← The Deep End with Eric Triplett
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Welcome to the Deep End with Eric Triplett, the pond digger. This is the show for contractors, tradesmen and entrepreneurs who want more from their
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business and from themselves. Eric brings decades of experience as a seven figure contractor with expertise in leadership,
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sales systems, and the discipline it takes to build something real. Shaped by years in the aquatics world,
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his insights are rooted in precision, craftsmanship, and performance.
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If you're done skimming the surface and ready to go deeper, it's time to dive in. Hey, what's up, rockstars and all you aquatic fish head freaks. Welcome back to the Deep End. It's Triplet here, and today's episode is a really fun one for me and a little different. I'm sitting down with Logan Rando. He's a creator. You've probably seen him blown up on Instagram and YouTube and Tik Tok. He's. He's that dude that does those man on the street interviews, asking people in real time about aquariums, like, is it cute or is it cringe? And he's just capturing raw, unfiltered reactions on the streets. And what I love about this is he's bringing aquatics into culture, like. Like real culture. College towns, nightlife, people hanging out, having a good time. And then boom, this guy's up here. And all of a sudden we're talking about fish tanks in the middle of it. And I think it's funny, it's a little awkward. It has a lot of potential for virality, and to me, I think it's genius. I just love it. Well, I caught him and recorded this live podcast@AQUASWAP 2026, put on by Coast Tropical Fish Club. And so just a heads up, there's some background noise, there's people moving around, there's raffles going off, and it's like, has some live event energy. And my producer had to work really hard to. To clean it up so we could actually use the footage, but that's what makes it real. And this is a kind of a quick hit, but it's powerful. I definitely did not get enough time with this guy in this particular episode, but I think we touched on some really fun stuff. So let's get into it. Logan, what's up with this? You fascinate me out on the streets in the man on the street thing, and you're like, is it cringe or is it cute? Let's just start right there. Tell us where it came from.
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So I've been in the aquascaping game. I've been, you know, making content for a few years. Kind of been in the greater industry for a little while, but, you know, I kind of realized in order to stand out, I got to do something different. And I've got this background in acting. I do a lot of improv in San Diego. I was like, I think I have the guts to just go out on the streets and ask the questions that we all joke about in this hobby, but, you know, because it's very niche hobby, you know, these kind of questions, they live in our heads. So I was like, I'm actually going on the streets and ask people what they think of our weird little hobby.
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What's. What's the most viral one that you've had so far?
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Like, probably just some of the stuff you're familiar with. San Diego, Pacific beach is like, a college area. So, you know, a lot of people out having fun, some of the, like, the really quick, rapid responses there, because, you know, I think we're all human, right? We like to see. We like to be validated for the things that bring us joy. And when you see, you know, a bunch of cute girls out having a good time that are like, yeah, I would date somebody with aquariums. Those ones are, you know, they're nearing, like, a million views, which, for a tiny creator like myself, is. Is good.
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Yeah. Yeah. Well, those are the ones that caught my attention. I thought it was so funny, you know? And what's. What's with the. With the grandma in her little robe? The other one? How did even.
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Oh, yeah.
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What's the lady in a robe doing on the street? Walking her dog.
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Yeah. So some of them I film in Little Italy, which is a little bit more of, like, a ritzy part of San Diego. And you. You meet, like, a lot of people on vacation, people traveling, international folk. And I think she was just staying at, like, a local venue and was just walking her dog. And those are the people I want to talk to. Yeah, I want to get, you know, everybody's opinion on this niche thing that brings you and I a lot of joy. But most people don't have six aquariums in their. Their home, and they're like, what?
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Why?
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How. You know, so.
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Yeah, yeah, that one lady, she was like, oh, I guarantee your house smells like fish and all that. That was. That was pretty funny. And she was just sitting in her car. I mean, do you. You've done staged any of that, right?
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No, absolutely none of it is staged. I. It may seem very run of the gun, but I have, like, a whole code of ethics that I utilize. You know, we live in this world now where everybody is running around porting the camera in your. In your face.
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Yeah.
