Chapter 775: Aquascape

After Electrician Wu retired, he had no other hobbies, and he wasn’t fond of keeping cats, dogs, or birds––he found them to be too noisy. But just when he had developed a strong interest in keeping fish, the leakage incident happened and he was a little disheartened.

Zhang Zian smiled. Zian knew what Electrician Wu was thinking about. “There’s no need for you to give up just because you’ve met with a setback. After all, an electrical leakage is a very rare occurrence.”

“No, no… even if the probability of it happening is small. Once it does, it’s like a zero and one difference.” Electrician Wu waved his hands. Even though he was sad, there was no other solution. Once bitten, twice shy.

The high conductivity of seawater further increased the danger of an electrical leakage as compared to a freshwater tank. Although it was theoretically possible to switch off the power for the heating rod before it made contact with the water to ensure safety, there was still the chance of people being careless after a period of time, especially since he had a grandson.

If he insisted on keeping saltwater fish, there would be tremendous pressure from his wife, so out of consideration for the family’s harmony, he decided to give up fish keeping.

“Actually, if you’re really keen on keeping saltwater fish, I have a solution.” Zhang Zian took the chance to make a proposal. “You can use a heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts, so even if there’s an electrical leakage, it would not cause harm to anyone.”

“Ah? There’s a heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts?” Electrician Wu was first surprised, then happy.

The human body’s safety voltage level is 36 volts. Any voltage below 36 volts was very safe. Even if the heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts had an electrical leakage, it would not cause any danger to the human body.

“I don’t see any on sale?” Electrician Wu looked over at the different heating rods displayed on the counter; they all had a working voltage of 220 volts.

“Um… I don’t have a 24 volts heating rod here. I’ve never even heard of it.” The boss was confused, too.

Zhang Zian smiled slyly. “If you plan on buying a 24 volts heating rod, I can leave you an address. It’s high-end aquarium equipment imported from Germany, so it’s going to be expensive, but it’s definitely safe. It just depends on if you’re willing to invest in the safety aspect.”

The audience in the broadcast channel immediately exploded. After going on for so long, Manager Weak Bird was just trying to take advantage of the situation and using the opportunity to promote his own product…

Of course, Electrician Wu was not able to see the bullet screen. He thought that Zhang Zian had recommended some other aquarium equipment shop to him.

Before he retired, Electrician Wu had to participate in the safety production learning organized by the factory every year, so he had seen and heard many unfortunate accidents that were caused by negligence, malfunctions, and misoperations. He knew full well that safety was priceless, and accidents would always occur when people felt that they wouldn’t.

Immediately, he patted his own chest and said, “How expensive can it be? Is one month of my retirement salary enough?”

The retirement life of his neighbors and colleagues were all very rich and colorful. Some had spent tens of thousands of dollars on an SLR camera and its lens, heading out on the streets to take pictures. There were also those that bought a drone for their love of aerial photography, flying through ravines every day. Even if the drone were to crash, they would just buy a new one… Compared to all those, the cost of keeping fish was really cheap.

As for his wife’s nagging, he had already listened to her for tens of years. There was already calluses in his ear, so he was just going to let her go on.

“Well, not that much.” Zhang Zian added Electrician Wu’s WeChat and sent over his shop address.

Electrician Wu took a look at the address. There was no time for him to go over today since he snuck out of his home with his grandson. He still had to face the wrath of his wife when he returned home, so he planned to let it rest for a few days before heading over.

He said his goodbyes to Zhang Zian and Snowy before he led his grandson out of the fish market building.

The boss of the aquarium equipment shop was already very curious. He asked Zhang Zian where the heating rod with a working voltage of 24 volts came from, because he was aware that the more high-end a piece of equipment was, the higher the profit. But Zhang Zian did not answer his question––he just used an excuse to leave the third floor with Snowy and walked down the stairs to the second floor.

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The second floor had sand, live rocks, aquatic plants, seaweed, filter equipment, corals, decorative corals, and other aquarium aquascaping supplies. They also had finished products of fish tanks on sale, those that they had already done aquascaping for.

