SEAN HOLLAND : MEET AN AQUARIST SERIES by Howard Norfolk

For some years during my regular visits to Big Al’s, the largest aquarium store in Vancouver Canada, I was impressed by the landscaping of some of the tanks, particularly in the African Cichlid section. Although these tanks only contained regular stock for sale, the rocks and gravel in them were arranged in a most attractive way. Eventually I came to notice that one young man in particular often seemed to be working on them, and the name on his lapel was Sean.

Sean with a client's African cichlid tank

I met Sean Holland at the store again recently, and he told me that he is now spending most of his time building up a business of his own: “SHINY FISH Aquarium Services”, a company devoted to residential and commercial aquarium set-up, maintenance and holiday care, both fresh and salt water…..

Sean’s early interest in fish was sparked by his Dad’s ten gallon community aquarium. He soon outdid his Dad however, and by the age of fifteen had nine aquariums in the basement of the family house, in which he bred angels and livebearers, and kept goldfish and other fish.
He started working at Big Al’s part time in 1995, and then worked there full time for nearly two years. He left to become manager of the fish room in a large general pet store for one year, and then went back to Big Al’s part time.

Saltwater tank at Maillardville Pharmacy, Coquitlam

Sean always knew, however, that he really wanted a business of his own of some kind, and to this end he took a business programme at college. After graduating he had to decide what kind of business to go into, or whether to pursue further studies at university.
     For some years he had also been doing tank maintenance to earn extra cash. He did this in his spare time, getting customers by word of mouth, and was so busy that he sometimes had to turn down new clients. He began to think that this in fact could be the business he was looking for, and urged on by family and friends, Sean took the plunge and committed himself to “Shiny Fish”.
    Sean is using the principles and concepts that he learnt in his college course to build up his business in a professional manner. He intends it to become his lifetime career, and the biggest such business in town. He has a brochure and printed cards, wears a uniform at work, and is about to have lettering and his own logo put on the sides of his smart looking van.   When he starts with a new client he gives them a printed binder, in which he notes what was done on each of his visits, and records the water chemistry.   He recently persuaded his local community newspaper to write an article about him in their business section. He has ambitious plans for the future, which include hiring full time employees, re-packaging fish food with his company name, and keeping a stock of well-fed healthy fish on hand to supply to clients.
     Sean currently maintains about twenty tanks, in both private houses and commercial settings, and visits them on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. He will go anywhere he is needed, and often drives two hundred kilometres per day, but hopes this will lessen as he gets more customers and can group his visits more efficiently.

Commercial saltwater tank with colourful artificial coral

He is happy to help with any tank from ten gallons upwards, and is preparing himself to deal with much larger projects by making contact with custom tank builders (including a specialist in California), pond builders, and keeping in touch with the experts at Big Al’s. He has even taken up scuba diving for maintaining extra large tanks!

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    When landscaping a tank, Sean wants it to look natural. He likes to use lots of rock, but all of one type, except perhaps for one other feature piece of wood or rock. He positions the rocks in the way they might naturally occur, and creates different levels in the tank using fairly large gravel for stability. Plants are grouped together in a natural way, and the whole landscape slopes from back to front, which gives more depth.
    When he visits a client’s tank, Sean first tests the pH and nitrate levels. This gives him an idea of how much water to change, and generally he likes to make quite large water changes. He is particularly concerned about nitrate levels, since nitrates cause stress and make fish susceptible to bacterial infections and parasites. He uses Hagen and Tetra test kits, and renews them every six months, since he feels they can go stale after that time.
      He treats plants drastically too, pulling them monthly to trim them and their roots, after which he finds their growth and health improves. He uses Kent plant fertiliser weekly.

Having worked in aquarium stores, Sean has firm views on equipment, which can be summed up by saying “buy the best” (and most expensive). He much prefers canister filters, and strongly recommends Eheim as being the best and easiest to maintain. He likes Ebo-Jager heaters. Good lighting is important, and Sean advises that expensive specialist aquarium bulbs are worth using. They should be changed every 9-12 months. Sean recommends Hagen aquariums.

Sean actively encourages businesses to have aquariums in their reception or waiting areas. When maintaining such tanks he finds the public are often very interested in the aquarium and its occupants. After all, if you had to wait at somewhere with a beautiful aquarium or at one without, which would you choose? Thanks to Sean, customers will have that option in many more places soon!

Update January 2004: Sean told me that his business is still going well and that he now has his own web page, at: http://www.shinyfish.ca