About The Home-Reef

I would like to tell you a little about myself. My name is Brian Sousa and I have been in the marine aquarium hobby for over 23 years.
 
Like many aquarium hobbyists, I started with a basic goldfish bowl. Although I taught my goldfish to do some cool tricks, they soon became boring and ordinary to me.
 
While still in high school, I became fascinated with mini-reef aquariums that were just starting to become popular. I was employed at a local fish store where I got valuable training and advice for creating my first reef aquarium. Having merchandise discounts also helped.
 
During my employment, I was fortunate enough to work with the owner who helped me with his expert advice for design and set up of a perfect 75 gallon glass sided aquarium. We used all of the modern technology available at the time including trickle filters, skimmers, and lighting.
 
I was all excited to set up my first reef tank, but I didn't have any idea of what I wanted to keep and what animals were compatible with each other. I wanted a little of everything and I was determined to have the best looking tank around.
 
My boss, the fish store owner, stopped me in my tracks. He told me to slow down, and asked me to decide what look I wanted and what animals I wanted to keep? He gave me a few books to bring home with me that night and told me to do my research first. After a few weeks of reading and asking him a lot of annoying questions, it became clear to me what I wanted to do. I explained what I wanted and he gave me a grin and agreed to help me step by step towards creating my beautiful aquarium. The most important thing I took away from that experience was to do my research before hand and not rush things. He had given me a few more books written by Martin Moe to understand the basics of the marine aquarium hobby. I now had my first reef aquarium

I continued to work for that store and learned all aspects of keeping healthy aquariums, from acclimating livestock to doing water changes. My boss taught me the importance of keeping healthy marine life and that it was just as important to share that information with our customers.

To this day, I still enjoy helping any marine hobbyist with any questions that they may have. My family has a joke that they call me the “fish whisperer” (from the National Geographic TV series the “dog whisperer”).

I created this website so that I can share with you my experiences from starting my first tank, to design, setup and maintenance of my new 700 gallon built in, custom made reef tank.

I will periodically update sections of this site to share with you my personal experiences, and to give you recommendations on supplies and equipment that you can use. I hope this site will guide you along to creating your own marine or reef aquarium.

The Home-Reef™ is an aquarium maintenance and design company that offers consultations on starting a new aquarium, upgrades on existing systems, and maintenance and installation services in the Rhode Island area. We offer a full line of marine and reef supplies as well.

Our goal is to provide our customers with the necessary tools to achieve and maintain their dream systems. We do not currently operate with a retail store front, which allows us to provide our customers with the best services possible. If you would like more information about us, or are interested in our services, please visit our contact us page.