The Sea has over 17,000 animal species. If you have some passion for marine life, you can train to become the next aquarist. It will be a rough road trying to become the next aquarist, but these tips will help.
An aquarist is any individual who loves to take great care of the sea creatures and love hanging in the water. If you have the passion, start exploring the interest or skills by spending hours with these creatures and looking after them well. Those who practice in this career will be doing unique things daily.
The person practicing this career has to look after the health, wellness such as giving a balanced diet. This is where your marine life knowledge comes in handy because you have to know the fish and animals need. Your duty is to monitor and provide treatment to the suffering creature. These sea animals want attention to live a happy life, and this can be done by using certain toys. That is why an aquarist needs to take care of them, give food and be on the lookout for all marine aspect. Most of the time, you will be inside the water and outside interacting with the creatures.
If working as an aquarist, you must clean and maintain the environment so that it becomes livable. When working, one must clean the tank and the environment. The creatures sharing the waters must be given attention like eliminating waste from the water after feeding and ensuring it is at the correct level. Here, one needs to be doing water quality testing for temperature, ammonia, nitrates and pH to ensure the fish, coral and any creature feels at home. The person here must take care of the pumps, filtration units and others parts. There is also the need to use the reef tank clean up crew to take care of the aquarium tanks and remove the algae.
Aquarists in the US are required to have a bachelor or a science degree in fields like marine biology, aquaculture or zoology as an entry point. Other qualifications involve veterinary sciences or environmental engineering.
An extra qualification is to get the certification in scuba and CPR training. You can get this certification while working on your BAS. Here, you learn scuba diving and how to dive in open waters. CPR is mandatory as you learn how to stay safe.
You must also get experience as an aquatic intern. The next thing needed is getting your dream job in various areas like zoos and aquariums. Since you love the job, continuous education is needed to earn more.