Reality television-TANKED

12 Sep Reality television-TANKED

by Mike Gambino

I have often wondered what a show about the day to day operation of a  landscape lighting design and build company would look like. Hey why not? There are reality shows about even more mundane trades like pest control, trash and scrap removal and now fish tank building. Tanked is the name of a new reality television program which premiered on the Animal Planet channel a few weeks ago. I accidentally tuned in while channel surfing to unexpectedly find that this hobby/niche business has a lot in common with the low voltage landscape lighting design build business which I am a part of. I think there are many business lessons to be learned by studying this company. Immediately I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. In addition the shows stars are transplanted New Yorkers who moved out west (Las Vegas) and started a very successful business from scratch which parallels my own personal story so there is an affinity there. After five minutes of viewing this program it was also a bit nostalgic as the two partners who run the business are so much like the guys I new growing up in New York around the same time I did.

During my internet search of this company and show I was not surprised to find how many negative things were being said on message boards from those from within the same industry about this company. I have personally witnessed this first hand in my own industry and most of it can be chalked up to sour grapes and jealousy. Why them and not me? Why do they get to be on tv and get the opportunity to do these amazing high ticket projects when I am just as good and better? So on and so forth. I have seen it over and over which is why I try and stay out of my own industry forums and away from industry association gatherings. Also why I mostly look outside of my own industry and out of the cesspool of negativity to get new ideas being service business related or trade technical.

The complaints from their peers ranged from how they treated the fish, to their over the top NY personalities and how some even went as far to say the negative image they were presenting of the industry. Some compared it to the popularity of the Disney animated movie Finding Nemo which I guess some industry insiders feel inspired people to go out and buy clown fish for all the wrong reasons.

Here is a reprint of a blog post made by Brando Klaus on the Aquanerd website which I think does a good job of summing up the sentiment from within the fish tank builder and hobbyist world.

Thoughts on the new show “TANKED”

By Brandon Klaus

As most of you are aware, the new aquarium-based television show “Tanked” premiered on Animal Planet last night. The show walked viewers through a few new setups that were being built, including a mob-themed aquarium build, a shark tank at a hotel, and an aquarium made from an old phone booth. We also got to see inside the massive Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM) workshop and even an aquatics wholesaler, shining a little light into the different parts of the aquarium industry not typically seen be fish keepers. There was also a brief appearance by Justin Grabel, who is well known in the aquarium industry for his articles and public presentations. While it was nice to see someone so closely tied to the hobby on this show, most hobbyists still held a negative opinion of “Tanked”.

Shortly after the first “Tanked” episode came to a close, the aquarium forum sites came alive with the opinions of many aquarium keepers. Most of these opinions were negative, with hobbyists arguing that the fish were introduced to the brand new aquariums too soon or not quarantined properly. Others were appalled at the use of tap water in the fish-only systems or how the fish were being handled at the wholesaler. We all know reality tv isn’t a good representation of reality, but regardless of whether or not the practices used by the ATM crew were just for show or are examples of how they truly operate, we feel that the show needs to have some type of disclaimer or text graphic giving out bits and pieces of information related to proper aquarium husbandry at different parts of the show. The less glamorous aspects of our hobby may not draw in the ratings, but it isn’t wise to outright reject them either. This especially holds true when the hobby gets as much public attention as it has from “Tanked”.

With all that in mind, we’d like to address the crews at Acrylic Tank Manufacturing and Animal Planet. You are in a very good place to genuinely educate the public on saltwater aquariums and proper animal husbandry. We realize this is a reality television show and that in order to draw in viewers you have to have drama, comedy, and plenty of antics, but please do a better job of explaining the hard work and time that is required to setup a successful aquarium. We don’t want this show casting a negative light on this hobby, nor do we want a bunch of people getting into the hobby attempting to mimic what they see on tv. This happened with the dreadful children’s movie “Finding Nemo”, and I would personally hate to have the deaths of countless fish on my conscious.

There must be some sort of “cannibalistic mentality” from within the tribe when it comes to blue collar business owners.  As I said earlier I’ve seen it in my own industry and the pond building and carpet cleaning building industries which I have studied looking for ideas and business practices to model. I wonder if white collar businesses receive such scrutiny and bad mouthing from members within the same industry. Somehow I don’t think so.

From a business standpoint the exposure that this niche/hobby is receiving on national television is priceless. Unfortunately the naysayers are too bitter and angry to realize this and crawl out from behind their computer screens long enough to capitalize on it. I guess it takes less effort and guts to bash in this manner.

In any event I wish the owners of this company continued success with their primary business and foray into reality television programming. I will be eagerly watching this show for as long as it lasts. And to those small service business owners who collaborate and work closely with clients on their projects I highly recommend watching this show and others like it as there is more than entertainment value here there are lessons to be learned and new ideas to be gleaned.

This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.