Fox Valley Reefers

[z28cam]

Just wondering how many Live in the valley ie appleton neenah menasha oshkosh

or for that matter anyone between green bay and oshkosh :)

[Stigmatic]

I am in Oshkosh with a 20g Reef and 120RR in the making... (my TBS LR order comes in tuesday)

[FlipFlops24/7]

Im also in Oshkosh, 30 seconds away from Stigmatic. I have a 29g and I'm just waiting for new lighting so I can get corals.

[FEEDERFISH]

I am from waupun, looking for anyone with LPS forsale or trades...PM me

[z28cam]

well theres 4 reefers in the valley lol thought for sure there would be more.

Was thinking on holding a Frag swap in the near future, maybe there are more out there, but are afraid to post :D

[Stigmatic]

a frag swap would be awesome! just give me a little time to get the 120 up and running and everything transfered... lol

[z28cam]

I wouldn't set the swap up for awhile yet. Possibly after the holiday madness, after things are back to normal :)

[Stigmatic]

maybe in like february? i should have some frags by then. going to have a hell of a switch from the 20 to the 120. I cant wait to see the growth difference under MH lighting.

[z28cam]

120 would be nice.

Im actually switching my lighting over to MH also. My PC lights are adequate but gonna be getting some light demanding Corals in the future so gotta spend some more money on the lights :)

[Stigmatic]

I got my retro kit from hellolights.com Awesome unit!
I got 2-250w with 10k XM and 2 VHO Uri superactinics. (debating to add 2 more)

[z28cam]

Im gonna be getting 2x250w CV10k's With icecap ballasts. And 2x54w (or 4) T5 actinics for supplement. Cant wait.

[Stigmatic]

Why the T5's and not VHO? also where are you getting them from?

[z28cam]

T5's use less wattage are slightly brighter, and burn cooler then VHO or PC And the bulbs will last a little longer.

I plan to get them from ReefGeek (http://www.reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104067.html)

[TylerZr2]

I live in Fond du Lac, I know zero reefers in the area, and the LFS sucks here.

I really could use some diversity in my sand.

[z28cam]

Green Bay seems to have the best places to go it appears.


Been to Rivers and Reefs in FDL got My LTA there and my hammer coral both doing great. Although the coral selection was pretty slim i must say.

[TylerZr2]

I got a LTA and a sea apple there....both died in 3 days. As a newbie I was naive and he told me I could get both of these animals. I trusted a man that would guide me in my adventures. I still showed nitrate and nitrite

[Stigmatic]

I tried that LFS in FDL once, not sure of the name but it was right on Main St off of national. Seemed a little pricey for me but then again im used to Aquarium Pets who is also just as pricey... lol Looks like ill start fragging some of my shrooms and zoos :-D

[TylerZr2]

That's rivers and reefs,and yes it was pricey

LTA was 50 and the sea apple was 39. I explained my whole setup, and he tested my water. I had Normal output flourescents and still cycling water...he said they would live....disgusting.

I would like to buy some of you fragged zoo's and mushrooms!

[Stigmatic]

Sounds good, i should have some blue striped shrooms and some northernlight shrooms starting to migrate. I have one Palythoa polyp im trying to get to migrate to some other rocks, the colors are very wierd, its a white polyp with sort of a rainbow design on it. Although Aquabucket might have first pick :-p

[TylerZr2]

How do you feed these?
Are they difficult to take care of?

[Stigmatic]

Not difficult at all, i just feed the tank zooplankton 2-3 times a week for them.

[nilaszewski]

im from menasha and am setting up a tank there, i go to school in oshkosh. I could any or your used stuff. I have a 40 gallon long tank and 220w cf for lighting. Is it enough?

[z28cam]

What you plan on keeping in the tank is what determines how much light you need.

[Stigmatic]

yeah a 220w cf should be good for a lot of softies such as leathers, zoos, shrooms, etc. i have also had luck with LPS with my CF.

[z28cam]

I have 260w and keep LPS also Have some sps to but they aren't doing much hence.. why im switching to MH lights :)

[iceman5]

i also live in appleton near the darboy club. i just bought a 120 gallon tank and want to turn it into a reef tank.for now i was just going to start buying everything i need a wet/dry filter and ect if anyone in appleton would like to help me out with a shopping list so that i can have most of the stuff before i setup. and has anyone been too www.garf.org and try to make rock yet?
anyway any help would be good i have no one that really can help me around here thanks

[z28cam]

I have seen that "make your own rock" on garf but haven't gotten around to trying it yet. Looks pretty easy though.

So how are you gonna do this setup? is the tank Reef Ready. Are you gonna go with a sump?

If your going with a reef setup im not sure you wanna go with a wet/dry filter.

[resle]

im in appleton but im not vey useful cause i still havent gotten my tank yet let alone have SW theres a really nice store in green bay i think its called aquatic imports i plan to get seahorses from there. any body here of aquatics unlimited i was going to go there but heard they went out of business:(

its weird to talk to people so close to where u live:D

[z28cam]

Green Bay has a number of good places to check out

Gooch's
Advanced Aquariums (carries the basic beginner corals)
Animal Adventure & Pets.....Aquabucket from these forums runs the saltwater department. Lots of frags for cheap.

[iceman5]

my tank is not reef ready i was going to go with a wet dry filter that has a protein skimmer so i dont have anything more hanging on the back of the tank. i was thinking about using my 20 gallon for a refiugium. i want only a few fish ( I like tangs ) and want lr and lots of coral starting with mainly softies. when i get up and running i would love to trade frags so if instersted let me know!
that way i dont buy the same corals thanks for any help. i have been reading foster and smith mags over and over lol.

