What dry goods do you need?

[TippyToeX]

Hello all :)

Jeff and I have spoken with Marine Depot and Premium Aquatics. For each store to give us a better idea on how much savings can be made, they need to know what/how much we will be ordering.
So for those who are interested, please list what you need and would like to order. We will leave this up for about a week to give everyone the time to ponder their needs. :D

For me it would be..


Mag 9.6 pump
Refractometer
Ca, Alk, iodine test kits (hope salifert)
Some plumbing parts
Kalkwasser
Selcon
Joe's Juice ($*(@%&)!$&)
Flatworm exit (I don't have them, use it for a dip)


That would do it for me right now. I might skip the kalk but I'm not sure. Maybe be something to add. I will add that in this thread if something pops to my mind.

Thanks!

[opihi]

so far, i'd like to get:
- dual stage temp controller
- salifert nitrate kit
- seachem reef dip
- selcon

i'll also add to the list if i think of more.

[Shak]

I need to order quite a bit of stuff:

Now:
Salifer Ca, Alk, Phos
Refractometer
Titanium heater (these Ebo's are to long for my sump)
Carbon - gallon or two
Phosphate reactor - need another one to run carbon.


Really soon:
Euroreef ES5-2 (soon as i sell this AquaC Urchin - its brand new)
Neptune Aquatroller (soon as I sell the RS Wavemaker - brand new also)

[VegasMike]

Off the top of my head:

RO Cartridges: 4 DI, 2 carbon and 2 sediment
Blue Bonded Filter Pads (minimum 22"x10") Qty= 6
250watt 10000k mogul bulb Ushio or AB

I'll keep thinking....

[opihi]

ooh yeah, i'll need RO/DI cartridges too. and a bottle of lugol's

[Nanighan]

Maxijet powerhead
Seaweed selects
ESV carbon
Kent superbuffer

Thats it for now, maybe salt but i checked marinedepot's site and they don't seem to carry them.

[TippyToeX]

OK change to my order. I am ditching the Kalk and adding. Yet another mag pump and a new 100w heater, not sure the make but I'll know by tonight after some research. :)

Make any additions or changes if you need to everyone.

[opihi]

hey guys,
we're going to try to close off this order thursday. so you'll have a little more than 24 hours to make changes. on thursday, i will take the list and pass them on to Premium Aquatics and Marine Depot. they will each give us an estimate. i'll report their prices here and get final confirmation from everyone.

please confirm that you are indeed in and intent to make these purchases.

mahalo,
jeff

[Nanighan]

Im in, but to be more specific....
maxijet 900
green algae seaweed
esv carbon
small kent superbuffer dkh

[VegasMike]

To confirm:

RO Cartridges: DI x4; Sediment x2 ; Carbon x2
Blue Bonded Filter pads (min 22"x10") x6
RO III pendant
Sunlight Supply Female Adapter
3/4"x1/2" PVC bushing SlipxSlip
1/2" PVC male adapter

Mike

[VegasMike]

Please remove the Pendant and the female adapter from my list, but add Kent Iron Supplement, 16 oz

[TippyToeX]

My Confirm:

Mag Drive 7
Mag Drive 9.5
Salifert Ca, Alk, ph test kits
Joe's Juice
FlatWorm Exit
EBO-JAGER TS Heater - 100 watt
1" and 3/4" threaded bulkhead
1" and 3/4" threaded bulkhead strainer
Two 3/4" Clear PVC Socketed True Union Swing Check Valve


Unless someone knows where to get those plumbing parts around town. :)

[VegasMike]

Are you kidding me? The only place I can think of that might have those plumbing parts is my workroom, just kidding, even though I think I have a couple of them. This town is the worst for plumbing.

[TippyToeX]

Awwww darnit, burst my bubble why don't ya Mike! :D

Thanks, I kind of figured it would be this way.

[Shak]

I couldnt wait and had to get my skimmer ordered last week, I really cant think of anything I need right now.

[opihi]

Originally posted by Nanighan
Im in, but to be more specific....
maxijet 900
green algae seaweed
esv carbon
small kent superbuffer dkh

Ron: Can you give me specific sizes please? i want to make sure you get what you're expecting.

Matt: so you're out for this round, right?

thanks,
j

[Nanighan]

Maxi-Jet 900 Powerhead / MP 900
ON1521 Ocean Nutrition Green Algae Seaweed 10 Sheets
SC3157 Seachem MatrixCarbon 1L
KM3593 Kent Marine Pro Buffer dKH 64 oz.
(1 of each)
Thanks Jeff

[TippyToeX]

Hey Ron, empty your PM box pretty please. :)

[Nanighan]

Empty PM away!

