Reef A Palooza NY What to Expect?

starypotter · Jun 7, 2018

Hi everyone,

My question is... in terms of purchasing livestock, what could I expect from Reef A Palooza? Is it mostly dry goods, is it mostly hard to find large aquarium species', mostly large expensive corals? I live about a half hour from where the event is happening so I figured that I might stop by one of the days, is it worth it for a small tank beginner as far as purchasing goes?

I'm only really interested in getting frags, and the more starter varieties of fish that I'm not even sure a vendor would even bother with at a con, will things like that be there at a more affordable price than if I were to just go to LFS?
(Read as I'm on one heck of a budget after purchasing the set up and I've been told that you could get some good deals at the con.)

A little background-
I'm just getting into the hobby, my DT has had water in it for a little over a week now. My DT is 29 gallons (30x12x18) with a 20 high sump, filled with probably about 70 pounds of live sand, and about 32 pounds of live rock, about 75% from an established tank, 20% LFS/CaribSea, and 5% dry. Sump is going to have a deep sand bed, and DT has a somewhat deep sand bed, not sure the measurements yet as aquascaping isn't finished.

I have a little bit of GSP that the person I got the rock and sand from gave me, and I just got a small starter CUC, a peppermint shrimp, 2 halloween hermit crabs, 2 turbo snails, and 6 sifting snails.

I plan to stock with a pair of clownfish, a goby, not sure which kinds specifically or what else is going to go in there. I also tend to prefer the looks of soft corals and anemones, but I want to leave options open for hard corals as well.

I have 3 10gallons that I plan to get started as QT this weekend so that they're prepared for when I start stocking my tank.

LowLi · Jun 7, 2018

following this im going to rap first time and kinda new to hobby

Zeal · Jun 7, 2018

Heads up on the peppermint shrimp, I had 3 and they ate my coral....

starypotter · Jun 7, 2018

Zeal said:
Heads up on the peppermint shrimp, I had 3 and they ate my coral....

You're positive they were the ones doing it? I'm only wondering since I looked into it a bit before I picked the peppermint one and what I read said they were okay, but they were often mixed up with the camel shrimp which aren't reef safe and the question the forums always seem to be asking is if you saw the critter in question actually eating coral.

Zeal · Jun 7, 2018

starypotter said:
You're positive they were the ones doing it? I'm only wondering since I looked into it a bit before I picked the peppermint one and what I read said they were okay, but they were often mixed up with the camel shrimp which aren't reef safe and the question the forums always seem to be asking is if you saw the critter in question actually eating coral.

100% The were peppermint shrimp. I put a brand new hammer coral in my tank and they instantly swam up to it and started picking at it. I thought they were cleaning it. Then later on at night with the lights off I saw them completely eating the whole thing.

...Had to sacrifice them...

starypotter · Jun 7, 2018

Zeal said:
100% The were peppermint shrimp. I put a brand new hammer coral in my tank and they instantly swam up to it and started picking at it. I thought they were cleaning it. Then later on at night with the lights off I saw them completely eating the whole thing.

...Had to sacrifice them...

Oh my, that's good to keep in mind thanks for the info!

starypotter · Jun 7, 2018

HolisticBear · Jun 7, 2018

My memory of last year is that frags are pretty much 85% of the merchandise. A few dry goods, but not the focus at all. No fish, except a small showcase of exotic fish. Lots of dry good vendors to explain and showcase their products, but not for sales on the showroom floor.

The raffle is a major part of the show.

Kellie in CA · Jun 7, 2018

I've only been to the one in CA, but there are a ton of frags to buy. There are also a lot of expensive things, but you get to see a bunch of really cool stuff you would likely never see at your LFS.

You also have to get in on the raffle. It's a BIG deal!

starypotter · Jun 7, 2018

Do we know what the raffle is or is it just a sort of show up to find out sort of thing? Now at my LFS, frags can go from $7 to $80+, I don't want expensive frags, I'm just starting out and I don't want to spend a ton of money on stuff that might die because of my beginner knowledge so I'd only really want some super beginner frags.
Just found out LFS has a booth there, maybe I'll ask them what they plan on doing next time I stop by.

James Fox · Jun 18, 2018

Following, we are new to the hobby and have a tank that is currently cycling with live rock and a couple of clowns but it is not ready for frags yet. My daughter is pestering us to go, but it's a 8 hour drive from NC, plus a couple of nights in a hotel - the only upside is we can hit the city at night.
If it's mostly frags though I am not sure I would be interested. I wanted to go and maybe see if I could get a good deal on some lights for my daughter's tank, but if nobody is selling dry goods I guess that's not an option.