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I don't want to spread any negativity. I don't want to ruin any day. So it all has to be positive. And because of that, none of it is staged. It's all organic. But I only talk to people who are open with being talked to.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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Cool.
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No, not, not from a documentation point of view, but I do come from a filmmaking background. So you know what I'm doing in filmmaking. We would call gorilla filmmaker filmmaking. Right. Street interviews, but filmmakers have been doing it forever. It's just guerrilla filmmaking. And this code of ethics feeds into not contributing to like negative content creation but also, like, having folks walk away with a positive experience, which you guys don't always see on camera. But a lot of the time after I talk to somebody, I use three seconds of their interview. They usually were like, hey, what is this for? And I show them my Instagram and I teach them about aquascaping. And they're like, oh, my God, I had no idea that existed.
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Yeah.
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So you end up having, like, a really beautiful experience where you show somebody this thing. I don't know, maybe 1 out of 100 is looks it up later and they're like, hey, I'm gonna. I'm gonna learn more about aquascaping. But Dakota ethics is like an approach. So you kind of just look at a lot of it is social dynamics. Aquascaping, obviously very science based. So take a scientific approach to this. It's just like looking at people's body language and seeing, okay, if they have closed body language, don't approach them. Like, you never approach something from the back with a camera. If somebody's trapped, let's say they're at a crosswalk, wa across, never approach that person because if they're uncomfortable, they can't get away. So that's kind of selecting how I approach people. And if I get any bad vibes, it's just like, hey, thank you so much for your time.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Those are kind of the basics of it.
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And is that Tripod your cameraman all the time, or do you have someone follow you sometimes?
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No, actually, my buddy Kevin, my closest friend in San Diego, he was like my creative partner all last year. He would do some for his Instagram. So, you know, sometimes like, Comic Con was like a 16 hour day. Wow, 90 degrees in San Diego. I'm in a spider man suit. He's into Captain America.
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Oh, my God.
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We're passing the camera back and forth for stuff like this. You kind of need somebody to hold it, A, for safety reasons, and B, because, like, again, I have this code of ethics. But on the other side of that, a lot of the times people are a little bit shy in the beginning, so they'll kind of like, keep walking and you'll walk with them and you'll prove that you're, like, benign and not doing anything weird and not asking them, like, you know, dangerous question and they'll stop. So because of that, though, there's a little bit of, like, matching energy. You need somebody with the camera to, like, move with you.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I noticed. I noticed that on a lot of stuff, I was looking at you like I could tell someone was panning or moving around or following you, so I could tell. But you know, I mean, it's hard unless you have the ride or die, homie. That's gonna roll around with you like for 16 hours in a suit, whatever.
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Yeah. And Kevin has moved on to other business ventures that he's passionate about. So I'm actually on the lookout for another cameraman. So if you' in San Diego, hit me up at Logan Randall Aqua. I'll pay you.
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Cool. Cool. What, what, what's your day job?
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So I basically do aquariums and video and photography full time. So I'm self employed, I run a business and there are two branches of my business. There's the Logan Rando Aquascaping side of things, YouTube channel, which is where most of the monetization comes from. Social media kind of just grows everything. And I do, you know, brand partnerships, do a lot of work with who's. Do a lot of work with UNs, some other brands coming soon. And then the other side of things is I am a videographer, filmmaker, photographer. So within that realm of things, I do all sorts of work, corporate stuff, filmmaking, documentaries. You know, it could be a kid's birthday party. Right. Anything that somebody wants to hire me for. I shoot kind of high end stuff. So I love what I do. Passionate about it and I'm grateful. I get to do it every day.
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Yeah, that's super cool. So is your, your YouTube's got the most monetization, right? But what about Tick Tock? I don't know if I first saw you on Tick Tock or Instagram. I think Instagram, but tell us about that. Those different channels that help you.
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Yeah, so YouTube has been the biggest source of monetization. That said, I, I'm gonna hit 20000 subscribers soon, which for me is a big milestone in the grand scheme of things. Pretty, pretty tiny still, you know, I barely make anything from that. What has allowed me to actually turn this side of my business into a proper business has been the relationships with the brands where they're able to contract my services, my Aquascaping skills to create beautiful videos, education videos. That's where I've been able to make it sustainable on the social media side of things. Those have grown my presence the most, grown my brand the most. But I don't really get any money from TikTok or Instagram. Like Meta emails me once a month saying here's like three cents.
