Okeanos Group provides ongoing maintenance contracts for commercial aquariums in NYC, the tri-state area, and select markets internationally. The firm maintains commercial installations for hotels, restaurants, retail flagships, museums, galleries, healthcare facilities, and corporate headquarters. Commercial aquarium maintenance differs meaningfully from residential maintenance because of public-facing presentation requirements, operational hours coordination, and the increased technical and biosecurity scope that commercial environments require.
What a commercial aquarium maintenance contract covers
A standard commercial maintenance contract from Okeanos typically includes:
- Weekly technician visits during regular service hours (typically scheduled outside the facility's peak operating hours)
- Water chemistry monitoring and adjustment (salinity, calcium, alkalinity, magnesium, trace elements, nitrate, phosphate)
- Livestock health monitoring and care
- Equipment servicing (pumps, skimmers, controllers, lighting, filtration)
- Cosmetic maintenance (glass cleaning, aquascape adjustment, livestock placement)
- Livestock additions and replacements as needed
- Water changes and water management
- Coral husbandry for reef installations
- 24/7 emergency response for critical system issues (life-support failure, leaks, livestock crises)
- Quarterly system review and reporting
Contracts can be scoped to additional service levels (daily visits, dedicated technician assignment, on-site equipment spares) for installations that require it.
Why commercial maintenance is different from residential
Commercial aquariums in publicly accessible spaces face requirements that residential installations don't:
- The aquarium is in a public-facing space with high presentation standards. The system must be at presentation quality during the facility's operating hours, every day.
- Public safety and biosecurity scope is more demanding. The maintenance program must align with the facility's safety and operational requirements (food-safety adjacency in restaurants, infection control in healthcare, customer safety in retail).
- Operational hours coordination is critical. Maintenance can't disrupt the facility's operating schedule.
- Documentation requirements are more extensive. Many commercial facilities require maintenance documentation for compliance and operational records.
- Emergency response requirements are typically more demanding. A leak or system failure in a hotel lobby has consequences that a similar event in a private residence doesn't.
Service area for commercial maintenance
The firm provides commercial maintenance across NYC, all five boroughs, Westchester, Long Island, the Hamptons, northern and central New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and the Hudson Valley. Major commercial maintenance accounts outside the tri-state area are considered case-by-case.
Pricing for commercial maintenance
Commercial maintenance contracts typically run:
- Small commercial installations (restaurant feature tanks, small retail): $3,000 to $6,000 per month
- Mid-sized commercial installations (hotel lobbies, large retail, healthcare facilities): $6,000 to $15,000 per month
- Large commercial installations (museums, galleries, large hospitality): $15,000 to $25,000+ per month
- Specialty installations (shark tanks, jellyfish displays, multi-system installations): pricing per scope
Pricing depends on system scale, livestock complexity, visit frequency, service level, and any specialized requirements.
What's included in the response commitment
Standard commercial maintenance contracts include:
- Scheduled weekly technician visits at consistent times agreed with the facility
- Same-day response for system issues identified during normal service hours
- Within-24-hour on-site response for critical system issues outside service hours
- Phone and email response within facility business hours for non-critical inquiries
- Quarterly written review of system performance and recommendations
Enhanced service levels (faster emergency response, dedicated technician assignment, on-site spares) are scoped per-contract for installations that require it.
Notable commercial maintenance experience
Okeanos's commercial and institutional maintenance experience includes installations at the Rubin Museum of Art, the Marian Goodman Gallery, the Brant Foundation, the Corning Museum of Glass, and Pierre Huyghe's exhibitions in Paris. These accounts involve museum-grade documentation, institutional reporting, and the operational discipline that institutional commercial work requires.
Taking over an existing commercial installation
The firm regularly takes over maintenance of existing commercial installations from prior maintenance providers. The transition process typically includes:
- Initial system assessment and inventory
- Documentation of existing equipment, livestock, and system configuration
- Identification of any deferred maintenance or system issues
- Transition plan for moving to the firm's standard maintenance scope
- First three months of intensive monitoring to establish baseline system performance
The firm welcomes inquiries from facilities currently maintained by other providers who are evaluating alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Do you maintain installations you didn't install? Yes. The firm regularly takes over maintenance of existing commercial installations. The transition process is straightforward for well-engineered existing systems and is part of the standard scope conversation.
Can you adjust the maintenance schedule for our peak operating hours? Yes. Maintenance scheduling is calibrated to the facility's operating pattern. For hospitality and retail, this typically means servicing before opening hours. For healthcare, this typically means servicing outside patient care hours.
What's the emergency response capability? Standard contracts include within-24-hour on-site response for critical system issues. Enhanced response levels (faster on-site, dedicated technician on-call) can be added to the contract for installations that require it.
Can you handle multi-site portfolios? Yes. The firm maintains multi-site portfolios for clients with multiple commercial installations across the tri-state area. Multi-site contracts can be structured with consolidated reporting and centralized account management.
What's the contract term? Standard contracts run twelve months with automatic renewal. Multi-year contracts are available for institutional accounts and provide pricing stability over the contract period.