March 10, 2017

Default settings...

As a fish geek, I think we're all programmed to sort of look at ANY aquarium and take more than a passing interest...Even if it's in a strange location, or in a deplorable state of condition, we're still somehow into it. And, wether you admit it or not, even when you're looking at the most awful aquarium you've ever seen, in the back of your head, you're thinking, "What if I just moved this rock and..."

Yeah, part of our "default settings."

As a fish geek, it’s like in your DNA to think or act a certain way when you see stuff. You can’t reprogram yourself. It’s "hardwired" into your essence. Some examples to prove my hypothesis:

It’s impossible for you to pass up even the smallest, most obscure local fish store or pet shop that sells tropical fish, whenever you are out and about. I mean, seeing that battered sign that says “Tropical Fish” on the side of that weathered, bleak mini-mall calls to you like a siren. There is little you can do but make that quick turn, find a parking space, and causally stroll in to the shop. Sure, it may not look very promising on the outside (That poster for the "latest" under gravel filter powerhead system might give you pause), but this is the kind of place from which fishkeeping “urban legends” are spawned! Is THIS the place where you’ll find that Nanochromis transvestitus mis-marked as a “Fancy Krib?” You only know if you go, right? What are you waiting for? Flip a U-turn!

And we are hard-wired to geek out over just about anything fish-related, huh? And any body of water- anywhere- is a potential fish habitat, right? And we just sort of HAVE to walk to the edge an peer in...Don't we?