The importance of blogging, and why I am going to share everything I have learnt with you!

Another podcast introducing the blogging part of the podcast.

I think that it is very important with many of these sorts of hobbies that their is a strong relationship between you and the community of other people in these hobbies, this is because the nature of this hobbies is that people are always striving out to do different things, wether it is getting a different type of plant or fish for your tank, or trying a completely different style of aquascaping etc. So you are always learning, and exploring new branches of the hobby, and for this reason, it is important that you can communicate with others, because even if they are no as experienced as you, they might have started with the species of plants that you are now trying, and have encountered the problems that you mig be having, so because there is not a definitive guide to these hobbies, you rely on the combined knowledge of all the people in the community of aquascapers. Where I am going with this, is I am also going to do a series that will be in the context of aquascaping, but could be applied to anything really, I am going to do a series on what I am doing now, which is blogging and podcasting. This is going to include everything I know, so I will talk about hosting, content, layout and design, promotion and how to drum up interest and readers, SEO, how to make your blog pay for it’s self (and hopefully a bit more!) and so much more, it will include everything I have learnt about it, and I hope it proves useful! I think it is important, as most aquascapers do have blogs and everyone visits each other, and can comment with solutions to problems, critique your design, and share their own tips and experience. But I will talk more about that another day!

The Podcasts

I just wanted to expand slightly on what the podcasts will be about. I am hoping that I can get some of the most talented and interesting, innovative aquascapers to talk to you, about their inspiration, what aqua scaling means to them, and any of their tips, there will also be a section where I will teach you a bit about aquascaping that if you have taken up the hobby, you can follow.

My new series – Aqua-scaping

Hello, I can now announce with great pleasure, a slightly less known hobby, that I have been learning, and really got into and enjoyed, it is known as aquascaping, this is the art of making basically mimicking nature, in a tank, there are huge amounts of plants that you can grow underwater to help you choose your desired affect, there are several different styles, which tend to be more popular in certain cultures, in Asia, the hobby is more popular, and they have pioneered the idea of mimicking nature, and harmony in tanks, and then there is the old fashioned style from holland which contains no ‘hardscape’ only plants and is a very strict style that requires a huge amount of attention, but is truly beautiful, and is a favored style by many people. Although the style that is most popular is the Japanese style that contains ‘hardscape’ – rock, stone and wood. So when making an aquascape, you need to decide on the style, and as a result the hardscape and plants, then you need to think about the livestock, depending on the size you can go for community fish, snails and shrimps, and there are loads of other things you can choose from. But that is for another post! So in the new year, I will be looking at this in much more detail, and will be talking about my personal experiences, and will be talking to some real pro’s! So until then have an awesome new year!

Welcome!

Hi, I just wanted to give you all a quick introduction to the blog, what this blog is about and what to expect from the new hobbyist. This blog is about hobbies. As a self proclaimed ‘hobbyist’ I think it I really important for everyone to have some sort of emotional outlet, that they can really focus on to let their hair down. It doesn’t have to be a hobby, but I think a hobby is a pretty safe bet. It is not a matter of wether or not you like your job, I just think it is a healthy thing for everyone to do. As importantly though I think is having the right hobby for you, there is no point you spending a couple of hundred pounds on small plastic figurines to paint if it is only going to raise your blood pressure and ultimately wind you up to the point of distraction. But I do also think it is important that you do have a hobby that will help you live a balanced, and rounded life, rather than a hobby that takes over, and makes you want to quit your job and spend your life savings on. So this blog is going to have features on a whole range of different hobbies, giving you inspiration for your own personal hobbies. It will also look at some lesser know hobbies and some hobbies that people ignore because of the initial cost, and I will prove that hobbies don’t have to break the bank or take over your life, so I think that the most important think about this blog is going to be balance.