Working in the Aquarium Industry: Would you consider it?

[ChaosAquaculture]

There's nothing else we would rather do!

While owning a farm is stressful, and we work 7 days a week, it's also the most rewarding thing we have ever done. Hearing how happy customers are with corals that we grew and singing praise literally keeps us going. I can't tell you how awesome it feels to see photos of something you grew thriving in someone else's tank. Just never gets old.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Already do, and I enjoy it immensely!

 

[rusty hannon]

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not?

Consider? yes. Actually do it? Depends on what, where and why.

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

I like to help people set up new tanks and solve issues with existing tanks. The build is the most fun part for me. If I could with with people wanting to put an aquarium in their home I would be all over that.

Will wash windows for frags!

On a side note in a very round about way I do work in the industry. I have two jobs. 1 I run a nonprofit that provides food for people/families/children/veterans/ homeless in need. However I don’t get paid for that full time job. To make my own ends meet I also work (almost) full time washing windows. Some of my business clients are LFS. I do the work in trade for store credit. This will often help the store out as it will save them some $ and although I don’t make any money I get some things I want for my aquarium. So a very round about way I work the industry. Lol.

thank tou for all you contribute with your time. its awesome, maybe more will follow your lead and for the windows, trade always puts you ahead

 

[van7271]

I would love to own my own reef store. The reality is, I like my steady government paycheck. Maybe if I was to retire and wanted something to do.

Same here

 

[ichthyogeek]

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not?

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

As a recent college graduate trying to get into parts of the aquarium industry, this question is so multifaceted that it's hard to say yes or no. Some parts of the industry I'd dive right in to (fish breeding and propagation in general? Heck yeah!); other parts, I'd be hesitant to touch. Fair warning, I'm going to actively try to sell myself to potential employers in this response. It's also difficult. For some places, I simply don't know who to cold email/cold call to ask about potential job openings.

On one hand, you have the retail jobs, The LFS's and those who work there. I love going to my LFS and talking with the people who work there as well as the other customers, but I'm hesitant to say I could do that every day. My fellow customers scare me sometimes...

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum are the public aquaria. I've been sending apps to every one that lists a job vacancy, but the sad truth, is that if you don't have the connections, you're not likely to get to the interview stage. Most of the AZA accredited orgs ask for 2-3+ years of work in an AZA accredited org for a starting position. It's a real catch-22 there; While I have aquatics experience, my lack of work experience for a big aquarium shows. You have to do (unpaid) volunteer work first, and sometimes since it's not paid, the aquarium won't count it as experience. Also, hi potential recruiter! PM me!!

There's also the wholesaler/importer/direct to customer. Think places like Among The Reef, Quality Marine, LiveAquaria, etc.. They're like the LFS, but I can see myself working there. I definitely could not do customer care full time(like I said, my fellow customers can be scary), but R&D, animal care, (and okay, a small amount of customer care) etc are things that are up my alley. But with these, I'm put in a weird situation where I'm a customer...but I'm also asking them to hire me?

There's also YouTube. But...that's a giant kettle of fish. On one hand, you have the sensationalist youtubers, people who do stuff for the reactions, the likes, comments, etc. It's fairly easy to take a turn towards the dark side (inhumane fishkeeping, etc.), since you can get a lot of ad revenue and potentially sponsorships that way. The only way I could see myself doing Youtube, is if I did some sort of education/ScienceTube thing, that documented experiments that could better the hobby, without straying into sensationalism. It couldn't be a full time thing, because YT is weird about ad revenue, and I'm not sure I could hunt down enough sponsors.

The captive propagation scene is interesting, although I'm not really aware of any opportunities yet. Places like Poma Labs, AlgaeBarn, SeahorseSource/Seahorse Savvy, and Reed Mariculture (maybe also Reef Nutrition?). I'd love to work with people like Matt Wittenrich (Poma Labs), but even when I've sent an email, (and a follow up...), there's been no bite...

Then, there's research. Cortney Ohs' Lab, Andrew Rhyne's Lab, Chad Callahan's lab, etc. I'd love to be a research associate in one of their labs and help out with doing research. Eventually this could take me into pursuing a PhD/Master's, but I'm just not ready for that (yet). I'd love to just do ornamental aquaculture research for a full time job eventually.

 

[Reef-junky]

Today let's have a little fun and talk about working in the aquarium industry. Some of you may a;ready but many, and most of you do not. But would you ever consider it?

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not?

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

I would have to say no because I don’t want to turn something fun that I enjoy into a job. It changes things.

