A little bit about me.

[WPH]

Here is a little about me

Once upon a time on June 12, 1970 a little baby boy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii...nah j/k I wont take you back that far.....whew!!! lucky you LOL!!!

Well ever since I was a kid I was crazy about fish. While my 2 brothers would ask for toys and stuff I would always ask for fish. LOL!!! Since I was 8 years old I've always had a fish tank in my room. My mom always told me Im going to turn into a fish one day. Well I think I did!!! I mean I can't stay away from the ocean for too long. Diving, reef walking, and tidepool collecting has become my greatest passion.. Okay Okay!!!(my fiance standing behind me) Its my second greatest passion. My family and God is my first. Then the ocean, then business and the customers come second....sorry guys!!! hee hee

I purchased my very first saltwater fish when I as 12 (had to save up that allowance money$$$) Anyways I jumped in to the saltwater fish keeping hobby feet first with no research and my very first saltwater fish was a Moorish Idol (mistake #1) Moorish Idols are for experts only. I put him into a 20 gallon tank (mistake # 2) These fish need atleast 100 gallon tank, I emptied an 50 gallon mix entire bag of sea salt mix into the water (mistake # 3)Well in two hours...two months of saving my allownce was gone...( What can I say I was 12 years old at the time!!!)

I still remember that moment the fish went belly up and how I felt about killing the fish. Since then I became hooked on Saltwater fish keeping and determined to learn how to properly care for them. 25 years later I am still learning about these beautiful creatures.

I started an aquarium maintenance business in 2004 so that others can enjoy the same feeling that I feel when I sit and watch my fish at home. unfortunately I had to quickly shut the business down due to a sudden deployment of my Army National Guard unit. When I returned home I restarted my Aquarium maintenance business and have been running it ever since.

In 2007 I wanted to take this business to the next level and provide customers who live on the mainland with our Beautiful Hawaiian Fish. I started selling quality livestock on Ebay and had an overwhelming response from Customers who wanted to buy Indigenous Hawaiian species direct from the diver/collector.

last year I made a 50 page business plan(two weeks)proposed it to my dive partner and started seeking some capitol to grow my company I am happy to say that as a result of it I found an $$ investor who provided me with some start up capitol for equipment,a warehouse, and a dive boat. My dive partner and I are excited and we set up three 1000 gallon holding systems and four 125 gallon Quarantine tanks. I am also working on the new website. Please visit Wet Pets Hawaii and give me your opinions or any suggestions you might have on how the website is coming along. I am looking forward to servicing all your aquatic needs, and providing you with superior quality Hawaiian livestock at exceptional prices and unmatched customer service. I have assembled a dive team and we are ready to dive for you......Mahalo Nui Loa (thank you very much) ALoha

Your Friend from a little rock in the pacific ocean,

Les Parker @ Wet Pets Hawaii

[boozeman]

very cool

[lcstorc]

What a great story.
Welcome to RS!

[kathywithbirds]

So you do your own collecting? That's gotta be neat. Saw your other post about current livestock and glad you listed what they're eating, very helpful!!