The movie does not portray the aquarium hobby in a good light. I already got one "hate email" from some tree hugger telling me off for attaching "plants" (corals) to rocks, and etc. I replied to them with a barrage of facts, starting with correcting them about what a coral really is -- an animal or colony of animals - and that the frags they were ripping me about were captive propped

I came back with enough ammo that they actually apologized. I should post the exchange someplace, it was quite good, if I do say so myself :funny:
There is a discussion going on now in the Industry forum at RDO about Nemo and its effects on the hobby, good and bad. Somebody brought up that while, yes, the movie portrays the hobby in a negative light, parents will still probably cave in to their kids' pressure to get a tank....
That's where we, the retailers come in. I can tell you I'm stocking up on books

My fear is that there will be a lot of people who begin at a ***** chain store and kill a pile of Nemos before they realize they don't know what they are doing... because by and large ***** does not ask questions before they bag a fish(es)... there are exceptions to this... but even one of my clients was able to (stupidly) go in and buy 8 little percs (after all they were on SALE) and nobody asked him any questions. How many people do you know with a tank large enough to house 8 percs comfortably? He has a 225 but the percs didn't last a week -- probably either his Paddlefin Wrasse or established pair of Tomatoes or any of the other territorial fish he has probably picked them off one by one..... But I digress...
I think if we are lucky, and if all the little "Nemos" out there are lucky, we might just see a membership boom here. Let's take special care to encourage these newbies to learn -- as is always the practice here. That will do good for the hobby.
A whole wake of failed hobbyists and derelict tanks and dead fishes will not help the hobby.
Jenn