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Islandoftiki's Hawaiian adventure!


Islandoftiki

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Ladies and Germs,

 

As I'm making plans to transfer my last remaining tank (the Nuvo 30 gallon peacock mantis tank) to it's new owner, I thought it was time to start a new thread to stay connected to all of my friends on the Nano-Reef forum as we embark upon the next chapter in our lives. The big island of Hawaii!

 

Our house is currently pending sale and we have our plane tickets in hand. My last day in Oregon will be November 6th. After that, we'll be calling the Kailua-Kona area our home for the foreseeable future.

 

We're getting rid of all of our furniture except for the sentimental stuff in hopes of cramming everything into a 20 foot container.

 

I'm bringing with me my 2 gallon pest tank, my 10 gallon Micro-Reefs tank, my 25 gallon Micro-Reefs tank and a brand new Nuvo Fusion 30L that I hope will house a O. brevirostris mantis shrimp if I can find one. Initially we'll be renting until we can find a place to buy, so the first tank to get set up will likely be the 2 gallon pico tank with some unusual and interesting endemic tidepool creatures and Hawaiian zoas.

 

I'll keep everybody posted on our progress on this thread and start new tank threads as they come online when we get settled in Hawaii.

 

Wish us luck and stay tuned...

 

 

In the meantime, here's a picture of one of the local beaches from our last trip:

 

Hawaii1_zps77cdf456.jpg

 

 

Be sure to subscribe to this thread; I plan to be sharing tons of really interesting things!

  • Like 11
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Just make sure the Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn't catch wind - your smallest tank is like their worst nightmare ;)... or are you planning to empty prior to move & re-stock the vaunted Pest Tank with NATIVE representatives?

 

Sure you lose out on some stony corals, but the variety of soft corals and hermit crabs is astounding.

 

I truly, truly envy you. My family's Christmas stay in Maui when I was a kid ranks as one of my happiest memories.

  • Like 1
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Just make sure the Department of Land and Natural Resources doesn't catch wind - your smallest tank is like their worst nightmare ;)... or are you planning to empty prior to move & re-stock the vaunted Pest Tank with NATIVE representatives?

 

Sure you lose out on some stony corals, but the variety of soft corals and hermit crabs is astounding.

 

I truly, truly envy you. My family's Christmas stay in Maui when I was a kid ranks as one of my happiest memories.

 

No livestock can go with me. Only the equipment. We desperately wanted to take our beloved female peacock mantis shrimp, Betty, with us, but it's an absolute No-go. It's difficult for researchers to bring non-endemic species to Hawaii for temporary purposes. Males only and they make sure they go back to the mainland with the researcher.

 

The upsides and downsides to keeping a reef tank in Hawaii are: No stony corals. Period. Soft corals, on the other hand, can be collected for your own personal aquarium as long as it's not in a wildlife protected area. You don't need a fishing or collection license. I believe their are daily limits, but that's really not an issue. There are some specific rules for collecting things using nets, but it's nothing terribly complicated. So, no more spending hundreds of dollars to stock your tank. It's all free. You're a little bit liimited on what you can collect, but I think that's a fair tradeoff. The local fish store in Kona literally has no saltwater livestock. They have a couple tanks, but mostly clown-fish/aiptasia tanks. So, the opportunities for having some pretty neat stuff are huge. I'm very excited about that. I'm going to have to learn to scuba dive now.

  • Like 3
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A basic snorkel/fin set would likely get you off to a great start, but yeah a NAUI certification would be worth its weight in gold there.

 

Not surprised about the small salt selection... how on earth do you make a margin on stuff that's practically IS free?

 

So let's see here - free macroalgae, crabs, zoas/palys/anemones... not really seeing a downside to the whole stocking restriction edict from this side of it. ;)

  • Like 1
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Mr. Microscope

Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool!!!!

 

So excited for you tiki! Can't wait to see the tidepool pics and what you end up doing aquarium wise. Keep us posted! Following. (wish I could literally follow you) ;)

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So, we've signed the final paperwork for the house sale and scheduled the movers and the shipping container drop-off. It's all going to plan so far!

 

I've given notice at work and October 13th will be my last day! I will be unemployed for the first time since I was 17! (I'm 43 now).

 

 

I keep thinking I want to put a personalized vanity plate on my car in Hawaii, but haven't been able to figure out what to go with. Today it dawned on me. The Hawaiian word for mantis shrimp is 'alo'alo, and that's what it's going to be. How cool is that? I dunno, I think it's cool.

