Businesses Catch On to Fish in the Office : Workplace: Aquariums make a splash with companies seeking ways to help employees and customers relax.
When patients come to dentist Ken Bonner, they are treated in surroundings designed to keep stress levels low.
TV monitors are mounted on the ceiling above treatment chairs, and stereo headphones are available. Perhaps the most soothing feature in his Newport Beach office, however, is a pair of 75-gallon saltwater aquariums stocked with fish in shades of neon, pinkish brown and coral.
“I emphasize low stress, pain-free dentistry,” Bonner said. “I’m trying to make a supportive and comfortable environment for patients. . . . Tanks have a calming effect.”
Aquariums, long a fixture of children’s bedrooms and the homes of avid hobbyists, are now making a big splash in the offices of doctors and lawyers, in corporate settings and small businesses. The companies’ aim is to try to make their workplaces more friendly and relaxing for both employees and customers.
“Everyone is under so much stress right now, and people do spend more time at offices than at home,” said Pam Plotkin, the owner of Living Creations, a Newport Beach aquarium design store. “It’s a way of bringing a little comfort level to the business.”
Fish are the third most popular pets in the United States after dogs and cats, said Barbara Bell, a spokeswoman for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council in Washington. In 1991, the latest year for which figures are available, U.S. consumers spent $561.9 million on saltwater and freshwater fish at pet stores.
And the amount of money spent on feeding those fish has increased dramatically in recent years, from $91 million for 1988 to $111.9 million for 1991. In fact, the growing popularity of office aquariums has created a growth industry among those who maintain the often-elaborate business aquariums, which can cost as much as $10,000 to set up.
“A lot of people say it’s relaxing and non-stressful” to have fish in an office environment, said Victoria Alberty, owner of Accents Plus Business Interiors, a Newport Beach interior design firm. “They add life to the office, and it’s like having a living work of art.”
Mike Messick, owner of Handbill Printers in Garden Grove, installed a 175-gallon shark tank in his office two years ago. Since then, he said, the twice-weekly feeding of his three sharks has become an office ritual at the commercial printing facility, which employs about 160 people.
“It’s kind of something to talk about other than just printing, and I think my employees get satisfaction out of watching them eat,” Messick said of the sharks. “I’m sure it’s part of the success of the business--making everyone involved in just about everything we do.”
There are at least three dozen companies in Orange County that create and maintain aquariums for those who want to do nothing more with their tanks than look at them, said Omar Azze, owner of Ocean Design Systems Inc. in Huntington Beach. Much of his work, Azze said, is for businesses.
Azze confesses that working with fish is as relaxing for him as watching them is for his customers. “I could probably have 90 instead of 45 clients if I didn’t stare at the fish,” he said. “I could do them faster than I do.”
Ocean Design specializes in saltwater tanks that contain tropical fish and can also support the growth of coral. Unlike freshwater tanks, which can be home to common river fish such as goldfish and guppies, the flora and fauna that live in saltwater need highly specialized lighting and filtration to thrive.
“A lot of people will try to do it as inexpensively as possible. But it’s not good in the long run,” Azze said. “If you don’t have proper lighting, protein skimmers, a chiller to keep the water cool, in the short run you’ll keep your tanks, but in the long run it’s not fair to the animals because you’ll kill them.”
Richard Barboza, co-owner of Reef Systems Inc. in Westminster and Chino Hills, estimates that his business has grown by 20% a year since it was founded in 1987. The recession appears to have missed him, Barboza said. “Anyone can cut your yard or clean the pool, but not everybody can clean your tank. . . . I have friends with degrees in electronic engineering who can’t get jobs, and I’m putting in $10,000 tanks.”
Barboza’s clientele has changed noticeably over the past few years, he said, with an increasing number of requests coming from businesses rather than hobbyists.
“I think the biggest reason businesses put (aquariums) in,” he said, “is that they distract people from what is going on there.”
An example is the reception area at the law office of Marc Vincent and Associates, a malpractice and personal injury law firm based in Orange. The office features a 200-gallon reef coral tank that covers an entire wall.
“A lot of people come in here and they are uptight,” said Kym Smith, a receptionist at the firm. “If you look at a fish tank, it’s . . . quite relaxing.”
It’s also good advertising for companies in the aquarium business. Pet Care Co., which has stores in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Hermosa Beach and Cerritos, keeps an aquarium in the reception area of its corporate office in Newport Beach.
“Sometimes on a stressful day, I see people in the office going out to look at the fish and feed them,” said Lee Hein, sales manager for the pet-store chain. “Our office manager who takes care of the tank has named all (the fish). She knows who they are and (says) they have personalities.”
The tanks entertain the salespeople and others who make calls at Pet Care, Hein said.
“When we have visitors come and they need to stay in the reception area for a while, it gives them something to look at and interact with,” she said. “Anyone can have a magazine on a coffee table or photos on the wall of an office, but not a lot of people have a 60-gallon aquarium with live animals.”
* ONE MAN’S FISH STORY: Omar Azze of Huntington Beach has turned a hobby into a career designing and maintaining aquariums. D6
Fish Markets
Sales of freshwater and saltwater fish and fish food climbed during the late 1980s and are now leveling off. Independent pet stores’ sales, in millions: Fish 1988: $233.5 1989: $242.2 1990: $272.9 1991: $234.7 Fish Food 1988: $91.0 1989: $97.3 1990: $113.7 1991: $111.9 Source: Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council
