For the longest time, aquarists in Bengaluru turned east to pray. With a bulk of India's ornamental fish trade concentrated in Chennai, this coastal city was the Mecca for those interested in fish keeping.
"There were just a couple of people selling fish in Bengaluru, and all the shops were located in Shivajinagar in the 80s," says B C Thiruvengadam, a Bengaluru-based lawyer who has engaged in the hobby for more than four decades.
Hooked into the hobby, Thiruvengadam speaks of the wonder of discovering the ornamental fish market in Chennai's Kolathur, with every house breeding and selling a wide variety of fish.
But fishkeeping has come a long way since: from a simple set up involving a glass tank, aerator and a couple of goldfish or mollies, aquarists are now willing and able to spend lakhs setting up specialised aquariums with customised filters, imported lights and special substrate to grow live plants to go with the exotic fish.
The community of aquarists has evolved too. From small meet-ups being organised on the weekends in Cubbon Park by the Aquarists Society of Karnataka (now disbanded), there are groups on social media platforms where people meet virtually, seeking advice, trading fish and purchasing equipment.
Sunil, 35, runs one such group on Facebook which has well over 12,000 people. A fisheries science graduate, each day Sunil moderates requests from members concerned about the quality of water in the tank (too cloudy), the health of the flowerhorns (bloated stomach), what layout to choose or plants to introduce.
According to Sunil, most people are concerned with affordability and want "easy maintenance".
"It is a challenging and exciting hobby, which makes people want to explore it. You can start with a small tank and keep exploring various aspects," says Dhrubajyoti Lahiri, who runs an aquarium shop in north Bengaluru.
Hobbyists turn entrepreneurs
Adip Raj started out as an aquarium hobbyist and now runs his own aquatic design company, specialising in aquascaping and nature aquariums in the tradition of the late Takashi Amano, a pioneer in the field.
"The aquarium is a piece of living art," says Adip. "People want something exciting. The home revolves around their aquarium and there is a lot of education for the architect as well."
"Some 15 years ago, aquascaped aquariums were available to only a few elite customers but now there are a wider range of products." Dhrubajyoti says.
Currently, there is a craze for fish like flowerhorns, discus, tetras and malawi cichlids. "Other rare fish like silver arowana and duboisi and frontosa cichlids are also popular," he adds.
Back to basics
Like others, 29-year-old Salman from Jayanagar started in the hobby quite early, when he was in school. Only, the fish he kept were ones he fished out himself, from ponds and wells in his village in Tumakuru district, that he then stored tiny tanks.
After his automobile business took off, Salman finally had the money to indulge in the hobby. Still, he found the readymade, aquascaped tanks expensive and out of his reach.
So Salman says he did the next best thing. He invested in all the individual equipment and built a world class tank from scratch. The clear crystal glass from J C Road, which he cut, toughened and even glued together himself.
His only indulgence were imported filter and lights, which come with a 15-year warranty.
Salman has eight tanks in his house. "You have to keep maintaining it constantly, or else it falls apart. Thankfully, my father has taken over the feeding and cleaning. He scolds us, but he does the work," Salman says.
On the other hand, Thiruvengadam, has handed over the reins of his aquarium — including one in the office with four huge black piranhas — to his son Manik.
"People who can't afford it can even go for guppies but those with a short-term interest should not venture into this. You need to devote at least a couple of hours every weekend to cleaning the tank," Thiruvengadam says.
"There are so many varieties of fish that one can go into a deep study. Watching this fish tank while sitting on your couch, with the clear light, it is something close to meditation," he says.