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To Whom It
May Concern,
We've been in the fish business for 10 years now and have dealt
with quite a few fish distributors. Our store has 40 saltwater aquariums
ranging in size from 45-60 gallons. We are New Mexico's largest
saltwater fish store.
Until about four years ago we dealt with other distributors on the
West Coast but the fill rate were terrible. To maintain my customer
base I needed a saltwater distributor that could give me a good
fill rate with excellent quality and the right price. I first tried
Underwater World out of desperation. After the first shipment I
knew that I had found the distributor I'd been looking for. The
variety of fish are what I used to get seven to eight years ago.
The quality is as good as anywhere and the price is very competitive.
If you're looking for a new distributor that can supply you with
fish and corals, try Underwater World. They will soon be your #1
supplier.
Sincerely,
Jerry Smith
Hanauma Bay
Albuquerque, NM 87112
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FAMA VISITS
UNDERWATER WORLD
A Marine Livestock Wholesaler
By Robert Fenner
Reprinted from the September 1997 issue of Freshwater and Marine Aquarium
Magazine
If you had the time and money to "do livestock wholesale right,"
how would you go about it? Design, engineering, construction, water treatment,
location, layout, equipment...?
First of all, let's consider the site; where?
Definitely near a world class airport and Customs facility; it's imperative
to get the livestock in and out expediently - Chicago, Miami, New York,
and Los Angeles!
The building - open, roomy, waterproof, and thermal
insulation would be a giant plus. If I had the funds I'd buy it outright!
and the holding system, acclimation, and bagging stations? Hire the best
folks to design, build, and install a state-of-the-art, low to no-maintenance
array; one part for invertebrates, the other for fishes.
Reality: The Dream Realized
It seems like a dream, right? Well it is and was fulfilled by Mr. Fred
Ong, owner and manager of Underwater World of Los Angeles when he recently
moved and totally remodeled his wholesale marine livestock facility. He
bought Underwater World in 1987, and has run it since that time. As he
explains it, Fred's entry into the trade was serendipitous. On vacation
to Los Angeles in 1987, a friend and he visited fish places including
Underwater World and talked with the previous owner. How much did Fred
like it? Some three months later in August 1987, he bought the place.
Fred knew what he wanted from several lines of
insight. Growing up in Indonesia, he developed a strong interest in, and
appreciation for, aquatic life. Prior to joining the pet fish industry,
he was a civil engineer, with a degree from the University of California
at Berkeley.
Personal History
As a boy, Fred Ong had a neighbor who had a huge saltwater tank and, thus,
had only a short way to go to witness the tropical marine environment
and its riches firsthand. In retrospect, it seems "natural"
that Mr. Ong should offer the world the best of his native Indonesian
offerings (prior to 1987, most of the marine livestock came out of the
Philippine Islands), and Underwater World does just that. As with all
world-class wholesale distributors, Underwater World brings in stock from
all tropical seas (Hawaii, Red Sea, Australia, Caribbean, Fiji, Solomon,
Africa, some Philippine, etc.) But, a central feature of this facility
is that a majority of their stock comes from Indonesia's reefs; especially
through a collecting station Fred helped develop in Bali in 1988.
The Physical Plant
Much of the credit for this extravaganza must go to Robert Krechter and
his brother, Chris, of RK2 Systems. RK2 creates and installs "live
holding systems" for the aquatics part of ornamental, aquaculture,
theme parks, and zoological endeavors.
Basically, there are two separate systems, fish
and invertebrate, with differing specific gravities (1.020 and 1.023)
utilizing the best available means to achieve minimal metabolic concentrations.
This is among the lowest maintenance, cleanest,
most homeostatic system I've encountered in either private business or
public aquariums. To give you an inkling, the foam fractionators (protein
skimmers) feature dual automated washdown features of their collectors
and contact chambers, which also incorporate low doses of ozone. The one
on the fish side is 13' tall and
4' in diameter!
The fluidized bed's pressurized units are serviced
with the most efficient low head/high volume pumps that could be found,
drawing very little amperage.
Natural seawater is utilized, trucked in by Catalina
Water. Due to careful collection, transport, and treatment, Fred asserts
that "the real thing" is more economical and preferable over
synthetics, and there is tremendous gallonage here (approximately 50,000
gallons total). The bases, or supports, for the mainly brand new tanks
and cubicles (or "cubes," smaller units for keeping individual
specimens) are mad of polyethylene reservoirs filled with transit volume
system water and plastic biomedia.
The Owner's Philosophy
This is a very important issue with your writer. "Why do you want
to be in the trade and what are you trying to accomplish?"
Fred Ong's business philosophy
is straightforward: "Consistently provide the highest quality, healthy
livestock at a fair price." Therefore, the initial purchase - along
with the enormous improvements in the building including waterproofing
throughout, cutting the concrete floors to install plumbing and conduits
below grade, the highly sophisticated acclimation and filtration systems
detailed by RK2 - all reflect the owner's philosophy towards the highest
possible quality.
Industry Trends
Shared insights include a continuing growth of new collection areas and
concurrent broader assortment of species. A prime example is the advent
of Fiji live rock; a very porous acroporid based product that has more
volume, less weight (and thus less cost) with nitrate reduction features.
General marine demand and reefkeeping are definitely
on the positive slope of the growth curve. Overall, the marine aquarium
hobby will grow: "the technology is there."
Distributors are upgrading to newer, lower maintenance,
low energy consumption systems. Witness the conversion from swimming pool
filter and pump technology to low head, high flow rate fluid moving and
better protein skimmers, fluidized beds, and ozone.
For independent retailers: the next five to ten
years, the mass-merchandisers will continue to make inroads into freshwater,
but not marine. It's too specialized and needs sophisticated personnel.
Our Thanks...
...to Fred Ong, and our friend in common, Pablo Tepoot (of cichlid farming
and book-publishing fame) for suggesting this piece, and RK2 for their
encouraging friendship and participation. Retailers and folks looking
for fine quality livestock and serious setup help can reach UWW.
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Underwater World
Wholesale Marine Fish
Fred Ong, President
5242 W. 104th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone (310) 670-1502
Fax (310) 568-2052
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