School of Fish brings over 40 years experience in fish conditioning and acclimation to the industry. Here at SOF we focus on fish as they are the backbone of our operation. Fish are continuously monitored and logged as they go through our conditioning process. We keep a close eye on supply chains as certain fish are better from certain chains.

   Fish arrive and go through a very disciplined acclimation process tailored for particular species. Directly on arrival fish go through a series of therapeutic dips and a freshwater dip focused on eliminating bacterial, fungal, and parasitic elements. New livestock go into our receiving tanks for 7 to 14 days before being moved to our main systems. In receiving fish are brought up to therapeutic levels of copper and undergo their first praziquantel treatment. Wrasses and puffers do not go into copper systems and are put in chloroquine system. When fish are ready to leave receiving they go through another series of dips including formalin dips. Once fish reach therapeutic levels of copper they stay there for the remainder of the process. Once in main system fish follow a dip schedule and are monitored and logged with individualized plans if needed.

    With multiple systems we are able to put fish in systems designed for their needs. Our systems are designed with pristine water quality in mind as we believe in highly oxygenated systems with proper lighting because lighting is vital for fish health. All systems contain major protein skimming, ultraviolet sterilization, micron filtration, and proper circulation.  Bi-weekly water changes are performed and systems are also boosted with Replenish from Brightwell. Our systems run copper as a protozoan preventative, praziquantel for flukes, metronidazole, and other preventatives. The fish then follow a scheduled plan of freshwater and "in house" dips. Dips that target gram-negative and gram positive bacterias.  In addition to this fish undergo daily logged observations and a dip regimen  until declared ready for sale. 

   Here at School of Fish we prefer and use Tropic Marin salt. However during their recall we used Instant Ocean Salt as we have found this salt to be very close to natural seawater conditions. However we are back to Tropic Marin Pro Reef  because of its precision in major and minor elements. We also run our system at a salinity that mirrors seawater so avoid organ issues when fish enter customer systems that most likely are running Reef level salinity.

   We feel diet is key for the fish to strengthen immune systems and provide for overall health. Diets are designed and fortified with vitamins and minerals to condition the livestock. We use a wide range of different types of food and vitamin packages. At SOF we also incorporate live foods to trigger feeding responses on notorious hard to feed species. Fish are fed lots of live algae as well.  Our goal is to have most species eating New Life Spectrum Marine pellets. This gives customers the option of auto feeders as well as providing a balanced staple diet.

   People often ask about the photography we take of the fish WYSIWYG collection. The photos are taken with an iPhone as they leave their first receiving dip and are being moved to their initial freshwater dip. So in actuality these fish are photoed directly after shipping. This can lead to the reality that they will only look better once they are conditioned. Outside of size, and ratio editing along with logo insertion there is no editing of the photos. We can provide videos of the fish upon request. Videos uploaded of fish are taken with iPhone and not edited outside of clipping.

If you ever have any questions feel free to call or email.