fitch4 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 It's back!!! Looking to be bigger and better than ever, with a TON of vendors + companies, and more corals that anyone should ever have in one place. If you need any info, or have would like to get involved, shoot me a PM. Hope to see all of my NR brothers and sisters out for this one. If you have never come to it before, it is well worth the drive- TONS of corals and great prices! I also have a deal with the local hotel, if you want to make a weekend of it. Just let me know and I'll get you the info. Thanks- Jon 1 Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Don't forget to add this to our Community Calendar @fitch4 1 Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Missed last year due to a newborn infant, just got the OK from the boss to drag her and the baby down there for some coral! 1 Link to comment
fitch4 Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 Sweet! Good news is that she and your baby get in free! 1 Link to comment
fitch4 Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 Here is the preliminary list of sellers for the 2018 FFM. This is only the coral vendors, not any of the companies that will be there! AC Corals Alex's Advanced Aquatics Aquadreams AZNnutty's Saltwater Connections Blake’s Aquaden Blastomaster Blue View Aquatics Captain Cook's Corals Cherry Corals Coral Emporium Coral Reef Connection Credable Coral Labs Dirk’s Aquatics Dr. Salomon Corals Elmafioso52988 E.O. Smith Coral Project European Aquatics Exotic Fish and Corals Fins Aquarium Frag Freaks Frank180Reef FUPA Gotham Aquatics Greg Polec Greg Demos - Aquacultured Acropora Greg Hiller Green Mountain Corals gsxr750 Headie Corals Jason Foxx King Pin Coral Kwong1998 Kyle Lanoue Manny Cabral Marine Science Magnet School MO~Idol NY Coral King Ocean State Aquatics Pablo Paulywalnuts Pacific East Aquaculture Pieces of the Ocean Reef Creations Rick W. Rock Hard Reefs RTMA Corals School of Fish Sheltered Reef Shoreline Pet Sick Twist'd Corals Son and Sand Speedy Corals SteelerMike Supreme Reefs Tank Breakers TJM Corals TSM Corals The Coral Reef The Reef Shoppe Triggreef Ultimate Corals Underwater Bliss Usctom Wet Pets Zooanthids.com 2 Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 Only a month to go till the FFM!!! I still have a few announcements to make in the next week or two- going to be HUGE again! 1 Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 How about a HUGE contest before the FFM? Just visit one of these shops and make a purchase to be entered. Here are the shops that you can visit to enter to win: Wet Pets - Vernon CT Shoreline Pet & Aquarium- Old Saybrook CT Ocean State Aquatics - Coventry RI Credible Coral Labs (Justin Credabel) - New London, CT Aquadreams - Feeding Hills, MA Colchester Pet – Colchester, CT School of Fish- Springfield, MA Blake’s Aqua Den – Meriden, CT Aquatic Creations – Nashua, NH Coral Reef Connection - Sinking Spring PA If there are other shops that would like to take part, just shoot me a PM and I can add you to the list of participating stores! Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Here is the updated list of vendors for the FFM this year. All I can say is WOW that is a lot of corals under one roof! If you have never been, it is definitely worth the trip! Coral Vendors - my apologies to anyone whose home state I incorrectly labeled! AC Corals -CT Alex's Advanced Aquatics - CT Aresangel -MA Aquadreams -MA Aquaspaces - NY AZNnutty's Saltwater Connections - OH Blake's Aquaden -CT Blastomaster -CT Blue View Aquatics - MA Cherry Corals -MI Colchester Pet - CT Coral Emporium - VA Coral Reef Connection - PA Credable Coral Labs -CT DBReef - MA Dr. Salomon Corals - RI Elmafioso52988 - MA E.O. Smith Coral Project - CT European Aquatics - CT Exotic Fish and Corals - CT Fins Aquarium - NY Frag Freaks - MA Frank180Reef - MA FUPA - CT Gotham Aquatics - NY Greg Polec - ??? Greg Demos - Aquacultured Acropora - ??? Greg Hiller - MA Headie Corals - CT Jason Foxx - MD King Pin Coral - NY Kwong1998 - NY Kyle Lanoue - ??? Manny Cabral - ??? Marine Science Magnet School - CT Matt Spaulding - VT Micheal Reeve (Underwater Bliss) - CT NY Coral King - NY Ocean State Aquatics - RI Pablo - NY Paulywalnuts - CT Pacific East Aquaculture - MD Pieces of the Ocean - NY Pop Corals - NY Reef Creations - NY Rick Correira - MA Rick W. - ??? RTMA Corals - CT School of Fish - MA Sheltered Reef - NY Shoreline Pet - CT Sick and Twisted Corals - CT Son and Sand - ME Speedy Corals - CT SteelerMike - RI Supreme Reefs - VA Tank Breakers - CT TJM Corals - NJ TSM Corals - NJ The Coral Reef - CT The Reef Shoppe - NY Triggreef - CT Ultimate Corals - NJ Usctom -NY Wet Pets - CT Zooanthids.com - UTNon- Coral Vendors AquaFx Aquatic Creations Boston Aqua Farms Brightwell Champion Lighting Dirks Aquatics ESV Fritz Hanna Instruments Mike’s Phyto Neptune Systems Polyp Labs Red Sea Reef Breeders Reef News Network Reef Nutrition Reef Rax Reef Trends Reef Weeds Rock Hard Reefs Rod’s Food Tropic Marin TunzeClubs CTARS BRS ARKSC 1 Link to comment
NYfishies Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 this is going to be awesome! 1 Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 Yes it will. No where will you see the sheer number of corals that you will see at the FFM. It is absolutely overwhelming how many things you see all in one spot! Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Here are the speakers for the FFM this year! Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Here is the floorplan for the FFM this year- I have a few vendors for you to choose from... Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Only one week to go! Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I can’t wait!!! I’ll have roughly 20 paintings for sale at FFM! Here are a few: 1 Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 So cool @ReefWeeds! I love how they change under actinic light 1 Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: So cool @ReefWeeds! I love how they change under actinic light Thank you, Chris!!! Link to comment
