Full Version: Wisconsin Anyone ?
Just wondering if there are any fellow reefers In my neck of the woods. Be nice to find somone to share the hobby with in my area.
I'm from Madison.
Check out http://www.madisonreef.com/ if you haven't already. We are having a huge fragswap at the end of the month.
You are close to the Drs Foster and Smith liveaquaria warehouse. You should take a trip up to Rhinelander if you haven't yet. http://www.liveaquaria.com/
Check out http://www.madisonreef.com/ if you haven't already. We are having a huge fragswap at the end of the month.
You are close to the Drs Foster and Smith liveaquaria warehouse. You should take a trip up to Rhinelander if you haven't yet. http://www.liveaquaria.com/
Do they keep it reasonable ? Or do they expect liveaquaria.com prices...I do have some frags to move so I might check it it.
I was just in madison last week on a buying splurge lol...ever go to animart of pet warehouse ?
I was just in madison last week on a buying splurge lol...ever go to animart of pet warehouse ?
I go to foster and smith on a weekly basis, its about 40 min from me. the only problem with them is that the retail store gets the reject frags and are way over priced for anything nice. The only good part is if i ever did see anything good on the divers den that i was willing to pay for i could have it transfered to the store.
( you are not allowed into the aqua culture facility.)
( you are not allowed into the aqua culture facility.)
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Feb 8 2010, 05:31 AM) 
Do they keep it reasonable ? Or do they expect liveaquaria.com prices...I do have some frags to move so I might check it it.
I was just in madison last week on a buying splurge lol...ever go to animart of pet warehouse ?
I was just in madison last week on a buying splurge lol...ever go to animart of pet warehouse ?
I usually go to Living Art Aquarium on the West side of Madison.
Yes they do offer tours, but that is when they have the annual frag swap which is pretty big and people come from all over the US for it I guess. You have to understand that Drs. Foster Smith/Liveaquaria.com is just a warehouse/aquaculture center, they do however have a retail store right down the road from the main warehouse and if they dont have it at the store they will run over to the warehouse and get it for you except for fish/coral, they need a few days notice for that.
So what I am saying is that you are limited to whatever the aquaculture center sends over and it is kinda crappy most of the time and kinda overpriced.
I am a LPS junkie and they have a 150g breeder tank with about 20-30 specimens on any given day and I have purchased one thing there in the last year, a short tent plate coral.
They want $35 for a single head of trumpet coral glued to a frag plug at the store.
So what I am saying is that you are limited to whatever the aquaculture center sends over and it is kinda crappy most of the time and kinda overpriced.
I am a LPS junkie and they have a 150g breeder tank with about 20-30 specimens on any given day and I have purchased one thing there in the last year, a short tent plate coral.
They want $35 for a single head of trumpet coral glued to a frag plug at the store.
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Feb 8 2010, 05:54 AM)
Yes they do offer tours, but that is when they have the annual frag swap which is pretty big and people come from all over the US for it I guess. You have to understand that Drs. Foster Smith/Liveaquaria.com is just a warehouse/aquaculture center, they do however have a retail store right down the road from the main warehouse and if they dont have it at the store they will run over to the warehouse and get it for you except for fish/coral, they need a few days notice for that.
So what I am saying is that you are limited to whatever the aquaculture center sends over and it is kinda crappy most of the time and kinda overpriced.
I am a LPS junkie and they have a 150g breeder tank with about 20-30 specimens on any given day and I have purchased one thing there in the last year, a short tent plate coral.
They want $35 for a single head of trumpet coral glued to a frag plug at the store.
So what I am saying is that you are limited to whatever the aquaculture center sends over and it is kinda crappy most of the time and kinda overpriced.
I am a LPS junkie and they have a 150g breeder tank with about 20-30 specimens on any given day and I have purchased one thing there in the last year, a short tent plate coral.
They want $35 for a single head of trumpet coral glued to a frag plug at the store.
That sucks, I always thought if I lived closer I would be buying frags from them all the time.
If you are in the market for coral I suggest coming to the frag swap here in Madison. Last year they had amazing deals, plus there are free raffles going on during the entire thing. It is being hosted at a nice fire station in Middleton.
noone else ?
I'm in Madison. I generally go to Living Art just like uwwmatt. I tend to wander over to Animart from time to time when I have a free day or find myself on the East Side. Animart tends to have stuff for much cheaper (equipment wise) from my experience.
I can't wait for the MARS frag swap... Just started not too long ago so my tank just got it's CUC from Reefcleaners.org today
P.S. Anybody know companies looking for a consultant/analyst... or bartender?
