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. I really feel like everything I do really matters and is shown in things like views and sales. And it’s a good feeling to know people trust my judgement.
What are your professional background? I am self-taught. Everything I know was acquired through hours of research and practice. My appreciation for cinematography and score really inspires me to continue to learn as much as I can and produce the best quality videos and photos 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 do you do in your daily job at Aquarium Co-Op? My main job is to be the cameraman and edit the videos from scratch 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 you like to see in your aquarium? An aquascaped 800 gallons with as many Celestial Pearl Danios that 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
What products would you highly recommend?
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 eliminates the guesswork involved in fertilizing aquarium plants. – 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. Just looking at the Xtreme flakes, it appears more natural because it has grooves and doesn’t look totally processed like most other flake foods. I love that it was made by a hobbyist and not by a big corporation. 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. Plants will grow bushier and healthier if they are regularly trimmed. 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 with confidence!