# Get to Know...Roland Seah



## MiamiAG

The May 2006 installment of the Get to Know series features our friend Roland Seah.

Here's a picture of Roland, Shark and Jake, respectively. Shark is the chemist behind FERKA.









*1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself (your CV).*

I have been keeping fish since I was a kid. Workwise, I started out as a software engineer after my studies, but my growing involvement in the aquarium hobby eventually saw me entering this field on a full time basis to enjoy the hobby more as well as generate more awareness of this activity.

*2. How did you get involved with aquarium plants and, later, with *
*GreenChapter?*

From an early age, I have been keeping 'planted tanks' with tetras, driftwood and hydrilla tied with lead weights. As a student, I had to stop pursuing the hobby after a while due to limited financial ability. But once I began to work, an active interest returned. My return to the hobby was a small 3 ft tank setup costing about S$2,000. But due to inexperience then, I ended up buying wrong equipment and accessories for quite a while.

Later, I came across internet discussion forums and got to know Simon, who set up www.aquaticquotient.com. I volunteered to help revamp the website and became the forum's webmaster. During this period, I learnt a lot more about plants and fishes while doing research, programming and managing the database for the website.

Eventually my interest inspired me to embark on a full time career in setting up planted tanks. I first started out as part of a freelance group but this didn't turn out well. After that I set off on my own with a friend who had switched jobs and joined me as an active partner. The company, Green Chapter, is now approaching its second year and we are in the midst of planning new projects and trading activities. 










 *3. What are your favorite books? Movies? Music? Games? Foods? Beverages? **Vacation spot?*

I like reading fantasy epics like books by Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks (e.g. Wheel of Time). Also the Lord of the Rings series. Music wise, I prefer soothing and relaxing stuff. I also dive and cycle for leisure. Coffee, beer and red wine are my preferred drinks, and I go for beach resorts around this region for breaks.

 *4. What do you consider as your accomplishments up to this point? Any *
*Failures you'd like to tell us about?*

Well, I would say one key accomplishment is starting and keeping this company operating in the black despite pessimistic views and criticisms about this supposedly 'dying' industry. There is also some satisfaction to be involved in designing huge custom planted tanks for private owners as well as public projects such as setups at the Jurong Bird Park in Singapore.

Of course there are some hiccups along the way, but I don't think we have encountered any major failures at this point, although there is certainly room for learning and improvement in all aspects.

*5. Tell us a little bit about the planted aquarium hobby in your country. *
*How has it changed? How has the Internet changed it? What do you see in *
*the next 5 to 10 years? Is aquascaping big or are people just learning to *
*grow plants?*

This hobby has been around for at least 10 years, but only a few shops have the professional know-how to properly grow aquatic plants. Previously, the range of equipment available was limited and very expensive, and not many people could imagine spending thousands of dollars simply to grow aquatic plants. Most people would maintain tanks for the sake of showy fishes such as arowanas, goldfishes and giant gouramis.

But with more foreign brands entering the market with a greater variety of equipment at lower prices, the planted tank hobby has enjoyed good growth, although here it is still a minority within the aquaria hobby.

Most hobbyists still tend to rely on the shop owners to convey their often limited and sometimes erroneous knowledge about maintaining a planted tank. But with the internet, new information can be shared easily and the standards of awareness have risen as more people go online. Local online communities such as aquaticquotient.com also help bring together people in periodic meetings and outings to shops and farms. 

I think the planted aquaria hobby will continue to grow in the future, although it may not match the glamour of marine tanks with their vivid range of colours. And the standards of hobbyist tanks and their skills should rise further as new and better techniques are developed and shared.









 
 *6. Speaking from experience, you supply some excellent Cryptocoryne **
specimens. How did you get involved with Cryptocorynes? Do you grow any of the species?
* 
My love for Cryptocorynes came by chance when I went on a local field trip with some forum friends. The difficulties involved in keeping these plants alive and getting them to bloom is a good challenge for me. In addition, the genus' diversity of shapes and species also attracted me.

Since then, I have been trying to obtain more less common species and have come to know people sharing this interest from different countries, with whom new ideas and practices can be shared.

I grow a number of species myself, such as C. affinis, C. aponogetifolia, C. auriculata, C. bullosa, C. coronata, C. decus-silvae, C. ferruginea, C. ideii, C. cf. jacobsenii, C. keei, C. longicauda, C. minima, C. nurii, C. pallidinervia, C. schulzei, C. striolata, C. thwaitesii, C. vietnamensis, C. yujii, and C. wendtii 'green gecko'.










 *7. What advice do you have for someone who is getting into the planted **
aquarium hobby?
* 
I would say, if you are serious about getting it right, you have to spend your money on the correct items. If possible, don't hesitate in spending a little extra for better quality equipment, as these are likely to deliver better performance and last longer.

 *8. Describe your typical workday schedule.*

I usually wake up at seven and start by replying to emails. Then I set off for the office and attend meetings or work on scheduled maintenance jobs. There is also planning work and paperwork such as quotations and proposals. I normally chill out at a pub before calling it a day.









 
 *9. Tell us something about yourself that we don't already know.*

One reason I actually got back into the hobby was because a girl at a disco who kept arowanas inspired me.


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## Faruk Gençöz

Thanks for that interview. It was nice to read and learn the situation in Singapore.

Roland's words about the current and the future of the hobby in Singapore reminded me of the same situation in Turkey. Shop owners are the key people in this domain to make a progress in the future but many of them resistant to learn even what they sell. Internet is an alternative source for the aquarists but only ~10% of the Turkish hobbyists use the internet. So the progress will be slow. On the other hand it is good to have a hobby which is not common, strange and marginal.


