Full Circle
Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 6:19 pm
Hello, puffer forum! My name is Mary, and my life has come full circle, it seems. Here's a short bio.
1988- Went to Texas A&M at Galveston (where I met my husband) to start working on my Marine Biology degree. We had $20 on us and went to Wal Mart. Decided to by a 10 gallon Hertz aquarium set up on a whim. Visited every pet shop in town (all 3 of them) and fell in love with Spotted Puffers. Tried and tried to keep them alive and were met with constant failure. Studied, learned, became obsessed with the hobby. I got my first job at one of those pet shops.
1990- First apartment. Had more aquariums than furniture, 8 of them ranging from 10 gallons to 135- both fresh and salt. We were beyond ridiculous.
1994- We had both received our marine biology degrees, had years of pet shop experience under our belts, and a 2 year old son. Decided to open a full line pet shop.
1996- Retail is a tough business when you have a small child. We decided to move to Los Angeles where the marine wholesale industry is based. I got a job at a major wholesaler and worked for 2 others over the course of a few years, learning the ropes.
1999- Opened a marine import/wholesale facility in Southern California that grew from a 1000 square foot warehouse in the valley to a large, 4 building facility. We had a direct pipe into the ocean to bring our saltwater in and a greenhouse for coral aquaculture- making our facility the first on the west coast utilizing natural seawater and sunlight to grow corals. During this time, I was a strong advocate for industry reform issues, serving on the board of directors of the American Marinelife Dealers Association, Marine Aquarium Council, and Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, and I started an Industry Forum at reefs.org.
2006- Son was now ready to go to high school and we decided to get out of the rat race. Sold the business and moved to Colorado, where I dabbled in the transship side of the industry for a while.
2010- Son is now going to college. Moved to Austin, Texas to be closer to him and the rest of our family. And this is where the full circle comes in- I'm basically right back where I started...in Texas, getting ready to set up a freshwater aquarium, and looking longingly at puffers!!! It's been about 15 years since I've had a home tank, so it does feel like I'm starting over in a way.
I'm planning on putting a 72" x 18" or 24" tank in my office. I'm really in love with the Mbu puffers after seeing them at a local fish store, but research has ruled those out. No room for a 1000 gallon tank. Now I'm looking at the Fahaka or Pustulatus. Keeping a revolving array of creatures in thousands of gallons worth of systems is a lot different than keeping the same few in a 100 gallon system! I know I'm severely behind the times on filtration for small tanks among other things. Looking forward to discussing all of the pros/cons dos/don'ts with you guys!
1988- Went to Texas A&M at Galveston (where I met my husband) to start working on my Marine Biology degree. We had $20 on us and went to Wal Mart. Decided to by a 10 gallon Hertz aquarium set up on a whim. Visited every pet shop in town (all 3 of them) and fell in love with Spotted Puffers. Tried and tried to keep them alive and were met with constant failure. Studied, learned, became obsessed with the hobby. I got my first job at one of those pet shops.
1990- First apartment. Had more aquariums than furniture, 8 of them ranging from 10 gallons to 135- both fresh and salt. We were beyond ridiculous.
1994- We had both received our marine biology degrees, had years of pet shop experience under our belts, and a 2 year old son. Decided to open a full line pet shop.
1996- Retail is a tough business when you have a small child. We decided to move to Los Angeles where the marine wholesale industry is based. I got a job at a major wholesaler and worked for 2 others over the course of a few years, learning the ropes.
1999- Opened a marine import/wholesale facility in Southern California that grew from a 1000 square foot warehouse in the valley to a large, 4 building facility. We had a direct pipe into the ocean to bring our saltwater in and a greenhouse for coral aquaculture- making our facility the first on the west coast utilizing natural seawater and sunlight to grow corals. During this time, I was a strong advocate for industry reform issues, serving on the board of directors of the American Marinelife Dealers Association, Marine Aquarium Council, and Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, and I started an Industry Forum at reefs.org.
2006- Son was now ready to go to high school and we decided to get out of the rat race. Sold the business and moved to Colorado, where I dabbled in the transship side of the industry for a while.
2010- Son is now going to college. Moved to Austin, Texas to be closer to him and the rest of our family. And this is where the full circle comes in- I'm basically right back where I started...in Texas, getting ready to set up a freshwater aquarium, and looking longingly at puffers!!! It's been about 15 years since I've had a home tank, so it does feel like I'm starting over in a way.
I'm planning on putting a 72" x 18" or 24" tank in my office. I'm really in love with the Mbu puffers after seeing them at a local fish store, but research has ruled those out. No room for a 1000 gallon tank. Now I'm looking at the Fahaka or Pustulatus. Keeping a revolving array of creatures in thousands of gallons worth of systems is a lot different than keeping the same few in a 100 gallon system! I know I'm severely behind the times on filtration for small tanks among other things. Looking forward to discussing all of the pros/cons dos/don'ts with you guys!
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