Has Anyone Made A Career ?

[BiGBlak]

Out of nowhere i got fascinated with fish keeping and im really into it and i dont think it will go away anytime soon. im still new to the hobby and i made my mistakes but i really like it.. recently i went to my local aquarium in the SF BAY and felt really good. ive been to aquariums before but never felt this way when i went to this one. even though its not the best not even close i just felt good. ive been to monterey bay aquarium a year back and felt just how i did any other time but this time was different. my question is has anyone made a career out of understanding and caring for this hobby ? or can anyone list a few things that is a possibility?

[dane]

Out of nowhere i got fascinated with fish keeping and im really into it and i dont think it will go away anytime soon. im still new to the hobby and i made my mistakes but i really like it.. recently i went to my local aquarium in the SF BAY and felt really good. ive been to aquariums before but never felt this way when i went to this one. even though its not the best not even close i just felt good. ive been to monterey bay aquarium a year back and felt just how i did any other time but this time was different. my question is has anyone made a career out of understanding and caring for this hobby ? or can anyone list a few things that is a possibility?


same here bro lol

i want to work at like sea world working with the marine life or something that involves working with marine animals or non marine fish for that matter

[aholmes777]

I know a guy, whos job it is to go around all over the country and visit every store selling fish and promote some manufatures product, and hoepfully sell them to the store, I wouldnt mind that job, he gets a very nice car, petrol paid for and talks about and looks at fish all day

[BiGBlak]

same here bro lol

i want to work at like sea world working with the marine life or something that involves working with marine animals or non marine fish for that matter
yea i know its weird . i just cant swim so for me anything that doesnt have to do with swimming .... bout that going across the country that would be too much for me because then i wouldn't have a personal life from doing all of that traveling but yea something like working at an aquarium would do it for me.

[SunSchein89]

If you work at Petco like me, you too can spend your glory days scooping out dead fish and explaining the nitrogen cycle and why that gold fish can't go in that bowl to 9/10 people that come in to buy fish!

Ha, anyway, I'd like to do something further with animals and make a career out of it, but I'm kind of at a cross roads. I've just recently gotten into fish and I've been interested in lizards for awhile, but I keep seeming to find something new to branch off to. My next projects include a dart frog viv and, hopefully, a SW tank. Now I'm even looking into getting the sun conure at work :rolleyes:. If they paid me more, maybe I could afford it. My girlfriend might (fingers crossed) get a job at the Houston Zoo soon. She's realllly into reptiles, mainly snakes, and has always wanted to work at the zoo. All she did was know her stuff, started talking to the one keeper, and before she knew it she was in for an interview about helping with their frog conservation work. Basically, just learn as much as you can and get out there and start talking to the professionals and people who already do it for a living, it's all about who you know.

[wolf_eyes]

Some people write books for the hobby. Some people open fish stores. Marine biologist make a living studying marine animals. I'm hoping to make a career out of teaching people about the hobby in a fun way. I can't give out too many details as its still in the working phases but I'm hoping it will do some good :)

[Irish2539]

Yeah sure im gonna be dropping the course im studying at the moment and im gonna study freshwater and Marine Biology next year or in 2 years.

[tanks4thememories]

"Lucky is the person who gets paid well for what they do, Truly happy is the person who gets paid well for doing what they love"

Sounds like you have a possible career path here worth looking into...:)

Veterinary medicine - Fish are animals ya know!!!
animal trainer
animal handler
Animal behavior specialist
Researcher
Research assistant
Pet store employee
Pet store owner
Start your own non for profit organization - Just because its NFR you and your staff can still get salaries ya know!!!
Public aquarium employee
Lecturer
Teacher
Teachers assistant
Aquatic supply sales person
Biologist
Marine Biologist
Fish farmer
Hobby Fish Farmer

Just to name a few..lol
Happy Hunting!!!

[Fishguy2727]

I got a Biology degree and now manage an aquarium store. Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.

[wolf_eyes]

Sounds like you have a possible career path here worth looking into...:)

Veterinary medicine - Fish are animals ya know!!!


One of the doctors that used to work at my vet office (he got is own clinic recently) worked as the lead veterinary at the big aquarium in town. I never got to go on one of his trips but I got to hear some of the stories.

Other than that, I don't think we've ever got fish in, except once for boarding

[thatcichlidguy]

Several years ago my wife worked at the Virginia aquarium. she really liked it but went on to other things. She does know a lot about rays and skates from it though.

Once apon a time I bred fish that I sold to local stores . I only made enough in cash and trade to break even on supplies and get some new fish sometimes. I still occationally consider opening a LFS, but I think I'll keep that on hold untill I retire.

[tanks4thememories]

One of the doctors that used to work at my vet office (he got is own clinic recently) worked as the lead veterinary at the big aquarium in town. I never got to go on one of his trips but I got to hear some of the stories.

Other than that, I don't think we've ever got fish in, except once for boarding

Kewl!! Most of the aquatic vets specialize or advertise or both..lol Also a lot work with KOI and ponds. Then there is always vet for an aquarium.

[Bristley]

same here bro lol

i want to work at like sea world working with the marine life or something that involves working with marine animals or non marine fish for that matter

I'm in the same boat. I'm still new to the hobby but absolutely love it. My family and I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom this weekend. (We live in Orlando) They had a really cool African Cichlid setup. After just a couple months of being on this forum and learning from the people here I have developed a whole new respect and understanding of the fish keeping hobby, so it was a completely different experience for me to see a professionally designed and maintained aquarium than it has been in the past.

I think that when I retire (many years in the future) I would love to get a job working with a setup like that there or at Seaworld and teaching people all about the different species of fish.

[TheManOfTomorrow]

Just a thought- If you're looking for a career in the aquatic field, I know there are a few businesses that go around and design and maintain aquariums for doctor's offices and places like that. I don't know what they make, or if you're looking to start something, but I think that'd be pretty fun. Imagine getting to endlessly redesign your home aquariums. It's like that, except somebody else's. Its like getting paid to do the work you already do on your own aquarium. I don't know if I'm alone, but I enjoy doing my water changes, and staying on top of things, because I take a lot of pride in it.

[SunSchein89]

Just a thought- If you're looking for a career in the aquatic field, I know there are a few businesses that go around and design and maintain aquariums for doctor's offices and places like that. I don't know what they make, or if you're looking to start something, but I think that'd be pretty fun. Imagine getting to endlessly redesign your home aquariums. It's like that, except somebody else's. Its like getting paid to do the work you already do on your own aquarium. I don't know if I'm alone, but I enjoy doing my water changes, and staying on top of things, because I take a lot of pride in it.

I've seen a few businesses that do this online just by accident, so they must be more common than I thought. Any time I've checked out their websites, they always have some pretty cool-looking tanks, but of course they would only put the best looking ones on the website :rolleyes:. I still think it would be cool to work for a company like this, but I'm not exactly sure how you would go about getting into to work for them either.

[Bristley]

I still think it would be cool to work for a company like this, but I'm not exactly sure how you would go about getting into to work for them either.

My guess would be that if you contacted a company like that and just asked them nicely what level of experience, etc, it would take to get into a position like that with their company you may be able to enter into a discussion where you could display your knowledge of fish keeping and aquascaping. If you were able to impress them enough with knowledge and where able to show them some "totally remarkable" tanks that you designed the aquascaping for then they may just outright offer you a position. That's just my thoughts on that as I have no personal experience with it, but it sounds like a reasonable possibility.