I can't wait for the MARS frag swap... Just started not too long ago so my tank just got it's CUC from Reefcleaners.org today
P.S. Anybody know companies looking for a consultant/analyst... or bartender?
Go Pack Go
bump
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=226542
Wisconsin is the place to be this coming weekend, I'm getting pumped ... and I'll probably have to go mug some hobos on State Street so I can get enough money to buy some nice frags.
Wisconsin is the place to be this coming weekend, I'm getting pumped ... and I'll probably have to go mug some hobos on State Street so I can get enough money to buy some nice frags.
WI sucks
Hello!
I wanted to drop a note in here about the Foster & Smith Retail Store in Rhinelander, along with the Coral Farm. They are 2 separate entities, and the store is in charge of what they hold in stock for fish, corals, etc.
You CAN however, get ANYTHING that is online currently for sale in the Diver's Den, or corals that ship from Wisconsin! All you have to do is place your order online, and note you want it shipped to the store.Here's how it works:
Phone Order: Call 1-800-334-3699 to place your order. Please inform the customer service representative that you will be picking up your order at Drs. Foster and Smith’s Retail Store, and please provide the agent with an approximate pick up time & date for your order. Make sure you have your order number handy, as you will be required to provide this information to pick up your order up.
o Web Order: Log on to https://www.liveaquaria.com and if you have not registered before, you will need to do so to check out. Place your order, and during the check out process in the comments section, please add a note that you wish to pick up your order at the store, and what date/time. Use teh following ship-to address:
Drs. Foster & Smith Retail Store
2851 N. River Rd.
Rhinelander, WI 54501
(Please remember to change your ship-to address back to your home address before placing another order in the future for home delivery!)
In addition, I wanted to mention we will be holding FOUR OPEN HOUSES for the coral farm throughout 2010 that are open to anybody to come. Here are the details:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general...ral_pagesid=468
Thanks!
-Melissa
I wanted to drop a note in here about the Foster & Smith Retail Store in Rhinelander, along with the Coral Farm. They are 2 separate entities, and the store is in charge of what they hold in stock for fish, corals, etc.
You CAN however, get ANYTHING that is online currently for sale in the Diver's Den, or corals that ship from Wisconsin! All you have to do is place your order online, and note you want it shipped to the store.Here's how it works:
Phone Order: Call 1-800-334-3699 to place your order. Please inform the customer service representative that you will be picking up your order at Drs. Foster and Smith’s Retail Store, and please provide the agent with an approximate pick up time & date for your order. Make sure you have your order number handy, as you will be required to provide this information to pick up your order up.
o Web Order: Log on to https://www.liveaquaria.com and if you have not registered before, you will need to do so to check out. Place your order, and during the check out process in the comments section, please add a note that you wish to pick up your order at the store, and what date/time. Use teh following ship-to address:
Drs. Foster & Smith Retail Store
2851 N. River Rd.
Rhinelander, WI 54501
(Please remember to change your ship-to address back to your home address before placing another order in the future for home delivery!)
In addition, I wanted to mention we will be holding FOUR OPEN HOUSES for the coral farm throughout 2010 that are open to anybody to come. Here are the details:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general...ral_pagesid=468
Thanks!
-Melissa
QUOTE (readmeli @ Feb 22 2010, 12:51 PM)
Note: The opinions in this post reflect the Drs. Foster And Smith Retail Store ONLY and are not ot be taken to heart to any of the other entities of Drs. Foster and Smith.
Hello!
I wanted to drop a note in here about the Foster & Smith Retail Store in Rhinelander, along with the Coral Farm. They are 2 separate entities, and the store is in charge of what they hold in stock for fish, corals, etc.
You CAN however, get ANYTHING that is online currently for sale in the Diver's Den, or corals that ship from Wisconsin! All you have to do is place your order online, and note you want it shipped to the store.Here's how it works:
Thanks!
-Melissa
Hello!
I wanted to drop a note in here about the Foster & Smith Retail Store in Rhinelander, along with the Coral Farm. They are 2 separate entities, and the store is in charge of what they hold in stock for fish, corals, etc.
You CAN however, get ANYTHING that is online currently for sale in the Diver's Den, or corals that ship from Wisconsin! All you have to do is place your order online, and note you want it shipped to the store.Here's how it works:
Thanks!
-Melissa
I stated that several times in my posts that they are seperate entities. I am at your retail store weekly and know the proccess. I must say that your retail store is for the most part a wonderful place and I enjoy going there. The customer service is great for the most part on the supplies as well as promptness. I buy most of my supplies from there. The great part is that you are not just limited to what the store has on hand as you can get any product that is online or in the catalog, they just run over to the distribution center (which is right next door) and grab it for you.
