Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

"Well, you can," replied the boy.

"Golly, Mr. and Mrs. Collins sure have a lot of wonderful things in their new shop!"

This is the sort of conversation you are apt to hear any afternoon after 3 o'clock if you walk in the direction of the Collins aquarium, Guilford's new business establishment, located at the south end of the village green. For school children as well as adults are intrigued by the many varieties of tropical fish to be seen at this shop, an outgrowth of a hobby started less than two years ago by Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Collins.

The transparent fish the young boys were going to view was a Pristella. When queried later about these particular strains, Mr. Collins explained that the entire posterior part of the body of these fish seems like glass. "Actually, it is only translucent," says Collins. "Its backbone and muscle segments appear quite visible and give the illusion of a greater transparency than really exists."

IT IS fascinating to watch every variety of the multi-colored tropical fish as they glide and wriggle to and fro in the aquariums at the Collins store. The uninitiated observer is often startled by the unusual forms and hues which are there. Invariably, someone will ask: how did Irene and Charles Collins ever come to be in this business?

Charles Collins will tell you that he has liked fish from boyhood. "Back in those days," he continues, "instead of aquariums we had fish bowls; and instead of Guppies swimming around we collected conventional little gold fish." No wonder his head began spinning a couple of years ago when his co-workers at the Southern New England Telephone Co. began talking about the exotic fish they were raising. In the evening he'd come home and tell Mrs. Collins about the wonderful Paradise fish which Sally Jones had just bought; or the Gambusia; and it wasn't long before the Collinses made up their minds to buy some fish of their own.

The three pairs of Guppies Mr. and Mrs. Collins bought one Saturday afternoon started it all. Today this Connecticut couple is as surprised as anyone else to find themselves in the tropical fish business. What with the Guppies multiplying and the Collinses becoming more and more fascinated with fish they couldn't do anything else but raise fish—just as a hobby, of course. They bought more and more varieties and their interest in the tiny creatures grew and grew. They began to read everything on tropical fish they could find. "I guess there's not a book on the subject in English either one of us hasn't read," says Mrs. Collins.

Now the Collinses own and manage the aquarium shop into which they were forced by the little animals they had raised "just for fun." "When you suddenly find yourself with hundreds of fish," says Irene Collins, smiling, "something has to be done with them." Both Irene and Charles Collins admit that operating a shop like the aquarium is not only a vitally interesting project, but profitable, too. And they think more hobbyists should follow in their footsteps.

GENERALLY SPEAKING the raising of tropical fish is a simple enough occupation; but there is a certain amount of regular care necessary. Every fish fancier knows that his tank must be cleaned. The glass walls must be cleared of algae occasionally, the water changed, the sand bleached. If you are fortunate in having an air pump in operation on your tank, this must be oiled periodically. The tubes of air-lift pumps invariably become coated inside with algae, thereby impeding the flow of air or water. So these need watching, too.

Hard work? A burden? "Not at all," Collins insists. "There are all sorts of handy gadgets available to help the hobbyist with his fish. Take, for instance, these fine brushes!" Collins removed one from his showcase. "These were designed to clean tubing! But if you don't have one of these brushes just pass a soft wire with a small piece of cloth attached, through the tube when it needs cleaning." Therein lies the joy of a hobby like this. You can spend as much or as little as you like on equipment.

The Collinses do not pretend to be large scale business people. They've had their shop for about a year now, but still consider themselves new in the business field. They still proceed on the trial and error method and want to make it clear right at the very start that a business of your own means plenty of problems and tribulations mixed with the fun and profits. "You have to put in long hours and struggle along on lean receipts before your store begins to pay dividends," cautions Collins.

Perhaps the most tedious problem this couple had to deal with when they first started in business was obtaining good water for the fish tanks, "Our town water is very amber in color," explains Irene Collins, "and it does not look nice in a tank. It's very acid too, and that is not good for fish or plants." The Collinses have a well at home and thought they could use that water; but it proved to be hard and have too much rust and iron in it. Finally, they located a spring—and it is spring water they now use in all the tanks. The ph factor (which determines acidity and alkalinity) in spring water is exactly right—and there is no worry about chlorine, either.