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Yeah, yeah, you made three dollars.
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Yeah, I'd be hyped if it was Three dollars. It's literally three cents.
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Oh my gosh. Hey, it's triplet here. Listen. In a world where quality is often overlooked, Helix Life Support stands proud, bringing you American made excellence for your koi ponds and water gardens. And I want you to know I worked in the field for over 15 years and had professionally built nearly a thousand ponds before I designed my own proprietary filtration equipment. So trust and believe when I say that Helix Life Support is a product line that was crafted for those who demand durability, advanced technology and a deep commitment to fish friendly designs. Now at the heart of the product line is our patented award winning Helix pond skimmer. Built with the safety for your koi and other fish as our top priority. No sharp edges, no unnecessary risks. Just an innovative fish friendly skimmer you can trust. And every piece of Helix equipment that's made is with high quality materials. So you can get a filtration system that's as tough and reliable as it is efficient. Whether you're a first time pond builder or a professional contractor looking to elevate your game, my team and I are ready to help you realize that vision for personalized pond design assistance or to get your hands on Helix Life Support filtration equipment. Give us a call today at 800-522-5043. That's 800-522-5043. Support American craftsmanship and choose Helix Life support for your pond. Built for koi, built for life, built for you. I don't think I've turned on the monetization part of Instagram or Meta or anything like that, but you know, for me it's, it's, you know, people want to hire me to work on their pond or design something for them or you know, we have a patent on some filtration systems that we have, so. And I'm working with some brand partners as well too. Maybe, maybe off the record we should talk about some of that, you know, where that could go from as well. So what, how often are you doing, how often are you doing these man on the streets interview on the street things? I mean, you plan on doing more?
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Yeah, no, absolutely. They, they've been in, I guess in many ways they've changed my life. I, I hit this. Well, it, it came from a low point. So I started my YouTube channel back in about 2021. And this was coming off being Yuri Sucha, who's one, probably my favorite aquascaper in the world. He's a renowned professional aquascaper from Germany. I was this YouTube editor for I think like four years. And because of that I got to go to Europe, go to these amazing aquascaping shops, see what he does. That, that was my like school of hard knocks. And like this is how you actually Aquascape. And I got way better at editing, learning the ins and outs of YouTube. So I, I strike west from upstate New York, move out to Portland, Oregon. And on that drive, I'm driving this massive U haul, towing my 2000 Honda Honda Accord, listening to like 1960s, 1970s Americana rock. There's something very inspiring about that. Driving across the country, I knew I was going to do something creative. Whether it was my next film, I don't know. I was like. And then I was watching a music related YouTuber who told his story about how when he was 35, he finally like hit his impetus for creativity. And I stopped watching that video, ran upstairs, told my friend who I was living with, I'm a start, an aquarium YouTube channel. And I started. That went great, created scapes, was so happy to have a little bit of support. But then I kind of hit this point when I moved to San Diego where I was like, you know what, this isn't growing nearly as fast as I had hoped it would. I'm still grateful I have an audience. But I wanted this to be like massive by now because I treat this like a business venture almost. And I had to have some really honest conversations with myself because like kind of today you have to be really, really talented, really, really hot and sexy or like really really funny and unique and creative to make it on social media. And I'm not being self deprecating, but like, I don't think I'm that hot. And I'm not the most talented Aquascaper. I think I'm a good Aquascaper. But the people I admire are like unreal.
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Yeah.
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But you know what, what's unique about me, I have this weird background in acting, in improv, and I can do voices and play characters. So I was like, how do I actually implement that? Because nobody in our hobby is doing anything like that. And that's why I started doing it. And they blew up pretty quickly relative to me. And they'll tell you with like social media stuff, you do something cool that does well, like just run with it,
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repeat, do more of it, Right?
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Yeah. So I was doing them on like a bi weekly cadence until just recently. My buddy Kevin, who again, I could not have done it without Kevin G. He's, you know, onto like really exciting business ventures and just doesn't Quite have the time. So as soon as I get a cameraman in time for this summer, I want to be out there, you know, every other week again. Because they're so fun.
