Mr Shi Qing Poh, 37, points to a disused built-in fish tank in the corridor of his condominium in the east. He spent a couple of thousand dollars trying to turn it into a display feature, but all he got out of it was water that leaked from the external filter into his bedrooms.

“I’ve encountered a lot of aquarium nightmares like that,” says the aquarist, who reared turtles and a variety of ornamental fish in his youth, not always successfully. Like many other beginners, he would buy pretty fish, only to have them die after a short while.