Questions & Answers
What is your favorite thing about working at Aquarium Co-Op?
My favorite part of working at Aquarium Co-Op is the sense of community and family. Everything I do feels important and it shows in things like sales and views. It is a great feeling to know that others trust my judgment.
What are your professional background? I am self-taught. I learned everything I know through many hours of research and practice. My passion for cinematography has inspired me to learn more and create the best videos and photos possible within my skill-set.
Tell us about your favorite moment working at Aquarium Co-Op. I love meeting legends and documenting their lives, so it’s a great feeling to share that with the world.
What is your day at Aquarium Co-Op like? I am the cameraman, and edit all videos from start to finish. All graphics, animation, color, sound, and music are included. I also create graphics and labels for many of our in-house products and take all of the product photos for the website.
What is your favorite fish and why? My favorite fish are Celestial Pearl Danios because they look like a tiny brook trout, Pseudomugil luminatus (Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbowfish) because I like their amazing fin action and Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi (Yellow Rainbowfish) because I love rainbows, how they flash and because it’s really hard to find a nice yellow fish.
What would your dream aquarium be? An aquascaped 800 gallon with as many Celestial Pearl Danios as will fit.
– Type of tank: Community planted tank – How long has it been setup? About 6-8 months – Fish stocking list: Celestial Pearl Danios, Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi, Pseudomugil luminatus, cherry shrimp, ramshorn snails – What is your biggest goal or challenge with this aquarium? Evaporation is my biggest challenge because it’s open top
Which products would you recommend highly?
Easy Green because it is very user-friendly and not too complicated. It’s safe for virtually every type of livestock and grows plants very well. It makes fertilizing aquarium plants easy. – Xtreme Krill and Spirulina Flake Foods – Flake food is very versatile because you can feed larger flakes to large fish, but you can also break them up to feed nano fish. Xtreme flakes looks more natural, as it has grooves. It doesn’t look processed like other flake food. I especially like that it was developed by an experienced hobbyist, not a big company. The reason why I use both types of flakes is because you can’t just feed protein or veggies all the time, you have to mix it up so that your fish get a variety of foods. – Coarse Sponge Pad – because you can cut it to fit any filter and it has the perfect amount of pores per square inch so you don’t have to constantly clean it
Don’t spend money on livestock you don’t have. This will cause you to lose money and make it worse. – Don’t jump to conclusions when your fish are doing something out of the ordinary, medication should be used as a last resort. If you don’t have the space to cover your tank, put a lid over it overnight. In my experience, my fish always jump out of the tank at nighttime – especially rainbow fish. – Only stock your tanks to the point where you will not have a disaster if something else is taking up more of your attention or you are away from your tanks for an extended period of time. It is better to stock less than you need and consider the worst-case scenario. I.E. If you are away for 7 days, a good trim can make a big difference. It will make your plants bushier and healthier. A trim is a good way to ensure your plants don’t get too big or shade out other plants, even if you keep them in jungle tanks. Use your scissors without fear!
