new to corals

[mshill43]

I'm new to all of this coral stuff. I've been reading up on it all and trying to learn. I traded in my "unfriendly to reef" type fish, cowfish and flame angel for a lyretail anthias and a cinnamon clown.I've got a nice looking star polyp and green hairy mushroom from Vipets on plainfield. I also got a couple nice polyp rock's and a green open brain from Ecco-reef in Zeeland. I'm very impressed with that place. Just wanted to say hi.

[benjavan]

Hello. Sounds like you are off to a great start. You should come to one of the club meetings. At our auctions you can get some great corals.

[Gerde]

Hey neighbor, Reef Central is full of great info, and our club has really been growing. Our last auction was huge, and a great way to get some nice stuff without paying an arm and a leg retail prices at a store.

[star]

HI MShill43! I am new too. There are a lot of fish stores here in Grand Rapids that carry salt water. Have you checked them out?

[mshill43]

hey there star!!!
yes, i've checked out just about every store around here in GR.
Ecco-reef in zeeland has awesome corals and not to bad price's. vipets on plainfield has to have the largest selection of fish. what are your favorites?

[battplus]

Stay with Ecco-Reef, very clean place and he has the best selection of corals. Chris is the owners name, and very good friend of mine. He is starting to set up sps corals again, its going very well, most of my colonies come from him.

Soloman Seas is another very good store, awesome prices. Bob and his wife used to run the Soloman distributors. He carries amazing acro colonies, some of my best came from him, including a blue capricornis as well.

Mike

[Gerde]

Hey Mike- I went to Soloman seas last month on your suggestion, and it seemed like everything that I was interested in was in the "not for sale" tank. Unfortunately I wasn't impressed. Nothing was marked either. I'd like to see what Ecco Reef has to offer. I don't really think we have any good stores in this town for coral, it seems to me that it is an after thought. I wish we had a place like Preuess in Lansing. They have a ton of stuff (too bad i costs and arm and a leg). Apparently I want the best of both... I was in VI Pets on Plainfield and it looked like they were setting up a new coral tank, maybe there will be some nice stuff there sometime.

[mshill43]

i was basically unimpressed with sollomon seas when i went in there a few weeks back, as well. chow hound is another one in town but that one just scared me. vipets on plainfield just put in a new 400 gallon tank. the manager said he is going to put nothing but corals in it and blow everyone away. we'll see i guess.

[battplus]

The Manager at VI pets on Plainfield is a no-it-all!! His prices on SPS are way overpriced, and their equipment costs are a joke!
Sorry, sounds harsh, but people like that give the hobby a bad name.

[mshill43]

yes. a bit harsh. i'm not sure he gives this hobby a bad name though. i'll have to hold off judgement until i see how that new tank comes out.

[benjavan]

One of my favorite rules for determining the value of an aquarium shop is the organisms they keep. If they have stuff in there tanks that are not recmended for captivity or considered nearly impossible to keep long term, it says a lot about the quality of the shop. Things like cleaner wrasse, Nurse Sharks, or Goniopora immediately turn me away from a store.