Pride and Professionalism

Marcye Sweeney

Owner

Marcye’s hand has been in one tank or another for over 36 years. Her first love was a big glass box whose occupants were collected at the Jersey shore in ‘76. After months of research, Marcye and her partners (bio majors at Rutgers University) used baby bottle brushes “engineered” to fit an old electric mixer to beat up the proteins and remove them from their tank with spoons and ladles. Talk about old school protein skimming!

In her 36+ years as an aquarist, she has kept both fresh and saltwater systems, has been involved with animal rescue, conservation issues and several environmental reform agencies. As a news journalist Marcye worked for several print media sources penning articles on Central Florida Environmental issues and highlighted agencies and programs working towards salvaging the wilderness of the state. In 1990, as editor of her college newspaper, she was instrumental in widespread environmental campus reform, was given an award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting from Ohio State University for stateside coverage of the Gulf War and was voted Student of the Year at the college where she maintained a perfect 4.0 average.

For eleven years, as an employee of the Seminole County School System, she was the adviser for the environmental program Earthwild which won several awards as a top program for youths nationally. The club involved kids 10-16 and served hundreds of students in the eleven years Marcye was involved. In her final year with the school district, she was also adviser for the student newspaper. She was twice voted Employee of the Year at the school where she worked and was first runner up for the district in 2001, proving her dedication, caring nature and strong work ethic.

Marcye brings these same values to Sea in the City. She is dedicated to providing customers with aquarium specimens that are ethically caught, tank raised or grown in Sea in the City’s own on-site farm. She is a certified scuba diver and loves snorkeling Florida’s west coast.

Marcye’s Tank Set-Up:
220 Gallon Reef: Many of the animals and corals are well over 10-years-old. Remarkably, she has a big, ol’ male mandarin that is coming up on 9-years-old (loves Microvore Diet, Rod’s Fish Eggs and Arctic Pods) and two of her favorite fish are Bella and Lugosi, a pair of Bellus angels she’s had for over 5 years. Other fish are a pair of maroon clowns, Pisces and Virgo who have lived happily in their enormous carpet anemone for close to 15 years, a spotted anthias, appropriately named Spot, a watchman/goby pair, and a dragonface pipefish. She and husband Tom also manage a 3500 gallon backyard pond.

Consultant

Tom is employed as a project manager and design coach at Best Plumbing and Remodeling based out of Oviedo, a company he helped build with sons Craig, Rusty and Derick. He has been involved in plumbing and home remodeling for 37 years and brings to Sea in the City an abundance of knowledge that sets us apart from most companies in the area of tank installations. He is a master of flow dynamics after years of working with everything from home plumbing to large commercial projects that required moving water several stories high.

In addition, Tom worked with the engineering department at Disney to install the self-flush bathroom facilities there, and as a co-owner of Icon Systems designed and implemented computer based remote plumbing systems in prisons nationwide.

Tom worked as a project manager at both Yale and Johns Hopkins Universities overseeing Electronic Plumbing uses in the Medical Field. When installing tanks, Tom “hard plumbs” our larger systems rather than just attaching hoses and tubes. He employs various plumbing features that include valves to allow flow regulation, quick disconnects to allow for easier maintenance and designs adjustable dursos that can be “tuned” for better flow and less noise.He is a former Board Member for the Central Florida Better Business Bureau, a role reserved for top businessmen in the area who show strong ethical business practices.

Tom’s Tank Set-Ups:
220 Gallon Reef