Ever consider turning the aquarium hobby into a career?

[boobiebutt]

OK, I'm going to apologize ahead of time because this is quiet long but personal I guess, but thank you for anyone that actually reads all of this and/or replies.

I've always believed in doing something you enjoy in life as a career as long as you have food and shelter and you're able to survive. I mean having lots of money and fancy stuff might be nice but I'd rather wake up happy every morning excited to go to work doing something I enjoy then waking up miserable going to a dead end job wanting to blow my brains out at my desk every morning. It seems more satisfying to me then money.

So with that said, I was originally an art major, I graduated with an associates from a community school and was gonna transfer to a university to get my bachelors degree in Art. My plan was to graduate and just travel the world and take pictures like a fellow classmate of mine has been doing and still currently doing. I think it's amazing seeing someones drams of a job come true and it inspires me. But as every parents would want their kid to be successful, they would rather me have a career that has more job security, higher wage, etc. I mean I get what they are saying cause I'm basically paying for my own college at the moment and worry about will I have money for next year? I would not want my kids to worry about that plus I'd like to provide for my family, etc. They want me to have a stable job and I can do whatever hobby I wanted on the side.

Well, I graduated and transferred to the university, my girlfriend and I got pet fish, 5 bettas total, and it rekindled my passion as a child loving fish. I grew up in a penny pinching family that didn't have a lot of things like brand name clothing, a/c, cable TV so having pet fish wasn't a necessity so it was out of the question. Well during the process of transferring my parents kept on nagging and hinting to me that I consider double majoring. Something related in the health,medical industry since people are always getting old, hurt, people from wars and stuff. I considered it since my parents said they might be able to help me out. So I did the calculations in my head, I would need about 2 years to finish my bachelors in art and then 2-3 more years to finish my second major since most of my core courses and electives would be filled already. But I was thinking, if I'm gonna be stuck at school for 4-5 more years, I might as well start anew and do something I enjoy. So this is the turning point, since having fish rekindled my passion for fish, I switched my major to marine biology. I did a lot of research on government bureau sites to see the wages and job demands and they looked pretty good. From the sites I was informed that bachelors would make me an assistant and not able to do my own research, masters would allow me to do research, and phd would allow me to teach.

Well, the school didn't accept a lot of my credits plus most of my classes were art related so I was basically starting from being a freshmen. I planned to get a masters so I was able to at least research something that interested me. I stay up until 3-5am everyday reading stuff online about fish so I can see myself staying up all night to do research on something I love so much.

I'm currently in school as this is my first semester since my transfer and I've been doubting myself. Mostly due to my girlfriend sending me this link - http://blogs.payscale.com/salarystories/2007/04/name_dr_james_b.html . According to this phd marine biologist, I would need a phd, and the pay is really low compared to the government bureau of statistics. I've been debating if I should back out of this or not since it is a huge investment in time, money, and effort. Chances are this field will be more stable then being an art major but I cant imagine myself writing proposals for so many months to get paid less then the time I invest and work. English isn't my best subject and I can't stand writing papers.

I'm really interested to find out since I know a lot of people here are crazy about fish and love them, if you ever considered a career in Marine life, aquarium, breeding, fish genetics, etc. I stumbled over the 'What do you do for a living?' thread(http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169992) and it seems a lot of the members are not in aquarium, marine life, etc related career fields. Thoughts and opinions are welcome. Question ends here for those who don't want to read further.





A little off topic but somewhat related. I don't know what to do with myself anymore cause no other field really interests me. I was considering betta breeding or genetic engineering, and my dream was to own an aquarium so I can inspire kids to be interested in having a career in this field. I'm still new to fish keeping but I enjoy learning something new about it everyday. Also in my Environmental and Human Evolution class, we covered extinction and Earth is actually currently in the process of the 6th mass extinction. I will explain this further. There doesn't need to be crazy volcanic activity or a meteor to kill life on earth. Humans are the cause of the present day extinction. You can figure out that the worlds ecology is a pyramid and each species relies on each other and as some go extinction, the pyramid will collapse. In my Comparative Public Policy class we went over certain countries policies and the prof. brought an interesting topic up about how each country owns only X amount of miles off the land of ocean water. Lets say the US owns 20 miles off the coast and the rest is international waters. Large industrial sized fishing companies are fishing out the sea life at such increasing rates that the ecology can't compensate for it. There are no rules or laws in internal waters so anything can be done out there. He mentioned that the ocean will be nearly fished out in roughly 25 years. I spoke with my Animal Science prof and she said it's actually predicted to happen in roughly 5 years. There will be a huge bio diversity crash in marine life. My prof suggest I look into the cod fish industry and I found this source (http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/cancod.html). The cod fisheries CLEANED OUT the entire New England waters of cod fish. There are NO MORE mod fish in that area. This happened in 1992. So I was then wondering will I even have a career in this field with no fish left? But then again there would be more jobs out there for marine life because of the huge crisis. Sorta like everyone going 'green' now a days with the hole in the ozone layer. Anyways peoples thoughts and opinions are welcomed.

