People & Stories

Exclusive for The Weekend Aquarist Subscribers By Amar Salvi Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes India’s freshwater fish rarely get the spotlight they deserve - yet very few people have done more to document them than Beta Mahatvaraj, better known as Meenkaran. For over two decades, he has explored streams and rivers across the subcontinent, photographing and studying Indian natives both in the wild and in aquaria. His photographs are permanently displayed at the Chennai Public

By Natasha Khardina Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes The Biotope Aquarium Contest 2025 (BAC2025) has once again carried forward a quiet revolution in the aquarium world: transforming precise field research of natural habitats into public education. Instead of rewarding artistic layouts alone, BAC demands scientific documentation - photographs of the original location, species lists, substrate analysis and systematic notes - and celebrates those who faithfully translate wild h

The Making of India Gills & Best4Pets By Amar Salvi, Editor - The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes When you walk into the sprawling warehouse that houses India Gills, it is easy to think the story began there - rows upon rows of tanks, quarantine facilities and a tightly coordinated operation. But the real beginning of this journey lies far away, in the disciplined corridors of banking, the rugged mountains of Himachal, and the restless heart of a man who tra

The Indian Aquascaping Summit By Amar Salvi, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 4–5 minutes TIAS 2025 — The Indian Aquascapers Summit — was born from a dream: a dream envisioned by Yuvaraj VM, the director and driving force behind Aqua Club, to unite India’s aquascaping community on one grand stage. For years, workshops and live creations were something Indian hobbyists could only watch from afar. Yuvaraj wanted to change that — to bring the experience to Indi

Meet Pradip Patade, a water-sports instructor turned citizen scientist, quietly changing how a city sees its own coastline. By Amar Salvi, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 9–10 minutes For nearly a decade, Pradip Patade's life has been shaped by the rhythm of the tides at Girgaum Chowpatty. While most of Mumbai experiences the shoreline as a place of crowds, festivals, and fleeting escapes, Pradip sees something far more intimate — an ever-changing intertida

At a time when aquascaping is often driven by aesthetics alone, voices like Dhiraj Shetty's are helping the hobby pause, reflect, and mature. The Weekend Aquarist caught up with Dhiraj Shetty, founder of Mangalore Aquatics and co-founder of the Indian Biotope Championship (IBC), to discuss entrepreneurship, the importance of biotope aquariums, and how celebrating Indian ecosystems can redefine the future of fishkeeping in the country. By Amar Salvi, Editor — The Weekend Aquar

Abhisek Mishra has no proper camera, no boat, and no formal training in ichthyology. What he has is an Android phone, a two-foot hand net, and a habit of wading into Odisha's rivers until something new swims by — a habit that has already put two fish species on the scientific record, and one of them, already, on the list of the threatened. By Amar Salvi, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 7–9 minutes Abhisek Mishra's introduction to the hobby didn't begin with

A 1951 shrimp record. Seven decades of doubt. And a photograph that reopened a case science had all but closed. This is the story of how Atyopsis spinipes was found again. By The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 3–4 minutes The Bamboo Shrimp is familiar to aquarists around the world. With its fan-like feeding appendages, peaceful temperament, and fascinating filter-feeding behaviour, it has long been a favourite among shrimp keepers. Yet for decades, few realised that In

A tale of new balitora. By Balaji Vijayakrishnan Estimated read time: 6–7 minutes Balitora is a genus of small, flattened freshwater fish belonging to the family Balitoridae, commonly known as hillstream loaches or stone loaches. These fish are built for life in the fast lane — their bodies are dorsoventrally compressed, essentially squashed flat from top to bottom, and their pectoral and pelvic fins are enlarged and spread horizontally, functioning almost like suction pads t

Science & Breakthroughs — how the PAGR Centre is closing the life cycle of the Western Ghats’ most threatened ornamental barbs. By Saikrishna K.R., Abhilash C.P., Sharath Varghese, Charan Ravi and V.S. Basheer Estimated read time: 3–4 minutes The Western Ghats of peninsular India represent one of the world’s globally recognized biodiversity hotspots, harbouring an exceptional diversity of freshwater fishes with a high degree of endemism. The hill streams and river systems dra

A journey into the fascinating world of gobies, from their surprising personalities and remarkable behaviours to the hidden species, habitats, and field discoveries that make these small fish so extraordinary. By Aravind Manoj Estimated read time: 3–4 minutes I have been documenting fish for almost six years. What began as simple curiosity slowly became a serious passion. I have always been a native fish lover, but when it comes to gobies, they hold a very special place in my

A tribute to Heiko Bleher’s extraordinary life of exploration, tracing his decades-long journeys across the Amazon and beyond, his role in shaping modern discus breeding, and the philosophies that defined his approach to fishkeeping and natural history. By Amar Salvi, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 7–9 minutes A name that shaped modern aquariums How can any tribute truly capture the magnitude of a life like Heiko Bleher’s? For more than seven decades, he d

A field visit with founder Amartya Ghosh—from science-driven planted tanks to hydroponic vertical forests and “mini phytospheres” that turn any room into a slice of nature. By Amar, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 7–9 minutes “City of Joy,” slab of rainforest I’ve tracked TiCi Nature Lab on Instagram for months, but stepping into Amartya’s gallery in Harua, Kolkata is different. The first thing that stops you: a waterfall-washed rock wall—not plastic, but a

A field visit with founder Sanjay Khandagale—from award-winning discus strains to angels, plecos, and a purpose-built farm that runs like a lab. By Amar, Editor — The Weekend Aquarist Estimated read time: 6–8 minutes A visit long overdue On a rain-washed afternoon, we finally rolled up to Sam’s Discus India for a long-promised on-site interview with founder Sanjay Khandagale. Joining me was Niranjan (Discus Ninja), who was behind the camera. This visit felt special for anothe