SeanCallan

Man, you really do have awesome customer service. Do you offer the braided value as well?

I'm looking at picking up a Typhoon III today and I noticed it wants me to select the adapter : supply valve, hose connection or faucet adapter. I have no idea what these are. I need something I can use to tap into the water line under my sink. Thanks!

Hey guys, construction on my new custom tank started this morning and I need to find the last 4 remaining item. Where is the best place to get good deals on pumps, regulators, and lighting fixtures? It can be a shop or a website. I only know of Marine Depot and I'm not sure how they compare to other retailers I may be unfamiliar with. Thanks Edit: Is there a way to modify the title? Dry goods & equipment would be more appropriate.

Yeah, Jeff (NAGA) was the one who originally recommended I look into the NOVA II and I guess the worst thing that happens is as I stock the tank, I add an additional NOVA II.

My other concern is that 400w over a 79.9g tank, with a ~40g sump is going to scorch the water. I'm not really trying to run a chiller. Do you think one would be necessary or a fan would be adequate?

Alright, I'm edging closer and closer to having my new 30x34x20 cube in my hands and I want to nail down the lights. The viewable area is 30x30x20, SPS only. Minimal rock work, plenty of flow, and now I just need plenty of light. My original plan: 1 Giesemann NOVA II w/ 250w Phoenix 14K I've had people tell me that a 250w will be perfect if I can get the coverage and that the NOVA II is a quality pendant that will do the trick. At the same time, a number of people have told me I need a full sized reflector like the Lumenarcs or even a 400w bulb. However, since I'm not made of money I don't want to "maybe" this and have to immediately buy all new lighting. Should I look at a 400w (Radium 20K?) in a full sized reflector? 2x 250w reflectors? Heres the catch (if you want to call it that), the pendant is going to be in my living room and very visible, so attractiveness is worth something here. Suggestions?

I had a good time at the social but this was also my first time to the store so I wanted to post up my vendor experience. I feel like I should address the issue that is bound to be brought up, "But Sean, you're both studly guys who share a common name, that obviously influences your opinion", and I must say to you, my fellow reefers that I have not allowed that to skew my opinions. The staff at TAC were fantastic, they humored my silly questions, and were very knowledgeable. The selection was fantastic, the tanks were spotless clean (think of TAC as the ying and Roozen's as the yang), and the store as a whole was clean. Anyone who was at the Social was capable of seeing how packed the store was and you guys had Sean running around for all sorts of things. But he was still able to answer a number of questions I had for him (which were not related to making any kind of sale) and he offered me a lot of fantastic advice for me new tank. That ladies and gentlemen, is a well oiled machine. It's a little bit of a trip, but I will most definitely be back at TAC. Also, side note, Sean's clam tank was amazing.

I'm not surprised by that in the least, but I do know that the JBJ Picotopes are the base of a lot of the DIY tanks. This gentleman from the hot and dirty Atl did it : http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20020 I have a fantastic idea for this tiny tank, but I'm going to refrain revealing it till its done (so none of yous guys steal my awesome to the max idea) Are there any members who for a fee would be willing to drill a/some holes?

What's the best setup for drilling a bulkhead into glass? I'm thinking about putting a intake and return on this tiny 3 gallon glass tank. Thinking about using 1/2 or 1/4 holes. Any suggestions? I was thinking about using a dremel but I'm not sure how I can ensure the whole is round.

I can't compare to those places, I've never been to any of them, I'm not actually even familiar with them. I know that the things I've picked up from Wally's for my previous tanks has always been top notch. $15 bucks isn't much when you know the fish is in a decent environment and the store is backing the quality.

Aren't people always saying that it's better to pay more then get a questionable fish from a place like Super Pets, Pets Mart, Pets-r-Us, etc? Shouldn't the same apply to Roozen's, sure it's not a franchise, but all you're doing by giving them money is encouraging a substandard establishment to continue it's questionable practices. I wonder how many rare "diamond in the rough" fish they've had die from the conditions there that could have been better utilizes by a more responsible LFS. I should clarify, I may not currently have a tank setup but I have a good amount of experience with the SW hobby and Biology in general. Maybe that what makes Roozen's suck so much; I know that it could be better but they're not actually committed to that.

Or I could order it on the internet and skip having my fish suffer in that place.

Harbor Freight stuff feels cheap, I'd stay clear of anything with a motor and I wouldn't buy anything that is important like a diamond bit. "Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices" - Lowest Prices because they confused diamond with quartz. Maybe they make a quality hammer, it's pretty hard to screw that up. I promise, I'm not always pessimist.

I've mentioned in twice in my posts and I figured it warranted a "Vendor Experience" post. I decided this past weekend to hit up all the LFS within a pretty decent radius of my place as I'm trying to get an idea of what is available and at what cost while I plan my tank. Roozen's has been spoken of pretty highly a number of times on these forums and so I decided to swing up that way. Perhaps they have 2 locations, but the one I went to in MD was the biggest disappointment ever. I took my roommate with me so he could start to get an understanding of the hobby as I prepared to build my tank, thankfully there were other stores for him to see because Roozen's is frankly a piece of *@. From what I was able to see, it appears that Roozen's is some kind of algae and aiptasia farmer, I will never purchase a piece from them and introduce it to my tank, only God knows what else has spread throughout those tanks. Sure they have a lot of fish, but they also had a lot of fish laying on the bottom of the little teacup sized holding containers they had. Their great selection of Mantis Shrimp? 2 and one was dead. Customer service? I can't really say anything bad nor can I say anything good. A guy at the front told me how to find the SW area and the guy there offered to help me. He told me out right they don't plan to carry much in the way of SPS since they cannot compete with WAMAS and other groups which do a fair amount of trading. What am I missing about this place? I feel like I should send Roozen's a bill for my gas.