Thanks for your time for those who read this far. I hope this opens up a discussion sort of plus I hope to inquire more information on people in the marine life industry. Thanks again =)

[theredchaser]

Marine biology has a relatively low demand from what I understand. I know several people that have degrees in marine biology and are either working in a completely different field or working on their masters in a different major because they can't find any jobs. This is something to consider since with the current economy, the number of grants for marine research is somewhat limited. Frankly, I would just stick with biology or microbiology and consider if marine biology as a minor if possible. (Don't know how it works at your uni)

Also, researching fish until 3am is very different from studying biology until 3am. For example, I was a mechanical engineering major because I like designing and building things, whether it be architecture, bridges, robots, rockets, airplanes, etc. In reality, my time was spent solving differential equations all day, stressing over thermodynamics all day, and writing computer code to analyze numerical data on structural and material weaknesses. If you opt to do a co-op, then you will get more hands-on experience on the specific areas you are interested in.

Any kind of scientist/engineer will need to write formal proposals/papers. It's actually not daunting of a task, and there are seminars/classes to help you.

As for a marine ecological crash, regional crashes are very possible and in some aspect, a natural part of earth. Its very difficult for a total ecological crash because nature is fortunately blessed with a tightly-nitted buffering system for a lot of catastrophies. An example of this is where "green" lobbyists always push around the idea of greenhouse gasses. The problem is there but the actual impact was found to be less than some of the radical figures scientists first proposed. The reason is because with the additional CO2 in the atmosphere, plants and cyanobacteria populations exploded in growth, acting as a natural buffering system. Of course now the problem is that the CO2 is being produced faster than the buffer can cope with and we're still stuck with the problem. Tying back into the cod scenario, the additional nutrients now in surplus will be consumed by other species. Eventually, an ecological equilibrium will be reached, though different from initial conditions. In the west coast where I live, there is a huge problem is gigantic squid that is decimating fish populations. They supposedly came from the warmer waters from the south but apparently they can cope with our water (maybe because of rising temps). They eat everything, including themselves, and they have no natural predators right now. They also taste terrible, as I've tried and its like eating a truck tire. It might be an intersting thing to research. Or at least try to make it palatable... lol

Good luck on your studies... I ended up becoming a biochem major. :0

[boobiebutt]

I know doing marine biology will involve me researching things I might not be interested in. But I guess for me marine biology is my balance between finding a job I enjoy and can put up with if I get to do some research that interest me here and there and had a decently salary, so I thought. I wouldn't mind doing research on stuff that bores me or doesn't even involve anything in marine life as long as it would help me do so in the future I guess but I understand what you're saying. I'm considering switching to a bio major and figuring out maybe what area I would go into later. I do plan on doing some co-op for experience of course and to test out waters to see if I would really be happy with what I do with the rest of my life.

And for the ecological crash, I can see how natures buffer can work but what if the fish that relied on the cod to begin with had nothing to eat and they went extinction. I think the buffers can only help so much until it reaches a breaking point in which something will happen on a global scale. =|

I'm sorta fearful of being a bio major due to the fact that I'm not very smart. I only think I can survive in marine bio is cause i find interest in it and I can comprehend it so much easier then any other science field. =|

Thanks for your input and for reading all that =O

[unvmyplecos]

hmm you guys really like fish hehe

[wesleydnunder]

I went a different direction than you two. I started an aquarium design, set up and maintenance business. It's been reasonably successful from inception. I won't get rich doing it, but it augments my day job (Electrical Inspector) and it's something I completely enjoy doing. While not in the same leaugue with ADG or Tom Barr, I have some very nice (according to my customers) work out there; mostly planted, low tech tanks and a few ponds.

Mark

[excuzzzeme]

Your first consideration is job satisfaction. I turned down a 6 digit income to work for myself. I didn't consider how much I would earn but rather how happy I would be. I made my investment in equipment and schooling. I had no regrets and still don't (even though I am unable to work anymore). I also got input from a vocation counselor about career paths.

If you are looking at the money you will never be happy and that means a sloppy job or transferring often due to dissatisfaction. Do what means the most to you and forget the money.

