gtipower

Thanks everyone. Here is the link to the elos stand http://www.elosusa.com/store/product/148/square-120xl

Hello, Does anyone know any custom aquarium stand builder in the area? I am looking for something just like the elos 120xl stand. Thanks!

Some good inputs on this. I agree feeding will increase the health of your corals, I believe the browning was more due to your lighting than the feeding. The browning is probably due to an overgrowth of zooxanthelae adjusting to your new lighting. Either they are just adjusting to the different type or perhaps like someone else suggested it is not enough and trying to compensate (I'm not too familiar with LEDs par and their adjustment from t5/mh). The feeding might indirectly help it by giving it the nutrition it needs and thus less need for the abundance of zooxanthelae to process energy. So give it time, feed a bit (not too much at once obviously so you don't get an algae outbreak and unbalance your tank) and see how things go over next couple days.

Yeh, I will be adding a Ca reactor to it. But I have a SPS dominated tank as well with several clams. I def need to dose to keep up with the ca and alk changes. I do like brightwell, but its strange to me that some people I know like it, and some that don't. I don't know if the batches are inconsistent. I rather go for something that will be the same each bucket I get. There's suppose to be a salt review done by practicalfishkeeping (a uk site) last year. But besides a small excerpt, I can't find anything else about it. Anyone know it? Or a link to an updated salt review? (I can only find an older one that doesn't have brightwell or H2ocean).

Hey all, Wondering if any of you are using the D-D H2Ocean salt? I've been using Brightwell and have been content with it. Wondering if the D-D salt will be an improvement or about the same.

Hey there, Any updates on your new Ca reactor?

What length are your t5 lights? Also what brand fixture with it? The combo that GrimReaper has been recommending lately for 6 bulb combinations are: (They are all ATI brand) Blue Plus x4, Aquablue Special (12k bulb) x1, and Purple Plus x1. I run mine like this currently and love the look. It's like a 15k spectrum type look. Some people will use a GE6500k instead of the Aquablue special to get more growth. But the look will be whiter.

I think that's the pink polyp flower petal cap. I've seen that before in other reefer's tank

Wow, I'm glad to see there are alot of smart people that can read between the lines. I always love it when I go to forums and people post "I'm not trying to start anything BUT...." Then why are you posting it??? The truth is, whenever someone posts a negative comment, it's because they are mad or upset about some bad experience and feels the need to encourage/entice others into either a)not going at all, thus hurting the business, or b)develop the same feelings as them so they feel vindicated when others chime in or PM's them to say yeh you're right. Call it like it is because anyone with a brain can see through the words. If you weren't trying to start anything you would just tell your friends about it and that's it. I'm not saying people shouldn't post negative experiences, but they shouldn't try to hide/pretend that they are just doing other people favors and being altruistic. While these efforts may indirectly inform someone down the road, the direct reason is to damage the reputation of the business due to frustation from the experience. I have had bad experiences with various LFS in this region. However, I do not feel the need to post it because in the end, if my experiences were reoccurring, then the businesses will fail soon enough on their own without any interference from me, as we saw with some store closings in the last couple years. Now that we established that, I don't even know how I can trust people's vendor experiences anymore. Without much proof (besides a picture of a favia), why should I even believe that so many corals died or that, heck, you even bought corals from them recently. But I'll play along and assume you're at least being honest about going to Mr.Coral and buying some frags. Then I repeat a question you didn't really answer from other posts on here...seems like you're a seasoned vet in this hobby...can you not tell the difference between a fresh cut frag and a healed one???? Why did you buy it? People LOVE posting about how wrong it is to frag a coral and be a "chop shop", and how they got fooled by buying the frags when they are there physically LOOKING AT THE FRAG and assuming complete responsibility of it by buying it. I don't see how you can be fooled if the evidence is right there in front of you. You bought it and paid your hard earned money because it LOOKED GOOD IN THE STORE. You can see it was recently fragged. It's not like you pointed at something you liked, and they handed you a mystery box and you couldn't open it til you got home. That's like if you walked into a grocery store, bought some meat that looked bad to you, but you still did it anyways. Got sick, and say man that store tricked me. No one forced you to buy it. You went, you saw, and you chose what you wanted. As Hypertech pointed out basically, would you (or anyone else that has complained in the past) have complained if all the frags survived?? I doubt it. And if you already knew their reputation and you are SOOOO against their policies, then why did you even go there to shop?? That's like if I go to a mechanic, KNOWING he's cheaper because he steals his parts, but then your car breaks down due to some unknown reason and you start saying how you think his methods are unethical, when you participated fully yourself. And all of a sudden you're trying to make a stand for morality. Right... I think there's been enough discussion about Mr.Coral on this forum that everyone knows he frags corals and has ALOT of them. He has also single handedly brought the prices in this hobby down to something reasonable. I have seen wholesale invoices, and let me tell you, your local "trusted" fish store was sticking you...HARD. And maybe still is if you're still willing to pay ridiculous prices. It just seems like people like to rehash the SAME issues and threads even though we've gone through them. But it's ok I say all this, because I'm not trying to start anything...BUT... LOL

