Sea Life Centres

[Scatta]

Does anyone on this board work at a Sea Life Centre / public aquarium, rather than an LFS? Just curious as to what the daily routine is like and how the tanks are cleaned, etc. Also, is any training given? I once went to the Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmoth and was glad that there was a small brackish section detailing the saline habitats. I was looking in a the Scats when I saw a Clown Loach (!) and a Plec (!) of some sort in the same tank. Surely, anyone who is working at these places should know that this is wrong.

 

[helterskelter]

I had an interview with my local sea-life centre, but the money they offered me was half my current wage........

It's rearly bad money for the work u have to do, and the was expecting me to be on call out as well!!!!

 

[Scatta]

expecting me to be on call out as well

Call out for what? Fish emergencies in the centre or elsewhere?

 

[my fat fish]

umm whats wrong with a plec and a clown loach in the same tank???

 

[timmystood]

umm whats wrong with a plec and a clown loach in the same tank???

In brackish water... not ideal.

 

[my fat fish]

ooo i c lol so ther okay together then

 

[helterskelter]

Call out for in-centre, all automated systems.

so no "Is my fish ok, it's not moved in 3 days and the other fish are eating it!" or "Can u come to Truro to take our dead fish out" which is 4 hours drive for a 5 min job!! and then drive 4 hours back...... like i do at the moment.... LOL

 

[Underwurlde]

Where do you work now helterskelter (he asks, noting the Dorset location)....


Andy

 

[helterskelter]

I work for Aquatic Deign Centre in London. I do aquatic maintenance now and cover from Heathrow Airport to the far SW

 

[silverchild23]

I have to say, I once had a flatmate who worked in the Sea Life Centre. They employed him as a tank technician with NO experience whatsoever, he'd never even kept a fish in his life! With little or no training he worked there for a good year. Turned out in that time he'd completely killed off two large tanks of fish. One because he hadn't kept a good eye on the parameters, and one because he left the drainer on and forgot about it!!! He drowned every poor fish in that tank! Needless to say, he was given a warning and soon sacked. But it just goes to show how un-picky Sea Life Centres are with their staff. Mind you, with the pay they offer - what do they expect?

I remember his girlfriend bought him a tank of his own. He couldn't even keep that properly. He had tropical fish in the tank with a heater that BLATANTLY didn't work (the water was always freezing), he put...wait for it....2 siamese fighters, and angel, a shoal of neons and...and axollotyl (not sure how to spell) (!!!) in the tank together. Within hours, half of the neons had been eaten by the axollotyl, within days one of the siamese fighters was so badly damaged he got awful diseases then died, and soon after that most of the tank died from velvet. In the end, all that was left was the axollotyl that was seemingly invincible. I kept on telling him what was wrong with his tank and what he shouldn't get etc (as did the LFS keepers) - but the idiot wouldn't listen. I saw him a couple of years ago and he still had the lizardy thing, and had it 'out in the paddling pool' for the day! That man should have a ban on keeping ANY animals. Moron.