Any from Delco, PA Area?

[VB313]

Interesting what’s involved in starting a club?

 

[aarbutina]

https://masna.org/club-resources/starting-an-aquarium-club/

 

[VB313]

Looks like a PITA

https://masna.org/club-resources/starting-an-aquarium-club/

 

[aarbutina]

Looks like a PITA

Same thing I was thinking.

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

@Pyrosteve, awesome, that makes 3 of us here alone from Springfield.

Seems like a nice group here, let's just recruit more locals to this thread and start an unofficial club. Lol

Also, Sal from Mini Reef pointed me to the Southeastern PA Saltwater Aquarium Enthusiasts Facebook group. I stopped using FB years ago and find the FB group discussions hard to follow compared to message boards, but I still visit the page every once in a while. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SEPASAE/

 

[Pyrosteve]

Agreed. I was thinking it would be good to know some locals for frags, buy/sell/trade equipment, rehome fish, group buys to reach certain price points to get free shipping when ordering online, stuff like that. Nothing official.

 

[VB313]

Agreed. I was thinking it would be good to know some locals for frags, buy/sell/trade equipment, rehome fish, group buys to reach certain price points to get free shipping when ordering online, stuff like that. Nothing official.

I’m in

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

I’m in

Awesome! And I didn't even think about group buys and free shipping perk.

Any ideas on how to attract more locals to this thread?

 

[aarbutina]

I’ve noticed the SEPASAE FB group hasn’t been as active recently or just maybe not as much as it was in months past. Could be the summer when people are doing things other than aquarium maintenance. I know some of the folks on there are also on R2R.

 

[romanlax]

Chiming into the thread though not Delco...Norristown.

 

[Nicholas Scelzi]

I’m in

I’m in as well

 

[CoralWealth]

Anyone happen to have any xenia they can sell? I am looking to get a lot to put on the bottom of my frag tank to help with nutrients. Please PM me if you have some, I live in Allentown PA but I will drive if needed.

 

[GlassMunky]

I live right outside phily in NJ now, but lived in DelCo for the past 5 years.
the only good store IMO are Mini Reef (fish) ASR (coral) and then TSM & Aquarium World in NJ.
Hidden Reef is a joke and nothing but disease in their tanks. they do have good prices on dry goods though and once a year have a massive sale that includes MAP priced items like apex and vortechs....

TSM corals just moved locations but they would be my #1 pick for any fish. they have a proper QT procedure and deal with lots of fish for the public aquarium so have that going for them too... def the healthiest fish ive ever gotten


and Yes the FB group used to be the main way people in the area communicated after the loacal DELVAL REEF club went to sh** and died, but it hasnt been that active recently, probably because of the summer most people are out doing boat and beach stuff.

 

[salvatore mini]

What's up Pyrosteve and everyone else here. Also new to reefing, my tank is now a little over 6 months old and I'm still slowly adding fish and corals. Joined R2R earlier this year and though I've done a lot of reading on here, only my second post. Like aarbutina, I'm also from Springfield.

My experiences with LFS have been limited after initially really liking Mini Reef. The owner of Mini Reef, Sal, is really nice and is super helpful. But his employee, Steve, is condescending and very assuming, IMO. I bought a McCosker's Flasher Wrasse from them back in February. It came down with ich two days later and Steve put the blame on me despite the fact that I had it in a brand new QT. The lil guy never made it and died a week later. Now having more knowledge, I wonder if it had marine velvet and not ich. I never returned to Mini Reef since.

I've gone to Aquarium World in Boothwyn a handful of times, and have bought a pair of peppermint shrimp and some Zoas from them. Prices are good, the owner is also extremely friendly and helpful, and they have an okay selection for starters and seem to be willing to help find something they don't have.

I haven't been to Aquarium Center in Clementon NJ in 6 years, but plan on making the trip soon. They were my go-to store years ago when I was running a freshwater planted tank. Every experience was awesome there back then and looking forward to checking out the place to see how they are now. I'll also have to check out Aquarium Specialties in Malvern.

Would love to connect with any other local Delco reefers to gaining more knowledge and start acquiring coral frags. As much as my wife loves our tank, she isn't a big fan of how much I've been spending on our LiveAquaria Diver's Den purchases.

pau , wish you would have come to me first if you had an issue. I have always 100% stood behind our stock and if there was an issue with an employee, i am always a message away, if you would have reached out to me then, i would have taken care of you. Our goal, both myself AND steve is to treat everyone like family and offer the best advice zand service we can. Sadly, not a single store is completely immune of disease and sometimes things can get by. Our fish system is and always has been a treated system, but wrasses like the flashers cant go into that system. If you decide to come back some day, feel free to reach out to me. And this goes for anyone who has had an issue.. We are a small family and will go out of our way to treat everyone who walks in our doors that way..

 

[Nicholas Scelzi]

I live right outside phily in NJ now, but lived in DelCo for the past 5 years.
the only good store IMO are Mini Reef (fish) ASR (coral) and then TSM & Aquarium World in NJ.
Hidden Reef is a joke and nothing but disease in their tanks. they do have good prices on dry goods though and once a year have a massive sale that includes MAP priced items like apex and vortechs....

TSM corals just moved locations but they would be my #1 pick for any fish. they have a proper QT procedure and deal with lots of fish for the public aquarium so have that going for them too... def the healthiest fish ive ever gotten


and Yes the FB group used to be the main way people in the area communicated after the loacal DELVAL REEF club went to sh** and died, but it hasnt been that active recently, probably because of the summer most people are out doing boat and beach stuff.

Which store is TSM? Where in Jersey?

 

[GlassMunky]

Which store is TSM? Where in Jersey?

 

[VB313]

Anyone happen to have any xenia they can sell? I am looking to get a lot to put on the bottom of my frag tank to help with nutrients. Please PM me if you have some, I live in Allentown PA but I will drive if needed.

Yeah I got one Ide be willing to part woth

 

[LnL]

I’m in as well

Im in too!

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

pau , wish you would have come to me first if you had an issue. I have always 100% stood behind our stock and if there was an issue with an employee, i am always a message away, if you would have reached out to me then, i would have taken care of you. Our goal, both myself AND steve is to treat everyone like family and offer the best advice zand service we can. Sadly, not a single store is completely immune of disease and sometimes things can get by. Our fish system is and always has been a treated system, but wrasses like the flashers cant go into that system. If you decide to come back some day, feel free to reach out to me. And this goes for anyone who has had an issue.. We are a small family and will go out of our way to treat everyone who walks in our doors that way..

Sal, sorry I missed your message from earlier this week. I really appreciate you reaching out! I know that diseases are unavoidable, so that is not the reason for me not returning. Rather, it's your employee and his response both times I went in to seek feedback (second time, I was hoping to find you). I'll reach out to you privately.

@ everyone else in this thread... like I mentioned in my earlier post, Sal is extremely nice and really helpful! This is a perfect example of how Sal has treated me every time I've been in his store.

 

[Pau Hana Reefer]

I stopped by Aquarium Specialties and Research on Friday afternoon and you guys nailed it. Great coral selection and Mike is the man! The store was a bit busy and he was busy helping two other customers, but still let me know that he would get around to me. This gave me some time to check everything out.

He spent a good 15-20 minutes chatting with me and giving me some guidance on corals and my setup. Plus, I came home with two pieces of coral, a chalice and an orange ricordea. Thanks for the recommendation guys!