About Us

Established in 2004 Reef Builders covers the aquatics industry for keeping saltwater tanks and has been featured by CNN, MSNBC and Wikipedia as a definite source.

Ryan Gripp,  Founder
Ryan founded Reef Builders in 2004.

Jake Adams, Co-founder
Jake Adams was an avid marine aquarist since the mid-90s and worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and was the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com from 2008 – 2022. Jake was interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest was in corals which Jake pursued in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.

Raj Shingadia, Managing Director
Raj brings 20 years-plus of industry experience in aquarium maintenance, fabrication, design, and implementation as well as industrial sales and marketing leadership skills. He hopes to honor Reef Builders’ late co-owner and managing editor Jake Adams by continuing Adams’ highly regarded enthusiasm for the hobby and implementing changes aligned with his vision.

Evie Hale, Show Manager and Senior Field Reporter
Evie started keeping aquariums at the age of 8, learning the old-fashioned way, without the internet, and devoting countless hours to reading all the books and articles she could find in the public library on the subject. She was keeping saltwater at the age of 20. Also, she managed a small pet franchise in Kansas, before gaining more than 10 years of experience in running and owning a saltwater-only fish store, including moving the store location.

Remy Hoesly, Content Extraordinaire & Reef Therapy Host
Remy has been keeping aquariums, both fresh and saltwater, since the dial-up modem. He has been a professional radio personality for the last 20 years and has been heard on stations from St. Louis to Chicago and beyond. Remy shares – with complete transparency – his successes and failures in the hobby. His mission has always been to empower reef keepers to step outside their comfort zone and try new things.