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Yeah.
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And outside of these things, I'm, I'm pretty introverted. You know, all my hobbies are solo. It's like my time to charge my social battery, so.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Well, you're not hard to look at. You got nice teeth, you're young. I mean, take care of my. Yeah, so, yeah, so I, I, I fell in love with you, I should say, because of like the man on the street things. I just thought it was funny. I was like, man, I could have done this. This is a really cool idea. Right, and what's that?
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I said, there's still time. You could be pond guy on the street.
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Well, you know, I, I go to a lot of shows. Like I have Pod House, we have, where we travel across the country and we go to conventions and things like that. And we do some man on the streets and man in the booths and we'll do booth takeovers. And those are kind of funny. But like, you know, you think about the hawk tua moment, right? It's like, where's, where's Logan's hawk TUA moment? When is this going to happen?
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Right, yeah. Kevin and I talked about that a lot actually, because, you know, we were coming like that was like a year out of when we started. And even though I, I don't like get it, I don't get why that went so viral. There's something that was very like, everybody got a shuffle out of that or whatever you got from it. So that was something we kept in mind. Like when we talked to that old lady in the robe and there was this other guy in Little Italy to this top hat guy who had some really like, elaborate thoughts on relationships, it's like, yeah, that person is out there. And if the stars align, you just talk to the right person, you hit the algorithm at the right point, it can basically change your life. But another thing we talked a lot about, I'm 35 years old now, so, you know, a lot of the people doing the man on the street things, they're like kids, basically. They're like teenagers, like college kids. Kids. Great. Thankfully, I have like the stability and the growth and emotional intelligence now where I feel like if I did hit something viral, I have something to back it up with. So I'm not a one trick pony. So yeah, yeah, I have my fun viral street interviews. But if you want to be educated about aquascaping. I'm really proud of my educational content. So that's kind of like the two pronged approach. I want to entertain you and make you laugh and, but there's substance and I always want to offer substance.
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The educational part is tricky now, you know, you don't know me that well, but I built everything off of education, my YouTube channel. You know, 15 years ago we were teaching how to build a pond step by step by step. We did like most people do, how to build a pond and then they'd like do the whole thing, whatever. We did like 26 part how to build a pond biofilm. And so like, but we, we would build ponds. We would teach people how to build ponds. And so my buddy, it's like, let's do the YouTube channel. But so we would be like how to install the skimmer and it would be specific to that full, full pond kit. But I could fast forward it. If you bought a pond kit from me and you got stuck at the waterfall or you got stuck at installing lights, I don't know how to do it. I'd be like, go to video number 17 in the 26 part series and we really break that down for you. But I don't, I don't think today that would work because of Chat GPT and Claude and all the AI. Like the educational part is at everyone's fingertips on their phone anytime. Right.
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But yeah, that's a really good point. And, and that's definitely how I operate. But statistically, most young people still prefer video for learning. I'm a chat CPP guy. But video is still king. I, I, my, and, and you know, you'd have to like back this up with data. My thing is, I just think it is so saturated now that you're just like when you got into the game. And I actually, even though I'm not too familiar with your brand, I actually, now that I think of it, I've seen your interview with Dustin. Dustin Wonderlic.
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Oh yeah.
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Who was like one of the OGs. Right. So when I first got into the hobby, he was like the big YouTube guy who you would learn from. Yeah, yeah. Now there's like 8 million people, including myself, so it's just like, I don't know, I think you're just competing with so much. So, yeah, Back in the day, those how to videos, it's like, yeah, that's the only thing coming up now. There's like 500 of those.
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Yeah.
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But once in a while one of them breaks through. Like, I, I have a Little how to video, how to stop your surface skimmer from bobbing. That got a lot of traction. So I don't know, I just think you got to like hack the system a little bit. Make it like CTR is huge on YouTube. Watch time. So it's got to be like more concise than ever.
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Yeah, well, I think, you know, when I look at you, you don't look 35. You still got that young, vibrant look. You look like a vampire. Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe mid to late 20s, you know. So you think you could pull off that, you know, college town interview thing?
