Chris Dicke / owner-service
I have been a marine aquarist for almost 10 years. Marine aquariums have always been something I’ve been in awe of since I was a child.
My “true” introduction to marine aquariums began when I moved to Southern California in 2002. I was introduced to marine aquariums by a friend. I was instantly hooked. About a week later I got my first saltwater tank. This first tank was filled with LPS(large polyp stony coral) and zoanthids.
After a few years I descided to get a larger tank, and this time try much more demanding corals. That’s when I found my love for SPS (small polyp stony coral). No more power compacts, all metal halides. A good skimmer, strong pump, heater, and a chiller were what I was going with. New methods were still coming out. Beside the strong light, good water flow and heavy skimming there were methods based on nutrient export by macro algae ( ex. refugiums), nutrient export by different media reactors (ex. GFO reactors), nutrient export by controlling the bacterial fauna (ex. prodibio), combinations of different techniques (ex. Zeovit)and the list goes on.
I was helping others with their systems and spending a lot of time at local fish stores. I spent so much time at one fish store that I decided to work there. The experience of working in a store with a seemingly unlimited supply of fish and coral was heaven for me, and really helped me fine tune my ideas about how aquariums and the life inside function. Around this time I met my business partner Ron Johncola. Ron was an avid reefer with one of the most beautiful examples of a reef tank I’ve ever seen (in person or on the internet). Ron and I hit it off immediately and started to import coral together. I had planned to create an aquaculture facility and have a website from which I could sell coral off of. I ended up with around 3000 gallons of tank volume in my garage where I grew a lot of “Limited Edition” coral and rare wild caught coral. For the time being I was focusing everything on the coral, selling some here and there, but the website went on the backburner for a short time. I started pestering Ron about doing the website together. Then one day Ron came to me with the idea of starting a store together. You could say I’m addicted.
Ron Johncola / owner / new installation / retail store
Hi my name is Ron Johncola. Some of my earliest memories are of having my 1st freshwater tank at 5yrs old, my mother and I would service it every 3 weeks and it stayed beautiful. At 15 years old I bought my first saltwater system because I was hooked on triggers and I still am :).
About 15 years later, at the age of 30, I set up my first real reef tank with live rock ,that was amazing to me as it seemed to be a real Eco system like no other. Soon I realized good quality live rock is the back bone to a healthy system. At this point in my life I was into 2 things classic cars and reef tanks.
I had become a custom car painter since the age of 21 and I did the pebble beach circuit car shows every year or so, I had painted many cars for the stars Leno, Carrol Shelby son’s cobra, Sammy Davis Jr etc etc. This is where I feel I developed my skill for quality clean style of work (no corners cut). After many years of doing what I loved I decided it was time for a new career in aquarium service, also what I loved, so I started my first aquarium service company. This is where my skills from one career to the other really paid off.Because of my attention to detail and working for people who wouldn't settle for anything but perfection I was able to be successful at aquarium service and selling coral. This led me to open my dream shop with my business partner Chris Dicke. We hope you enjoy our store, and the amount of attention to detail that went into making it what it is today.
Beth Johncola / Service manager / bookkeeping
Beth is the backbone of our store, when somethings not right she handles it!
She has been involved in reef aquariums and service for over 10 years, and retail management for over 8 yrs .
She is a great addition to our team.
Jonatan Marroquin / Service / Retail store / Installs
Jonatan is a very hard worker, he is the gopher of our team, weather it be service, retail store or installs hes always busy.
Jonatan has been doing service aquarium service for us for over 5 years.
His hobbies include soccer, family, and fresh water aqauriums.