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## mozesyap

Great to see a fellow Singaporean being recognized in the planted tank field. 
Actually I can see a growing trend in planted aquaria in Singapore, especially with the increase in activity of the planted tank forums, particularly aquaticquotient.

Have been off planted tanks for a year now, since moving over to the United States. But haven't really checked out the scene in USA, hope I can start again soon. But I think I am going to miss the affordable fauna and flora from Singapore.


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## Rand

The pictures are amazing! Especially the last one. It looks huge. Roland, if you are out there, could you give us more information on specifications of that last tank, like how many gallons of water, the process of creating that beautiful show tank and if it receives artificial lights, etc. 

Also show or add more pictures your company had installed (so we could be inspire of creating a similar tank).


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## Happy Camper

Roland sounds like a hell of a nice chap. I'd love to join him in the pub for a beer after work sometime


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## AaronT

Roland - Your show tanks are quite inspiring indeed.

I have ordered from Roland before and he is always pleasant to deal with and delivers nice plants that are packaged well.


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## lorba

Thanks all for the kind comments! HappyCamper, it'd be nice to have a beer session with you, but ain't you in Africa? 

The hobby may seems to be growing, however, the local planted tank industry seems to be shrinking quickly at the same time.

Rand, that last tank is actually an outdoor pond, with cross sectional view. There are natural sunlight, but partially shaded by the trees around. I have a goal-post structure made to support 10 x MH, if you can sport them.

Right now, we are building 2 similar, but bigger tanks. Will post some progress photos as we go along!


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## Faruk Gençöz

lorba said:


> The hobby may seems to be growing, however, the local planted tank industry seems to be shrinking quickly at the same time.


Can you elaborate on this a little bit more?


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## Happy Camper

lorba said:


> Thanks all for the kind comments! HappyCamper, it'd be nice to have a beer session with you, but ain't you in Africa? !


Hi Roland

LOL Yes, I am in South Africa. But I am planning a trip to Singapore within the next 2 years. Folks over at AQ are teaching me Singlish, so hopefully when I meet you at the pub we can hold a decent conversation


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## lorba

Happy Camper said:


> Hi Roland
> 
> LOL Yes, I am in South Africa. But I am planning a trip to Singapore within the next 2 years. Folks over at AQ are teaching me Singlish, so hopefully when I meet you at the pub we can hold a decent conversation


Hey, thats gonna be fun. But singlish isn't something that we should be promoting, haha.

Faruk, I was talking about the industry here in Singapore. Although we see names of big and moderate organisations like Oriental, Qian Hu etc, they are actually doing more exports or on ornamental fishes rather then plants.

The number of new hobbyists are not growing healthily and there are many shops that closed down, and we dont see new ones coming up. Well, perhaps in a year or two, it may pick up again.


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## Faruk Gençöz

Roland, thank you for the answer.

I may be asking too much but I am strongly interested in the policies and social trends in the field. Do you have any idea *why* there is a trend going downward? And why are you hopeful that in time this trend will change in the positive direction?


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## lorba

Hi Faruk, no problem with the questions. However, what I am saying are just my personal opinion, it may not reflect the truth.

In Singapore, there use to be a healthy number of about 150+ shops. When the flowerhorn fish craze landed in Singapore, there was a sudden surge in the number of shops (300-400), causing the price of tanks, stands, cabinets etc to plunge rapidly. To grab the piece of cake, everybody slashes equipment price as the fish fetches good margins. The introduction of cheap china brands probably make things worse.

Eversince the flowerhorn fever subsided, many shops closed down. The freshwater hobby left the impression of tank+fish+blackjavafern-onwood in the mind of many people. The prices never went up again and most planted shops do not have expensive fishes now to help them with the upkeeping. Not many people will spend more then S$5 on a single piece of fish because you can't figure out lottery numbers from their body.

Plants are not really expensive here and they are quite readily available. With everything in low margin, and with most of the shops competing to attract customers with low price, it is without doubt that those with less financial backing will fall. On top of these, with the widespread of Internet trading, most hobbyists grow and sell among themselves. The shops can only hope to sell cambobas and hardy hygrophilas to the old aunties and uncles who doesnt expect much. With high rents, low margin for practically everything, I expect more will steer to selling higher margin products or be closing. 

However, the planted hobby's been around for so long. I am sure there will be a rebounce. Its just a matter of time.


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## Faruk Gençöz

Thanks for the explanations. It seems that the balance point of the industry can be disturbed easily. As I said the balance point can be supported by the shop owners but most of them don't have a vision. Many of them don't want to predict the future from the trends. As for the intelligent hobbyists we have the internet power and capacity to exchange. But our number is not so much in fact. Huge number of hobbyists at the beginning level do not have vision as well and kill many living species sold by the shop owners that don't have vision. So it is a vicious cycle and the bill is paid by living species. These are my opinions on the basis of the trade here in Turkey. Most of the species are imported from Singapore and we kill those species with Chinese products.


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## lorba

I somehow believe that the Internet Users takes up just only this small portion of the market. But I am not sure why many businesses are complaining about internet.

The lack of display tanks and general knowledge in keeping a planted tank is also a critical issue. I am always wondering why aren't there an public aquarium here in Singapore, where we export so much plants and fishes.


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## Tankman

It's the same here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lots of LFS personnel do not really know much about the plants they sell. I get all the information i can from sites like these.


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## bluedescada

I completely agree with Mr. Gençöz. Here in Turkey,if you want to be an aquarist,first you have to face with the local petcenters and their rude owners. Every aquarist has a story in the way like that.


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