It is often challenging to hire any sort of livestock managers. Trusting someone to know more than you may ever know about a pet you sell is often intimidating. Knowing that you have hired the right person is doubly difficult when it is hiring an "expert."

Really what you want in your fishroom is someone to keep everything alive, to ensure all the tanks are stocked and cleaned appropriately, and to answer the customers' questions correctly. This means hiring someone who knows he knows something about fish. Keeping that person from ordering a bunch of items that don't really sell well (large, aggressive fish for example) is also a challenge.

The trick to the whole thing is assessing the person, as is the case with any hiring. Find a person who gives you a good feeling as well as someone you trust. I find hiring works best when a talented, successful person is there with me at the interview. Ask a friend, family member or customer who loves you (you know the one) to sit in on some interviews.

When hiring, it works best to have a series of questions that are the same for every candidate. This way, you can assess each person based on their answer. You will also hear the differences in the answers.

Have the same person read the same question to each candidate you are interviewing. I have asked candidates to identify fish pictures and tell me what they know — simple, easy-to-identify fish. The answer can be telling — right or wrong, or willing to fess up to not having any clue.

Once you have identified and hired your new manager, state plainly your expectations. Then hand the new hire the expectations in writing. For me, clean tanks that are stocked to look full are often a really good starting point. All the fish priced, sick fish not offered for sale, cleanliness in the room, sterile nets — this is the crucial stuff.

When the new hire is starting to order fish, have him give you the list for approval until you understand what he is doing. New hires tend to order lighter in order to not make a mistake on your dime, then they stock the tanks too lightly and sales dip.

Keeping the orders in line with keeping all the tanks stocked well is a trick. Show them the best discounts on your vendor's lists; tell them to keep those Neon Tetras at no less than 25 and to not let stocks ever make a tank look lightly stocked.

The biggest thing to remember is to catch your new hire doing things right. Yes, you heard that — catch her in the act or tell her the next time you see her when you found something great in your fishroom, with a customer or the staff. Nothing makes someone want to succeed more than knowing what is important to you and having you notice. This means you have to notice what she is doing.

Sometimes the best you can do is to hire a good person. A good person will often get you where you need to be as experts often come with so many bad habits that you can't fix.

Ultimately, the numbers always tell the tale. If the sales are good and the aquarium customers are happy, that's an employee who is managing your fishroom well.