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Beliefs and Aspirations
| The Creation
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Manifesto, part 1 -
Beliefs and Aspirations
"A little website
dedicated to the big world," The Cichlid Writer's
slogan, carries a myriad of meanings. The most
obvious meaning is the website's relation to the
enormity of the internet. The slogan is also a
metaphor for this site's mission, which is to frame
what I have learned from my home aquariums into a
picture for anyone to study and make their own use
of. Perhaps the most important meaning is the
dedication to "the big world," or, in other words,
the world freshwater fish come from.
Responsible fish-keeping
does not just mean unnecessarily harming living
creatures, but also deterring the destruction of
aquatic environments merely for the hobby. Many fish
are born on farms built specifically for trade at
your local pet shop, while others need to be
imported because breeding them in captivity is
difficult or, in some cases, has never been
documented. Although the goal is a completely
self-sufficient hobby, this is an unlikely reality,
so knowing one's role in the system is key.
Aquariums are as much of
decorative pieces and points of interest in some
homes as china cabinets or book shelves, the
difference being the maintenance involved. Fish and
other living creatures desire much more than to be
mantelpieces. The glass boxes that aquatic creatures
inhabit are a portrait of another world, whether the
aquarium is highly decorative with bright,
outlandish furnishing, or realistic with live plants
and the involvement of a theme based on geography
and biotype.
An ideal aquarium is both
beautiful and demanding of knowledge. It's one thing
to give the fish their own names and other
personifications, but it's an entirely other thing
when someone constructs an aquarium because they
know they are recreating a possibly dying habitat.
The price people pay at the local pet shop and the
price fish pay in the wild can be drastically
different. Make a difference wherever you can.
My only regret is that I
don't have the resources nor the time to create a
website about the real "big world." Having an
aquarium, to me, means a lot more than creating
something aesthetically beautiful.
Manifesto, part 2 - The
Creation
The difference between
books and websites is the question of quality or
quantity. Books provide quantity because they are
static; books cannot update as readers demand new
information, so they are forced to provide basic,
never changing facts about fish such as size
information and dietary needs. Websites have the
advantage of providing quality in the form of real
people (not that book authors aren't people)
providing real experiences. As stated in the mission
of The Cichlid Writer, the text written here
is for others to read and scrutinize, and also to
compare to the experiences of others, including the
text written in other websites.
The aforementioned being
said, books are incredibly important resources, as
are websites. In no way is The Cichlid Writer
attempting to take over other aquaria-related sites,
but add to the whole and enrich the community. The
navigation and formatting of this site has been
constructed to be easy for users, with large links,
text and following some Gestalt principles. Most
importantly, using textbooks or resources outside of
observation has been strictly avoided unless
necessary, such as having to research the taxonomy
of a creature or its worldly origin.
The
website's name, "The Cichlid Writer," was imagined
as I attempted to think of a name that would both be
personal, catchy, fun and professional.
Sincerely,
 The Cichlid Writer (updated 1/19/12)
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