From Beginner to Expert: The Aquarist’s Continuum
We all remember receiving our very first aquariums, some as enthusiastic adults, many as overjoyed children. Our thoughts raced at the prospect of creating that underwater masterpiece that we had sequestered in our mind’s eye over the preceding months and years. Now, with an aquarium at home and a fist full of fish money we trek to our favorite aquarium shop to start assembling that yearned for masterpiece. The excitement reaches a crescendo as you enter the store and make your way to the tank bound aquatic treasures lining the aisles and you are greeted by a knowledgeable (hopefully) employee. You inform them that you are there to start your aquatic adventures in fish husbandry and they hit you with the obligatory questions that bring you back to reality, “What kind of fish are you looking for?”, “How big of a tank do you have?”, and “How much experience do you have with aquariums?”. This is our first head-on confrontation with the aquarist continuum.
That question, “How much experience do you have?”, does not have a reliable answer. If you live in a peer group that has zero interest in the natural world and you are always the one pointing out critters, or you are just addicted to “Shark Week” and its kin, you maybe the resident expert on all things fishy. This can easily lead to the Dunning-Kruger Effect a cognitive bias leading you to believe you know way more about a subject than you actually do. Conversely, if you tell the pet store employee that you used to raise African cichlids from Malawi and fancy goldfish like orandas and ranchus, they may assume you are very experienced and not realize that you have no knowledge of soft water or acidic water loving species. Back in my pet store days I once had a customer that moved here from Florida and had always had marine aquariums, but they had no knowledge of water chemistry or tank cycling. I found out they would just go to the beach a couple times a week and get a couple buckets of water to freshen up their 10-gallon marine aquarium! This is why I refer to experience as a continuum as opposed to discreet, achievable aquarist goals that magically open doors to new species.
So, what do we do about this cognitive conundrum? We embrace it and look at in wonder. No matter who you are, or how many years you have been an aquarist, or even how many species you have kept and successfully bred in your state-of-the-art fish room, there is always something new to learn, species that have never graced your tanks. NEWS FLASH - our often-exalted experts are also beginners when it comes to certain species. That awareness can bring us together as aquarists, not beginners and experts, but a continuum of aFISHianados. Tap into this resource, imagine that dream aquarium in your mind’s eye and start researching how to make it come alive in your living room. Do not be discouraged by setbacks, learn from them and charge ahead and in no time, you will be an “expert/beginner” too.