We’re thrilled to invite you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the upcoming Father Fish Aquarium Shop, your future go-to destination for natural fish keeping! Dive into our new space where we emphasize sustainable fish-keeping practices to bring you the best in natural aquarium setups. From carefully selected fish and aquatic plants to organic tank maintenance solutions, we’re here to support your journey towards a healthier, more balanced aquarium.
But that's not all! We’re also sharing an exciting update on our reef tank. Discover the latest advancements, new inhabitants, and how we’re fostering a thriving, natural habitat within the tank. Whether you're a seasoned aquarist or just getting started with natural fish keeping, you’ll find valuable insights and inspiration here.
Don’t miss this sneak peek into our shop and reef tank! Make sure to subscribe, like, and comment with any questions or thoughts. We can’t wait to share this adventure with you and help you create beautiful, sustainable aquatic environments.
Who is Father Fish?
Louis Foxwell, known on YouTube as Father Fish, is an old-time fish keeper with 70 years of experience. His simple, easy, and guaranteed methods insure healthy, happy tropical fish in your aquarium.
Lou adopted the role of Father Fish many years ago when he opened a tropical fish store as a retirement business. Prior to this, he served as a missionary for 25 years, following in his father's footsteps by ministering to a congregation of deaf worshipers. Lou fondly recalls his grandmother in Berlin, Germany, who inspired his love for fish keeping as a child.
As a founder and original board member of the National Aquarium, Lou played a significant role in its development, serving as chair of the Community Relations Committee and participating in the Search Committees. With extensive experience across nearly every level of the fish industry, Father Fish offers a wealth of knowledge and products, including plants, soil supplements, and more, to enhance your aquarium experience.
These are two axolotls we got from Peplin Creek.
They're fantail gulls. Beautiful, beautiful fish.
Here's some ember tetras. These just came in.
These are some new pike cichlids that just came in and some geos.
There's a pajama cardinal.
There's also a goby, a mandarin goby in here somewhere.
Jump right on in. You're it, father fish.
So welcome to our new shop.
We're going to do a hard opening on September the 1st.
So we've got a little better than a week to get things finished up
and be able to open for business.
So we're shooting for that target date right now.
This is our main showroom.
We have about 1, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, almost 30 tanks.
We have 10-gallon tanks set up with species of fish in each one.
There are 20 of these and then a few larger tanks.
These are some new pike cichlids that just came in and some geos.
A few other fish here.
So that's kind of it.
There are shrimp in here with otocinclus and a few rubber lips.
So we're just kind of testing it out and hoping that the otto's don't eat the baby shrimp.
We're going to find out if they do.
They are going to have to come out.
But we've got maybe 25, 30 shrimp in here that were raised in our vats.
Here's some ember tetras. These just came in.
So this is our pond.
Splash some water over here.
Let's get these guys coming out where we can see them.
We have some very large goldfish in here.
They're fantail golds.
Beautiful, beautiful fish.
And then some other things.
There's some chewbacca.
We have it planted pretty heavily.
Can you see them?
Yeah, I've got one coming out.
There they are.
Right there.
Right down.
There are three of them in here.
Three big ones.
And we're doing a real mix in here.
It's fairly cold.
It's in the low 70s, high 60s.
So we can't put warm water fish in, but we can cold water.
And we're planting it heavily.
Now, the duckweed is food for the goldfish.
And that is preventing them from trying to eat all the plants.
So as long as we have duckweed in here, we'll be able to grow plants in here.
Now, you can see there are a lot of plants planted.
None of them are torn up.
None of them are floating.
It's been this way for nearly a week now.
So we're looking pretty good with this system on.
We put a few saltwater fish in here.
The salinity is up to about 1.2, about 20.
So hopefully they'll be all right.
We'll see.
There's a pajama cardinal.
He's looking pretty good.
Even though this is a brackish tank out of the Chesapeake Bay, we're not being purists about it.
Because there are too many really pretty fish that we like and want to try in here.
There is also somewhere, oh, there he is back there.
Just barely see a royal grandma.
He's hiding back there.
There's also a goby, a mandarin goby in here somewhere.
So this thing's looking pretty good.
Looking real good.
We're real pleased with it.
Okay.
This is Cory.
And this is Brenda.
Hello.
Brenda, what are you working on?
Right now it's just dropping off supplies.
I mainly work on the plant tanks.
Maintaining the tanks.
Making sure we have enough inventory for all the orders.
At night I come back and I've been replanting the tanks that are here.
Make sure there's plenty of plants in there for the fish.
Nice.
Try to keep everything running.
Yeah, and doing a good job too.
Without Brenda, I do not have a business here.
She's absolutely critical.
So when we have a problem, it's a serious problem.
Cory.
Yes, sir.
You're cleaning tanks.
Always a good thing to do.
Always a good thing.
Right.
So say something about your being here and what your current level of activity is
and what you're looking to do.
I don't actually know my job title.
Well, just say something.
Hi, guys.
My name's Cory Atkins.
I work here at Father Fish Aquarium.
And I am a jack of all.
I do a little bit of everything and never do nothing.
So I'm happy to be here.
It's been a pleasure being with Lou and learning everything.
I still have a long way to go, but I'm very optimistic.
And I can't wait for the store open to meet all of you guys.
Yeah, it's going to be fun.
If it weren't for you, none of us would be here.
So we appreciate you all very, very much.
We love you.
And we send you blessings for a good day and a good weekend.
Amen to that.
And then this area is our plant area.
These are some tanks that the girls have set up with turtles and axolotls.
I have to show you the axolotls.
These are two axolotls we got from Pepland Creek last fall.
They're doing really well.
We don't have eggs yet, so hoping to get eggs.
There's some algae in here we need to pull out.
We will be selling brine shrimp, live adult brine, and blackworms.
We have blackworm culture.
These are plant vats, and we have two axolotls that we have found in here
that grew out from eggs that Pepland Creek sent us last spring.
We don't know that I'll be able to find one.
They're pretty good size.
They're about, I guess, six inches.
I just felt one.
Maybe it was a goldfish.
Look, there we go.
There's one right there.
I found the little one.
That's the smaller one.
Oh, the axolotl?
Yep, there he is.
Hey, buddy.
Looking good.
They have grown up in here.
These are all the plants.
It will be possible.
These are snails.
These are near-eyed snails, guys, so put them where you want them.
It'll be possible for walking customers to walk down these aisles
and select the plants they would like.
There are 50 or so species of plants right now.
What all that is, this is our pack-up area where everything gets packed up
and shipped out, and there we have it.
There's our business in a nutshell.
Anyone who's on the eastern shore of the United States,
kind of midway between Maine and Florida, is welcome to come visit us.
We're right outside of Ocean City, Maryland in Salisbury,
a nice little town with lots of very sweet little towns kind of all over the shore.
We're excited to be here.
We will be the only fish store within 50 miles,
so we're looking to cover a lot of territory and I think a lot of folks coming in.
All right, there we have it.
Thanks so much for watching.
Be sure to join the show.
Check out our store, our online store,
and we'll see you all on either our show-and-tell Wednesday night
or our open forum on Sunday nights.
Love you all. Bye for now.
