Mr. Mark Hamran

Mark Hamran founded and created AquariumPlants.com in his South Dakota garage in 1998 at the dawn of the internet age with funds he obtained from selling his previous business — a saloon named “Ole’s.” Mark was an e-commerce pioneer and was the first to ever to sell aquarium plants and supplies on the internet. In the following year, Mark’s friend and business partner, Mr. Randall Sehr was recruited to keep the operation running smoothly. Together, Mark and Randy built the business into an enterprise with annual sales in excess of $3MM at its peak in 2016.

Mark Olav Hamran was born on December 7, 1961 in Canton, SD to Olav “Ole” and Dorothy (Kidd) Hamran. He graduated from Canton High School. Mark never married, but was truly loved by his siblings, nieces, nephews, and many friends. Mark worked several different jobs after high school. In the early 1990’s, he built and operated Ole’s Convenience Store. Mark was fun-loving and had a mischievous sense of humor which often got him into trouble. He had a love of the water and was drawn to it. After moving to Florida in late 2015, he was able to spend more time boating in the ocean, which he loved.

In addition to pioneering online e-commerce, Mark had numerous other contributions in the aquarium hobby including inventing the Carbon Doser– a device used for optimally injecting CO2 into planted aquariums for which he was awarded a patent, and being the first to import and make available exotic plants from Sri Lanka.

Mark at age 62, tragically and unexpectedly passed away on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at his business in Florida. Honoring Mark’s legacy, AquariumPlants.com continues to run and operate in the present day with the help of Randall Sehr and Mark’s Webmaster, Michael Li.