It's really not that hard. When I have gone in the store and ask someone (be it Sonny or Bryan or someone else) for a frag I saw online, they always try their hardest to find the same type of frag for me. I understand that they spend lots of time and hardwork to take pictures and list WYSIWYG frags almost EVERY day. If I can buy a frag that is not listed, but the same colony, I am more than happy to save them the efforts they put into the online store. How many other local retailers have such an active online store? And sometimes the frag they sell me is even better than the one pictured. I hope this thread is informative and will make people understand that MrCoral has to accomodate BOTH online and in store customers. If he sold everything he has listed online to in store customers, then all that hardwork online was sort of a waste. It's not like he prevents anyone from ordering. I mean we have a $10 frag store pretty much in our backyard. I like going into a store without thinking I have to spend over $100 to get something nice. All he is asking is to follow the rules everyone else has to abide by. If we have the advantage of going to the store and looking at the corals, we can at least not bogart that exact frag that was intended for an online purchase by someone else who aren't lucky enough to see it. With large retail stores dominating the economy now, we have to remember not to treat small family owned businesses the same way we deal with corporations. Business transactions needs to go both ways and not the faceless dealings you normally have with the big guys. Again, not directed at anyone, but I hope I make some sense.

Well, I agree that a vendor should always try to resolve the issue as best as they can. But some people will either just not get it or be unreasonable no matter what. I don't want to bring up your issue here since you had your own thread, but in general (NOT directed at ANYONE), there will always be people who always try to "bend" the rules or complain when they don't like the rules. Each vendor has the right to set their own rules and run their business how they see fit. If MrCoral has a separate online section, then so be it. You can still order online. He's not stopping anyone from that. I understand there will always be some unhappy customers, but some should step back and reflect on why they were upset. A guy can walk into a car dealership, and demand they sell a $20,000 car for $10,000. The place says 15k is lowest we can go. Guy says no,I want it for 10k. Place says sorry, we can't do that, then the guy will go and tell his friends why this dealership is terrible and they won't work with him. What should the dealership do? This is an extreme example, but my point is not all unhappy customers are reasonable. It's one thing if MrCoral was telling everyone to buy acans in the store and when they get there, there's nothing. But if someone was told to order online cause it might not be available in the store but they still go in expecting they can get it, then they only have themselves to blame when they could've done it right the first time. It's REALLY not that complicated. lol.

First, I was there yesterday (Sat.) and ALL but 2 tubs had their lights on. And those were their online only tubs. So lets get the facts correct. I had placed an online order which they had already pulled for me. When I asked them about a frag I wanted from online, they told me they had an extra one but it was a "Limit 1" coral so I need to follow the rules for that. I proceded to purchase 3 more non-limit 1s from their tubs (which was not hard since they always have alot), got my Limit 1 and finished my purchase. Easy as that. In fact, when I was there, someone had called the store and I heard the employee tell them to order things online and pick up because there might be some frags they were interested in that are not available in store. I'm not sure if it was "angel not fish", but he was honest about it and not trying to disguise anything. Look, even retail giants like Target, Walmart, and Bestbuy have Online Only things and Online Only prices. On another trip, I've seen a customer unhappy because they thought they could walk in and buy 5 "limit 1" acans and break the rules. Then I'm sure they go and post something bad about the store. Their rules are simple. The store sells $10 acan/chalice/SPS frags(amongst others). There's even FREE SHIPPING. I have always been a satisfied customer from there. Trouble is, most of the time, even if you have 9 out of 10 customers happy, only that 1 unhappy customer will say something.

