Pittsburgh Reefers?

[Spencer7]

Just wanted to see if anyone was out there! Would be happy to have an on-going NR thread for the group. 😃

[mitten_reef]

@tanacharison, @vlangel?

 

[vlangel]

Thanks mitten for putting me on to this post!

 

Hi Spencer7!  I am a Pgh reefer.  Where are you located?  I live in the North Hills.

[Spencer7]

40 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Thanks mitten for putting me on to this post!

 

Hi Spencer7!  I am a Pgh reefer.  Where are you located?  I live in the North Hills.

Currently picking a place to move into at the end of the summer! Probably within 1-2 miles of CMU.

Many serious reefers in the area? I scoped out the stores online and saw the three rivers club.

[vlangel]

Great.  Yes, we have some pretty serious reefers here.  Actually Michael Paletta (who has written books on reefing and is a big name in the reef world) lives north of Pgh. He has spoken at the 3RMAS.

 

The 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society is a fairly active club off and on.  Right now like everything else they are off because of social distancing.  Last year they held their 1st ever frag swap that did alright and were going to have one again this year until the stay at home order happened.  They are planning for next year at the Washington, PA fairgrounds.

 

Do you have a tank currently or waiting until you move?

[Spencer7]

1 hour ago, vlangel said:

Great.  Yes, we have some pretty serious reefers here.  Actually Michael Paletta (who has written books on reefing and is a big name in the reef world) lives north of Pgh. He has spoken at the 3RMAS.

 

The 3 Rivers Marine Aquarium Society is a fairly active club off and on.  Right now like everything else they are off because of social distancing.  Last year they held their 1st ever frag swap that did alright and were going to have one again this year until the stay at home order happened.  They are planning for next year at the Washington, PA fairgrounds.

 

Do you have a tank currently or waiting until you move?

So I'm looking at apartments/duplexes now and will move in August. 

 

Before I do that, I'm considering trying to cycle some rock in Huntsville and/or maybe sending someone in Pittsburgh a bioplate for them to inoculate in their sump (to make cycling quicker when I arrive).  

 

Tank I currently have up is a 32g planted tank (60-H in sig). This tank will be an acro tank (likely a Reefer 170).

 

Is Michael active on NR or R2R at all?

 

 

[vlangel]

On 4/29/2020 at 9:28 AM, Spencer7 said:

So I'm looking at apartments/duplexes now and will move in August. 

 

Before I do that, I'm considering trying to cycle some rock in Huntsville and/or maybe sending someone in Pittsburgh a bioplate for them to inoculate in their sump (to make cycling quicker when I arrive).  

 

Tank I currently have up is a 32g planted tank (60-H in sig). This tank will be an acro tank (likely a Reefer 170).

 

Is Michael active on NR or R2R at all?

 

 

I have seen articles that Michael has written on R2R.  About a year or so ago he wrote an article on his new build.  He detailed how the tank, sump and equipment were laid out and his reasoning behind each decision.  He shared past mistakes and how he planned to rectify them.  The article was in multiple parts and although I am not an acro gal, nor is my tank anywhere the size of his,  I found his build very interesting.

 

I have lots of room in my sump or fuge if you want me to inoculate the bioplate to speed up the cycle.  My tank does however contain caulerpa which you may not want to expose the bioplate to.  I do not have any heinous aiptasia however.

[Spencer7]

On 4/30/2020 at 11:16 AM, vlangel said:

I have seen articles that Michael has written on R2R.  About a year or so ago he wrote an article on his new build.  He detailed how the tank, sump and equipment were laid out and his reasoning behind each decision.  He shared past mistakes and how he planned to rectify them.  The article was in multiple parts and although I am not an acro gal, nor is my tank anywhere the size of his,  I found his build very interesting.

 

I have lots of room in my sump or fuge if you want me to inoculate the bioplate to speed up the cycle.  My tank does however contain caulerpa which you may not want to expose the bioplate to.  I do not have any heinous aiptasia however.

I found someone in Huntsville (SPS tank) who I think I'm going to get seed rubble from. I'll then have dry rock curing for ~3 months in a bin before coming to Pittsburgh 🙂 

Help shorten the cycle a lot, I hope.

 

Thank you for the offer. Hope to see the tank in the fall!