This is a serious posting.
These “contests” are typical events of the commercail aquaristics, this one is sponsored by JBL. We as aquarists keeping and breeding fish that do not feed on artificial foods, that are not adapted to tap waters, waters that exclude most of the decorative plants of the commercial “beautiful” tank, which exclude the bright light of those tanks, and which could be managed without most of the modern equipment of the aquarium industry (mine even without any filters) should be happy to be as independent as an aquarist could be from the marketing interests of these sellers of things and mentality, which is largely useless to blackwater aquaristics.
The main interest which is behind these events is commercial: the propagation of the “beautiful” aquarium which attracts the masses and helps in selling equipment. Every year new form of equipment are presented that make aquaríum keeping still more easy or pleasant; turuely it serves the interests of the producers. I do not think such contests to be of any value for us. I did not found the Parosphromenus project to serve such interests in decorative aspects only. They allure contesters by money, not by the interest in preservation of biodiversity. The project was founded in order to serve the interests of highly endangered fish and the preservation of their habitats, not the interests of an expanding market of decorativ aquaristics. Most Paro tanks are not decorative and will not be ranked highly by such people who serve the interests of big business and not of the dying biodiversity of south-east Asian rainforests.
This is a point of principle. Our forum is open to anybody, but we dislike marketing ideas to be propagated by it. Let them be performed, but not by the means of a project centered on the ideas of opposing the tragedy of transforming huge areas of the highest biodiversity on earth into agrarian oil palm country. Those events concerning aquarium design are not responsible for this, but they serve other interests than that of the project. Therefore I ask all to stop the discussion on this in this forum. People who are willing to take part of such events should do that, but our forums are no stage for them.
Let us try to get this clear without excluding anybody or any posting from our project. Mr Musyupick should have read the texts on the background of this project before advertising that JBL-event. An Pavel should be concious on that, too. Until now our website was free from commercially driven ideas. The steering group will meet in less than three weeks at Hamburg and discuss these matters, too. Presently, I am not able to say what the result will be. But I do not exclude that we shall draw severe consequences if the majority thinks that our ideas, our aims and our profile is marred by the hobby market or by anybody who is not able to differentiate between interests of a non-profit organization and those of a mass-market.
Personally, I should immediately draw the consequence of leaving my child at once as its scientific supervisor if there is no other way out. Therefore, this is an earnest issue. Until then, I ask all to leave it as it is, and not to start a discussion which marres the frontiers between a serious NGO-activity and activities of the hobby-market which are not part of our intentions.