 

[ricksmithsdca]

Today let's have a little fun and talk about working in the aquarium industry. Some of you may a;ready but many, and most of you do not. But would you ever consider it?

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not?

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

I would absolutely work in the aquarium industry. Not only would I build my knowledge and skills, I would end up with discounts on equipment and live stock. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN for me!

 

[FlexingFishSticks]

The thought of working at an aquarium or LFS sounds great but I’m sure it will quickly make your home tank feel like you’re bringing work home and it will no longer feel like an enjoyable hobby....BUT that’s jus my opinion ;Pompus

 

[zoaprince]

Heck yea. where do I sign up?

 

[Indytraveler83]

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not? ?

I worked at PetCo for my first job and was an animal control officer for several years. While it's not the aquarium industry per say, there's a challenge working with living, breathing organisms you care about. When profit, supervisors or local laws prevent you from doing what you should do, and animals suffer and die, it's heartbreaking. I've had "compassion fatigue" at both jobs, and it is rough on your mental state.

So would I work in the industry? In a dream world sure. But only on my terms running my own business (totally unrealistic).

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

Again... In a dream world (maybe I win the lottery!?) I'd love to try and help advance captive reproduction of coral and fish that we have to rely mostly on to be wild caught now.

 

[Reef-junky]

The thought of working at an aquarium or LFS sounds great but I’m sure it will quickly make your home tank feel like you’re bringing work home and it will no longer feel like an enjoyable hobby....BUT that’s jus my opinion ;Pompus

I can tell you from experience it would. I made this transition with poker. It started out as just fun then I decided to do it for money while I didn’t hate the game it became a grind and there were times when I had to force my self to sit down a play. It changes everything when you are trying or have to make money. It would go from I like this fish or coral to can I make money on this fish or coral. That being said if I could run the filters at a public aquarium or something like that I probably would.

 

[FunnierThanUThink]

I would work in the aquarium industry if the money was there without needing to cut corners to do it. I love cars and worked in the auto industry for 10yrs. I eventually hated working on cars and dealing with all the craziness that went into the job. Once the money dried up in the auto industry I left. Doing something as a hobby vs a job is a completely different thing.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I’ve worked in the medical industry now for 30+ years and yes, do something that long for a living and you will burn out. Been there and done that.

I’m a dreamer and if I could win the lottery, I would build a coral farm here in the mid west. There’s not many large scale operations doing this in the mid west and could be profitable because of shipping and health of live stock. Than from Tidal Gardens is one I can think of and his new farm facility is to die for!

Now back to reality, I do sell corals (on a very small scale) out of my house from time to time. So, it’s a “Side Hustle” when I can. I’ve made around $1000 dollars this year, so it’s a start. Won’t pay the bills, won’t provide health insurance, won’t put food on the table........but it’s nice to have a little pay back from my hobby! I’ll most likely grow it into more, but baby steps.

 

[Huntininbama]

Today let's have a little fun and talk about working in the aquarium industry. Some of you may a;ready but many, and most of you do not. But would you ever consider it?

1. Would you ever consider working in the aquarium industry? Why or why not?

2. If you did work in the industry what would you want to be doing or owning?

I would love too I been workin in a steel plant and doing taxidermy part time work for 30 years and have had fish tanks about that long just getting in to reef stuff and love it and have allways wanted to own a fish store couldn’t be any more work than I do now

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

Absolutely! I would love to do ornamental aquaculture, that would be pretty epic. I could imagine myself breeding cleaner shrimp (someday).

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

Yes I would. I’m a broke 17 year old looking to go work at mine. Just waiting for a call from my lfs!

I feel you hardcore. I really need to get a job.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

I would love to own my own fish store i really just love fish a lot

 

[Larry J]

Been there done that in thev1980's depression years. I knew my dream and reality had more than crossed paths when I had a $0.17 total sale day. Enjoyed it and the people but there was too much opportunity cost to continue. Today's people are much different and judgemental which you either ignore and move on or find another way to succeed

 

[RYcube2951]

Interesting prospect. I might be looking for something to do when I retire soon. A few hours a week at my LFS would fill in some of my free time. A great bunch of people work there and it would be a learning experience as well.

 

[iplayhockey1919]

In a heartbeat I would jump into the industry. The only hesitation is the health benefits would have to be satisfied for my family.

I have watched many different youtubers who show so many different species and are always changing the stocking. At times, I would love to be able to get up and change the style of the tank but hard to break away from the attachments. I would like to own at least in some part of fish breeding company and an import facility that is on the East Coast to make selection and shipments easier on the fish and quicker to the customers.