Expanding knowledge

[Zcamden]

Howdy, I’m new to reef2reef and have been very pleased with all the experience and information that has been provided here. I have been a hobbyist in salt water my whole life and have discovered failure is the best teacher in this hobby. I have dabbled in the idea of attending Animal behavior college for aquatic maintenance to expand my knowledge. I wanted to see with all the experience that y’all have what you thought of this idea and if it’s a waste of time/ money. Would it be more beneficial to just apply at an aquarium near me to absorb or rely on others hobbyists. I want to start a career in aquarium maintenance and I’m very passionate about this. Any feed back would be welcome.

 

[kichimark]

Glad to have you around. Hopefully someone with experience in having that as a business will come on in and help you out.

I did after I graduated volunteered with the Aquarium of the Pacific but I actually helped out more than I learned at that time (i.e. different foods and methods of feeding garden eels). I learned a lot more from reading through others experiences and asking questions along with experimentation myself.

 

[Billldg]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[albano]

Welcome.., aquarium maintenance is the real $ maker for a LFS, learn as much as you can!

 

[KrisReef]

I had animal behavior class at University and 30 years ago it was an almost universally hated course. I don’t know if it has improved much since then?
I’d try to find a position doing that kind of work and learn on the job.

Anyway, I hope that wasn’t too harshly worded, it wasn’t meant to be please & thank you.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[Big G]

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Welcome to the best reef keeping forum on the internet!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[The Aquatic Arsenal]

Welcome to R2R!! There is money is maintenance accounts and setting up aquariums for people. I personally don't do it myself. I have seen some colleges or tech schools starting to offer classes and certificates in that field. I am not really sure you would need that, but if I was to interview you for a position, I would probably be impressed a little bit lol. Would open up a whole new world to me Pursue tour dreams and dont5look back. Be persistent in achieving your goals and make a solid plan on how to get there, even if the path doesn't seem straight forward. One thing I have learned in the past is reverse planning. Work your plan backwards and something you see things from a different light. Good luck!

 

[Zcamden]

I had animal behavior class at University and 30 years ago it was an almost universally hated course. I don’t know if it has improved much since then?
I’d try to find a position doing that kind of work and learn on the job.

Anyway, I hope that wasn’t too harshly worded, it wasn’t meant to be please & thank you.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

No it wasn’t harsh at all I’m looking for input. Why was it universally hated if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R and thanks for signing up.

 

[Bob Weigant]

 

[fuelman]

Welcome to R2R nice looking tank!!!

 

[Zcamden]

Welcome to R2R nice looking tank!!!

Thank you, I just moved so everyone is trying to get acclimated to the new environment.

 

[BeejReef]

Welcome

 

[Gernader]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[KrisReef]

No it wasn’t harsh at all I’m looking for input. Why was it universally hated if you don’t mind me asking?

It was a required course of study for an Animal Science degree program (lots of pre-veterinary students) and the "behavior" of animals wasn't? taught as a "hard" science at all. The professor wasn't compelling and was the object of widespread open student ridicule. Class discussions were highly descriptive of observed behavior with ample amounts of unprovable anthropomorphizing about assumed motives for observed behavior that was taught as holy gospel. There was also an obvious class grading bias against fisheries majors while favorable grades were awarded to wildlife majors. (Animal lovers got a better grade than the fish heads, you might say. ) This latter fact was undisputed among students from all study majors

Got that paper! Then I worked in a LFS after graduation and nothing I was taught in that class was ever remotely useful for animal husbandry. It may have helped me with customer service as "making up to the teacher" is a useful skill for handling public interactions? I probably would have learned more useful information for dealing with customers if I had taken a wide study of psychology courses or animal husbandry, or microbiology and/or chemistry and even engineering would have been more useful than "Dog whispering 101."

I really want to name the school and the professor as the wounds are still raw from that University of California beat-down. I hope this kind of answered your question.

Like others have said, get a job working in a pro tank maintenance situation and then later you can either steal their customers or develop your own. A job at the LFS is a great place to meet folk who would like tank service. I know a lot of folks who have done this and who enjoy what they do for a living. No animal degree required. I also should add a business major would be a lot more useful, imo. hth.

 

[Zcamden]

It was a required course of study for an Animal Science degree program (lots of pre-veterinary students) and the "behavior" of animals wasn't? taught as a "hard" science at all. The professor wasn't compelling and was the object of widespread open student ridicule. Class discussions were highly descriptive of observed behavior with ample amounts of unprovable anthropomorphizing about assumed motives for observed behavior that was taught as holy gospel. There was also an obvious class grading bias against fisheries majors while favorable grades were awarded to wildlife majors. (Animal lovers got a better grade than the fish heads, you might say. ) This latter fact was undisputed among students from all study majors

Got that paper! Then I worked in a LFS after graduation and nothing I was taught in that class was ever remotely useful for animal husbandry. It may have helped me with customer service as "making up to the teacher" is a useful skill for handling public interactions? I probably would have learned more useful information for dealing with customers if I had taken a wide study of psychology courses or animal husbandry, or microbiology and/or chemistry and even engineering would have been more useful than "Dog whispering 101."

I really want to name the school and the professor as the wounds are still raw from that University of California beat-down. I hope this kind of answered your question.

Like others have said, get a job working in a pro tank maintenance situation and then later you can either steal their customers or develop your own. A job at the LFS is a great place to meet folk who would like tank service. I know a lot of folks who have done this and who enjoy what they do for a living. No animal degree required. I also should add a business major would be a lot more useful, imo. hth.

Very useful I appreciate your experiences. I will definitely do some research in locating a LFS. Thank you!

 

[SPR1968]

Some great advice already so Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Reefnman2]

Welcome to R2R!