Czech aquaristics: We have the talent, but lack the conditions

Beginnings - 25 years among fish, bags, and dreams

How did you start?
First, my brother and I did planting, and in winter we collected mistletoe. But then I thought, what will we do in summer? And so we came up with aquaristics. We said to ourselves, if we know how to do it, then why not.

Světlá nad Sázavou was a huge stronghold of aquarists. There was the largest concentration of aquarists here, 30 to 40 active breeders, which was the largest concentration in the country at that time.

25 years ago we had a small room at my parents', then a boiler room, then a drying room, and then we wanted a garage, so we gradually acquired it. In the end, we took over the entire basement and now the fish have their own house.

At first, only one of us stayed home, but then we both started to dedicate ourselves to it fully. And so we wouldn't be dependent on just one income, in case anything happened, we decided that we needed something else, and so we started making fish bags.

It started with feeding, bags, and things around it. Now people say: "Hey, the Novaks have everything, stop by there."

I try to accommodate everyone, but it's a double-edged sword. A lot of people think it's easy. Nowadays, when everything has become more expensive, they try to stuff as many bags as possible into the box – before we made bags in sizes 24 or 26, now they cram them into thirteen or sixteen. Explaining to them that a bag is not a can is sometimes a Herculean task.

We need to order top plastics to ensure they are of top quality, and then adjust this machine.
Earlier, a bag cost 20–30 hellers. So there was no problem, but today it costs around 2 CZK and for that price they want something extra, but actually the bag hasn't changed much.

10 scalars into a bag, ten into a box, might cost 800 CZK, and when you pay for shipping, you will pay 200 CZK for shipping. So when you calculate your hourly work and taxation, how much do you have left? Aquaristics is completely off.

Fish sales - Czech quality deserves a better price

One of the reasons we started with ForAquarist was that we saw how skilled the Czechs are, but they do not receive adequate compensation.
A Czech person can raise any fish. When we were little, the red neon was sold for 12 CZK in 1985. Just think about how everything has become more expensive. For example, by up to 300%, and the red neon is sold for 5 CZK. It makes no sense at all.

There were several attempts to change this: to create an aquarium association as a union and we would pressure the buyers, to establish a fixed price list. But that will never work because some aquarists sell at a loss and say that it is enough for them.

It takes about 3–4 months for the fish to grow. You are there for 8 hours a day - feeding, cleaning.. When the aquarist then calculates that he received 5 CZK for that fish, his work amounts to 20 CZK per hour, but for example, he won't be able to work at Billa for 170 CZK per hour.

For us, it is such that by allowing purchases through our portal, we provide the opportunity for adjustment through a fair market.
In our country, aquarists cannot count.

It's probably a favorite.
But when you make a living from it, you can't do it like this.

A Pole or Slovak comes here, buys fish and pays for them immediately with an invoice. And behind me stands a Czech aquarist whose customers do not pay him on time. I tell him that this is not how it works – he needs to set clear conditions and insist that payment must be made in advance or immediately upon delivery.

Another thing is that people bring fish from Asia and pass them off as Czech. We all know that Czech aquaristics is the best in the world because no one can produce such quality fish as we do, not even Asians. But when an aquarist brings a fish from Asia, repackages it here, and claims it to be a Czech fish, where does that get us?

In our country, it is also possible to evaluate sellers, and we want to positively influence this.
We also keep some cichlids. We started with cichlids, but when you have, for example, an 8-month-old fish and they want to give you, say, 10 CZK for it, it really isn't worth it.

For example, abroad those prices really look completely different, or on the websites of the retail chains.
I always say: if you give me my price, sell it for what you want. But for example, last week we went to Hornbach and there was this tiny Discus fish for 1600 CZK and the aquarist gets 50 CZK for it, so tell me, where is the rest of the money.

Moreover, fish are often sick from retail chains.
They get the fish from the aquarist in good condition, but there are no competent people there. For example, I just saw a small catfish (Astronotus ocellatus) in one retail chain and next to it were neon tetras (Paracheirodon axelrodi), and people buy it like this and then wonder why their neon tetras are disappearing. Well, they are disappearing because the catfish grows up and is a predator that hunts them at night. But the merchants don't care, it's a sale.

Or they are able to put the goldfish, which must have a lower water temperature, with the fish that need a high water temperature, like black molly. They don't care.

They simply tell the customer: if you like it, put it together.

Fish breeding- Czech aquaristics: We have the talent, but the conditions are lacking

After all, they are animals and should have adequate conditions.
An aquarist would be going against himself if he didn't provide them with the best conditions for the fish to grow and have nice colors. And when you hear that there should be, for example, 2 liters of water per fish and that breeding facilities are bad, I think that's completely misguided. Why would someone who makes a living from this and it is his hobby not give them the best?

In aquaristics, there are many risks.
These are, for example, diseases, the water is getting worse and worse. Fish that used to be easy to breed can no longer be bred.

These are all the springs. For example, 50-100 meters in the forest, the spring, and the fish in that water no longer go. It is completely different water. Another thing is, why aren't the fish spawning? There are hormones against conception in the water.