[Shak]

Well, if the price is right I still need a dual stage temp controller. The problem is, DIYreef.com has the Ranco for $105, Marine Depot cheapest is $180ish and Prem.Aquatics cheapest is $150ish. I guess if i could get one for $130-$140 with shipping I'd order it.

Only other thing I need is frozen Cyclop-eeze, but I've never ordered frozen online and am unsure how well it would ship.

Anyway, depends on what they are willing to do for us I guess, if its to much trouble just leave me out this round.

[Nanighan]

Matt there is suppose to be some cyclopeeze at Tropical expressions, but don't take my word for it, I haven't exactly been there yet. Also (showing my newbness get ready) what exactly is that use to feed and what is it made out of. From the readings I gather its use to target feed sps corals. correct?

[VegasMike]

Tropical Expressions should be getting in their next order of Cyclopeeze any day now. Call Jaqui and ask. I know this because I am the one who told the makers of Cyclopeeze to contact her and told her about it as well. The cyclopeeze folks called me yesterday to tell me I had a free bar coming in this shipment for the referral and that they were sorry they forgot about it in the previous order. Hey, I didn't even know I was gettign a free anything.

It is used to feed both corals and fish. Some will say it is still too big for SPS, but, if you do a search, you will see that is not the case. I feed it to my tank about three times a week and the fish love it too. The Anthias go nuts over this stuff.

I am going to the store in a couple of hours to pick up four Purple Queen Anthias so I'll find out then.

And, by the way, it lasts a pretty long time considering I feed about one square centimeter at a time and it is all over my 450.:D

And Shak - It ships fine, but it's expensive as h***. It's basically the same shipping cost as the 2 lb block costs, theresore doubling the price.

[TippyToeX]

Matt- I order frozen cyclop-eeze all the time. Comes pack in dry ice and I have never had a problem. :)

Ron- Will PM again. Also some info about cyclop-eeze Linky (http://www.argent-labs.com/argentwebsite/cyclopeeze.htm)

[Nanighan]

The linky master strikes again;). Rest assure everyone, there is no link she doesn't have:D

[opihi]

I got responses from both Marine Depot and Premium Aquatics.

Marine Depot wrote:
Hello Jeff,
Thanks for your inquiry.
I assume that you want the Aqualogic dual stage controller and I added that
into the order. We are also out of stock on the Salifert Nitrate test kit,
flat worm exit and Ebo Jager heaters.
We do not carry any blue bonded filter pad, but we do have one that is white
and the biggest size we carry is 30" x 36". Let me know if you would like
six of those.
We also do not carry Joe's Juice.
We do not have any 3/4" standard threaded bulkhead so I added the double
threaded one. I also changed 1 micron carbon block for the RO unit to 0.5
microns as we do not carry 1 micron ones.
Attached is a copy of the order so that you can review the items.

Please let me know if its correct. Note that the order still does not
reflect any discounts if applicable.

Let me know if all sounds good and I'll get back to you to finalize the
order.

Let me know if you have any other questions as well.


Premium Aquatics wrote:
Attached are the prices you requested, there are several plumbing related items we don't carry. We also didn't have the specific RO filters that were requested. Please look over the prices and let me know if you have any questions.

both companies sent me the estimate in a .pdf format. please email me at imjeffhee at yahoo to get a copy of this. then we can discuss how to proceed.

since our list is already compiled, do either of you have suggestions for other vendors for us to solicit? i've already sent an inquiry to CustomAquatics.

j

[TippyToeX]

Emailed you Jeff & a big thanks for contacting them! :)

I will look around at other online vendors. We can try LiveAquaria.com. I need to do a little research on how good they have been to customers but it is a good idea what they can do for us price wise.

[VegasMike]

Jeff, It really doesn't matter to me if the filter material is blue or not. I am just looking for a sheet of mechanical filter media that is somewhat cheap.

Another good source for stuff is aquatic ecosystems.

On the livestock front, I talked with Chris at Reefermadness yesterday and he said he could definitely work something out depending on the size of the order and what we wanted. He brought up a good point though, he said that if we were buying stuff just to frag it between us that we needed to keep it for at least 10 days or so before fragging it. I never even thought about fragging his stuff.

I also just picked up four Purple Queen Anthias from Tropical Expressions. She has Cyclopeeze; at least the flake stuff, don't know about the frozen, but I think she ahs that too. She will probably be carrying it from now on since all of her customers love it.

[opihi]

mike, could you send me your email address anyway? we all need to discuss the prices, and also talk about any stumbling blocks regarding this order. i'd like to be able to discuss these things privately in an email thread.

GL with the tukas! they're notoriously difficult to keep. i've got some frozen cyclops if you need something to get you through until she gets some in.

[TippyToeX]

Mike, glad you spoke to Chris. I was going to give him a call and ask him about the very same thing. Good guy to work with.

I also think 10 is on the light side, most of all being wild colonies. More like a 3 weeks to a month IMHO.