fitch4 Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Only a few days to go before the biggest single day swap in the whole US! Anyone even close to CT should give the Frag Farmer's Market a shot. If you have never come out, you will not be disappointed. With close to 70 coral vendors, there are more corals at the FFM than at any other swap or show. If you have come out in the past, you are already coming out, so I will see you there! Here are some more questions that I have gotten on forums, PM's, emails, etc... "I have to drive 3 hours to get to the Frag Farmers, is it really worth it?" -I always look at a big show this way; I drive an hour to go to some of the shops I like best. What if I could drive 3 to see all of the fish stores in one place. With almost 70 coral vendors this year, this is the single largest grouping of corals you can find anywhere. No conference, no show, no swap focuses on just corals and has this many vendors. The room after room of corals at the FFM is overwhelming, even to me and I have been at them all! “How do I get tickets?” Admission is $5 and spouses and kids under 12 are free! All sales are at the door for the FFM. There are no advanced sales. "Will there be high end Zoas and SPS at the FFM?" -Yes, there are a TON of high end Zoas and SPS at the FFM, sold by many of the vendors. "Can I find easy to keep corals? I have a new tank and am just looking to fill some space." -Yes, that is there too. Lots of the hobbyists farm easy stuff, GSP, mushrooms, leathers, xenia, etc... "What are the typical prices at the FFM?" -The prices here are better than you will find anywhere for three reasons. One, the shops always stock up to sell at shows and give better pricing than you would see in their store, or online. They often do package deals, 5 for $50, etc... Secondly, the buy-in for shops is so low, they don't feel the pressure to make back their set-up fee. Typical shows this size charge $100's (or $1000’s) just for the space, mine is still well under $100, and only $30 for hobbyists. People always ask why don't I charge more, and the answer is I'm not in this for the money. I just want to be able to run my coral project with the kids at the school. Lastly, with so many vendors, you can find the same coral at multiple stations. That competition causes better prices. Frags range anywhere from free (yes that happens!) all the way up to $1000+. "Do vendors accept credit cards?" -Some do, some don't. Most of the shops do but some of the hobbyists do not. I always suggest cash, its the sure thing. “How much money should I bring?” This is a tricky question. Let me give you a word problem to describe it (sorry it's a teacher thing): When you leave home, you plan to spend $X. You will spend that much and then see three other things you want. You will visit the ATM across the street and take out more $Y, which you also spend. You leave having spent $X + $Y, and wishing you had bought that one frag for $Z that you had never seen before. How much trouble are you in with your wife? “Should I bring a cooler?” Yes, bring a cooler. The good news is that you don’t have to lug it around all day. The FFM has added a FREE cooler check station. The volunteers at the station will watch your cooler for you all day. If you need to drop something off, just stop by the table and throw it into your cooler! "Is there a raffle?" Yes there is. It is one of the biggest you will see at a swap with anything from rock to supplements, fish to coral, controllers to pumps, AIO tanks to 100 gallon reef ready set-ups, and a TON more! Raffle tickets are for sale all day at the FFM. "Where does all the money from the FFM go?" -ALL of the proceeds go to support the E.O. Smith High School Coral Project. I teach my students about corals, aquaculture and conservation by having them help me run the schools coral farm. The FFM has become so successful that I have been able to start helping other schools get going with similar projects in their classrooms. I have also used the proceeds from the FFM to give out $3000 in scholarships over the last three years. See you all in a few days! Jon Link to comment
fitch4 Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 I know if you watch the national weather reports it looks like the world is about to end but the local weather report for the area around the FFM looks like we should be good. Rain on Friday, a little snow overnight (a couple inches?) and then it is out for Saturday morning. We are good to go with the FFM- FRAG ON! Everyone drive safe! Link to comment
Beer Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 13.25 Hours to go. Not counting or anything. Link to comment
MainelyReefer Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 It's like Christmas Eve I am waking up hourly because I'm so excited for FFM!!! Come 5am I will be waking my wife up asking if I can get up yet and open presents. Link to comment
fitch4 Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 Well, I'm back up again after a long night of set-up. Despite the weather, more than 1/2 the vendors came to set-up last night and the other half, minus one or two, will be here this morning. We got no weather, other than rain yesterday and the school is all set to host the 11th annual FFM today! I got a chance to look over some of the set-ups last night and there is some AMAZING stuff at the FFM as usual. The FFM is definitely on for today so clear out your driveway and make the ride out to E.O. Smith in Storrs and be a part of it! 1 Link to comment
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