I've been away from WAMAS for awhile even though I'm a paid member for this exact reason. Debates/arguments that somehow end up being driven and continued by personal bias. I love the Colonel Sanders and Gen. Tso's references though. The self-righteous hobbyists out there are also hilarious to listen to. How bout this. If you're so concerned about corals and its survival, and you're not really in this hobby for your own pleasure, tear down your tanks and take that money you spend every month in this hobby and donate it to the conservation groups. And WAMAS mods, I have spoken to many hobbyists over the years, and many do not join or participate in local clubs for this very reason. People who feel they need to express their moral and ethical beliefs in a place where it is not desired. And while there is free speech, it drives people away from fully participating in the club. We want to see pics of great setups, great coral and talk about best ways of culturing our valuble hobby. Not a bimonthly bashing of a LFS that has brought great coral to our area and then driving a schism between members over this issue. L82Rise: why would ANYONE pm you their supplier's email?? You think some supplier is gonna care about a kid questioning their business? You wanna call the tobacco supplier of Marlboro as well and tell them they are causing cancer in their consumers?? You don't want to stoop to his level yet you had to quote how infrequent you went to his business and what you purchased from there. So you paid for 5 of the 7 corals? So you even got 2 free ones as well?? Man what a ripoff And you have receipts from that long ago? Since I am a frequent customer of Mr.Coral, I know they don't give receipts unless you pay with credit card, and that receipt merely states your total, nothing about what you purchased. Honestly though, I've noticed that business does a little better for Mr.Coral when these issues come up because members end up saying whats going on and check out his store/website/links. So those that TRY to hurt his business actually end up making it better. Bottome line, you think Mr.Coral or ANY LFS would risk selling illegal corals and posting it online on most major forums?? I don't think drug dealers post what they are selling on the internet for all to see. And if he is naming these things Japanese to deceive us and "raise" the prices, he wouldn't be selling them in such a cheap pack (SHIPPING INCLUDED no less).

No one said it was a popularity contest. However, I agree with Steve, if you start a thread with a post from a vendors thread, no matter what your intentions were, everyone will assume you are specifically targeting MrCoral. And apparently, according to past history, there's a personal reason behind it as well. I don't really know what happened, but that's between you and him. Like Mr.Coral said, go and work it out man 2 man. Pricing schemes to further the hobby??? Ok, what if vendors started selling wild colonies for $30 and frags for $5. ORA frags drop their prices to $10 and $20. Are you gonna start complaining that the stuff you already have is worth nothing now? Do you think it'll be good if someone starts to sell red hornet polyps for $10 buy it nows? I mean what is your goal really? To get more people involved into the hobby? or so more people will own better corals? The way I see it, there is a premium to this hobby for a reason. Not any joe schmoe with no experience and research can buy a 10 gallon tank with/regular flourescent bulbs will go out and spend $100 on a RBTA and kill it. The price prevents eager parents to buy their 8 year old "Nemo's" just cause they want it and end up dying in a week. If nice corals and fish started becoming much cheaper, alot more people without the dedication will try it without putting any of the necessary effort to maintain it. From my past conversations with store employees, there was a huge jump in saltwater right after the movie Finding Nemo. (I'm talking about the more basic stores like Petco or mall pet stores). Those people ended up setting up 10 gals with clownfish and either killing them or (this is completely true) parents returning tanks because their children flushed the poor clownfish down the toilet to "save" their clownfish and send them back to the ocean. After that, there was a big decline in marine sales. Let's say Mr.Coral or any vendor drops their prices. Since he starts to lowball people (which other vendors have complained about ironically lol, but that's ANOTHER issue), all the other vendors drops their prices to compete. So all the stores starts making less money. Less profits means more stores closing. Less stores mean less corals. Less competition means prices starts to go higher. Then we're back to where we were 10 years ago. Then stores starts to open again and prices drop...you get the point. From an environmental POV, cheaper corals might mean more reefers (which is supposed to be your goal I guess), which means more demand and more corals taken out of the reefs. More corals removed will mean more legislation to closed down the harvesting which means no more wild corals. THen the hobby will hit a dead end for awhile with the same corals going back and forth. You say you sell your corals. How much do you sell them for? I doubt you sell 2 inch frags for $5. And do you know why you can charge whatever you charge for your frags? Because of the pricing from the stores. Will you complain that a store is selling things TOO cheap if a store starts selling frags of your top piece of coral for $5 a frag? I'm sure you wouldn't be too happy you spend all the effort growing it out and making sure it looks great. And thanks Jan for the compliment!

I have seen good results from the Sicce pump and use the ATB large purple pinwheel. Usually $30 I think for the pinwheel. Warner Marine has one too called the Red Devil. I have tried the mesh mods but can get annoying when the mesh fails or tears or something.