[goochs]

Originally posted by z28cam
Green Bay has a number of good places to check out

Gooch's
Advanced Aquariums (carries the basic beginner corals)
Animal Adventure & Pets.....Aquabucket from these forums runs the saltwater department. Lots of frags for cheap.

Who'd figure that Me being Photography By Gooch's would find a SW store called Gooch's.. how cute is that!!

[moujon]

how cool is that

Who'd figure that Me being Photography By Gooch's would find a SW store called Gooch's.. how cute is that!!

Looks like the Gooch's have it- my last name is Gooch. I'm not quite in the FRV- more of a "Southerner" (Juneau area). I guess we outnumber everyone else! Maybe there's more of us than we think. ;)

But then wouldn't Scott be an "honorary" Gooch.

[iceman5]

anyone with info on how to build a sump?

[nilaszewski]

im building one tomarrow...im from menasha...check my posts...i can let you know how it turns out. Know anyone with some LR forsale. I need about 40 lbs! by saturday!!!!!

[z28cam]

If you cant find a reefer with LR for sale nilaszewski go to Animal Adventure pets In Darboy they always have fiji. 7.99/lb but if you buy a certian amount its cheaper i forget how much though.

[goochs]

Checked a few today.. it was a 1 1/2 hr drive to get there for me but went to petsmart,petco,petsplus and I believe advanced aquarium?? anyhow I rated them in this order for fish:

petsplus (awesome tanks and corals)
petsmart( bought a magnum 350 Delux for $84.. shelf price was 154.00 but petsmart will honor their's or any competitors website price and petsmart actually had the 350 delux online for $84. I went to the local library and printed out other pages of items I wanted but they didn't have any of them in the store.. go figure)
petco: (had the best selection of frozen food)
advanced( no comment)

It was a long day but well worth the trip.

[Stigmatic]

where is petsplus?

[goochs]

it's on northland?? over by kohls. If you take 96 from the fox river mall east then turn left at bluemound and right on nothland it's a few miles up the road on the left.. You'll see shopko and kohls. petsplus will be at the end of that strip.

[nilaszewski]

yea..ive been there two...its a wierd setup...the store is pet supplies plus. They sell all the equipment. However, you have to go through that store and their is another small store in the bacl attached to it called "Just Pets". They sell all the fish and corals. They actually have some pretty nice corals and annomies. They also have Walt Smitch cured LR for 5.99 a pound or 5.49 a pound for more than 25lbs. Ive never seen it this cheap ne where!

[mrpink44]

I also live in the Darboy area - a mile or two from the Darboy club right by Sunrise school. I'd definitely be interested in a frag swap!! I also have a buddy with a 125gal that lives in Neenah, but hasn't posted yet. Seems like there are more reef keepers than I thought in the Fox Valley.

The Pet Supplies Plus (PSP) store on the Northland mall seems to be decent. I've bought 2 fish and a coral from them and all are doing well. They don't have a ton of diversity, but I usually stop in once a week and they seem to run a pretty nice place.

Aquarium Pets in Oshkosh seems to have more diveristy in fish than the PSP in Appleton.

Again, I'd be interested in doing a frag swap! Anyone interested in a really nice looking green star polyp - hit me up through PM.

[mherrb]

I'm the buddy with the 120 in Neenah. I would love to find more people locally that are into sps. I have 36 different frags and colonies of different acro's and monti's and am always looking for rare sps. Drop me a line if you want to trade, or are interested in sps.

[nilaszewski]

can i keep the SPS under my 220w CF in a 40 gallon long? If so, what do you want to get rid of?

[mherrb]

Some people have been able to keep sps under only PC. You might be able to keep some montipora's near the top of the tank. I have an ORA German Blue Polyp monti, an orange polyp green-skin monti, and a couple of montipora caps. I think you might be able to keep some of these, but the acropora's normally need a lot of light. All sps like good water conditions, so you will need to have a stable tank. I'll try to get some updated pics in my gallery, but I'm not a very good picture taker, so if anyone wants to see anything in person, just drop me a line.

[MrZ]

Hi guys,
Name's Rob, I'm from Appleton.

You may be able to keep some sps from dying in with 220w over a 40 long with excellent water parameters but I wouldn't expect much in the way of growth. Especially because most people running 4 55w PCs run 2 daylights and 2 actinic for aesthetics. So you really would only have 110w of light in the right spectrum for growth.

Not that I would worry about it though. If you are just starting out, its probably a good a idea to get the hang of things with zoanthids, mushrooms, leathers and other soft and polyp corals. Much easier to care for and you will enjoy starting a reef much more. If the SPS bug bites you somewhere down the line plan on spending money on all kinds of goodies like metal halide lights, calcium reactor, super efficient protien skimmer etc.

If you guys are interested in doing a fox cities area frag swap somewhere down the line I would be interested. I'm in the process of separating out some tanks right now and setting up a little grow-out tank specifically for frags.

Oh - and if you are just getting started and need a box of live rock, internet order is the way to go. Places like www.reefermadness.us have nice figi live rock for around $3 a pound including shipping.

L8r,
-Rob

[mrpink44]

You can get away without the calcium reactor if you're planning on keeping only Montipora SPS, but the metal halide and protein skimmer are a must.

Wow, I never realized we had this many reef keepers in the Fox Cities!

[nilaszewski]

hell yea, go fox valley reef keepers. I think we should get a club going. We can call it the Fox Valley Reef Keepers. Kind of like what madison does. We can all learn from each other and trade frags. Sounds like a good idea to me. What do you all think?

[iceman5]

sounds gret to me!

[nilaszewski]

I am going to start a thread for our new Fox Valley Reef Keepers Club. Feel free to Check it out and well see where this can go!
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=482089

[Zombies026]

I'm from the valley and would really love to join this little group...I have a 55 SW going and would like to setup my 75 after christmas...So count me in for where ever this is going...