I stopped back Wally's the previous weekend and right now they've got nothing saltwater. They had a tank crash and it took out all of their selection. The girl told me they would be restocked within a few days but I haven't taken the time to go back. As for a comparison to Roozen's? I don't even think it's warranted. This isn't the first time I've heard Roozen's spoken of so highly, I must have gone to the wrong store. Unless I'm looking for a rock of algae or fish kept in teacup sized containers, I will never give my business to Roozen's. Wally's has always had a really friendly staff, they've completely redone the store from the last time I was there and they keep their tanks clean (Something Roozen's can't seem to do). Wally's use to have a decent selection of coral and I never found their prices to be too bad. I'll probably go by there this weekend and give an update.

omg, pictures?!

Fantastic, I had completely forgotten about the Anthias, I've never kept them and somehow they managed to drop off my radar, good to know about the males too. Would it be too much to have 2 small schools(3-4?) of say Anthias and Chalks? I'm not sure how much room they need to roam *Queue Metallica's Wherever I May Roam* I've got a number of books on the subject, however, they're not with me at this time. I need to get them back and consult them. Anyone know how well six-line wrasses are with other wrasses like the possum wrasse? I figure now is a better time to get the stupid questions out of the way. Wow!

Thanks for the input. Right now I'm looking at picking up a NOVA II or Reef Optix III. I should have mentioned, the plan right now is to have a SCWD on the CL, sorry about that. As for peppermints and snails in the fuge: I've always replied on peppermints to keep my aptasia under control, the problem many reefers seem to face is that they can control it in the display, but as long as it has a place to flourish in the sump you're never going to be entirely free of it. I've read a number of things on using snails to maintain a fuge, I can provide links to information if you're interested. I was on the fence with the turbos, I've known they can knock things over, but I wasn't sure if that was my personal experiences or whether it's a common problem. Fish wise, good catch on the Banggai, I am going for SPS so it may be too much flow. I'm sad that I won't have the space to keep the tangs, but I figured as much and I'll plan for other "swimmy" fish. Any recommendations? I may go ahead and purchase some dead rock now and get it seeded while I wait for the tank to be built. That way I don't have too much of the plain ol white rock throughout the tank. I had used dead rock in my 75 and my only compliant was that it took a far amount of time to really color up. Just caught your edit so I figured I'd go ahead and address that: Thanks for the heads up on the scarlets, do you have any recommendations? I could manage an extra half inch of sand without it taking away from the look I want to achieve. As for sand sifters and gobys I'll need to do some research to find an adequate one for my setup.

Thanks for the input on the blue legs, I've always kept them but I guess I never noticed their tendency to dine on snails before. I'll definitely look into scarlets. I was thinking about Nassarius but had initially read that they required a deep sand bed to thrive, I don't intend to keep more than 1'' of sand so I'm not sure it'll be an ideal environment for them. If they can deal well in 1'' then I'll toss 10 or so in to make sure the sand stays nice and white. Another fish option I had previously forgot about is the Chalk Basslet, I might consider doing a small school of them in place of the Banggai. I like both so I'm not sure which one is "better"

Yeah, I figured they were using a lot of 20K, that's such a shame. It looks beautiful but how many hobbyist run similar lighting? I'd love to see the pieces under 14K

I swung in this weekend and as said before the staff were extremely friendly. They offered to feed any of the fish I was interested in to see them eating frozen. Cleanest store I've ever been in, it was a refreshing experience after visiting the algae farm that is Roozen's. Their selection is growing as time goes on, right now they only have 1 small monti colony but the girl said they were planning on keeping more SPS once they moved some of the LPS to make room. They've also got a number of SW fish in now, about 1/4-1/2 of the store's selection is SW.

Now that I've been bitten by the saltwater bug again I've been around to all the LFS and been viewing a number of internet retailers trying to determine who has the pieces I'd be interested in stocking once my system is stable. I'm always a little apprehensive about internet orders since theres no telling whether photos have been doctored or not. Reefer Madness is a perfect example, they don't doctor their photos but everything is under so much supplemental lighting that you have no idea what each piece really looks like. I stumbled upon Atlantis Aquarium this morning and I'm impressed with their collection, has anyone ordered from there?

Alright, so I've been talking to Mr. NAGA about a new cube tank (~78gallons) and I'd like to start planning it our further now that the tank itself is pretty much nailed down. Current tank plans (subject to minor changes): 30x30x20 w/ CL 250w HQI 14K Tunze 9010 skimmer I haven't decided on the amount of rock yet, I'm a little rusty in my calculations to be honest. As for a sand bed, I'll probably stick between 1/2'' - 1'' Clean up: 20 blue leg hermits 5 Astrea snails 10 Trochus snails 10 Cerith snails 10 Nerite snails (display) 5 Nerite snails (sump/refuge) 4 Turbo snails Shrimp: 2 Skunk shrimp 4 Peppermint shrimp (dispaly) 2 Peppermint shrimp (sump/refuge) - these will be added later as the refuge matures. Fish: Six line wrasse Copperband butterfly (if it's eating frozen) 4-5 Banggai cardinal (or other small schooling fish) This is a temporary list of fish, not all will necessary be invited to join the ranks in my tank. I'd really love to have a blue hippo or yellow tang, but I'm not sure I have the necessary volume or space to justify a good life for either. I'm not going to have much of a sand bed, so I've ruled out goby's. Any recommendations? I'd definitely like to have a few more fish but I don't want to overcrowd the tank.

Wow, I've never had problems with peppermints. I had some I thought had died, but when I decided to re-arrange my rocks I found that they were hiding way way in the back.

Yup, I've always relied on nature to do her magic in my tanks. We strive to have these little ecosystems so why dose some outside chemical when you get a little critter to do it for you?