However there are a few downsides to the store that Id like to point out: Even though the staff in the fish department is more knowelgable than 80% of most LFS anywhere, they still do not have the ability to answer a mojority of somtimes even simple questions. Case and point would be questions on addatives such as 2 part calcium suppliments which should be a no brainer for any aquatics specialist that has been doing this for a while. My answers were rather vaugue at best and I found it more benificial to do my own research. It just seems that they know nothing except what they are told to do by whoever trained them to run the department and gain a little knowlege over time doing what they do.
I sometimes feel not so comfortable buying any livestock such as corals from your store due to lack of knowlege of the staff. Due to supply and demand in the area, purchases are usually made by chance that you have a specimen that I like on hand the day I go in the store and is purchased because its probably not going to be there by the end of the day. With that said, I do have a decent knowledge on husbandry of most corals but there are times when you have a unusual peice that I dont know much about and cant get a strait answer on the propor husbandry so I pass on said specimen.
The general care that the staff gives the coral id have to say is intermediate at best as a lot of your specimens especially the LPS corals dont look the healthiest and are rather faded at times. Your SPS tank is overrun with Aptasia ( and I will get to that story below). Your Soft coral tank I must say though dont look bad at all.
I have purchased 4 corals from the retail store in the last year out of about 60 that I have purchased else where and those 4 are 4 out of 6 that I lost this year. The corals that I purchased were by no means difficult specimens to say the least ( short tenticle plate coral @ $60, mushroom rock @ $35 and two leather corals @ $35 each). All were given the best possible care however still managed to die in 30 days or so. You have a 14 day garuntee on your livestock but as we all know coral death is slow and can take much longer than 14 days for a coral to die, most of the time the damage has been done before it gets into the purchasers tank only to have them scratching their heads as to what they did wrong.
As I said, I am not ripping on the staff as for the most part they do a good job, but I think they need to spend a bit more time over at you aquaculture facility getting some better awarness of propor care. Remember the aptasia problem in the SPS tank I was talking about ? Well this last week one of the kids that work the aquatics department decided to take care of the problem by treating the tank only to kill/bleach about 90% of the coral in the tank which he could of avoided by taking the frag rack out and spending a couple of hours with a bottle of joes juice or aptasia X.
I think that is why all their stuff is direct shipped to the store from their california wholesaler and you dont ever see any of the any of their own aquacultured corals (which is right next door at their aquaculture facility) that you see online at the retail store. Basically lack of faith in the staff so to speak. Id love to see some of that stuff avaliable for immediate purchase (bought, bagged and in my car) as I am not a fan of buying anything that I can not see in person prior to paying for it.
Last but not least, your prices on some things are well, HIGH $40 dollars for 2 heads of green trumpet coral on a frag plug? come one now, tisk tisk. And the fact that you do not honor price matching to your liveaquaria.com sale prices. A blue tang for sale in your store at $54 wil not be deducted to the the $30 sale price that is on liveaquaria.com. I dont care what your selling, any retailer that has the same product in their store as online will honor the cheaper price. You do it with your supplies, why not the livestock ?
Up's : Great customer service, decent selection or livestock, friendly employees, the best selection of dry goods and equipment that you will EVER find avaliable RIGHT NOW in any retail store.
Down's : Even thought they are pretty good for the most part, the aquatics staff is not what I would expect for a place with the Drs. Foster and Smith name hanging above the door. You do not price match your online prices for livestock. Your livestock, from my experiences does not seem to be the best quality for the prices you are asking. The Retail Store does not stock any of the nice aquacultured corals for immediate right here right now purchase (we can have it taken to the store after purchase does not cut it).
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I will make sure the store managers get this info so it can help them train better. I don't have anything to do with the store itself, I am a designer for the website. I just wanted to let people know they could get stuff from the DD/WI facility if they wanted. And then about the tours, cuz they are pretty cool.
Thanks again!
Melissa
Thanks for the reply. I will make sure the store managers get this info so it can help them train better. I don't have anything to do with the store itself, I am a designer for the website. I just wanted to let people know they could get stuff from the DD/WI facility if they wanted. And then about the tours, cuz they are pretty cool.
Thanks again!
Melissa
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Feb 23 2010, 12:08 PM)
I stated that several times in my posts that they are seperate entities. I am at your retail store weekly and know the proccess. I must say that your retail store is for the most part a wonderful place and I enjoy going there. The customer service is great for the most part on the supplies as well as promptness. I buy most of my supplies from there. The great part is that you are not just limited to what the store has on hand as you can get any product that is online or in the catalog, they just run over to the distribution center (which is right next door) and grab it for you.
