For those looking at hiring a professional aquarium service company to care for their aquarium or pond, there are several key factors to consider:

: Price

: Availability

: Infrastructure

: Quality

: Staff

 

These are the things that should be reviewed before hiring an aquarium maintenance company. These are also the same aspects that a good company will constantly work on to improve. Now, depending on the individual needs of someone looking for a service company, the importance of each one of these factors can vary. Most people, unfortunately, will focus too much on the price points of aquariums service companies and completely ignore everything else. In most cases, this will lead to larger problems. In the “aquarium hospitality” field, you really really really  do get what you pay for.

 

—Price—

 

Now, if price is the main consideration for hiring an aquarium service company, may we kindly suggest to either not hire a company at all and put the money in that budget towards educating yourself about your system and doing it yourself. Buy a few books, spend some time online at places like 3reef.com, get some magazines, spend a good amount of time at your LFS(local fish store) of choice and pic the employees brains. If you decide to go the route of hiring a very “inexpensive” service company, it will come back to bite you in the forms of accidents, lack of licensing or insurance, unreliable service techs, inability to properly maintain your system, death of livestock, etc. etc. The list can go on and on and on. Price should not be the number one factor when interviewing service companies.

 

Remember, the price a service company charges is a reflection of its capabilities. Is the company insured? Does it offer livestock warranties, and if so, what are the terms? Do they offer 24/7 service and at what rates? Do they have a physical location(s) where they stock supplies at all times or are they relying on retail stores supplies and hours of operation? Do they stock their own livestock and are able to provide healthy quarantined specimens? All these things are factored into a service companies pricing. So if someones picking out the cheapest rates, they’re most likely going to get the cheapest level of service.

 

—Availability—

 

What kind of regular work hours does the service company have? If the aquarium that needs maintenance can only be serviced in the early morning hours or late in the evening, the aquarium company must be able to work with a clients schedule on a consistent basis in order to keep the aquarium in tip top shape. If the aquarium service company cannot do that, then whats the point of hiring one? The whole reason someone would look to have a professional company maintain their aquarium is so it makes the clients life a bit easier. If the service company cannot do that, than who cares what else they offer? Because after a few months of trying to make a routine schedule work with a company that cannot meet their scheduling needs, the owner of the aquarium will most likely just start looking for someone new. A good aquarium service company must be able to work with their clients work and/or home schedule.

 

—Infrastructure—

 

Next thing to consider is the type of infrastructure the company has. A good service company(which can also be a store) should generally have it own acclimating and holding system(s) so they can provide well acclimated and healthy specimens to their clients. A good stock of supplies that are needed or may become needed in an emergency situation. Case in point; a wide selection of pumps. If an aquarium pump breaks down at 10pm, the aquarium service company should have  ZERO problems fixing it right then and there. A client should not have to wait till the next morning when the local fish store opens in order to get the replacement. Supplies like this need to be in-stock and ready to go by every quality aquarium service company. If the company does not, its a big red flag.

 

—Quality—

 

This one’s very simple and easy to test. First and most important thing; go online and check angieslist, facebook, yelp, google, bing, etc etc for a particular service company.  Make sure they have a tested track record. Actually go over the reviews, not just the rating numbers/stars. Get a feel for what type of service quality they provide. As a side note, if a company has been in business long enough, there will almost always be a bad review here or there. In those cases, read those negative reviews carefully and judge them on a case by case basis. Also try and figure out if this type or negative performance by the company is an honest mistake and tried to remedy or if its a persistent issue. If its an honest mistake, a good company will generally publish a rebuttal or clarification of a particularly bad review. If it was their fault, they should have admitted it in their clarification and offered a short apology. That’s a good sign of a company who cares about their clients and their reputation. However, if it looks like a persistent problem, or the negative review seems very credible, its a sign to stay away from that particular service company.

 

If the company has a physical location that can be visited, then visit it. Seeing how the company takes care of its livestock and equipment is a key indicator of how they will take care of a clients livestock and equipment. This is the perfect time to pick the staffs brain(s) without having to hire them upfront.

 

—Staff—

 

This part maybe one of the most important factors when hiring an aquarium service company. The staff, or just the one individual if it’s a small company, are your best gauge on every other aspect of the company. The staff needs to most and foremost love what they do. They need to care as much about their clients aquariums as they would their own. If there’s a dedicated staff behind everything the service company does, that service company will  likely have a great reputation, great infrastructure, work well with their clients schedules, and have a fair pricing structure that covers all their expenses and keeps them profitable. The staff is what ties everything together for a good aquarium service company. It is hands down the most crucial part of any business and they can either make or break a company. It’s important to meet the staff member(s) who will actually visit a clients house/business. It’s the best way for a client to tell what kind of company they’re dealing with. Do they seem reliable, trustworthy, honest, etc. etc. Because when choosing a good aquarium service company, you’re really choosing the actual people themselves.