29/10/2026
Who remembers Tanks Of Gold?
Founded by Phil Andrews and Grant (surname forgotten) around 1993/1994, this place brings back such a sense of nostalgia and is, in a way, the birthplace of Ocean Storm as it exists today!!!
My beginnings in the Aquarium and fishing trade started here when I was a young school lad; I developed a fixation on fish, so much so that I spent just about every spare second down there, practically became part of the furniture, and was eventually awarded a position behind the counter.
Around late 2000 or early 2001, the original Manning Street Kiama Bait and Tackle, owned by Rob and Chris Duncan, was closing down as Rob had developed a terminal illness. Many people came across to Tanks of Gold asking if we sold bait. After turning so many people away, I saw an opportunity and took it by the horns!
With the blessing of Phil at Tanks of Gold, to whom I am forever grateful, I made an arrangement with the former tackle store to sell off some of the remaining tackle at the aquarium site. This, combined with supply and support from John at Seahunter Tackle Ulladulla, Clint at Bremer Bait, and Ian from Tight Lines, in a way, kick-started what Ocean Storm is today!
Unfortunately, the tackle journey lasted only a few months and ended around early 2001 when Tanks of Gold became financially unsustainable and abruptly closed. However, I continued on at both Kiama and Dapto Markets for a few months and took up a temporary Job with Peter at Wollongong Aquarium and Pets.
In October 2001, when I was just 18, I went on to open my very first small Aquarium and tackle store “Fishing Aqua Pet” in the former Jewels/IGA Arcade on Terralong Street Kiama with total rent payable of only $180 a week!!! Those were the days!!
This stint lasted 6 months before I met a lovely man, Denis Varayannis, who embraced me and gave me the opportunity to rent, without lease for a period, a store with main exposure on Terralong street (where Blooms Chemist exists today). I then went onto lease the adjoining shop and expanded into pets, however this journey ended when the building sold, and a demolition clause was enacted.
Around 2006, I approached a local struggling clothing business next to Red Rooster Kiama and paid them a sum to vacate and take over the lease so I could continue my business. However, the focus was then only on Fishing as my online empire was expanding rapidly in this category. I re-named “Fishing Aqua Pet” to “Ocean Storm Fishing Tackle” and carried on operations there until 2013.
In 2012, the business was aggressively expanding, and I opened up a second site next to Bing Lee Warilla. When COVID struck and a list of new competitors entered the strip, a few challenges began to appear, so in 2020 I decided to diversify and get back into the Aquarium business. “Ocean Storm Aquariums was born”.
However, a barrage of challenges continued, including a marriage breakdown in 2021 and a family law matter that ran until 2025; it proved to be an extreme challenge and ended the chapter at the original Warilla site.
I continued to run my online business from home for 8 months but eventually was able to re-finance, and here I am today, still standing tall and rebuilding Ocean Storm in our present location at 117 Shellharbour Road Warilla.
Second photo of me is in my first store in the Kiama IGA Arcade when I was just 18.