 

Anyhow, many many things to do in the next 30 days, so I'm going to be a busy guy!

 

Here are a couple pictures of Pamela interacting with Betty the day before we moved the tank to it's new home...

 

85A735C4-orig_zpse73aa388.jpg

 

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  • Like 9
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I am so sorry that you had to let Betty go :(, I loved watching the videos you used to post up of her. I wish her all the best in her new home and I wish you all the best in your move. I have helped friends move before and I can understand how stressfull the whole ordeal can be, particularly if you are moving accross country.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Pamela has been full-time busy for the past couple of months doing the impossible--securing a rental house for us near Kona (where I'll inevitably be working). Today, I'm happy to say that we signed the papers on a rental house! At this point, everything is going perfectly. Having a place to land is a huge load off of our shoulders as our date for arrival in Hawaii is rapidly approaching. This house ticks all of the boxes for us, with maybe the exception of space, so anybody visiting us will need to sleep in the garage or in a tent. That said, we will have an amazing ocean view. Time to invest in a telescope for the upcoming whale migration!

Here's a pic of the house we'll be renting:

 

Hawaiihouse_zps362d1c9e.jpg

 

Once we get settled in, we'll be looking for a house to buy. :)

  • Like 10
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Awesome man.... congrats! Enjoy the beatiful islands and get a kayak if you have a chance and like that stuff.... I have always enjoyed your posts and your tanks are always incredible... I look forward to seeing your new ones hawaii style!!!

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Since I sold my ATO along with Betty's tank, here's a new one to replace it with. It'll be a while before I get to use it, but I figured it would be best to get it stateside and put it in with our household goods that are being shipped in two weeks. I also got 25 lbs of dry Fiji rock from BRS that will be coming along for the ride.

 

5E1E1BAD-orig_zps5a51720d.jpg

  • Like 4
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Probably a good idea... everything on the Big Island seems to cost more if it has to be imported by anyone but yourself. I recommend you lay in some spares of things that tend to break, too (heaters, etc).

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Probably a good idea... everything on the Big Island seems to cost more if it has to be imported by anyone but yourself. I recommend you lay in some spares of things that tend to break, too (heaters, etc).

 

I'll take pictures of all of the boxes of aquarium gear tonight. I think I have at least two or three of everything. Heaters, powerheads, reefkeepers, pumps, etc. :) I doubt I'll even need a heater there. I'm bringing my chiller though.

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Dr.Brain Coral

Thats a Really Nice house Tiki. I cant wait to see your Tanks when they are up and running!!

 

If you want to learn to Scuba Dive look in to Padi. I will be a Certified diver by The end of February. I am more excited for that than Getting my drivers license lol

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  • 2 weeks later...
Islandoftiki

Well, the house is going to be packed up by the movers on Thursday/Friday. I've already packed up most of my aquarium equipment. Our shipping container arrives tomorrow. They load the container early next week after my tool box comes home from work on a flatbed tow truck (It's a very large tool box). At that point, I'm not working until we arrive in Hawaii and my tool box is unloaded. We'll also be camping out in our house with nothing more than an air mattress, a couple of sleeping bags and a few suitcases of stuff to get us by until we make our exit from the mainland in early November. It's both exciting and a little terrifying. On a very positive note, I just got my first job offer yesterday. It's not as much money as I had hoped, but it's a pretty solid offer and certainly a living wage. I'm expecting to get additional job offers in the coming weeks, so we'll see how those pan out.

 

Here is all of my equipment. Sitting in boxes...

 

B33CAF4F-orig_zps6baebe52.jpg

 

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D0382091-orig_zps1ace342b.jpg

 

BD39CC96-orig_zpsd82a1f9c.jpg

 

6C34B5A7-orig_zps2862f392.jpg

  • Like 6
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Good luck with the move!!

 

I must have missed it somewhere, or I hope you don't mind me asking... Why the move to Hawaii if you haven't already accepted a job?

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Islandoftiki

Good luck with the move!!

 

I must have missed it somewhere, or I hope you don't mind me asking... Why the move to Hawaii if you haven't already accepted a job?

 

My fiance told me she was moving to Hawaii and she hoped I would join her. LOL. Not wanting to split up with her, I decided to go along for the ride!

  • Like 5
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