However there are a few downsides to the store that Id like to point out: Even though the staff in the fish department is more knowelgable than 80% of most LFS anywhere, they still do not have the ability to answer a mojority of somtimes even simple questions. Case and point would be questions on addatives such as 2 part calcium suppliments which should be a no brainer for any aquatics specialist that has been doing this for a while. My answers were rather vaugue at best and I found it more benificial to do my own research. It just seems that they know nothing except what they are told to do by whoever trained them to run the department and gain a little knowlege over time doing what they do.
I sometimes feel not so comfortable buying any livestock such as corals from your store due to lack of knowlege of the staff. Due to supply and demand in the area, purchases are usually made by chance that you have a specimen that I like on hand the day I go in the store and is purchased because its probably not going to be there by the end of the day. With that said, I do have a decent knowledge on husbandry of most corals but there are times when you have a unusual peice that I dont know much about and cant get a strait answer on the propor husbandry so I pass on said specimen.
The general care that the staff gives the coral id have to say is intermediate at best as a lot of your specimens especially the LPS corals dont look the healthiest and are rather faded at times. Your SPS tank is overrun with Aptasia ( and I will get to that story below). Your Soft coral tank I must say though dont look bad at all.
I have purchased 4 corals from the retail store in the last year out of about 60 that I have purchased else where and those 4 are 4 out of 6 that I lost this year. The corals that I purchased were by no means difficult specimens to say the least ( short tenticle plate coral @ $60, mushroom rock @ $35 and two leather corals @ $35 each). All were given the best possible care however still managed to die in 30 days or so. You have a 14 day garuntee on your livestock but as we all know coral death is slow and can take much longer than 14 days for a coral to die, most of the time the damage has been done before it gets into the purchasers tank only to have them scratching their heads as to what they did wrong.
As I said, I am not ripping on the staff as for the most part they do a good job, but I think they need to spend a bit more time over at you aquaculture facility getting some better awarness of propor care. Remember the aptasia problem in the SPS tank I was talking about ? Well this last week one of the kids that work the aquatics department decided to take care of the problem by treating the tank only to kill/bleach about 90% of the coral in the tank which he could of avoided by taking the frag rack out and spending a couple of hours with a bottle of joes juice or aptasia X.
I think that is why all their stuff is direct shipped to the store from their california wholesaler and you dont ever see any of the any of their own aquacultured corals (which is right next door at their aquaculture facility) that you see online at the retail store. Basically lack of faith in the staff so to speak. Id love to see some of that stuff avaliable for immediate purchase (bought, bagged and in my car) as I am not a fan of buying anything that I can not see in person prior to paying for it.
Last but not least, your prices on some things are well, HIGH $40 dollars for 2 heads of green trumpet coral on a frag plug? come one now, tisk tisk. And the fact that you do not honor price matching to your liveaquaria.com sale prices. A blue tang for sale in your store at $54 wil not be deducted to the the $30 sale price that is on liveaquaria.com. I dont care what your selling, any retailer that has the same product in their store as online will honor the cheaper price. You do it with your supplies, why not the livestock ?
Up's : Great customer service, decent selection or livestock, friendly employees, the best selection of dry goods and equipment that you will EVER find avaliable RIGHT NOW in any retail store.
Down's : Even thought they are pretty good for the most part, the aquatics staff is not what I would expect for a place with the Drs. Foster and Smith name hanging above the door. You do not price match your online prices for livestock. Your livestock, from my experiences does not seem to be the best quality for the prices you are asking. The Retail Store does not stock any of the nice aquacultured corals for immediate right here right now purchase (we can have it taken to the store after purchase does not cut it).
However there are a few downsides to the store that Id like to point out: Even though the staff in the fish department is more knowelgable than 80% of most LFS anywhere, they still do not have the ability to answer a mojority of somtimes even simple questions. Case and point would be questions on addatives such as 2 part calcium suppliments which should be a no brainer for any aquatics specialist that has been doing this for a while. My answers were rather vaugue at best and I found it more benificial to do my own research. It just seems that they know nothing except what they are told to do by whoever trained them to run the department and gain a little knowlege over time doing what they do.
I sometimes feel not so comfortable buying any livestock such as corals from your store due to lack of knowlege of the staff. Due to supply and demand in the area, purchases are usually made by chance that you have a specimen that I like on hand the day I go in the store and is purchased because its probably not going to be there by the end of the day. With that said, I do have a decent knowledge on husbandry of most corals but there are times when you have a unusual peice that I dont know much about and cant get a strait answer on the propor husbandry so I pass on said specimen.
