Anybody around?

justjes45 · Apr 4, 2019

Morning! I am in central Vermont- anybody close?

Flippers4pups · Apr 4, 2019

aquaticchaos · Apr 15, 2019

I’m in SW VT. Seems there’s not many people around

fish farmer · Jun 16, 2019

I am in Brandon, VT. Not many around, well I should say not many that are active posters. There were a couple of newbies that were setting up tanks this past winter, but haven't seen them post recently.

thepotoo · Jan 13, 2020

There is a very active freshwater club called the Tropical Fish Club of Burlington (tfcb.org). 5 or 6 members also have salt water tanks.

Brandon M Arms · Aug 5, 2020

Im here in central VT. New to R2R not to the hobby. lets start this group up again!

fish farmer · Sep 6, 2020

I'm still here...

I'm sure due to the current situation not many people would be into home visits or coral swaps unless they are tossed from a moving van

.

ScubaFish802 · Sep 8, 2020

I’m in search of corals for a newer tank

Slowly finding all the VT threads on here . .
too bad you can’t do outdoor swaps lol

Wish I had heard of the VT swap last year

fish farmer · Sep 10, 2020

802ScubaFish said:
I’m in search of corals for a newer tank
Slowly finding all the VT threads on here . .
too bad you can’t do outdoor swaps lol

Wish I had heard of the VT swap last year

Have you been to Green Mountain Corals in Waterbury? They have big selection of frags, mostly from World Wide Corals at similar prices. Mostly LPS, zoas and SPS, not much for soft corals from I saw but I have only been up there once...it's 1.5 hours away from me.

ScubaFish802 · Sep 10, 2020

fish farmer said:
Have you been to Green Mountain Corals in Waterbury? They have big selection of frags, mostly from World Wide Corals at similar prices. Mostly LPS, zoas and SPS, not much for soft corals from I saw but I have only been up there once...it's 1.5 hours away from me.

I’ve made the trip twice! Both times during business hours and the place was closed up!

Last time we tried my gf was able to find a working phone number online while parked outside his place (the # listed is disconnected) and the guy said he wasn’t planning on coming back anytime soon so we left.
Is it worth playing tag with this guy again to see the shop? It’s not a terrible drive but definitely not convenient..

fish farmer · Sep 10, 2020

802ScubaFish said:
I’ve made the trip twice! Both times during business hours and the place was closed up!

Last time we tried my gf was able to find a working phone number online while parked outside his place (the # listed is disconnected) and the guy said he wasn’t planning on coming back anytime soon so we left.
Is it worth playing tag with this guy again to see the shop? It’s not a terrible drive but definitely not convenient..

I got lucky and got there when his GF was there and he was coming back, but that was in April 2018. He does a lot of tank service work. He doesn't have prices on most of his stuff from what I gather. He doesn't carry much in dry goods, not sure about snails and crabs. It's a small shop, pretty much the downstairs of their residence, but they do have a couple of nice display tanks from what I remember, nothing huge, but his tanks were clean. He was really bummed that one of his frag tanks was getting some algae.

I shop online for most of my stuff....Cultivated Reef is my go to online place, they mostly cut to order, but I have had good success with their corals and they ship well and track your order....I've had them call me when the Fed Ex guy was lost on my road. Snails I usually get from a couple of Florida vendors. Sometimes I get lucky and find some pieces I like at the Pet Advantage, I only go up that way every other month or so.

SuperFly1414 · Dec 22, 2020

I am here! I am in Vergennes. I am just starting up my tank after a move and having to do a complete tear down and sell. I am slowly adding things now. Would be nice to some day do coral swaps.

Eric R. · Dec 30, 2020

fish farmer said:
I am in Brandon, VT. Not many around, well I should say not many that are active posters. There were a couple of newbies that were setting up tanks this past winter, but haven't seen them post recently.

I might have been one of those newbs that was starting to setup a tank last winter. I ended up adding two more FW tanks to my collection, so I'm just now getting around to starting up my reef tank. Have any of you that have had corals shipped had success doing so during the winter months?

