Aquarium retailer Great Lakes Fish and Coral opens in Macedonia - cleveland.com

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Aquarium retailer Great Lakes Fish and Coral opens in Macedonia - cleveland.com Posted: 12 May 2021 02:16 PM PDT MACEDONIA, Ohio – Great Lakes Fish and Coral, an aquarium retailer that specializes in fish, coral, plants and aquarium maintenance, opened for business in March at 953 East Aurora Road, Macedonia in the Alexandria Square shopping center. The 2,570-square foot store is a dream come true for owner Andrew Novack, who has been fascinated with aquatic life since childhood. "I have always been completely intrigued with the ocean," Novack said. "It covers the majority of the Earth, but we know less about it than the surface of the Moon. Once I got my first saltwater tank 6-7 years ago, the rest was history. I never realized coral is not only a plant, but an animal and a plant living symbiotically. After finding this out, I really got bit by the bug and never looked back." Great Lakes Fish and Coral offers 4,000 combined gallons of fresh and saltwater wildlife, as well as supplies for setting up and maintaining both saltwater and freshwater aquariums. Store offerings range from economical beginner kits to rare fish and large-scale aquariums. Though freshwater tanks are easier to manage, Novack said the amount of time, money and care saltwater aquariums require is often overblown. "You can very easily and successfully keep a saltwater tank with beautiful wildlife and coral as long as you're willing to make just a little bit of effort," he said in a release. "We're happy to show you how and our install team can take care of set-up at your home or office." But Novack sees his role as more than just a store owner, as he aims to share his passion for aquatic life with others and have a positive impact on the hobby and the community. "I'm just a hobbyist at heart. I simply love this stuff. I work 12 hours a day, seven days a week and it sounds cliché, but the saying 'you never work a day in your life if you enjoy what you do,' I find that to be true." Novack believes his store is different from other retailers is his focus on offering captive-bred and responsibly collected fish and coral for sale. These techniques are more responsible and sustainable than wild harvesting, which have decimated the population of popular aquatic species, such as the yellow tang, Novack said. Novack's store also has a farm that specializes in aquaculturing corals, so corals aren't removed from the oceans. "Our oceans are vast but not infinite," he said. Novack also focuses on quality of life. "We care about the quality of life for each fish before they come into our care, while they're with us, and after they leave us," he said in a release. Novack bounced around several different careers, including as a union carpenter and life insurance sales agent, before deciding to take a pay cut to manage an aquatic wildlife store. When he heard the retail space was available last November, he knew things were starting to line up. After signing a lease for the space, Novack invested his life savings into the business and enlisted family members to help him get the space ready to open. "It's kind of like a book, a movie, the American Dream. You make sacrifices until you get to a point where you have an opportunity. And when I had the opportunity, I had to jump on it," he said. The store provides updates on its current stock on its Facebook page. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The store is closed on Wednesdays. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Wednesdays.

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