I dread the thought that the 50+ generation will be the end. For example, my children are in college, but they don't want to spend so much time here with the fish anymore. You can't skip out on aquaristics. Even if you have a fever, you have to go to the fish and at least do the bare minimum. If you don't go there for two days, you might not need to go there anymore.

It is complicated.
Aquaristics cannot be done by everyone.

After the revolution, many people thought that anyone could do aquaristics. You could make a lot of money. At that time, aquarists and hustlers were the richest people in the republic. My wife asked me back then if she should look for a job, and I laid out the money from the pawnshop in front of her - at that time an annual salary of 20,000 CZK and it was decided.

I had 20 tanks and I was making so much money that it couldn't be spent. Today we have 180 tanks and my brother and I are unable to make a living from aquaristics anymore. That's why I dread the fact that aquaristics as such has no future.

She will have it if we can match the prices. Asians have the advantage that their feed flows from the stream. They don't have to deal with the temperature. There is no bureaucracy in aquaristics there like here..

Why are we as aquarists not farmers? In 1992, the ministry transferred aquaristics from agriculture to industry. They thought that the profits were too high, so they changed it.

It is true that, for example, the government supports fishing.
The state has a big business in exports and actually it suits him. We have no reliefs. Farmers have subsidies and compensations.

When I see it, the generation of young people does not want to work with live things. It is a big time consumer. The only option is that if there is a robot that feeds and changes the water, then they will enjoy it.

In the past, when there were 10 aquariums, it was easy. An hour a day was enough, one could have coffee and enjoy it. In our fish shop, I spend 6 hours a day just on water changes, but the finances are not that great.

What experiences do you have, for example, when someone comes to choose fish?
A salesman might come and the first thing he does is stick his finger in the aquarium to check the water. That's not okay. Or a customer comes in wanting fish, and when I give them the buying price, they look at me like I'm crazy. How come it's so expensive in stores?

Or small children come and fly around there. If something happens, it is dangerous.

In Germany, breeders do not visit each other as they do here. There, they must be good friends to be allowed into each other's homes.
We were open with each other. When someone discovered something, they shared the information.

Today we are afraid that if some disease were to get into our tanks, it would be a big problem. It may happen that there will be a disruption for two years.

I am, for example, afraid of diseases to the extent that I have had new fish separated for half a year.
Almost all fish have a disease, but the Asian ones have a different disease than we do. We had a great veterinarian here. A few years ago, still at my parents' place, we had an experience with a warm-water skin parasite from Malaysia. Here, we usually have a cold-water one, so it doesn't multiply much at high temperatures, but this one from Asia multiplied more at higher temperatures. Only thanks to this veterinarian did we discover it and manage to start treatment. But not everyone has that option.

Untouched fish must be treated so that they are coated with slime and the skin parasite cannot attach to them.

For both fish and humans, stressors are a very strong trigger for diseases. Moreover, fish from Asia are sent by expensive air transport, and they cannot put 50 fish in a bag, but they might put 450 fish in there. They might pour in clove oil, and the fish hibernate, but they must be delivered within 12 hours. If the plane is delayed, the fish will die. However, it seems that it is still worth it for them.

How is it that we have to pay them in advance, and we wait 5 months for the money? How is it that we accept this? We agreed to it.

In the past, one would come to the purchase and receive bags for free. Once a year, one was entitled to feed and oxygen. Nowadays, the aquarist pays for everything and still waits for the money. The aquarists set it up this way themselves. The aquarist pays for boxes, transportation, oxygen, feed, bags, everything.

Stronger weld, clear film, no compromises

What is your competitive advantage when it comes to transport bags?
Some competitors have resistance wire welding, and we have resistance tape. So we have a much stronger weld. Then they might use only one size, so their bags are flat. We have different sizes of welding plates (20, 30, 24, 16). For each bag size, there is a semicircle.

It happened to me that a bag with fish burst open at the market..
I make 5,000 bags a day. The strength of the film must be the same. If, for example, a small stone fell in, it could cause the bags not to seal.

We check the bags at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.

What material do you have?
They have been producing it for us for over 20 years. Exon food film. It is not recycled. If the granulate from which the film is made is wet, it looks like recycled. However, we have all clear ones.

We have built a reputation on maintaining quality, and if there is any problem, we address it immediately.

Do you also make designer bags?
Yes, printing is possible, but it will cost twice as much and the minimum order quantity is quite large. It can also be photo printing.

Min. quantity is 400 kg. That can be 40,000 bags. That is a supply for someone for 20 years. (laughs)

On the website, it states that the bags are sold only in the Czech Republic.
Due to waste tax and in each country, a recycling fee would have to be paid. The European Union should be unified and should function as one state, but unfortunately, each state has different laws.

If someone orders from you, how do you send the shipment?
By mail. If ordered by 12:00, we will ship the same day.

How long have you had this nice bag sealing machine?
She is 20 years old and is custom-made, so she is not for sale!