"But no matter what problems we run up against," says Irene Collins, "we love every minute of our work—and work we do!" When it was decided that they go into business, Mrs. Collins gave up her position as bookkeeper at the General Ice Cream Corp. Her husband, though, still holds down his job as switchboard engineer for the Telephone Company. Consequently, the Collins Aquarium operates on a different hourly schedule than most other shops in town. The aquarium is open for business on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon and from 7 to 9 o'clock at night. It is closed all day Tuesday and open on Thursday in the afternoon only. Saturday the store is open from 9 to 6 o'clock and on Sunday from 2 to 6 o'clock in the afternoon. This schedule works out very well for both Mr. and Mrs. Collins. It leaves the mornings free for Mrs. Collins to do her household chores. "A wife and mother need not confine all her activity to cooking and home care," points out Mrs. Collins. "Once you learn how to ration time almost any woman can have a career without neglecting her home."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Collins are on duty in the store evenings and weekends. Tuesday is a free day in Irene Collin's busy life. She regards this as her 'play' day. "I visit with friends, see a movie, or attend a meeting at the woman's club," she explains, "Sometimes I do have to drive over to Hartford to pick up some new tanks from a wholesale dealer, or go into New York City (we prefer picking up our equipment in order to save on freight charges which are high). But I usually ask a friend to come along with me and we stop on the way for lunch; so, you see, even a business trip can be a holiday excursion.

WHEN ASKED how to go about turning a hobby into a business venture, this couple was firm in stating that you should begin on a small scale. "Preferably from your home," the Collinses will tell you. "When you find you have customers and know how to go after more, then it is time enough to look around for a shop."

Setting up a business in your home is not as much of a chore as you might think. The Collinses began selling from their home; and this is how they did it. A spare room on the ground floor of their house was converted into a so-called shop. Lined up along two walls of the room were aquariums in varying sizes, which held all the fish and plants they had for sale. Underneath the aquariums were some built-in shelves and on these the Collinses stocked the supplies, ornaments, food, etc., which they had for sale. Each week they ran a small advertisement in the classified section of the local newspaper, mentioning a new fish or a tank ornament that any fish fancier would like to own. Each advertisement brought a few customers and in turn these satisfied customers recommended others; so it was not many weeks before there was always someone ringing the front door bell at the Collins home. Both Irene and Charles Collins always made a point of taking down the name and address of anyone who came to ask about the fish—whether they made a purchase or not; and these names became their mailing list when they were ready to open a real store.

How to find customers seems to be the prime concern of everyone who is thinking of going into business. The Collinses stress the importance of getting your name known around town. One way of doing this is to have the editor of your local newspaper assign a reporter to write a brief story about your venture (you can supply him with some human interest details on how you happened to go into business). He is always happy to have a good news story. Go see him and tell him what you are doing.

WHEN YOU are ready to move from home to Main street take time and care in selecting a suitable store. In the opinion of Charles Collins, your store space need not be large, but it should be in a good location in your town's shopping district. It should have at least one good sized window for display purposes—two windows are better. In some localities it is necessary to register your shop. So be sure to check with your town clerk about this.

The Collinses are fortunate in having their shop face the village green, which is the hub of activity in the lovely old New England town in which they live. The shop measures approximately twenty by thirty feet and has two street windows. In one window Mr. Collins keeps an aquarium set up with fish and plants; and he leaves this lighted at night. "This acts as a night light," says Collins, "and also shows passersby how decorative and effective an aquarium can be." In the other window various equipment and foods for fish are displayed.

What is done with the interior of a shop is limited only by the initiative, imagination, and resourcefulness of the owner of the business. In the Collins store the aquariums are arranged along one side of the shop in a two-tier arrangement, with all tanks set in behind knotty pine panelling which allows only the glass of each tank to be seen from the front. Charles Collins feels this is a good set-up for this type of business. It permits removal of fish or plants from the rear of the panelling without interference from anyone standing in front of the tanks, More important, though, it lets people see what can be done in their own homes when aquariums are planned for wall space decoration or book case arrangements. On the opposite side of the store is a long show case which holds all items of equipment and ornaments for sale.

PERHAPS ONE of the chief reasons for the Collinses' success is the friendly service they give to their customers. "We try to be as pleasant and helpful to beginners, and particularly children, as is humanly possible," Mrs. Collins says. "And we never rush a sale, letting a customer feel he is free to come back as often as he likes before making a purchase."

