TFH magazine?

[JasonC]

So with this month being the first month of TFH's new format of only publishing 6 issues per year? I'm wondering how many people are planning on letting their subscriptions lapse?

I got a renewal notice in the mail which is asking me to pay the same price for half the issues. It's feeling awful difficult to pull the trigger without seeing any added value. Thoughts?

 

[FishEggs]

Are they putting a little more into each issue making it a bit bigger or is it the same thing?

 

[lkelly]

Maybe if they did something like January/February on the front you'd feel like you were getting your money's worth.

Being in the print business is like being in the undergravel filter business. Newer technology has doomed your product and even when it does sell it pretty much just sucks.

 

[jonclark96]

I think there is still some place for printed publications. I'm not a TFH subscriber, but I get Amazonas magazine and love it.

 

[lkelly]

I like Amazonas too (courtesy of the free subscription won at last year's Aquamania). I also downloaded all their back issues in PDF format from their website.

 

[JasonC]

I'm an Amazonas subscriber too, and love it. I feel like their magazine has more than enough to it to justify the price for 6 issues. Just not sure I feel that TFH has the same potential. Has anyone seen the Jan/Feb issue yet?

I think there is still some place for printed publications. I'm not a TFH subscriber, but I get Amazonas magazine and love it.

 

[Vinh2o]

I did not know about Amazonia Magazine. I have never seen it in Barnes & Noble. Thanks for sharing I will check it out.


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[JLW]

You can also get a TFH digital subscription, and they do a special where you can get it for $1 a year fairly frequently. Like them on Facebook and you'll see it there.

You can also get a single free digital download:
https://www.qfie.com/tfh/clstfhreg1.asp?straspreason=109&pubcode&listcode=FTD

The drive toward the bimonthly distribution, rather than the standard monthly, has allowed TFH to add additional material -- you're getting a lot more feature columns in there, and this should expand as the year goes on. And, if it is something you're unhappy with, I would suggest contacting the editor (Editor@TFH.com) and letting them know. Obviously, not renewing your subscription is one way to do so, too, though I would recommend sending a note and letting them know why you're not renewing (and as a TFH contributor, I'd prefer you send a note and continue your subscription.

 

[jonclark96]

And, both TFH and Amazonas are BFD sponsors, so renew!


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[dogofwar]

This is what I have done - $1 digital subscription.

TFH is an awesome resource and I really appreciate the Q&A section.

I tend to like the depth of the Amazonas articles (I'm a subscriber as well).

Matt

You can also get a TFH digital subscription, and they do a special where you can get it for $1 a year fairly frequently. Like them on Facebook and you'll see it there.

You can also get a single free digital download:
https://www.qfie.com/tfh/clstfhreg1.asp?straspreason=109&pubcode&listcode=FTD

The drive toward the bimonthly distribution, rather than the standard monthly, has allowed TFH to add additional material -- you're getting a lot more feature columns in there, and this should expand as the year goes on. And, if it is something you're unhappy with, I would suggest contacting the editor (Editor@TFH.com) and letting them know. Obviously, not renewing your subscription is one way to do so, too, though I would recommend sending a note and letting them know why you're not renewing (and as a TFH contributor, I'd prefer you send a note and continue your subscription.

 

[dogofwar]

Amen - and thanks to them both!

Matt

And, both TFH and Amazonas are BFD sponsors, so renew!


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[HermsTheWord]

I subscribe to both. They fill different niches within the already niche-y aquarium hobby. TFH is a more general audience magazine, with a lot of nice advice columns on different aspects of the hobby. For instance, in every issue, there's a livebearer column, a discus column, a general cichlid column, a planted tank column, and Josh's (great) column on bottom dwellers. There are also big features on collecting trips, aquarium (the touristy kind) visits, and species-specific profiles. There's also the saltwater content, which I don't really read, since I'm not into that part of the hobby. I like the nice photos of the saltwater fish, though.

Amazonas is more scholarly, and some articles can almost read like journal articles. If you're a member of any of the national fish clubs, like the American Cichlid Association, or the American Killifish Association, and you get their quarterly journals, that's what a lot of the articles in Amazonas read like. They're way more in depth on species profiles/husbandry. Each issue tends to focus on one specific type of fish (bettas, earth eaters, shrimp, etc.), with several articles on that one topic.

So both are enjoyable to go through, but like I said, have their different focuses. Sometimes my eyes glaze over at how technical some of the Amazonas articles are, and sometimes the TFH articles can be a little basic. But all in all, I learn a lot from every issue of both. Both also feature great photography. I used to get only the digital versions of both, but I decided that I like having the print versions, so now I get those. It comes out to about $5 an issue for a subscription, which for the wealth of information they provide, I think it's worth it.

 

[dogofwar]

Well said!

There are folks of all experience level and fishkeeping aptitude in the club and in the general public.

With the demise of most LFS, TFH provides a resource to answer many of the questions that would have been posed to a LFS in the past. When I worked at an LFS (back when Whitesnake and MC Hammer ruled the world) people buying their first fish tank set-ups would sometimes rebuff the offer of getting a TFH subscription because they could ask me and the other folks in the store questions, get recommendations on compatible (and non-compatible) fish, etc. And they did. Today a lot of that has gone to the Internet (forums and now Facebook) and box stores with mixed results. With the Q and A and column on particular fish approach of TFH, you know that the advice is solid because it's coming from people like Josh, Ted Judy and other real deal experts on those kinds of fish. That it's readable and has nice pictures supports this approach.

Amazonas appeals to a whole different audience and takes a quite different approach. But, as others have noted, it assumes a pretty solid understanding of the basics.

Matt

I subscribe to both. They fill different niches within the already niche-y aquarium hobby. TFH is a more general audience magazine, with a lot of nice advice columns on different aspects of the hobby. For instance, in every issue, there's a livebearer column, a discus column, a general cichlid column, a planted tank column, and Josh's (great) column on bottom dwellers. There are also big features on collecting trips, aquarium (the touristy kind) visits, and species-specific profiles. There's also the saltwater content, which I don't really read, since I'm not into that part of the hobby. I like the nice photos of the saltwater fish, though.

Amazonas is more scholarly, and some articles can almost read like journal articles. If you're a member of any of the national fish clubs, like the American Cichlid Association, or the American Killifish Association, and you get their quarterly journals, that's what a lot of the articles in Amazonas read like. They're way more in depth on species profiles/husbandry. Each issue tends to focus on one specific type of fish (bettas, earth eaters, shrimp, etc.), with several articles on that one topic.

So both are enjoyable to go through, but like I said, have their different focuses. Sometimes my eyes glaze over at how technical some of the Amazonas articles are, and sometimes the TFH articles can be a little basic. But all in all, I learn a lot from every issue of both. Both also feature great photography. I used to get only the digital versions of both, but I decided that I like having the print versions, so now I get those. It comes out to about $5 an issue for a subscription, which for the wealth of information they provide, I think it's worth it.