Peter Cherrick

Peter grew up on the ocean and always had a love for it and all of its inhabitants. Growing up he had several freshwater tanks and saltwater but wasn't until later in life he became serious about his passion for preserving his piece of the ocean. After many stents in and out of the hobby he found himself fortunate enough in 2015 to finally be able to build the tank he always wanted and be serious about the hobby.

This tank would be the catalyst to combined with his extensive background in technology and media with his love of saltwater and reef keeping and in 2018 he launched the Reef News Network podcast. Peter invited his friend a local hobbyist, Jeremy St Louis to join in as co host and the duo grew RNN to the largest Saltwater/Reef keeping podcast in the world. 

Not satisfied to just rest there, Peter had been searching for the proper vessel to launch a new branch of his vision and an opportunity to work with friend and marketing guru Jeff Johnston. In 2021 Peter and Jeff teamed up to purchase ReefHacks from creators Alexey and Yuliya Ivanova and set off on a journey to conquer a new branch of the saltwater industry. 

Peter strives to partner with the best in the industry and along with his partner Jeff create the definitive source for saltwater and reef keeping, news, media and education!

Jeff is a journalist, digital marketer, and entrepreneur.

He earned two journalism scholarships and won 30 local, regional, and state awards in college. He worked as a page designer and copyeditor for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whitter Daily News, and Pasadena-Star News.

His most memorable day as a journalist was September 11, 2001, when he covered the terror attacks on America as they unfolded in real-time.

Jeff has written and edited thousands of articles, scripts, and other forms of digital and printed media for the aquarium industry since 2007.

He has been an invited guest speaker at events like Reef-A-Palooza, Magento Imagine, and ROI Revolution Summit to share his expertise.

As an editor, Jeff has polished and published the works of many of the aquarium industry’s most celebrated writers, like Bob Fenner, Mike Paletta, James Fatherree, Anthony Calfo, Eric Borneman, and "Mr. Saltwater Tank" Mark Callahan.

As a writer, Jeff has interviewed many influential industry figures and experts. Some noteworthy names include Jake Adams (Reef Builders), Julian Sprung (Two Little Fishies), Eric Cohen (Blue Life USA), Tullio Dellaquila (Reef Brite), Matt Pedersen (Coral Magazine), Colin Foord (Coral Morphologic), David Hammontree (Reef2Reef), Jay Sperandio (EcoTech Marine), Roger Vitko (Tunze), Bryan Farrish (Santa Monica Filtration), Rod Buehler (Rod's Reef), Alex Grah (Abyzz), Boyan Slat (The Ocean Cleanup), Todd R. Barber (Reef Ball Foundation), and Walt Smith (A.D.E. Project).

His strong support for small business and innovation heavily influenced the product offerings of internet retailer MarineDepot.com, where Jeff worked as Marketing Manager from 2007-2019.

He helped usher in brands like Pax Bellum, Oceanbox Designs, inTank, Aquaforest, Philips, GHL, HYDROS, Dennerle, EasyReefs, Elos, Waterbox Aquariums, Filter Media Cup, Nem Protect, Reef Glass, Vertex, Triton, and Santa Monica Filtration.

Jeff has had a decorated career as a digital marketing professional. He was the brand voice for Newegg, Marine Depot, PetStore AquaMaxx, CoralVue, HYDROS, IceCap, and Reef Octopus, among others.

Jeff has used the bully pulpit provided by the brands he has represented to advocate for many important causes. He has mobilized consumers to #ShopLocal, recycle, dispose of hazardous material responsibly, and discourage hobbyists from releasing their aquatics pets back into the wild.

He spent 12 years working in the marketing department at Marine Depot (acquired by Bulk Reef Supply in 2021) where he grew annual sales by 150%. In the summer of 2019, CoralVue recruited Jeff to launch the Philips CoralCare Gen2 and a top-secret project: an affordable, made in the USA aquarium controller.

Jeff waged a war on social media to win the hearts and minds of skeptical aquarists who had forgotten there was once competition in the controller category.

The day before the HYDROS launch, Jeff exposed the anticompetitive business tactics of one of the aquarium industry’s most beloved brands, Neptune Systems.

As reported by Reef Builders, the category captain’s head of sales & marketing intimidated no fewer than five retail store owners to stop them from carrying a lower-priced and technologically superior alternative from a new competitor, HYDROS.

Unfortunately, Neptune Systems' plan backfired. News of their unscrupulous behavior spread like wildfire. The article went viral the day before HYDROS' Halloween launch and continued to trend into the following week.

His achievements caught the attention of several industry insiders. Soon he was fielding requests to help brands of all sizes, from Brightwell Aquatics to Bulk Reef Supply. To meet the sudden demand for marketing help, Jeff founded Reefluencer, the first and only dedicated "aquarium ad agency."

In March 2021, Jeff joined friend and longtime collaborator Peter Cherrick of Reef News Network for an exciting new business venture. Together as Glass Box Media LLC, they acquired ReefHacks.com from another mutual friend and reef hobbyist, Alexey Ivanov.

Jeff and Peter will honor Alexey’s legacy by continuing his mission to educate and entertain aquarium hobbyists. They also promise to introduce new and exciting ways to communicate and inspire people to develop a love for marine life.

Hilary Jaffe

Hilary is a Marine Biologist and an aquarium professional well as a long time aquarium hobbyist who has kept both freshwater and saltwater tanks. She also works as content creator using her page WaterLogged to share educational content in hopes of inspiring others to learn about and protect the oceans.

Hilary has never lost her raw passion, the desire to learn more, and explore the world around her. Those traits were simply amplified when she began to pursue my degree. Helping to tag sharks in questionable seas or even camping out alone on the beach at night to help protect sea turtle hatchlings, her love and passion for science and the hobby drives her to constantly learn and share her knowledge with the community.