Pshhh, queen anthias, a tear drop max... I am starting to think we can bond as best friends here. :p

[Shak]

I'd be seriously interested in a Reefermadness order, I've done a bit of research and they seem to be top notch. I did a mock up order today for fun and I was well over $1k so I dont think we'll have much problem meeting his minimum requirements for an order. I still need a couple weeks before I will be ready, but count me in if we can wait that long.

As to the bulk order, Premium Aquatics seems like they have more of the items in stock, at least from your response. A little comment on Marine Depot though, I ordered about $600 worth of equipment from them last week, and it was my first order (out of 4 total) that didnt come in perfect. The refractometer had a damaged cover glass piece, and the PH probe tip was broken. I promptly called them and informed them, and today I recieved replacements at no cost, and they didnt even require me to ship back the damaged items. THIS IS MY KIND OF STORE!

I am now a dedicated Marine Depot fan club member, they have performed FAR better than any other e-tailer I have ever used, and I would hesitate to use anyone else, although I have recieved a larger order from Premium Aquatics that was perfect.

[Nanighan]

Heads up on the cyclopeeze. Tropical expressions has them in frozen and flake. $15 bucks for one frozen bar. Seems kind of steep but I picked up 2 anyway.
Also BTW Jackie seems like a nice lady. She mentioned you Mike.
Latta

[TippyToeX]

Thanks for the heads up Ron! :) I hope to make it there real soon. My little clown babies will need it.

[Nanighan]

Count me in also on the reefermadness order. But only near the end of july.
Amy read your PM.

[opihi]

Hey guys,
at mike's suggestion, i'm going to ask both vendors if they have the ability to earmark our orders as LVVR members purchases.

in the meantime, is anyone opposed to going through with the group order? MD and PA do have a price matching policy, so if we each can do our own lowest price homework, i can put the order in today. i've been anxiously waiting for my dual stage controller.

ideas, concerns, feedback?

[Nanighan]

Jeff I don't care about price, my order is so miniscule in value that I will go along were it saves some of you guys/gals more money.

[opihi]

ron, not quite sure what you mean, but we're not actually getting a discount from MD. if you're fine with paying list price, then i'll do so. i just don't have the time to research every item in the order to find the best prices.

another thought... MD doesn't carry all the products that we wanted, but there's nothing stopping us from ordering from both places... they just won't be as large as we first anticipated. no biggie IMO.

[TippyToeX]

I agree, no sure what savings there is to be seen. I was messing around online and any priced items I found lower in $$ where not at all by much. Few and far between as well.

We should all talk this over at our first meeting I think. :)

[opihi]

after telling MD that we will not be pursuing the group order, they promptly responded by saying they will give us a 5% club discount, and the discount applies to price matching as well. they also said they don't have a way of tracking individual orders, so it would have to be a group order to get this 5%.

does this change the situation for anyone? i'm not trying to push the issue here, i'm just reporting this to help everyone decide.

[Nanighan]

I vote go ahead with the order, need fish food badly. Plus I like MD better.

[TippyToeX]

That was very generous of MD. What they do not have of my list I can order elsewhere. :)

I'm in! Jeff when you have a moment, can you send MD PDF one more time for me please?

[opihi]

amy, ygm.

so i think we're all itchin to order, so i'll send our order in tomorrow. in the mean time, if you're planning on comparison shopping, please send me a list of items you found cheaper elsewhere, with the price, and the vendor. then i'll send a new list to MD.

i can cover the initial order cost to get things going, but once we get the invoice, can you all paypal me?

thanks

[TippyToeX]

Thanks Jeff. I am going to do a little price checking but I think I am all good.

That is too good of you Jeff to front the $$. If you don't feel comfy doing this let me know and I would be glad to. You name the time and I will paypal you right away. :)

[VegasMike]

Jeff,

The only problem I can think of for me is if I do not make the first meeting in order to pick my stuff up.

I will probably be better off ordering on my own without the 5% discount since getting the goods may prove problematic.

Paying the extra $10 or so is worth it to me to not have to make a special trip to pick up my stuff.

If MD makes a big deal of it, I will go ahead and join the order, but I am not a paypal member. I will have the check in the mail though as fast as I get a number.

Let me know how you want to proceed. I will be using Marine Depot regardless for my stuff and they can look me up to see what our total buying history might be. Five percent is not enough to sway me one direction or another. Just let me know. The plus is that I do not need any of my items soon.

Mike

[opihi]

amy & ron: order's been shipped today. i'll email you the order sheet and tracking number as soon as i get them.

[TippyToeX]

:thumbsup: Thanks Jeff!

Let me know what I owe you and I can paypal you rr give you cash Sunday if you would rather have that.

[Nanighan]

Hey we're neighbors, Ill give you cash.