New Reefer

[bkodonnell]

Hello,

I'm new to marine tanks. Right now I've got a small 39 gallon tank with a plenum system, 40 lbs of live rock, 130 watts of PCs. Everythings going great so far. I've added 1 pulsing xenia, some clove polyps, a coral banded, and 2 firefish. Plus 1 turbo and about 12 nassirus snails. The tank is great and I'm really enjoying the hobby.

I have 2 questions. I live in Muskegon, and would like to know where your meetings are. And, does anyone have any opinions on the best aquarium shops in West Michigan? Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

[Fishguru]

Our meetings are in Kalamazoo, however i believe there is a group that meets in Grand Valley area around Allendale or Surrounding areas which would be much closer to you, but you are more than welcome to come down. the website www.wmmac.org has most of the info on our club. I only know of 1 decent shop in Grand Rapids and that is VIPets on south division at 60th st. I am not aware of any others up there right now. Maybe someone else will be able to chime in with more stores-Brent

[nature48]

I am in the club but I live in GR. There is a new VI pet store on Plainfield in GR. The Reef shop in Kalamazoo I think is a much better place.
If you want to e-mail me I would be glad to give you info on what I fould.
Nature48@yahoo.com

[nature48]

I am not doing well I gave you the wrong e-mail :eek:
It is: Nature48809@yahoo.com :mad2:

[skippy2]

You could check out Ecco-Reef in Zeeland. They are on the corner of Main and Elm. Their # is 616-7727280. Chris owns the place. It would be helpful to you if he is there when you go. Or there is a guy named Jason. I only met him once and I am in there alot. There is also a shop called Salomon Seas in Grandville. I have only been there once and didn't buy anything. They did seem to be pretty knowledable though.

[mshill43]

Solomon Seas is a good one. its on Chicago Drive in Grandville.

[phishlet]

Originally posted by mshill43
Solomon Seas is a good one. its on Chicago Drive in Grandville.

Be sure to stop in to Solomon Seas. Great place and nice selection/quality.

[mattvc]

This is how the fish stores in Grand Rapids are:

VI Pets, Division: Has a great selection of fish and supplies but the corals never do well and often die after being in there more than a week. If you go to them for corals you should go Thursday/Friday morning. Around 11am or noon. (Call them first before you drive down there).
Best people to talk to: Matt, Chad or Rebecca.

VI Pets, Plainfied: Same as above but is a little larger and has a bit more selection.
Best people to talk to: Greg, and Corey.
I personally don't buy corals from them too often because they're often damaged, but they do willingly accept trade-ins and I often use that for a fish or supplies.

Solomen Seas: Awesome for corals, has a very nice selection. The prices are great too. The fish selection isn't too great, but it's a worthy trip if you want to look/buy corals. This store is new and I think it'll do good.
Best person to talk to: Bob, the only one I know.

Agnello's, Division: The coral selection is small and so is the fish selection. It's a small store. The prices are usually OK at best. They need to get better/more stock in and clean the tanks a bit.
Best person to talk to: Sheila.
---------------------
Outside G.R.

Rochesters Reef, Grand Haven. Oh my god that was a waste of time. Don't even bother.

Ecco-Reef, havenn't been there yet. Sorry.

The Reef Shop, Kalamazoo. Definitely the best reef store in the west michigan area. Huge, huge, huge amount of corals. The fish selection is OK, I was down there the 22nd and they were putting more fish tanks in the back. They also had a lot of used tanks/stands for sale out front. Prices can get a little high, but they've got the best stuff. Seriously, the best stuff! I think they're stocking more supplies recently too. This store is getting bigger and better.
Best person to talk to: Mark. But everyone there I've talked to is knowledgable and will help you.

That's all I know...but even a lot of the people around here don't know the ups and downs of some of these places. Someone tell me about ecco-reef.
--Matt

[skippy2]

I am too much of a newbie to tell you how good the store is,but, it has an excellent reputation. Chris, the owner, is very helpful and knowledgeable. He has a full-time job (cop) so isn't there all the time. Best bet is to call. 616-772-7280. The girls are nice and honest. By that, I mean if they don't have the right answer they will at least tell you they don't know.

[Zepplin]

Hello Brian-:)

Nice to see new interest in WMMAC. We'd love to have you visit one of our meetings! We meet at Jaqua Realtors in Kzoo. I believe there is a map on the website-linked by fishguru earlier. The meetings start at 6 P.M., and usually consist of

-Officer reports-

1.) Old business
2.) New business

3.)Presentation
4.)Q and A session (for trouble shooting mystery tank problems, with the aid of the group's collective experience)

5.) AUCTION- the auctions are open to visitors, no need to join to buy, but to sell you must pay membership fees. The auctions have been really incredible lately, with the clubs growth, and the differing tastes of club members, we've developed a nice variety of auctioned corals (SPS, LPS, and softy). We typically auction 30 or so corals at each meeting. That is an approximate number, you'd have to ask our treasurer for precise stats (STACY-OUR WONDERFUL TREASURER).

We meet the second Sunday of each month, unless otherwise listed (sometimes there is a party that will occur at a special time). We usually go for a drink and appetizer after the actual meeting. Although some of us are still drinking Coke.

Hope to see you soon!

-Meg

[sarahp]

ecco reef is pretty good. I was there last weekend.