Would definitely be interested in doing a coral swap/hangout sometime post pandemic.

Eric R. · Dec 30, 2020

thepotoo said:
There is a very active freshwater club called the Tropical Fish Club of Burlington (tfcb.org). 5 or 6 members also have salt water tanks.

When I've asked on the listserve before, I've only gotten a response from one member saying they keep a reef tank (which I already knew of, as I have seen it before in-person) but I've also never been to an in-person meeting.

Eric R. · Dec 30, 2020

802ScubaFish said:
I’m in search of corals for a newer tank
Slowly finding all the VT threads on here . .
too bad you can’t do outdoor swaps lol

Wish I had heard of the VT swap last year

The March swap was cancelled due to Covid unfortunately.

fish farmer · Dec 30, 2020

ereccer said:
I might have been one of those newbs that was starting to setup a tank last winter. I ended up adding two more FW tanks to my collection, so I'm just now getting around to starting up my reef tank. Have any of you that have had corals shipped had success doing so during the winter months?

Would definitely be interested in doing a coral swap/hangout sometime post pandemic.

I've never attempted to get livestock in the winter. The last orders I place are usually early October and maybe start in April. I try to avoid mid summer if I'm getting anything from Florida. I would think if you had a large shipment in a big box with lots of heat packs and maybe picked up at the airport. Most of the corals I get are in very small boxes and even with a heat pack I would think they would get too cold.

I would avoid it around the holidays as well. I had a shipment of live shellfish from Rhode Island take two days to get to Vermont with Fed Ex standard overnight, granted that was the week of Christmas and it was still cold and lively.

thepotoo · Dec 30, 2020

I do hold for pickup at the local FedEx or UPS place and have not had a problem. But I have not bought anything since COVID started, and I've never gotten corals, only fish.

Shipped corals would be stressed regardless of temperature. I would get some corals from local people before getting them shipped. I have plenty -- I throw away birdsnest and red cap montipora frags all the time. You could also drive down to the MA area, there's plenty of vendors there (but you will need to quarantine when you get back)

Eric R. · Dec 31, 2020

thepotoo said:
I do hold for pickup at the local FedEx or UPS place and have not had a problem. But I have not bought anything since COVID started, and I've never gotten corals, only fish.

Shipped corals would be stressed regardless of temperature. I would get some corals from local people before getting them shipped. I have plenty -- I throw away birdsnest and red cap montipora frags all the time. You could also drive down to the MA area, there's plenty of vendors there (but you will need to quarantine when you get back)

fish farmer said:
I've never attempted to get livestock in the winter. The last orders I place are usually early October and maybe start in April. I try to avoid mid summer if I'm getting anything from Florida. I would think if you had a large shipment in a big box with lots of heat packs and maybe picked up at the airport. Most of the corals I get are in very small boxes and even with a heat pack I would think they would get too cold.

I would avoid it around the holidays as well. I had a shipment of live shellfish from Rhode Island take two days to get to Vermont with Fed Ex standard overnight, granted that was the week of Christmas and it was still cold and lively.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not planning on trying winter shipping currently, just curious if others had success with it. And I'm not planning on travelling out of state at the moment either. Also, I'm pretty sure that I know @thepotoo from TFCB, and I'm sure I'll take you up on your offer when the time is right. Thanks again for it!

homer1475 · Dec 31, 2020

Bought a bunch of frags from someone on here that lives in VT. I'm in upstate NY so I met him in lake george. Great guy, and his frags were nice size and appropriately priced.

@Owen Edwards

Sorry I tagged you here, but it may increase your business too.

SuperFly1414 · Jan 18, 2021

ereccer said:
The March swap was cancelled due to Covid unfortunately.

Hey, I have purchased a few corals through Tidal Gardens, and they are amazing. I am trying to slowly grow out what I got from them. It is going to take a while, and a brain coral I got, Dragon Soul, was chewed to almost death by my emerald crab. So I am not sure if that is going to pull through. I have been looking for the same though. Be nice to get some stuff, and eventually swap or sell to locals.