Aquarist at Cabela's of Reno, NV

I got an email from the manager of the new Cabela's in Reno, Nevada yesterday. Apparently it's pretty hard to find someone in Reno who knows anything about gamefish & native care. They need someone to assume fulltime 40-hour week control over the three displays, two 5800 gallon tanks and a 1700 gallon pool. The pool is full of trout, as is one tank, and the other tank is full of the usual bass, crappie, catfish, walleye, carp, bluegill, etc...

An interesting job opportunity for someone in the area or willing to relocate.
Apply at cabelas.com or call for more details.

Eric Rockwell

Facilities Manager

Cabela's Retail

8650 Boomtown Road

Reno, NV 89439

(775) 829-4109 Direct

(775) 829-4141 Fax

I might be blind, but I don't think they have this job listed on their web site yet.

Pays $5.85/hour! (guess) YeeHaaa!

Actually, it pays 12 bucks per hour.

I didn't see it on the website either, but I called him.

I considered it for a few moments until I found out that each store is totally independent, fishtankwise, and that there was no opportunity for advancement to a regional or national level. I would love a job traipsing all over the continent whipping tanks into shape, but there's no hope of that. I had hoped that WalMart would be my ticket to such a situation, but it's plain now that it will never be, as WalMart has given up and is phasing out live fish.
( Oh, by the way, somebody poured 3-in-1 oil in our tanks at my store, wiping out all the fish. Now we have to start all over again. I betcha they will once again ignore everything I try to tell them regarding doing it RIGHT this time, and once again lose all their first fish. *sigh* )

It does explain why the level of quality varies so much between Cabela's stores. It's also nice to know that they at least use nationwide searches to find competent employees instead of just taking whomever walks through the front door.

Those three tanks are a full time job? What would you spend all your time doing?

Do you have to be SCUBA certified?

Do you have to be SCUBA certified?

I not sure I'd want to SCUBA dive in one of those tanks. I can picture it now, I'd be giving a friendly wave to some little kid who'd walked over to look at the big fish and the funny man who was feeding, cleaning, or whatever. Then I'd turn around to go back up, bang the scuba tank into the glass, and find myself, a bunch of large gamefish, and 5800 gallons of water spilling out onto the floor.

I wonder what are the differences between maintaining large public aquaria vs. fish tanks? There are a couple of professional aquarists on this forum, yes? Nick??

That was another problem. It's a retail store, and a big, busy one. The tank work probably only takes a couple or few hours per day, and the rest of the time is no doubt spent working as a regular store clerk.

No mention of SCUBA requirement. I would tend to doubt it, though, although it would be handy.

I was also a pro aquarist, and I'll give your question a whirl.
Amateurs have the luxury of doing whatever they want, however they want, and the fruits or consequences are theirs. Pros have to do everything according to protocol, and while they get no fruits, they do get the blame.
If an amateur decides that quarantine is a bother not worth the trouble, then he is free to skip it and let his fish suffer. A pro doesn't have that option, and must do all he can to keep disease or anything else from possibly disrupting the smooth operation of the displays. If he gets sloppy and things go bad, everyone will notice. By the same token , an amateur can use whatever equipment he wishes without regard to cost, dependability or effectiveness, while a pro's choices will make or ruin him.
If an amateur thinks that setting up a certain type of display with certain features and species would be just the thing to do, then he is free to go for it. A pro has to wade through a few layers of approvals and budgeting first, and only then after justifying the project to those above him.
An amateur doesn't have to contend with constant criticism from visitors and managers and, oh yes, official inspectors with the power to slap big fines on your facility if you screw up enough. ( by the way, most violations aren't the professional's fault anyway, but he gets the blame nonetheless for not reporting code violations and whatnot, even if he does indeed report them to the boss's deaf ears on a regular basis. )

On the plus side, the pro isn't at the beck and call of every passing goober with 2 bucks to buy a fishing lure.