[battplus]

Ecco Reef is the best I have been to so far. I have not had the pleasure of seeing The Reef Shop in Kalamazoo yet, but I look
forward to it. As far as the other shops in town,
DON'T EVEN BOTHER!
Chris at the ecco-reef can get just about anything for you, and the selection is pretty good. The best thing about his shop
is that he carries a lot of items that are easy to keep, and not
just because "people will buy them". (AKA- VI PETS)

Go see Chris, he loves to learn from people, not just teach.:D

[ofblong]

Originally posted by mattvc
This is how the fish stores in Grand Rapids are:

VI Pets, Division: Has a great selection of fish and supplies but the corals never do well and often die after being in there more than a week. If you go to them for corals you should go Thursday/Friday morning. Around 11am or noon. (Call them first before you drive down there).
Best people to talk to: Matt, Chad or Rebecca.

VI Pets, Plainfied: Same as above but is a little larger and has a bit more selection.
Best people to talk to: Greg, and Corey.
I personally don't buy corals from them too often because they're often damaged, but they do willingly accept trade-ins and I often use that for a fish or supplies.

Solomen Seas: Awesome for corals, has a very nice selection. The prices are great too. The fish selection isn't too great, but it's a worthy trip if you want to look/buy corals. This store is new and I think it'll do good.
Best person to talk to: Bob, the only one I know.

Agnello's, Division: The coral selection is small and so is the fish selection. It's a small store. The prices are usually OK at best. They need to get better/more stock in and clean the tanks a bit.
Best person to talk to: Sheila.
---------------------
Outside G.R.

Rochesters Reef, Grand Haven. Oh my god that was a waste of time. Don't even bother.

Ecco-Reef, havenn't been there yet. Sorry.

The Reef Shop, Kalamazoo. Definitely the best reef store in the west michigan area. Huge, huge, huge amount of corals. The fish selection is OK, I was down there the 22nd and they were putting more fish tanks in the back. They also had a lot of used tanks/stands for sale out front. Prices can get a little high, but they've got the best stuff. Seriously, the best stuff! I think they're stocking more supplies recently too. This store is getting bigger and better.
Best person to talk to: Mark. But everyone there I've talked to is knowledgable and will help you.

That's all I know...but even a lot of the people around here don't know the ups and downs of some of these places. Someone tell me about ecco-reef.
--Matt


you forgot to mention mv pets and deep sea aquarium in kzoo. well probably you did not cause they are not worth going to either.

[skippy2]

Speaking of the ReefShop, I was there (finally) last Saterday. The store is huge. Much to my surprise, it is a converted garage. The store was pretty busy and it was close to closing time. I was visiting in Portage so I didn't buy anything. I didn't know how long I was going to stay in the area (overnight) or I definately would have. Well go down again to do some shopping in the near future. As soon as my 55 is ready that is.

[jwgr1]

ok, this will sound a bit odd, but I've been to VI pets, and Agnello's, and Solomon islands, and the best fish guy I've found is Marc at Chow Hound on 28th street. I know, It's not even a fish only place, but the guy cares about your success, and has tanks, and will tell you the real truth, not just try to sell you stuff. And he gives good advice. He is young, but don't let that fool you. otherwise, the prices are good, and they will special order just about anything for you. they carry everything you need, and they keep their tanks well. They win hands down in my opinion.

[ofblong]

imo chow hound is good for dog food and cat food. thats it.

[jwgr1]

Well obflong,

Maybe you should actually stop in to see what they are doing at the 28th street chow hound. Instead of using copper to treat parasites, etc (like V.I.pets, (hmmmmm, wonder why those corals aren't so hot?)), they use cleaner shrimp, etc. also, the salinity of their tanks more closely matches most home systems (1.021sg)

They have awesome clams, corals, anemones, and fish, even if they don't have a ton of space for sw yet(10 tanks or so.) But please don't dismiss them just because it's chow hound. just stop in and ask a few questions, and see how you like it, then you can say they are only good for dog food.

[ofblong]

Originally posted by jwgr1
Well obflong,

Maybe you should actually stop in to see what they are doing at the 28th street chow hound. Instead of using copper to treat parasites, etc (like V.I.pets, (hmmmmm, wonder why those corals aren't so hot?)), they use cleaner shrimp, etc. also, the salinity of their tanks more closely matches most home systems (1.021sg)

They have awesome clams, corals, anemones, and fish, even if they don't have a ton of space for sw yet(10 tanks or so.) But please don't dismiss them just because it's chow hound. just stop in and ask a few questions, and see how you like it, then you can say they are only good for dog food.

1. Most people have there systems around 1.025-1.026 (natural salinity of sea water).
2. I have been to chow hound and that is why I made that statement. No one could answer any of my questions correctly.
3. I dont buy corals from vi pets i buy them from The Reef Shop. No one has better corals in this area, cept maybe tropicorum but I have never been there so i cant judge.
4. vipets dont have there corals in same tank as the fish they sell.

[mattvc]

The problem with VI's coral tanks is that they don't really pay much attention to the levels. I looked at their log books once, someone had entered one item for all the tanks in like 2002. Also they do have a lot of corals go in and out of the same tank, and I have seen some leathers hit each other. A bit of chemical warfare could be one of their bigger problems. They're not dumb enough to copper their coral or invert tanks, I do give them some credit; not much though.

I'll check out chowhound on 28th sometime, since I live in GR and I'm pretty close. It'd be nice to know someone actually keeps their salt levels a lil bit more normal than the others.

Pretty soon I'm going to try to compile a list of all the saltwater sellers in the western michigan area, and rate them. I could use some help on it though.
-Matt