What jobs are out there

[Spencer1044]

I'm still in high school and I wanted to focus on freshwater fish and engineering. I would like to know what jobs out there are related to aquarium keeping, studying fish, engineering in the aquarium world, designing aquarium systems, ect.? If anyone could create a list of jobs related to these topics that would be great and if you have experience in a related job that would be even better! Thanks for you advice!!

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I'm still in high school and I wanted to focus on freshwater fish and engineering. I would like to know what jobs out there are related to aquarium keeping, studying fish, engineering in the aquarium world, designing aquarium systems, ect.? If anyone could create a list of jobs related to these topics that would be great and if you have experience in a related job that would be even better! Thanks for you advice!!

There are contractors that build and engineer the systems you see at public aquariums and Zoos. I don't know what degrees you need to that but its out there.

 

[sinibotia]

I'm currently studying aquaculture at university! There's lots of applications of engineering in aquaculture, including aquaculture of aquarium fish. You could probably make a very nice living doing the engineering involved with food fish aquaculture systems as well.

Unfortunately I can't actually say much for that aspect because I'm working with my advisor focusing on stuff like immunology and disease treatment. Not much engineering to be done there, besides chemical engineering but that doesn't sound like what you want to do.

 

[Luananeko]

There's the custom aquarium companies out there, they build plenty of cabinets and such to support their custom tanks. There's definitely engineering involved in calculating whether a cabinet is strong enough to handle the weight of a full tank as well as figuring out how to install the filtration. Not quite sure what degrees they're looking for though. You could try calling some of them and finding out. Only one I know by name is ATM because of their Tanked show.

 

[Spencer1044]

Thanks for the advice but could someone better explain aquaculture for me

 

[sinibotia]

Thanks for the advice but could someone better explain aquaculture for me

Aquaculture is "fish farming"; basically the captive breeding and raising of fish for either aquariums or food.

I'm currently in the early stages of a research project looking at certain immune factors in tank-raised discus.

 

[Spencer1044]

Oh ya that makes sense. I think another cool job though would be the people who basically try to creat new species of fish through cross breeding and enhance certain characteristics on the fish. Is that in the field you are studying

 

[sinibotia]

Oh ya that makes sense. I think another cool job though would be the people who basically try to creat new species of fish through cross breeding and enhance certain characteristics on the fish. Is that in the field you are studying

Yeah, that would also be part of aquaculture. Part of what my lab does is give genetic information back to salmon breeders from the fish that we do sea lice studies on. The salmon breeders use that information to try to breed for fish that have better resistance to sea lice while still maintaining a large yield of meat.

Of course, this also applies to aquarium aquaculture. You can breed a certain species for hardiness, certain color patterns, etc, or add in other genes and and sell those new strains (sorta like with glowfish)

 

[Fresh2o]

Yeah, that would also be part of aquaculture. Part of what my lab does is give genetic information back to salmon breeders from the fish that we do sea lice studies on. The salmon breeders use that information to try to breed for fish that have better resistance to sea lice while still maintaining a large yield of meat.

Of course, this also applies to aquarium aquaculture. You can breed a certain species for hardiness, certain color patterns, etc, or add in other genes and and sell those new strains (sorta like with glowfish)

That sounds like very interesting lab work. You deal with fish.
Years ago I worked in a lab performing tests to identify markers that helped doctors diagnose various types of cancers in patients. On the bright side, it helped determine the effects of treatment and periods of remission.
Not sure if this is line with the engineering aspect of your education, but here are some links to Aquaculture career options. Also, internships and joining societies may help get you familiar with the your future line of work.
Aquaculture Career Options
World Aquaculture Society
East Coast Shellfish Growers Association - Job List






Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[sinibotia]

That sounds like very interesting lab work. You deal with fish.





Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

I've talked about it elsewhere on the forum; I LOVE my job. I get paid to work with fish all day- doing water changes on tropical tanks for lab classes, caring for dozens of tanks of catfish and trout in various studies, and now I'm working with my advisor on an undergraduate thesis with discus!

If you are interested in aquaculture and engineering, I would highly suggest University of Maine. Besides being where I study and work, it also has a great marine science/aquaculture program and a great engineering program; actually, engineering and marine science are two of the best majors here. And there's a growing saltwater tropical fish aquaculture operation that started right here at the university's aquaculture research center, the same place I'm doing my discus project. We've also got research on lobsters (duh), abalone, salmon, bettas, catfish, trout, sea urchins, and lots of other species.

 

[Spencer1044]

Thanks everyone for your input this has really helped me and realizing there are way more jobs out there dealing with fish other than a fish store employee

 

[alyxandria]

Subscribed, been trying to formulate a career out of this hobby myself! I've been applying to colleges and universities many times but I always back out because there's just something about freshwater and marine work that has me "hooked!"


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[sinibotia]

Subscribed, been trying to formulate a career out of this hobby myself! I've been applying to colleges and universities many times but I always back out because there's just something about freshwater and marine work that has me "hooked!"


Sent from my iPhone.

Well, you can always go to university for marine science/aquaculture. I am, and my goal is to be a research scientist/professor in the field of aquaculture. But you could also do it to learn the ropes of commercial scale aquaculture, which would be a good way to make a career out of fishkeeping