Another example of this couple's sincere interest in helping people is the young folk's aquarium society which they have just organized. The Collinses are eager to teach youngsters how to care for and raise tropical fish; for they feel that boys and girls who have a hobby don't get into mischief! "Hardly a day goes by," says Irene Collins, "that some boy or girl doesn't drop by at the shop after school to tell us how many babies one of his or her fish had! We know that youngsters spend more time at home, too, taking care of their tanks and fish." The Aquarium Society, a group of youngsters ten to sixteen years of age, meets one evening a month under the supervision of Charles Collins. The meetings are being held at the store until the society is able to obtain a suitable small hall or meeting room. At the conclusion of each meeting a fish auction is held in order to raise funds to purchase books and equipment the young folks deem necessary for their society. Twenty-five percent of the receipts from the auction goes to the society and seventy-five percent to the owner of the fish.

It is obvious from the experience of the Collinses that tropical fish are a highly profitable hobby. For one reason, they breed fast. It is possible to start out with a pair of Guppies and within a month or six weeks have twenty-five or more descendants of that pair. Your chances of keeping these fish alive and healthy are good, for seldom does a fish get sick. They thrive on a minimum of care and die of old age. The average age of a tropical fish is two years; but it has been known that some types of fish, for instance, the Angel fish, live to be fifteen years of age.

But how does a beginner know how to care for his fish, someone justifiably inquires? Mr. Collins comes up with this easy solution. "Read some of the small pamphlets put out by wholesale fish dealers. These are obtainable where you buy your fish. Also read a few books on the subject. The best inexpensive book I know for a beginner is "The Tropical Fish Handbook," by Guenther L. Scott. Another fine fish book is William Innes' "Exotic Aquarium Fishes"—this book is really the 'bible' for tropical fish owners and breeders. The newest book on the market is "Tropical Fish As A Hobby," by Herbert R. Axelrod, which covers about everything you need to know concerning food, breeding habits, and characteristics of the popular varieties of tropical fish.

CHARLES COLLINS is generous with his own hints on caring for these tiny creatures. From experience he knows that 'spoiling water' is one of the major problems in the life of every amateur fish fancier. "A good way to keep track of what is happening to the water in a tank," says Collins, "is to watch the sand. If this becomes stained or if small areas of black develop along the glass below the top of the sand, spoiling water is definitely indicated." Collins goes on to explain that these signs are almost always the result of excessive amounts of foodstuffs sinking in your tank and providing food for a tremendous number of bacteria. These bacteria produce gases that spoil the water and may give off other toxic waste products.

"There is another way of spotting spoiling water," adds Mrs. Collins. "Just stir up the sand, away from any rooted plants, with a stick. If bubbles are released, you can be sure that the fish soon will show signs of distress."

According to the Collinses, unless the water has a decidedly bad odor, it is not necessary to remove all the contents of the tank to remedy the condition of spoiling water. The main thing is to reduce drastically the amount of food put into the tank. They also suggest that the sand be gently disturbed (you can do this with a net handle) without uprooting the plants so that most of the accumulated gas is released. Then siphon some water from the tank into a pail and then siphon it back into the tank. Often one or two pails of water, siphoned and replaced, will remove the noxious condition.

"This treatment will not, eliminate the staining in the sand which results from the bad condition," cautions Irene Collins. "Usually; only bleaching in the sun or boiling the sand will do this."

Very little equipment is needed to start raising tropical fish. All you absolutely require is a small glass container with a capacity of one gallon—and a few fish. Usually hobbyists start with one or two pairs of Guppies. For as little as $5 anyone can buy a two-gallon stainless steel aquarium and three pair of Guppies, a small amount of plants and two pounds of sand.

IF YOU intend to work up to at least a part time home business in tropical fish, the Collinses stress the importance of variety rather than quantity in fish. But a minimum of each type of fish would be twelve. When a number of tanks are used and a large quantity of fish kept it is advisable to have a pump which will run filters on each tank to keep the aquarium crystal clear and the water moving at all times. On this pump may be connected an air stone or some other device to pump the air into the water. With such an arrangement you can double the number of fish in the aquarium. "Your filter will need cleaning," Mr. Collins points out, "but the proper time calls for a little judgment. Paradoxically, a filter which is perfectly clean isn't working properly; it only starts to filter the water when it has acquired a coating of debris. But soon the amount of water that will pass through it becomes reduced. The proper time to clean the filter is when there is more than an inch difference between the level of the water in the filter chamber and that in the pump chamber.