The general care that the staff gives the coral id have to say is intermediate at best as a lot of your specimens especially the LPS corals dont look the healthiest and are rather faded at times. Your SPS tank is overrun with Aptasia ( and I will get to that story below). Your Soft coral tank I must say though dont look bad at all.
I have purchased 4 corals from the retail store in the last year out of about 60 that I have purchased else where and those 4 are 4 out of 6 that I lost this year. The corals that I purchased were by no means difficult specimens to say the least ( short tenticle plate coral @ $60, mushroom rock @ $35 and two leather corals @ $35 each). All were given the best possible care however still managed to die in 30 days or so. You have a 14 day garuntee on your livestock but as we all know coral death is slow and can take much longer than 14 days for a coral to die, most of the time the damage has been done before it gets into the purchasers tank only to have them scratching their heads as to what they did wrong.
As I said, I am not ripping on the staff as for the most part they do a good job, but I think they need to spend a bit more time over at you aquaculture facility getting some better awarness of propor care. Remember the aptasia problem in the SPS tank I was talking about ? Well this last week one of the kids that work the aquatics department decided to take care of the problem by treating the tank only to kill/bleach about 90% of the coral in the tank which he could of avoided by taking the frag rack out and spending a couple of hours with a bottle of joes juice or aptasia X.
I think that is why all their stuff is direct shipped to the store from their california wholesaler and you dont ever see any of the any of their own aquacultured corals (which is right next door at their aquaculture facility) that you see online at the retail store. Basically lack of faith in the staff so to speak. Id love to see some of that stuff avaliable for immediate purchase (bought, bagged and in my car) as I am not a fan of buying anything that I can not see in person prior to paying for it.
Last but not least, your prices on some things are well, HIGH $40 dollars for 2 heads of green trumpet coral on a frag plug? come one now, tisk tisk. And the fact that you do not honor price matching to your liveaquaria.com sale prices. A blue tang for sale in your store at $54 wil not be deducted to the the $30 sale price that is on liveaquaria.com. I dont care what your selling, any retailer that has the same product in their store as online will honor the cheaper price. You do it with your supplies, why not the livestock ?
Up's : Great customer service, decent selection or livestock, friendly employees, the best selection of dry goods and equipment that you will EVER find avaliable RIGHT NOW in any retail store.
Down's : Even thought they are pretty good for the most part, the aquatics staff is not what I would expect for a place with the Drs. Foster and Smith name hanging above the door. You do not price match your online prices for livestock. Your livestock, from my experiences does not seem to be the best quality for the prices you are asking. The Retail Store does not stock any of the nice aquacultured corals for immediate right here right now purchase (we can have it taken to the store after purchase does not cut it).
lol thats a half hour of my life i aint gonna get back, thought you might be some customer service gal that was going to make be happy by giving me gift certificates 
Stupid wisconsin.....................
Wisconsin reef society there too...
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Feb 23 2010, 06:57 PM)
lol thats a half hour of my life i aint gonna get back, thought you might be some customer service gal that was going to make be happy by giving me gift certificates
LOL! Sorry! HOWEVER....We are doing a $100.00 LiveAquaria.com gift certificate giveaway right now! It ends at noon, CST. Just go to this blog post, and submit a comment. Then you're entered. Maybe you'll win!
http://www.dfs-pet-blog.com/2010/02/best-aquarium-tip/
We do appreciate your comments though, really. We are always striving to improve all areas of the business - website, store or anything else. Thank you! :-)
-Melissa
I live in Milwaukee and all I can say is all the fish stores around here suck!
I've been to the F&S Frag Swap and had a lot of fun. While there I toured their aquaculture facility...It's cool but it's actually smaller than I was expecting. I'm disappointed they canceled the last swap, I hope they have it again this year.
I've been to the F&S Frag Swap and had a lot of fun. While there I toured their aquaculture facility...It's cool but it's actually smaller than I was expecting. I'm disappointed they canceled the last swap, I hope they have it again this year.
QUOTE (Littlegreeny @ Feb 24 2010, 09:48 AM)
I live in Milwaukee and all I can say is all the fish stores around here suck!
I've been to the F&S Frag Swap and had a lot of fun. While there I toured their aquaculture facility...It's cool but it's actually smaller than I was expecting. I'm disappointed they canceled the last swap, I hope they have it again this year.
I've been to the F&S Frag Swap and had a lot of fun. While there I toured their aquaculture facility...It's cool but it's actually smaller than I was expecting. I'm disappointed they canceled the last swap, I hope they have it again this year.
I'm from Milwaukee too, the only really good LFS around is The Feed Bag up in Mequon, they haven't gotten a whole lot in yet for corals since they've moved, but once they do they'll be worth going to on a regular basis.
