I won’t kid you: a lot of controversy surrounds this show. Many of you thoroughly enjoy the show – the unorthodox builds, the personalities, the variety of animals that are worked with on a day-to-day basis, the drama that takes place amongst the cast. On the other hand, many of you are concerned (and some down-right angry) about how Animal Planet and Acrylic Tank Manufacturers (ATM) portray the hobby – the choice of livestock, stocking levels, species compatibility, the bungling things that take place with customers during the build process, the lack of educational value about the animals that live in our glass boxes. The list goes on and on in both directions.

Discussion about the topics raised by the show range far and wide on the Internet.  A quick Google search will return more than you ever wanted to know about the show and peoples’ opinions about it. Brett Raymer speaking at this year’s MACNA in Iowa contributed a lot to the discussion as well.

Given that Animal Planet has ordered Season 2 of “Tanked,” now is an excellent time to let them know how you feel about the show. This is a huge opportunity for our hobby because Animal Planet and ATM can really do a lot for us in the way of educating the public about proper husbandry techniques, aquaculture and breeding practices, sustainability, issues facing the ocean today (like shark finning and the Atlantic lionfish invasion), and the like.

Aquanerd blogged about it last week and I also encourage each of you to make yourselves heard at Animal Planet by sending them an email ([email protected]) filling out their web form at http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/viewer-relations/. Unfortunately, you have to jump through three form screens before you finally get to the comments box, but it’s well worth it voice your opinion. Another option is to write a letter and mail it to the following address:

Discovery Communications
Viewer Relations
One Discovery Place
5th Floor
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Season 2 is coming up. Let them know how they can shape the show for the betterment of the hobby.