Lawnmowers and fish don't mix, says local aquarium expert
Aquarium expert has customers coming in from all over the region.
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Lawnmowers and fish don't mix according to Rockhampton's 'indoors aquaculture' expert, Alan Marshall.
He says a large number of repair jobs result from locals starting a lawnmower under the house in the vicinity of a home aquarium.
"A stone flicks up and the glass breaks,” he says.
Other times it's a matter of careless placement or a simple case of the clumsies.
"I had a bloke in here who'd just turned around one day and put his elbow through his tank.”
It takes two to three weeks for Mr Marshall to fix and test a fish or reptile tank and he's got customers coming in from all over the region.
"I've got regulars who come in from Mackay and Gladstone, Biloela and Mt Morgan because they don't have specialist services there anymore,” he said.
"I'm a one-man shop and the only one this side of Brisbane.”
Owner of Alan M's Aquarium on Kent St - which happens to sit next to a seafood cafe - Mr Marshall developed a passion for keeping fish during his childhood when it was a popular trend.
"There used to be 48 pet shops in Rockhampton and we had a fish society which exhibited at the showgrounds,” he said.
"We tried to get it back but there were too many regulations from the DPI and RSPCA regarding licensing and hygiene.”
It took Mr Marshall four months to get all his licences in place to open the business more than four years ago but he hasn't looked back since then.
"I love it; I have people coming in worried how to fix their problem and I can help them,” he said.
"I'm the only one doing it the proper way, using clean water and rock salt, instead of chemicals, to make sure there's not too much chloride.”
The fish for sale in Alan's shop - sharks, cats, neons, fighters and oscars up to 35cm long - have no gravel in their tanks.
"It gets too dirty and alkaline,” he says.
But they have places to hide among ornaments and special driftwood which Mr Marshall imports from Africa and wires to decorative bases.
He warns against placing tanks too close to windows where the temperatures can prove extreme and, on occasion, he's heard of birds swooping in to snatch fish out of open tanks.
As for pescatorial trends in 2019, Mr Marshall is busy building yet more tanks for installation in custom-built wall cabinets in Rockhampton hotels, restaurants, homes and doctors' surgeries.
"It's very peaceful to spend time around fish, I think more people should do it,” he said.
"Fish are my family.”
Originally published as Lawnmowers and fish don't mix, says local aquarium expert
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