saltwaterB
Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone,
Many of you already know me, and some of you I have never met. So I figured to clear up a bit of confusion I would do a little reintroduction.
Hello, my name is Brendan (most people call me -B-), and like many of you, "I have a problem" I am hooked on aquaria, can't get enough...lol
I have been keeping aquariums since I was 5 or 6 years old. I have also worked in the aquarium/pet industry off and on since I was 15 years old. I am now 32 and I can not shake it.
As a youngster I kept anything (freshwater) I could get my hands on. From local pond and river fish to community and semi-aggresive. During High School I took a great interest in aggresive freshwater fish (like any other 14-18 year old boy) During colledge I turned my to focus on Amazon fish primarily. Now out of moms house and on my own I was not limited to the 3-5 tanks she would let me keep. And in the natuaral proggression of the hobby I went towrds freshwater planted tanks. Let me tell you, I suck at planted tanks. I do not have a green thumb at all. I tried so many different methods out there, and had minimal to no success. All the time and money I was putting into it was coming up with nothing. Then in 1994 I started into reef keeping. I had kept saltwater fish in the past but never a full blown reef setup. Well let me tell you, it wasn't too long after when I realized that I DO have a salty thumb, and never looked back. In 1996 I started the Perfect Pet, an aquarium maintenance and installation company. While continuing to do this a had the opportunity to work at many of our favorite LFS's.(Skipton's, Tropic Isle, Aqua Addicts, Aquarium Gallery..to name a few) Learning a lot from them and bringing my own personal touches to each.
As for my hobbyist experiences they are at every end of the spectrum. At one point my very understanding wife put up with 15 different aquariums/systems in our 2 bedroom apartment. I have purposely tried almost every different method and style of keeping saltwater aquariums. I am a firm beleiver in learning through experience. And while reading almost every book and publication I could get my hands on, I felt that that just was not enough. I had to try it for myself. Also, while being responsible for many maintenance customers' tanks and store tanks, it gave me the opportunity to compare different systems and variables of aquarium keeping. (from medication to filtration, from equipment to livestock, from problem to answer) Honestly, there would be no better schooling for my job than the last 15 years of personel experience.
This brings me to now... As many people have posted (and I truly thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement) the next real step is to open my "own" store, and not run someone elses. So that will be the plan for me. Unfortunately, I have no real time frame. Because the only thing that has prevented me from doing so in the past is still currently preventing me from doing it right now. And of course that is startup money. It is not easy to get an LFS off the ground, and even harder to come up with the cash to do it. So for now it is the waiting game, and looking for alternative sources for funding. In the mean time you never know where I may turn up???
I am still here for anyone that needs any help or has any questions with anything that I have helped them with.
If anyone knows of any job openings for the mean time, I am definitely looking for some temporrary work...
Again, as always I am here if you guys and gals need anything.
You can contact me here: saltwaterB@hotmail.com
-B-
Many of you already know me, and some of you I have never met. So I figured to clear up a bit of confusion I would do a little reintroduction.
Hello, my name is Brendan (most people call me -B-), and like many of you, "I have a problem" I am hooked on aquaria, can't get enough...lol
I have been keeping aquariums since I was 5 or 6 years old. I have also worked in the aquarium/pet industry off and on since I was 15 years old. I am now 32 and I can not shake it.
As a youngster I kept anything (freshwater) I could get my hands on. From local pond and river fish to community and semi-aggresive. During High School I took a great interest in aggresive freshwater fish (like any other 14-18 year old boy) During colledge I turned my to focus on Amazon fish primarily. Now out of moms house and on my own I was not limited to the 3-5 tanks she would let me keep. And in the natuaral proggression of the hobby I went towrds freshwater planted tanks. Let me tell you, I suck at planted tanks. I do not have a green thumb at all. I tried so many different methods out there, and had minimal to no success. All the time and money I was putting into it was coming up with nothing. Then in 1994 I started into reef keeping. I had kept saltwater fish in the past but never a full blown reef setup. Well let me tell you, it wasn't too long after when I realized that I DO have a salty thumb, and never looked back. In 1996 I started the Perfect Pet, an aquarium maintenance and installation company. While continuing to do this a had the opportunity to work at many of our favorite LFS's.(Skipton's, Tropic Isle, Aqua Addicts, Aquarium Gallery..to name a few) Learning a lot from them and bringing my own personal touches to each.
As for my hobbyist experiences they are at every end of the spectrum. At one point my very understanding wife put up with 15 different aquariums/systems in our 2 bedroom apartment. I have purposely tried almost every different method and style of keeping saltwater aquariums. I am a firm beleiver in learning through experience. And while reading almost every book and publication I could get my hands on, I felt that that just was not enough. I had to try it for myself. Also, while being responsible for many maintenance customers' tanks and store tanks, it gave me the opportunity to compare different systems and variables of aquarium keeping. (from medication to filtration, from equipment to livestock, from problem to answer) Honestly, there would be no better schooling for my job than the last 15 years of personel experience.
This brings me to now... As many people have posted (and I truly thank everyone for their kind words and encouragement) the next real step is to open my "own" store, and not run someone elses. So that will be the plan for me. Unfortunately, I have no real time frame. Because the only thing that has prevented me from doing so in the past is still currently preventing me from doing it right now. And of course that is startup money. It is not easy to get an LFS off the ground, and even harder to come up with the cash to do it. So for now it is the waiting game, and looking for alternative sources for funding. In the mean time you never know where I may turn up???
I am still here for anyone that needs any help or has any questions with anything that I have helped them with.
If anyone knows of any job openings for the mean time, I am definitely looking for some temporrary work...
Again, as always I am here if you guys and gals need anything.
You can contact me here: saltwaterB@hotmail.com
-B-
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