When some people imagine owning a fish tank, their plans are as simple as a goldfish in a bowl. Jimmy Forsythe isn’t really one of those people. As the owner of My Fish Doctor at 1743 Daviess St., he’s spent the last two decades helping people and businesses build their dream aquariums.
Forsythe became the fish doctor at the beginning of 2000 when the plant where he had been working, General Electric, left Owensboro, which prompted him and hundreds of others to seek out new careers.
“A couple of friends became barbers,” he said. “A couple went to other factories. I went into fish.”
His shop on Daviess Street is the only one in the area with saltwater fish, as well as many specialty fish and hard to find varieties. Where the business really shines, though, is service.
Offering full-service aquarium rentals to businesses keeps Forsythe and his small staff busy. The rentals include the tanks, the fish and monthly service, and they are especially popular with hospitals, doctor’s offices, nursing homes and restaurants.
“You pay a set monthly fee and you get everything you need,” he explained. My Fish Doctor employees clean the tank, freshen the water and watch the fish to make sure none are too aggressive.
Last Friday, My Fish Doctor installed a 250-gallon aquarium at the new El Tucan restaurant location on Tamarack Blvd. The tank is hidden so that you only see the fish through faux portholes, showcasing Forsythe’s design skills as well.
While fish are a passion for him, his business had initial setbacks. He purchased the location from friends on Jan. 1, 2000, with five customers at the time. Two days later, a tornado lifted the roofs off two of those customers’ buildings.
“We had to go save their fish,” he said. “We went from five customers to three, but we eventually got them back.”
Today, the business services about 300 tanks a month across eight states. Of those, approximately 50 are part of the Cheddar’s restaurant chain.
Forsythe said when the Cheddar’s franchise opened in Owensboro, he introduced himself to the general manager and offered his services to care for the 450-gallon, 10-foot tank inside the restaurant. Cheddar’s used his business a couple of months later, and when the restaurant opened a location in Bowling Green, they asked Forsythe to service that tank as well.
His reputation spread to Ashville, N.C., when a former Owensboro Cheddar’s employee took a position there and raved about the tank. The manager asked for his services, but with a six-hour drive, it wasn’t worth his time unless they could get the surrounding franchises to use My Fish Doctor’s services as well. They did, and now Forsythe and his team have tanks from Memphis to Pittsburgh and beyond.
In all those tanks serviced, there’s bound to be a couple of unfortunate incidents.
Forsythe remembers getting a call from O’Charley’s restaurant about 10 years ago when he serviced two fish tanks there. A “rowdy group” had been in one night, he said, and the restaurant employees noticed the fish in one tank were acting strangely. One was already belly up. The employees theorized that someone in the group had thought it was a good idea to pour an alcoholic drink into the tank.
By the time he arrived, workers had transferred all of the fish in the questionable waters to the second tank and they were fine. The moral of the story, Forsythe said, is that “mixed drinks are not a good thing for a fish tank.”
Natural disasters are also not a friend to the aquariums. When the ice storm hit in 2009 nearly everyone lost power. The fish can do without the filtration for a while, but not without the heaters.
“We had lots of fish all over town at different businesses,” he said. “It was too cold for them to survive and none of us could communicate.”
Forsythe restocked all the rental customer’s tanks when the storm was over.
But it’s not all rescue missions — sometimes the routine services turn into something special. When he first started, Forsythe tried to service a nursing home fish tank at night so he “wasn’t in the way.”
Due to scheduling conflicts, one routine service had to be completed during the day. When he arrived for the service, he noticed the sitting area around the aquarium was empty. However, as he was cleaning, he looked up and noticed that every seat near him was full and some residents who were in wheelchairs had rolled into the room to watch. This opened up a conversation about which fish were their favorites and the residents asking questions.
“That was an eye-opener,” he said. “I realized I wasn’t an eyesore, I was entertainment. They all told me what they’d named the fish. It adds a new dimension to my job.”
For anyone considering getting a tank for their home or business, Forsythe says there are all kinds of sizes and shapes and directions you can go. To set up a home consultation call 270-570-FISH or visit www.myfishdr.com.