[AshK]

I considered becoming a marine biologist too. I took a couple of classes related to it, and talked with a professor who used to be one active in the "Research" field before becoming a teacher, as well as corresponded with some "researchers" he set me up with. They had to do a lot of disection and their job specifically was, killing and disecting tuna to determine it's eating habits. I love fish and could never kill them for my job.

I know not all careers in marine biology are the same and they wouldn't all deal with disection...but the career is not going out and being Jacques Cousteau all day or playing with Free Willy....

[jm1212]

i was voted most likely to become something that has to do with fish when i grow up in a thread a couple months ago...im going to be a surgeon.

[Virtuoso2K12]

A fish breeder of course,mostly a frog breeder.

[Slappy*McFish]

I've played around with the idea of becoming an underwater photographer, myself. I'd love to photograph shipwrecks around the world and turn them into a 'coffee table' book. :)

[theredchaser]

Well, if you're sticking with the bio/marine bio route, you can take the overlapping classes first before you make your final decision. I would start establishing your connections as early as possible by visiting some of your professors at least once a week in their office hours. The professors themselves have their own network of connections and leads that can help you a lot if you're looking for some hands-on experience. They'll also listen to your concerns and give you good advice. Your connections and the type of research you did are a lot more important than your GPA and how smart you are for getting a job.

Also, have you thought about studying to become a vet?

[boobiebutt]

Your first consideration is job satisfaction. I turned down a 6 digit income to work for myself. I didn't consider how much I would earn but rather how happy I would be. I made my investment in equipment and schooling. I had no regrets and still don't (even though I am unable to work anymore). I also got input from a vocation counselor about career paths.

If you are looking at the money you will never be happy and that means a sloppy job or transferring often due to dissatisfaction. Do what means the most to you and forget the money.

I'd rather have job satisfaction then money but that's my opinion alone. I can survive in a small townhouse with nothing fancy but if I had a family and kids (way down the road) that might not be their opinion. I wanna sorta be able to provide too because I would like my children to have freedom to choose a career path that they wanted to do and follow without worrying about not having money for school like I do now. =| So I'm trying to balance both but I favor satisfaction a lot more then just money.

I considered becoming a marine biologist too. I took a couple of classes related to it, and talked with a professor who used to be one active in the "Research" field before becoming a teacher, as well as corresponded with some "researchers" he set me up with. They had to do a lot of disection and their job specifically was, killing and disecting tuna to determine it's eating habits. I love fish and could never kill them for my job.

I know not all careers in marine biology are the same and they wouldn't all deal with disection...but the career is not going out and being Jacques Cousteau all day or playing with Free Willy....

Well as of now since I was an art major to start with I just switched to marine bio. I don't have any science or many math courses done yet so I'm still nailing out a few more core requirements before I do apply myself to the marine biology major. I don't expect to always be able to do what I want but I wouldn't mind doing some research or study on something that doesn't interest me if I can do other research that does interest me following that. I know I have to do some things I don't enjoy to reach my goal and even my job day to day in the future.

I've played around with the idea of becoming an underwater photographer, myself. I'd love to photograph shipwrecks around the world and turn them into a 'coffee table' book. :)

I was a photography major (applied art) before I switched to marine bio. I have also considered doing this as a career but I turned photography into a hobby instead. Nowadays technology is so advance a 3 year old with a point and shoot can take pictures and be a 'photographer'. I think this field is way too competitive. I sometimes surf the web at photographers sites like deviantart/modelmayhem/etc and it gets me depressed to see all these great photographers out there but unable to support themselves with it. =| Very sad.

Well, if you're sticking with the bio/marine bio route, you can take the overlapping classes first before you make your final decision. I would start establishing your connections as early as possible by visiting some of your professors at least once a week in their office hours. The professors themselves have their own network of connections and leads that can help you a lot if you're looking for some hands-on experience. They'll also listen to your concerns and give you good advice. Your connections and the type of research you did are a lot more important than your GPA and how smart you are for getting a job.

Also, have you thought about studying to become a vet?

I do plan to speak with my professors often. I've already spoken with a few marine biology professors and the dean of the department to get a more personal understanding of the field. I actually went to my schools major fair today and spoke to someone in the department about my worries that I have addressed here and I got a lot of insight. I found out you can do your own research with a masters and she told me that a lot of students actually don't always focus on marine biology. Most students combine another science along with the marine biology program like genetics for example.



Overall I plan to continue on my marine biology path and when I nail out all the core requirements I still test out the waters with different marine science related classes. I guess I don't specifically have to be a marine biologist so I'm still open to many ideas and suggestions.

I appreciate everyone's responses and thanks everyone for their time. I got more replies then I expected and I got more insight on all of this. Everyone is still welcome to respond and keep an ongoing discussion. =)