Hello, and advice needed. Inteviewing for reef nerd dream job.

[Capn Briarius]

Hi!

Been a long time since I posted on some "fish forums". I actually ran one awhile ago and also posted on reefs.org. At this time, I think it's important that I am anonymous. There is enough information maybe some old school forum ppl might know who I am, but I can't confirm or deny anything.

Ok, so imagine a GIANT reef, like an indoor, closed system, aquarium where you have tourists come and look at it with the big glass windows. Problem is, it crashed. Yeah. Wow. Owned by a university.

Anyway, part time job, they are looking for someone to come in and assist with their display and lab tanks. I have an MS degree in another field and I used to keep saltwater tanks, back when the DSB was like a new thing. I ran it pretty Berlin style, with a skimmer. Had some really cool stuff for several years, and then, power head exploded, instantly killed all the invertebrates in my tank with a shock. I yanked it out right away but it was too late. I sold what was left and got out of the hobby for awhile, but I still know how to run a good reef.

So, anyway, I interview next week. Mind you I made $60k a year 15 years ago, before I went to grad school, but I was in a totally different field. My MS is in Digital Imaging. Now I am thinking a part time job at $14 an hour is a dream job but ... times have changed. It's DOE at a University. If they hire me, and determine I am worth more than $14 an hour, my pay could go up quick. Also, I am really in need of work that I can do, as a bad back prevents me from waiting tables, and helping in this kind of a situation, I can do ... you mean, I get to play with reef tanks, and YOU pay ME? I might even have a budget for aquisitions. Thrilled.

So, hello, and hopefully more about me and my history with reefin, but also, anyone here have any advice for someone out of the hoby for a decade and advice for my interview?

Thanks. More later.

 

[Capn Briarius]

http://m.imgur.com/XTL8Xnb

 

[CarrieB]

Do you know why the reef crashed? What kind of equipment does it have? I would do some research on similar tanks and best practices.

General interview advice- think about the skills and knowledge you think they will be looking for and think about examples from the past that show those skills. Don't forget soft skills- problem solving, communication, initiative, reliability, stuff like that.

 

[Jason mack]

Good luck , i wish you all the success for your new job .,

 

[Capn Briarius]

Can't say much yet. Interview tomorrow.

 

[Capn Briarius]

I got the job! So, that makes me much more comfortable talking about it now. I am accepting a position as Salt Water Life Support Technician at Biosphere 2, in Arizona. B2 is no longer a closed system, but it does contain a large reef system as well as 3 display tanks that will be my responsibility. I do not know the gallons of these tanks, but the largest is less than 150 gallons, so they are not huge tanks. At this time they only contain live rock, some mushrooms and fish (seargent majors, wrasses, a filefish and a domino damsel).

The large indoor reef is part of the "Oceans Project" at the University of Arizona. As for how it crashed, the answer is mostly neglect and lack of funding, both of which are being resolved. So, now, like buying a crashed tank from someone leaving the hobby, we get to try and bring it back, but on a MUCH larger scale.

I'm very excited! It's amazing I found this job at all. It started with a misclick, where I clicked bio/sciences instead of art/media, where most of my job history is.

 

[Jason mack]

I got the job! So, that makes me much more comfortable talking about it now. I am accepting a position as Salt Water Life Support Technician at Biosphere 2, in Arizona. B2 is no longer a closed system, but it does contain a large reef system as well as 3 display tanks that will be my responsibility. I do not know the gallons of these tanks, but the largest is less than 150 gallons, so they are not huge tanks. At this time they only contain live rock, some mushrooms and fish (seargent majors, wrasses, a filefish and a domino damsel).

The large indoor reef is part of the "Oceans Project" at the University of Arizona. As for how it crashed, the answer is mostly neglect and lack of funding, both of which are being resolved. So, now, like buying a crashed tank from someone leaving the hobby, we get to try and bring it back, but on a MUCH larger scale.

I'm very excited! It's amazing I found this job at all. It started with a misclick, where I clicked bio/sciences instead of art/media, where most of my job history is.

Congratulations on your new job !!!!!! Wish you all success!!!

 

[Capn Briarius]

What would you guys suggest for removing cyano in a 100,000 gallon system?

 

[Jason mack]

A snorkel and an underwater vacuumcleaner !!!

 

[Capn Briarius]

A snorkel and an underwater vacuumcleaner !!!

That's actually not far from the actual plan. Without knowing the water parameters, any ideas for keeping it away after removing it? A giant phosban reactor?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

What would you guys suggest for removing cyano in a 100,000 gallon system?

Hey that is your job now not ours...lol. Peroxide seems to work...check out the work here on a thread on that subject by twillard.

 

[Capn Briarius]

Ok, so some more info. I guess my initial guess was wrong and the 2 larger tanks are roughly 250 gallons each. There is a small cyano problem. Nothing major, could just be a flow issue. And the best part ...

I have an aquisition budget! Looks like roughly $500. So, I get to start thinking about what corals and other critters I want to buy.