In each of the tanks at the Collins store there is a combination breeding and nursery trap which hangs inside the aquarium. The type favored by the Collinses is one that prevents the female from eating her young (practically all fish will eat their young if given the chance). The trap has an upper and lower section. The young fall through a slot in the middle to the bottom of the trap where they cannot be reached by the female. After the young are born the female may be removed from the upper section.

The young are kept in the bottom of the trap until old enough to be put with the other fish and not eaten up, usually about eight weeks. If you do not have a breeding trap make certain that you do have plenty of plants in which the little fellows can hide until able to watch out for themselves.

At the Collins' Aquarium, dinner time is twice a day and, like most other livestock, these tiny creatures seem to have a good time sense and know when it is time to eat. Early morning and late afternoon is dinner time at the Collins store. "Our fish eat mostly dried prepared food, as well as dried shrimp meat, dried daphnia," Mr. Collins says, "And once a week some live food such as white worms. Give your fish as much as they will consume in a five-minute feeding period."

TO VISITORS, the fantastic colors of the fish swimming about the aquariums at the Collins store is startling. To Collins and his wife, they merely mark them as individuals. "They are just like one big family to us," says Irene Collins. "Some are gentle and quiet, others aggressive, indeed each fish has its distinguishing characteristics, See that little black fellow?" Mrs. Collins points to a Mollie. "Did you ever see anything more handsome?" Among the most spectacular is the Betta, a fish with flowing fins and a body in which deep reds, blues, greens, and purples are predominating colors. But beware of the Betta! He's not as docile and fragile as he looks. Collins will tell you that the Betta must be kept in solitary confinement or with fish of different species, because the minute two male Bettas find themselves in the same aquarium they begin a furious battle which goes on with no stopping until one or the other is dead. The Gouramis, which indulge in full-lipped kisses, intrigue a lot of people. Then there are the Leopard catfish which are beautifully spotted; and the flat gracefully striped Angel fish which grow to be among the largest in the aquarium. And all sorts of wonderful creatures that hail from Siam, India, Central America and the Amazon River.

Irene Collins brings to light this interesting bit of information. There are three broad divisions of tropical fish, based on their processes of reproduction "First," explains Mrs. Collins, "there are the live-bearers—fish which give birth to live young, the eggs having hatched in the female's body just before being laid. The Platys, Gambusis, the Mollies, the Guppies are live-bearers, Then there are bubble-nest builders. In this species the male blows sticky bubbles which collect on the surface of the water until a considerable pile is there, then the male entices the female under the nest, and the eggs are laid and fertilized. The male carefully places the eggs in the nest and guards them until they hatch. In this group you'll find Gouramies, Bettas, and Paradise fish."

"Don't forget the egg-layers," says Mr. Collins. "This group lays their eggs on plant leaves or on the bottom of the aquarium.

THE COLLINSES final advice to any one planning to raise tropical fish and sell them is this: Keep your aquariums crystal clear, and keep only healthy fish for sale, study everything you can lay your hands on covering the subject, and study your animals too, as you will learn much from watching them.

"There is money to be made in a little business of your own," says Mrs. Collins, "whether it be a part time or full time project. Comfortable money—not big money. Don't try to make a fortune on every item you sell. For instance, we are content to sell a pair of Guppies for 75 cents—and we make a profit on them, too. Black Mollies sell for $1 a pair; and a male Betta is priced at $2. You can buy a female Betta for $1."

Most small shop owners find a more lasting success will be attained in establishing a desirable type of regular patronage if prices are slightly below those charged at big stores. This is justified by the fact that overhead is usually not as great in proportion as with customary retail methods. A family interest is important in operating little shops because relatives are willing to be called upon (and can be of great help) during occasional hours when business is brisk. The Collinses have an energetic young son who enjoys helping out at the store many evenings.

Charles Collins is frank to say that you must give service! He'll tell you that nothing ought to be too much trouble for the private shop, owner. Friendliness and courtesy ought to be the watchwords. "The only way you can hope to meet the competition of other shops," states Mr. Collins, "is by means of service. So spend time and thought on the human side of your business if you want to prosper."