A Brief History
On April 1, 1984, three suburban Cleveland young men started a business that would become “The Aquarium Superstore!”
Digging Deeper
Robert, Mike, and Steve worked together to create RMS Aquaculture, putting their passion for tropical fish into a level above just a hobby.
Initially using their expertise to breed and raise various tropical fish, the young entrepreneurs initially filled their parents’ basements with rows of fish tanks. Successfully producing thousands of baby fish, RMS found ready buyers in local pet stores. This initial success meant having to move to more substantial quarters, and an abandoned greenhouse complex in Olmsted Township was found. With a supply of pure rainwater, the operation got much bigger, with tens of thousands of baby fish being raised for pet stores and wholesale operations.
Still, as many industrialists have found out in recent years, competing with Asia is no easy thing! Although able to sell their product at an economical price, the three fish farmers realized that retail posed better economic prospects.
Turning the greenhouses into a huge tropical fish and aquarium store, RMS developed a large following quickly, and business outgrew the greenhouses! Moving into a large space (16,000 square feet) in Middleburg Hts., Ohio created “The Aquarium Superstore” familiar to all tropical fish hobbyists in northeast Ohio.
Probably the largest tropical fish and aquarium store in the state, and possibly the Midwest, RMS has about 100 saltwater tanks of fish for sale, and over 200 tanks and tubs of freshwater fish, with anywhere from 300 to 600 species of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, corals, jellyfish, and amphibians available for sale.
Fresh and saltwater plants are also available, as well.
With many aquarium owners also keeping other pets, demand for non-aquatic pets and supplies caused RMS to start carrying puppies (no puppy mill dogs!), kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, chinchillas, ferrets, pot bellied pigs, hedgehogs, lizards, snakes, frogs and toads, spiders and insects, birds and the various foods and accoutrements needed to keep those critters. (Some of the animals are seasonal and not always available.)
Even native species of game fish are carried by the store when available, including bass, crappies, walleyes, perch, sunfish, muskellunge and northern pike, various North American catfish, and even White Sturgeons! Pond fish and supplies are also a major part of spring and summer business. In all, millions of fish have been sold and somewhere between a few hundred thousand and a million more are sold each year!
With some employees having over 20 years with the store, there is a lot of expertise to provide customers with advice and information about pets, especially tropical fish. Many customers proudly tell the younger workers at RMS how they used to shop at the old greenhouse location. As with many modern businesses, RMS has a website and will answer emails for specific questions, as well as an email sign-up for online specials and coupons.
Although Rob left the business several years ago, Mike and Steve still own and run things, providing their 30 years of expertise apiece. If you are thinking of starting an aquarium, RMS is an interesting place to visit and view the many beautiful and unusual fish available for the home hobbyist. Question for students (and subscribers): What is your favorite aquarium fish? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evdience
For more information on “aquaculture”, please see…
McLarney, William. Freshwater Aquaculture: A Handbook for Small Scale Fish Culture in North America. Echo Point Books & Media, 2015.
Van Gorder, Steven D. Small Scale Aquaculture. Alternative Aquaculture Assn, 2000.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1602 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=1602">97 Comments
Shark
goldfish
Sword fish
Bull shark
Goldfish
Goldfish
Killer whale
Bass!
Dolphin
Great white shark
Dolphin
Penguin (“)>
Whale shark
Lobster lobster
jellyfish
Hammer head shark!
a narwhal
Clownfish! (Nemo)
Jellyfish
I like and had eels in my aquariums, but I really want to get paddlefish for my pond! For obvious reasons to those who know me, I like the name of pumpkinseed for fish, too!
Angler fish
Dolphin!
blow fish
lots of fish!
Dolphins are cool
Sharks
Freshwater Dolphins
STARFISH
Eels
Starfish
Half man half shark
I had a skeleton fish once it was see-through.
Sharks
Does Ponyo count?
Killer whale
Fried Fish
Clownfish
seahorse
I like jellyfish, clownfish, eels and sharks.
Clown Fish
Beta Fish
*Betta Fish
jellyfish
minnow
seahorse
angel fish
coy fish
Starfish
Awesome place-plecosyamu
My favorite fish is probably tilapia.
my favorite fish to eat is Halibut!UMMMM
Starfish
Mandarinfish
And many people say our youth are lazy, and have no ambition. These young men certainly did and I am sure there are still many others that have the ambition to do something unique with their creativity.
Siamese fighting fish aka betta fish.
My favorite fish is the african cichlid.
COWS
Betta
my favorite fish is an Mandarin fish 🙂
Sharks
Angel fish
clown fish
jelly fish
star fish
gold fish
gold fish
Lake Erie sea monster
starfish
Tuna
seahorse
Nemo 🙂
I would definitely have to go with Tuna Fish, they are delicious!
clown fish
Oar Fish
Sword Fish
Sea horse
I would have to say. . . . STINGRAY!!!!!!
Jellyfish!
betta fish
Seahorses!
Angel Fish
Piranha fish
Rainbow fish
Shark!
The Beta Fish!
The puffer fish, but in reality spongebob beats all
Angel Fish
Angel fish
jelly fish
Dolphin!!!
Shark
Clown fish
jelly fish
Sting Ray
Black Molly
Shark
One of my favorite aquatic aquarium fish is the Oscar fish. The Oscar fish is a fun fish to take care of.