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You might Steve or Chevy with that. Hey, fellow kids, how are you?
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Yeah, you could pull it off a little bit longer for sure, man. Well, hey, it's really loud here today. I know you're shooting a lot of stuff. I'd love to get connected afterwards and maybe connect with you down in San Diego or something like that. I'd like to be your film man one day because I'd love to talk about coming in a greater detail with not so much distraction. So let's connect with that. Any final words? How can people find you on all that stuff?
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Yeah. Well, first of all, thanks for having me on this. And folks can Find me on YouTube as Logan Rando Aquascaping and then TikTok IG are both Logan Rando Aqua.
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A
Okay. Awesome, man. Thanks for the show.
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My pleasure. This is cool. It's great talking to you, man.
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Hey, it's tripola here. Let's be real. In a world of reels, swipes and virtual trends, it's easy to forget what really moves the needle. Pond Trade magazine isn't chasing clicks. It's preserving the craft of water features, arguably the last stronghold of long form education in our industry, where real pond builders, koi pros and innovators share their knowledge unfiltered and unrushed. You won't find gimmicks or clickbait in pond trade. You'll find depth, detail, strategy, story. From advanced filtration systems and aquatic plant care to retail strategies and contractor spotlights, pond trade is where the best in the business speak freely and where the next generation of pond builders learn what it really takes. If you build ponds for a living, maintain them, design them, or dream about doing it all better, this is your magazine. Delivered, free, written, written by professionals, respected by the entire industry. This isn't just content for the algorithm. It's content for legacy. Subscribe now@pond trademag.com stay connected to the heart of the pond. Now back to the show all right, that's it. And it definitely was not enough time. That was my conversation with Logan Rando over at Aquaswap, and I'll be straight with you. I mean, I feel like I just barely barely scratched the surface. You know how I like to get into these deep, long conversations, and really, you know, this is about the time where we. I get people to start to open up, and I feel like all the. The good stuff's about to hit, and then I had to close it down before this big raffle went off. So, yeah, I just. There's a lot more I want to unpack with him. A content strategy. What makes something have the potential to go viral. How he thinks about culture, attention, and storytelling, especially in a niche like aquatics. And what I found out about him is, like, I had no idea. I thought he was, you know, had a real daytime job, and he went and worked for someone, and at night, he just went and had fun with aquatics. But, like, this is. He does content creator, and I think it's brilliant. I just love it. So, look, especially a niche like aquatics, I think it's just really cool. And as far as the show goes, you know, it was tough for me to. To record at this particular event, and I'm trying to figure out how to make the most out of it out of next year, because there's so many great people to talk to. But that live energy at that event, you got the Hawaiian fish keeper there chatting it up with everyone and announcing what's going on at the booths. It was, like, really a lot of big energy. So I'm looking for forward to Aquaswap next year, but I got to figure out how to, like, you know, get this good content, go a little bit longer, a little bit deeper. But, I mean, that's what happens when you're recording in the middle of a live event like aquaswap or any of these conventions. Like, things are moving, the announcements are firing off, and, you know, when you have this small window of time, you just want to take it. You want to seize the moment and grab it, and that's what I did. So, yeah, the audio is a little raw. You're gonna have to forgive me for that, because, trust me, my producer was not happy about it. But that's the convers. Like, that happened that little quick moment where you just seize the moment. And that's what I did. You know, I felt like it was the opportunity, and I do think it's worth it. So anyways, Logan's doing something's different. I respect the hell out of that. And I've got a feeling this isn't the last time we'll have him on the show. I got to get him locked into another one so I can take him deeper on all those other things that I really want to go deep with you and him on. So if you got value from the show, share with someone who needs to think about things a little bit bigger and how they like to show up and how they can help culture, how they can create and how they can connect. And if you want to go deeper with me, if you're a contractor, you can join me live every Friday inside the train with triplet contractor circle. We talk sales, communications and becoming a more dangerous version of yourself in business and in life. This is the deep end. That's where we live. Depth, discipline, diligence. I'll see you on the next one.
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B
Sam.