I was not all that impressed with the Feed Bag when I was there in the fall. I am not impressed with any LFS in this area, I stick to the interweb.
Thanks for suggesting The Feed Bag. Never heard of it but just visited their website and see they carry Rod's Food. I'm almost out, so I'll be visiting that store soon. I've been to Living Art Aquarium in Madison before, it's a nice little place with some good deals on frags.
One of these days I want to take a trip down to Living Sea Aquarium in Illinois. I get their weekly newsletter and they have a lot of good deals.
One of these days I want to take a trip down to Living Sea Aquarium in Illinois. I get their weekly newsletter and they have a lot of good deals.
If I add up my drive times, it should be an hour twenty minute shot down 94 to Midwest Coral Farms in Highland Park, IL for you Milwaukee-ites. Would be worth the trip if you had the time imo.
QUOTE (StevieT @ Feb 24 2010, 10:07 AM)
I was not all that impressed with the Feed Bag when I was there in the fall. I am not impressed with any LFS in this area, I stick to the interweb.
I know they had issues with one or two of their frag tanks last fall which caused them to lose a lot of corals and clams, then they had a power outage that took it's toll too. Their new store is pretty nice though, they added some more saltwater tanks and they have four, maybe five tanks that look like they will be stocked with coral.
At the very least Joe the fish guy can actually provide you with some honest advice.
QUOTE (StevieT @ Feb 24 2010, 12:07 PM)
I was not all that impressed with the Feed Bag when I was there in the fall. I am not impressed with any LFS in this area, I stick to the interweb.
Have you been down to midwest coral farm yet steve?Place is the bset place i have ever been in.It crazy.
Any of you going to the swap in madison this weekend?should be nice turnout
For you folks who hit the Frag Swap, what'd you get?
I got Aptasia! Huzzah! Flipped over a blue mushroom I got for real cheap, and there was a huge head of Aptasia staring right back at me... so I went to the LFS and bought Joe's Juice and some Malafax... I should have just ditched the blue mushroom, but it had good color
Other than that, got some Zoas (Armor of God, Whamm'n Water Mellon), 2 beautiful green mushrooms, hammer coral (which may have had some nudi eggs on it...), snowflake polyp, and a star polyp.
For my first frag swap, I think that went great!
I got Aptasia! Huzzah! Flipped over a blue mushroom I got for real cheap, and there was a huge head of Aptasia staring right back at me... so I went to the LFS and bought Joe's Juice and some Malafax... I should have just ditched the blue mushroom, but it had good color
Other than that, got some Zoas (Armor of God, Whamm'n Water Mellon), 2 beautiful green mushrooms, hammer coral (which may have had some nudi eggs on it...), snowflake polyp, and a star polyp.
For my first frag swap, I think that went great!
QUOTE (violinist @ Feb 24 2010, 10:36 AM)
If I add up my drive times, it should be an hour twenty minute shot down 94 to Midwest Coral Farms in Highland Park, IL for you Milwaukee-ites. Would be worth the trip if you had the time imo.
Thank you for the suggestion! I took a trip down to Midwest Coral Farms yesterday. I was very impressed with the store. They have a great coral selection that is going to get bigger. This store just opened and they are still getting all the livestock systems up and running. I also got a behind the scenes tour of the store....They have some beautiful livestock in the back.
I picked up a few nice looking (and inexpensive) frags.
This is my new favorite place for corals.
QUOTE (Littlegreeny @ Mar 7 2010, 11:58 AM)
Thank you for the suggestion! I took a trip down to Midwest Coral Farms yesterday. I was very impressed with the store. They have a great coral selection that is going to get bigger. This store just opened and they are still getting all the livestock systems up and running. I also got a behind the scenes tour of the store....They have some beautiful livestock in the back.
I picked up a few nice looking (and inexpensive) frags.
This is my new favorite place for corals.
I picked up a few nice looking (and inexpensive) frags.
This is my new favorite place for corals.
Were all the 3 front tanks full yet????Also did they have any really nice colored frogspawn yet?I need to get back there.Are you a member of wisconsin reef or madison area reef?If so you get another 10% off there.
QUOTE (plainrt @ Mar 7 2010, 10:15 AM)
Were all the 3 front tanks full yet????Also did they have any really nice colored frogspawn yet?I need to get back there.Are you a member of wisconsin reef or madison area reef?If so you get another 10% off there.
The 3 front tanks were pretty full. They did have a few nice (but large) frogspawn frags. They asked if I was a member of the Wisconsin Reef Society (which I am not). Didn't know you get an additional discount if you're a member.
Did you see the BioCube HQI up and running?...It's a very sweet setup in person.
