As reported in the Guardian “Going for gold(fish)” the pandemic with associated lockdowns and work-from-homes has led to a upsurge in popularity for aquariums at home. Something nice to watch from the side while on those conference calls. This is good news, but problematic in some ways as the investment in time and maintenance is often severely underestimated.
[Peter Pritchard, CEO of Pets at Home] said the cost of setting up a tank started at about £50, with the fish “a couple of pounds” on top of that. But as with any hobby, the sky is the limit, with the retailer selling extras such as £60 ornaments shaped like the Acropolis.
It’s obviously not as simple as buy a tank, put in some water and a fish, sprinkle in some food flakes every now and then and off you go. That said there are lots of online resources so with a little research people won’t go far wrong. At least the fish part is reasonably straightforward, now if you want live plants to go with those fish, then you’re entering a whole new world of complexity (and expense).