I get calls all the time from people asking me to make a house call. But I can't make that many house calls."

Lin says the majority of his customers that are interested in coral are men. Women, he said, are more interested in fish.

"They walk by and see the clown fish and say, `So cute! It's Nemo!'" he said, referring to the star of the eponymous Pixar film. "I hear that a hundred times every night. Now I keep a large tank stocked with clown fish. I'll bet they all get named Nemo."

Across town on Minquan East Road they're also doing a brisk trade in clown fish. But the average walk-in customer has usually walked in several times before. With nearly a dozen shops dedicated to all things under water, this is where Taipei's aquarists go exploring during their after-work hours.

"We get a lot of people off the streets" said one shop owner named Huang, "But I'd say a third of the people I see come in are repeat customers. They're passionate about their hobby. That number is growing though, there are more people starting aquariums these days."

One such customer is Mandy Hsieh, who sees the aquarium she'd had for about three months more in terms of decor or design than a hobby.

"I like finding colors of fish that are bright and colorful," she said. "Looking at them makes me feel happier when I come home from work. Some are ugly, but I have one that helps keep the tank clean. I call it Ah-ma. I want to start adding coral because it's so colorful and cool, but I need a bigger tank first."

While Huang and his neighbors are themselves cashing in on the coral craze, their best business remains flogging fish.

"I'll sell maybe a dozen clown fish a day and another few dozen of other varieties," Huang said. "But each month I'll sell maybe a half dozen arowanas."

Clown fish cost NT$200 to NT$300. Other common species can run up upwards of NT$1,000 or more. But arowanas, or "lucky" fish, can set you back as much as NT$70,000. They're also called dragon fish for their brilliantly colored scales and a pair of feelers protruding from their chin.

"People say that if you keep an arowana, you'll keep healthy because they live a long time. They're a very sturdy fish," Huang said, adding that arowanas are only collected by the most serious aquarists, who sometimes enter the fish in yearly competitions both here and in other Asian capitals.

"In America they eat gold fish at college parties," Huang said. "But in China and Japan some fish are considered living gems."
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