QUOTE (Littlegreeny @ Mar 8 2010, 11:33 AM)
The 3 front tanks were pretty full. They did have a few nice (but large) frogspawn frags. They asked if I was a member of the Wisconsin Reef Society (which I am not). Didn't know you get an additional discount if you're a member.
Did you see the BioCube HQI up and running?...It's a very sweet setup in person.
Did you see the BioCube HQI up and running?...It's a very sweet setup in person.
Yeah i want one of them big frogs.Gonna split with a friend i think.I did see the new cube.I came very close to parting my 40 breeder to buy one and make it a lps only tank as im sick of all my zoas etc.I still might do it soon lol.I had my fun with my breeder got totm on two sites and proved what i wanted.
Anyone interested in having a not so commercial frag swap someplace ?
QUOTE (ryno920 @ Feb 24 2010, 12:17 PM)
I know they had issues with one or two of their frag tanks last fall which caused them to lose a lot of corals and clams, then they had a power outage that took it's toll too. Their new store is pretty nice though, they added some more saltwater tanks and they have four, maybe five tanks that look like they will be stocked with coral.
At the very least Joe the fish guy can actually provide you with some honest advice.
At the very least Joe the fish guy can actually provide you with some honest advice.
Ok because that is when I was over at his shop. He invited me by to talk about my products. I'll have to make the trip back out and see the new tanks, very nice guy with a good shop but was missing the inventory when I was there.
QUOTE (plainrt @ Feb 24 2010, 04:37 PM)
Have you been down to midwest coral farm yet steve?Place is the bset place i have ever been in.It crazy.
No not yet, it looks really nice. I go through IL quite a bit still and should make the trip when I can get a weekend free from inTank.
also, Discovery world frag swap has been over for a while
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QUOTE (ryno920 @ Feb 24 2010, 10:02 AM)
I'm from Milwaukee too, the only really good LFS around is The Feed Bag up in Mequon, they haven't gotten a whole lot in yet for corals since they've moved, but once they do they'll be worth going to on a regular basis.
I went to The Feed Bag yesterday and have to say I wasn't at all impressed. There was a blue tang that was sick (appeared to be ick), there was another tank with a dead goby and another goby that was near death. The coral tanks had a tiny selection.
I hate seeing sick fish that do not appear to have been treated for their illness in a fish store. And seeing dead fish is unacceptable. I don't think I'll be visiting that store again anytime soon.
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Mar 9 2010, 09:06 AM)
Anyone interested in having a not so commercial frag swap someplace ?
Nano, there's a Rhinelander frag swap coming up- it'll be smaller than the Madison one, so I assume it'll be less commercial. My experience at the Madison swap was not that great (seems that most of the vendors were selling stuff my tank can't support)... so I don't think I can justify the 4 hour drive to Rhineland. For you it'd be a quick skip n' a jump. Also, I don't have any frags, or I'd be all about a casual meet'n'swap. Working on building a frag tank now, so maybe that'll change. There are a great number of reefers in Northern Wisconsin that frequent the MARS website (www.madisonreef.com) that may be able to hook you up with some great frags up north.
QUOTE (Littlegreeny)
I hate seeing sick fish that do not appear to have been treated for their illness in a fish store. And seeing dead fish is unacceptable. I don't think I'll be visiting that store again anytime soon.
Couldn't agree with you more. Animart on the East side of Madison (within driving distance of folks near Milwaukee) is terrible... they had MASSIVE heads of Aptasia growing in all of their tanks (even the display tanks out on the main floor... awesome marketing), and I always see dead fish, or fish with extremely cloudy eyes. I refuse to buy any livestock from a place like that, even if the specimen I am interested in looks healthy.
Ok fixed for you steve......Lol
QUOTE (nano_keeper30 @ Feb 8 2010, 05:26 AM)
Just wondering if there are any fellow reefers In my neck of the woods. Be nice to find somone to share the hobby with in my area.
I lived in Wausau, but now few min east in Eland. About 4 min from Wittenberg.
QUOTE (Fu Man Chu @ Mar 11 2010, 08:17 AM)
I lived in Wausau, but now few min east in Eland. About 4 min from Wittenberg.
Well that isnt to far dude, 30 min. im actually in rothschild on old 51. Got any frags/stuff you wanna trade ? lol Ive got a 40 breeder frag tank that im slowly stocking up. Got about 15-20 frags in there right now. I have all kinds of odds and ends laying around and if i dont have it i can usually build it. Also got massive amounts of salt mix.
