Bert Mellow
M&R was established in the Spring of 1958 By Bert Mellow, a German Aquarist who had an extensive knowledge of all aspects of fishkeeping. Bert was famous for being a visionary & helped to develop & refine many systems & techniques in M&R which are only now being considered "Modern".
When I first started working in M&R in 1975 we were already aware of the necessity of using Living Rock & Protein skimmers! What is even more amazing is that Bert was using these techniques even before I started working at M&R
I consider the time when I trained as a young apprentice with Bert Mellow as a valuable foundation for my career as an aquarist. Even today I still try to approach fishkeeping with the same methods & techniques that Bert did.
When faced with a new problem I still try to approach it in the scientific & diciplined manner in which I was taught. What most struck me about Bert's approach to fishkeeping was that no matter how humble or exotic a fish was, the care & attention to detail was always exceptional.
When Bert retired he said to me that if I was a little older I could have taken over the running of M&R from him. He also stated that he felt that I should stay & help manage M&R for the next owner; as he felt at some point in the future I would get an opportunity to take over.
Over a quarter of a century Later, I feel privileged to own M&R & to carry on in the same spirit of learning, which I know would have pleased Bert.
Jim