Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Welder Zhao and Electric Wu had a closer relationship, so the next day, Welder Zhao repeated what had happened with Carpenter Wang to Electrician Wu. He was immediately reproached by Electrician Wu.

  Electrician Wu scolded him for being an ungrateful person. Why did he so easily believe what people said? How did he know if Carpenter Wang had not received a rebate from the aquarium that he had recommended? He might even get a benefit fee for every person he recommended to the shop.

  After he was reprimanded by Electrician Wu, Welder Zhao hesitated again. He felt that both sides had their own reasoning so he decided to visit both sides. Since there was a special promotional event for the opening of the Amazing Fate Aquarium, he followed Electrician Wu there first, and then he would maybe visit the other shop in the days to come.

  Welder Zhao explained while Electrician Wu added on the side, occasionally exposing him. Finally, Zhang Zian understood what they were arguing about.

  Electrician Wu said after catching his breath, “Xiao Zhang, he’s a stubborn donkey. I can’t convince him… You can tell him about it. Is what Carpenter Wang said true?”


  Welder Zhao wanted to refute, but in the end, he didn’t say anything, because he also wanted to know if what Carpenter Wang said was true or not.

  Zhang Zian gave it a thought and said, “Actually, what he said does make sense…”


  Welder Zhao opened his mouth and wanted to mock Electrician Wu, but then he heard Zhang Zian continue. “But it’s also not all the truth.”


  “What do you mean by that?” Electrician Wu asked.

  Zhang Zian explained in detail that there were three kinds of style to kick start and create a sustainable environment for saltwater fish. One was through live rocks, which was what Welder Zhao had done before. The second was with dead stones, where one boils the live rock with boiling water or even use chemicals to kill off all the poison, creatures, and microorganisms attached to the live rock before placing them into the fish tank. The third was through the use of artificial stones, which was similar to the dead stone, but the disinfection step was omitted.

  Interestingly, it was basically only China that almost always used a live rock to kick-start the process, while in foreign countries, using dead stones to kick-start the process was the absolute mainstream. There was only a small percentage that used artificial stones. Very few people used live rocks, and some countries even had laws to ban the use of live rocks… There was a strong contrast between domestic and foreign practice.

  Zhang Zian had studied aquarium operations under Carl in Germany, so of course, he had also studied the theories and techniques of using live and dead rocks to kick-start the process of creating a sustainable environment for the fish. In addition, he also knew the strengths and weaknesses of the three different styles.

  He could say anything but there would be no proof, so he called Li Kun over and told him to take a live rock that had not been used yet.

  The live rocks in his shop were bought wholesale from the fish market, and most of them had already been turned into dead stones through treatment; only a few were kept in their live rock state.

  Li Kun brought over a plastic wash basin. The basin was half-filled with seawater, and a natural live rock was soaking inside. The surface of the live rock was slightly brown and it was covered with wrinkles and tiny holes.

  “This live rock should be similar to the reef rocks in your home.” Zhang Zian rolled up his sleeves and took out the live rock from the water, displaying it to the two elderly people.

  They nodded.

  Then, Zhang Zian did an action that was completely unexpected: He laid a cloth onto the floor, placed the wet stone on top, then took a hammer from the toolbox and swung it down on the live rock!

  A crack was heard and the live rock split down the middle into four or five pieces. The seawater that was contained in the inner cavity flowed out to the ground.

  “This… what is this?” Electrician Wu exclaimed.

  After the live rock was shattered into pieces, some small, peculiar shaped creatures flowed out along with the sea water.

  There were worms covered with bristles, squirming tubeworms, tiny translucent anemones, small crabs, colorful shrimps, and some creatures that were completely indistinguishable… They never would have expected there to be so many things hidden in the small live stone.

  Zhang Zian pointed at the creatures with the hammer handle and introduced them one by one. “You’ve seen this before. The bristle worm is similar to the clam worm, but the bristle worms are actually useful. They can help you turn the sand and clean the gaps of the live rock. Tubeworms and sponge organisms are also useful to filter water. Crabs and prawns, on the other hand, have both advantages and disadvantages. As for these ghost anemones, they are the notorious scourge in aquarium tanks… Placing a live rock in your tank would mean bringing all of these creatures into your tank, which sounds like both a good and bad thing, but the benefits of using live rocks can be replaced by other things. The downsides, however, are a headache to resolve.”


  He did not clearly state the advantages and disadvantages of using a dead rock and a live rock. There was a reason for something to exist. Since the use of live rocks was so popular in China, they must not be completely useless.

  Electrician Wu asked curiously, “Why is using the dead stone popular in foreign countries, and live rocks in our country? What’s the reason? Just because our concept is different?”


  “Not exactly.” Zhang Zian shook his head. “The use of live rocks is popular in China because the performance of the protein skimmer was generally not great. The skimmer is unable to completely remove the pollution inside the tank, so they depend on live rocks to accelerate the growth of algae to assist with the process… Over time, this folk method became the mainstream. Even if the performance of the high-end protein skimmer is sufficient, many people will still regard it as the standard.”


  Electrician Wu immediately said to Welder Zhao, “Look, didn’t I say so? You insist on listening to Carpenter Wang. Do you think he really knows it all? He’s just following what people say, only knowing that it is so but not knowing why it is so!”


  The conversation between them attracted the other customers in the store, who frowned at the living creatures that flowed out from the live rock. Things like bristle worms were really unbearable.

  After listening to Zhang Zian’s explanation, everyone now had a better understanding.

  Welder Zhao was still not convinced. He said loudly, “If the live rocks are turned into dead rocks then what about the beneficial bacteria that was attached to them?”


  Zhang Zian had expected him to ask this question, so he led them to the nearest aquarium with a base cabinet and opened the base cabinet to let them look inside.

  “Yi? Why is there another small tank hidden in the base cabinet?” Welder Zhao was amazed.

  There was a small fish tank in the base cabinet, and there was nothing in the fish tank––only a live rock soaked in seawater. Several pipes connected the small fish tank to the filtering system in the base cabinet. It was Zhang Zian’s custom aquarium tank.

  Zhang Zian further explained, “The dead stone is placed in the large tank above the base cabinet. In order to supplement the beneficial bacteria, an extra small tank is added to the filtering system. There is a filter in the tube connecting the small tank so that the bacteria can pass. However, the small creatures hidden in the live rocks will be stopped by the filter net. It is used to combine the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of the dead rock and live rock.”


  “Boss, what is the brand of this aquarium tank? I want to buy one, too.” Someone was tempted.

  Zhang Zian was waiting for the question, so he immediately replied, “This is our store’s own design and it is customized by us. You can’t buy it outside the store. But if you’re interested, the shop can customize one for you!”


  The biggest profit from running an aquarium did not come from aquarium creatures, but rather the other peripheral products.