QUOTE (plainrt @ Mar 9 2010, 04:40 PM)
Ok fixed for you steve......Lol
QUOTE (SaltineSage @ Mar 9 2010, 11:05 AM)
Nano, there's a Rhinelander frag swap coming up- it'll be smaller than the Madison one, so I assume it'll be less commercial. My experience at the Madison swap was not that great (seems that most of the vendors were selling stuff my tank can't support)... so I don't think I can justify the 4 hour drive to Rhineland. For you it'd be a quick skip n' a jump. Also, I don't have any frags, or I'd be all about a casual meet'n'swap. Working on building a frag tank now, so maybe that'll change. There are a great number of reefers in Northern Wisconsin that frequent the MARS website (www.madisonreef.com) that may be able to hook you up with some great frags up north.
Couldn't agree with you more. Animart on the East side of Madison (within driving distance of folks near Milwaukee) is terrible... they had MASSIVE heads of Aptasia growing in all of their tanks (even the display tanks out on the main floor... awesome marketing), and I always see dead fish, or fish with extremely cloudy eyes. I refuse to buy any livestock from a place like that, even if the specimen I am interested in looks healthy.
Couldn't agree with you more. Animart on the East side of Madison (within driving distance of folks near Milwaukee) is terrible... they had MASSIVE heads of Aptasia growing in all of their tanks (even the display tanks out on the main floor... awesome marketing), and I always see dead fish, or fish with extremely cloudy eyes. I refuse to buy any livestock from a place like that, even if the specimen I am interested in looks healthy.
Are you talking about the animart by the mall ? I only know of one in madison that I have been to. Yeah very shady folks that work there, dont know squat and try to tell and sell you anything. Their fish look like crap and they are overpriced in my book. They had some galaxia in one of there upper tanks set within inches of two decent looking ORA Red Planet Acro frags, can we say DUMB ? I did however binge buy a very large tongue coral they had though and it has been doing just fine. He said they had it for a while and he sold it to me for $30 so i took a gamble. Otherwise, there are better options. I didnt know about Living Art Aquarium at the time (wasnt in my gps) but i will have to check them out next time I am down there.
Another place to check out is Pet World Warehouse. They are a hit and miss with price and quality, but sometimes do have some nice stuff. He deals in more show size peices and if you have a good eye you can sometimes get a deal. Not a great frag store unless you are looking for mushrooms. I paid $70 for a large green open brain coral but I really couldnt resist. I went down to madison to buy coral and damn it I was coming home with atleast a few peices lol. He does have a few mature Acros in his "display" tank he was selling for $75 last time I was down there that didnt look to bad. Its a LFS enough said but atleast worth a stop as he does have some ok stuff at times.
If anyone in wisconsin wants to trade/buy frags post in here. Local pickup would be easy, shipping would be cheap cheap cheap as i have never had a priority package that took longer than a day to get to anyplace in WI even most bording states closer to the WI border.
I have a decent selection of frags myself and it be nice to set up a nice social network for wisconsin frag traders.
I have a decent selection of frags myself and it be nice to set up a nice social network for wisconsin frag traders.
Hey nano if you ever order any fish on-line let know maybe we can put a order in together and split shipping. And I will do the same.
Sorry I dont have any frags to trade, right now I am just a FOWLR. But you never know whats down the road.
Sorry I dont have any frags to trade, right now I am just a FOWLR. But you never know whats down the road.
QUOTE (Fu Man Chu @ Mar 30 2010, 01:46 PM)
Hey nano if you ever order any fish on-line let know maybe we can put a order in together and split shipping. And I will do the same.
Sorry I dont have any frags to trade, right now I am just a FOWLR. But you never know whats down the road.
Sorry I dont have any frags to trade, right now I am just a FOWLR. But you never know whats down the road.
If you need deals on any equipment or salt, I always have my hands in something so drop me a PM.
That goes for anyone in WI. $25 can get u 200g box of mix of Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals.
There are so many awesome aquarium based companies in Wisconsin
just sayin'
just sayin'
But we get 4 weeks of summer then per-winter, winter then post-winter.
QUOTE (Fu Man Chu @ Mar 30 2010, 10:00 PM)
But we get 4 weeks of summer then per-winter, winter then post-winter.
True Dat !! Im moving to the tropics, Chicago maybe
Yeah the winters do suck ass. I cant justify buying a chiller for 2 months a year so the ghetto style AC unit is going in the window of the fish room again this year
But it has been 60 degrees for a long period of time in March, maybe we are due for a 90 degree summer starting in May ? Who know ?, as they say if you dont like the weather in Wisconsin, wait a day !
Yes wisconsin does have some good offerings for the aquarium trade, one of the biggest tank manufactures is located in Franklin, WI - Oceanic.
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