Hooked hobbyist immersed in career

PETE MARTINELLI world to smaller retail aquariums in Australia.

“You can go anywhere from there.”

From a hobby aquarium enthusiast, Mr McCann is now a maintenance and design manager.

“The thing that got me into the hobby was watching a tank being fed with water flow,” he said.

“Suddenly worms start moving, a starfish moved from under a rock, and little shrimp came out to get into the food.”

Back in Newcastle Mr McCann managed six aquarium shops, an invaluable experience for anyone looking at the industry.

It takes about four weeks for an empty tank to become a viable ecosystem.

“The big mistake is people rush into it – not enough planning or being too hasty,” Mr McCann said.

“You have to establish the tank with sand and coral and water and let it go through a bacterial cycle for four weeks.

“If you look closely you’ll see the microfauna.”

Mr McCann will work with customers to achieve their “dream tank,” from a desktop unit to a 9m in-built wall aquarium.

Part of the design process is sourcing dead coral called “live rock” for the tanks.

“All the microfauna is part of the rock,” Mr McCann said.

“Then we put it into the tank.

“To work here, you have to 100 per cent love fish”