Aquascaping for fish tanks was a job that required skill. Other than being good with one’s hands, the most important thing was having a pair of eyes that could discover the beauty in things. With the same sand, live rocks, and corals, some people could only make a mess out of them, but in the hands of others, it could become a beautiful underwater dragon palace. Not everyone had the talent and patience for it, so most people were more willing to spend money on a completed product.

If his earlier walk around the third floor was just giving the shops a quick glance, then his time on the second floor was going to be spent paying attention to the details and picking out the suitable materials for his own aquarium.

“Wow! This place is just like a garden! It’s so beautiful!” Snowy’s eyes lit up as she praised.

Indeed, compared to the brightly lit third floor, the second floor’s lighting was much dimmer, and the most conspicuous central area was filled with various proud works of aquascaping tanks from various shops. Using colorful lights to enhance their appeal, the green of the aquatic plants and the seaweed had a beautiful glow to them, which created beautiful scenery.

On the wall of the second floor, there was a notice prohibiting photography. Snowy apologized to the audience in the broadcast channel and temporarily kept her phone in her pocket.

The audience complained and grumbled. They could hear the sounds, but the screen was all black.

There were no shopping guides pulling customers on the second floor––it probably was because it was not efficient. The customer on the first and third floor were there to purchase fish or equipment, but the customers on the second floor would usually roam around and look at the different aquascaping tanks, admiring them but not spending a cent. Some would even secretly take a picture with their phones with the plans to replicate it at home.

The sellers were also in no hurry; they were just sitting there playing with their phones.

The profits earned from aquascaping tanks was very high; they didn’t usually get orders, but once they did, it would be enough for the wait.

It was good too, because, with no one to disturb them, the customers could look for as long as they wanted and however they wanted.

“Mr Store Manager, why are the prices for these aquascaping tanks all different?” Snowy noticed after observing for some time.

“That’s because these are aquascapes of different genres.” Zhang Zian pointed at the nearest aquascaping tank and introduced it. “Look, this tank uses a great number of Driftwood and rough rocks, with the roots of the Pteris tied to the Driftwood, and there’s also Water Fiscus planted in the sand. Now look at the fish with the orange-red colored dorsal fin and the Mohican hairstyle––those are known as the Purple Splendid Cichlid. Don’t they look very wild in general?”

Snowy nodded. “That’s true, especially the Purple Splendid Cichlid… they look really funny.”

“Aquascaping tanks like these follow the West African style of aquascaping, but it’s not very traditional. The traditional West African style of aquascaping should be using Dark Wood Fern instead of Pteris.” Zhang Zian glanced over at the seller. “Pteris grows very quickly so sellers usually use it as a replacement for the Dark Wood Fern since it looks almost the same. The average person is generally not able to tell the difference.”

Snowy stuck her tongue out. “No wonder the netizens said that the water in the fish market was very cheap. Even a small aquatic plant is being replaced with a lower quality alternative!”

“It isn’t really a lower quality alternative since the prices of the two plants are almost the same––it’s just that using Pteris can save more time. The amount of time required to set up the Dark Wood Fern in the tank would be enough to set up two tanks with Pteris,” Zhang Zian corrected her.

“Then what about this? It gives off a very quiet and peaceful feeling,” Snowy asked as she pointed towards another aquascaping tank.

The layout of the aquascaping tank was very simple. Hemianthus Callitrichoides covered the bottom of the tank like hills; the four corners were low and the center was slightly higher. Two long rocks were placed slanted as they intersected with each other at the tip of the hill like an abandoned tombstone. A few sedge plants were swaying with the water beside the rocks; the white and blue light created an atmosphere of a clear and boundless sky and looking at it gave some kind of ethereal and lonely feeling, like mourning right in front of a hero’s tomb.

“This is a typical Japanese-style aquascape. Other styles are all adding more things in, but the Japanese-style works the other way. They feel as though it’s better to have lesser things in the tank––the simpler the elements, the better.” Zhang Zian laughed and said, “As long as it’s still a cool, quiet style, then you won’t go wrong linking it to the Japanese-style.”

The netizens in the broadcast channel were all frustrated at not being able to see anything. They exploded after they heard what Zhang Zian said.

“Isn’t this sexual harassment? Hit him!”

“Since he’s aware that we can’t see, Sexual Harassment Store Manager is now showing his true face…”