About Us

In the last 23 years, Bryan has worked in all facets of the aquarium trade, from fish and invert collection, wholesale distribution, and retail sales.

It all began on his 9th birthday when he received a 10 gallon aquarium from his parents. He quickly became fascinated with fish and began hanging out at all the local fish stores. At 13 he was able to convince a pet store owner to hire him. After a couple of years he moved to an amazing aquarium store in Redmond, WA called Aquarium World. This store was considered one of the premiere saltwater retail stores in the country and had numerous write-ups and articles in many books and aquarium magazines.

Over the next 7 years Bryan worked full time at Aquarium World and immersed himself into the Reef hobby. He was able to study under some of the true pioneers of the saltwater hobby. He became manager of the store after 4 years and eventually was offered part ownership.

At that time he also got involved with another part of the trade, importation. Bryan had partnered with Steve Robinson who was a well known fish collector. Bryan and Steve were able to obtain an exclusive import license out of the Sea of Cortez, so for the next 3 years Bryan would work between his retail store and the new business Cortez Marine. He collected fish in the Sea of Cortez and worked on some big projects with some major public aquariums like Sea World San Diego, Denver Aquarium, and Monterey Bay Aquarium. Since Cortez Marine owned the only permit out of the Sea of Cortez they were able to corner the market on several popular fish species such as the famous Clarion Angelfish and the Blue Spot Jawfish.

In 2001, Bryan started Exotic Aquatics and began working with world renowned glass blower, Dale Chihuly to help design and maintain his 1600 gallon “living art aquarium”. This unique aquarium blends Chihuly’s glass art with the color and movement of many different fish species and is truly a one-of-a-kind aquarium. Be sure to check out the Chihuly Aquarium tab or visit http://www.chihuly.com/boathouse-aquarium-2000_detail.aspx to see it.

Bryan is very proud to be able to work in the field he is so passionate about and to share his knowledge and expertise with his clients and his two young sons.