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[X-post from the previous Idea Sunday thread that didn't make it to the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616132 https://news.ycombinator.com/it
by refrigerator 13y ago
[X-post from the previous Idea Sunday thread that didn't make it to the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7616132]
Idea: a new way to purchase and set up a fish tank. Currently, you have two options:
a) Buy everything separately - tank, filter, heater, plants, fish. You have to find out whether your fish and plants are compatible and your tank is big enough for what you want etc. You have to figure out where to put the heater and filter so that it doesn't look unsightly.
b) Buy a prebuilt tank with the filter and heater etc. pre-installed somewhere not too ugly. You still have to figure out which livestock you can keep, based on tank size, filter type, plants, and whether they can live with the other livestock you want. You also have to live with the prebuilt tank company's design decisions, which you might not like.
The solution: a company that offers minimalistic, sleek tanks with a modular system for adding filters, heaters, skimmers, lighting, etc. that keeps the equipment out of the way and not looking ugly. Also, an online service where they can select and order the modular tank and equipment that they want, and be allowed to choose from compatible livestock and plants. Alternatively, they can start with livestock that they want and they can be recommended the right modular tank and equipment etc. They can pay for everything all together and the items would be delivered as they are needed (with marine tanks, for example, you have to let the tank 'cycle' for a few weeks so that the water parameters normalise before you can add livestock).
What do you guys think?
- keehun 13y agoIs the market size worth it? How will you reach the every-day regular-John-Smith families who aren't going to be keeping an eye out for a service like this?
- refrigerator 13y agoI think there's definitely a market for it. Before people go out and buy fish, they usually do some research first on what it will entail, so if this site can also become a really good source of fishkeeping info and shows up on page 1 when people search for something like 'fishkeeping' or 'fish tanks' then that could be good
- keehun 13y agoI guess I'm not totally aware of who the "they" are in "they usually do some research first" because I feel like a significant chunk of fish purchases come from parents of little children who are already sleep deprived and go to the nearest pet store or (God forbid,) Walmart or any other shop where they know there are fish. If you're correct that "they usually" actually do research beforehand, there would probably be a market big enough to sustain a small online business.
- DanBC 13y agoYou sell the software to already existing fish suppliers.
- plumeria 13y agoOr have a "full stack startup" http://cdixon.org/2014/03/15/full-stack-startups/ http://cdixon.org/2014/03/15/full-stack-startups/
- Alex3917 13y agoWhy not just have something like pcpartpicker.com, where every time you select a component it only shows other components that are compatible with the ones you've already selected? I think that would be the most useful, so that way you could either start with the fish and it would show you what hardware you can get, or else you could start with the hardware and it would show you what fish you can get.
- refrigerator 13y agoYeah that's exactly what I have in mind!
- ohwp 13y agoSounds a little like Elos: http://www.elos.eu/productlines/aquariums/index.html http://www.elos.eu/productlines/aquariums/index.html
- refrigerator 13y agoJust checked Elos out - it seems to be just a normal 'order fish supplies online' kind of thing?