Don't be shy, please introduce yourself!

[opihi]

Hi,
My name is Jeff, and i just recently moved to Las Vegas from the Bay Area (N.Cali), where i lived for almost 4 years. Before that I lived in Honolulu, HI, where i was born and raised.

My first attempt at a salt water tank was nearly 20 years ago. however, my first "real" salt water tank was started in 2001. Over the last 3 years, i've had a 3g nano, 10g nano reef, 20g FOWLR, 50g mixed reef, 54g hard coral reef, 100g HC reef and now i'm back to just a 50g HC reef. i guess you could say i've been hooked.

i'm a web developer by day, and my other interests include video games, watching movies & reading.


aloha,
jeff

[TippyToeX]

Hello everyone

My name is Amy and I am have been in the Vegas area for just over a year now. Just as Jeff has done, I moved from the bay area (Napa Cali). Native Cali resident but I have loved my time here in Vegas.

I started in the hobby in 1998. With a 75 gallon tank sadly met horrific end (front pane blew out). But got back into the hobby quickly there after. Clownfish breeding, harlequin/asterna star breeding. SPS, LPS, softies I love them all. But as of late I have been going SPS nuts. I also attend trade show such as IMAC and MACNA yearly.

I am a pastry chef (work on my own) but also enjoy working out/yoga, reading, writing and photography.

One of my fav. pics

[VegasMike]

Hello future frag traders....

My name is Mike (couldn't have guessed that one, could you?) and I have been addicted for six years. This sounds like some kind of support group, ha ha. It all started with two goldfish and a fishbowl my mother bought my son when he was three. It quickly progressed from that fishbowl to a 90 gallon tank and then to a 180 and then to the 180 plus a 150. With the move to Las Vegas four years ago, I had to give up the 180 (no place for it.)

Well, we just had a baby and we decided to build an addition onto the house so that we wouldn't have to trek up stairs in the middle of the night like we did with the first two kids. As part of that addition, I got my 450 gallon tank. You can see my tank by searching under my username for a thread entitled "450 Progress".

Amy, do you do the pastry chef thing as a job? My wife is always looking for good sources for birthday cakes, etc. Recently, she has been using Little Pastry Chefs. Let me know.

Mike

[Razing Kane]

Hello, I'm BJ been out of the hobby for 10 years after a nasty plague of salt creep all through my house. Just got back into it recently when our neighbor gave my 6 year old a goldfish in a small bowl. well 4 months later he has a minibow7 reef and a 5gal hex FW. and I,m enjoyning a 26 bow. I've been in the valley for 18 years and work in Casino Surveillance.

BJ

[TippyToeX]

Mike, congratulations on the new baby!

I've been following and enjoying your thread from the beginning. For those who have not seen it here is the link Clicky
PMed you about the baking.

BJ- Any pictures of the mini bow? I have been thinking of setting one up after looking at some of these Minibow.com

[Nanighan]

Hello Las Vegans, My name is Ron. I've moved to Las Vegas in 1998 from Brooklyn, NY to get away from the chaotic city life(although I kinda miss it now). Las Vegas is definately a different experience, and enjoy all the little nuances it has to offer.

My experience in aquariums started when I was around 13 or 14, when an ex-girlfriend of mine needed some dog food and decided to take me to a pet store, which also had fish. My very first fish was a red line snakehead. Some Oscars were thrown in the mix as well as fancy goldfish years later.
Saltwater started as fresh water began to get boring which incidently started in Vegas. I mostly had a FOWLR in a 29 gallon with some clowns and shrooms. I gained more experience and messed with softies and lps, which then lead me to sps as the next challenge. My current tank is a 100 gallon cube which is set up as a mixed reef, but hoping to turn it into an sps dominated tank in the future.

I am a wannabe daytrader in the morning, and a Pharmacy Tech supervisor/lead by night. Enjoy movies, sports, fishing, drinking pina colladas, and getting caught in the rain.
Thanx for listening everyone!!
Ron

[willied0036]

I'll will be in Vagas this weekend and want to check out the LFS,I know from reading they are not worth the visit but I want to check them all out,and I have a few Questions if any one would reply
1. How many people are members of the local reef clubs?
2. Why do the LFS suck
3. Are their enough reefers in Vagas to support a nice store and would they?

[opihi]

Hey Willie,
Our club is brand spankin' new, so we're still in our "membership drive" phase. i don't know how many reefers out here are members of clubs, although i can't imagine it's more than 20 at this point. i also don't know have any proof on why the LFS suck, i think it's a combination of our location and relatively low demand for premium livestock.

these questions could create a nice conversation, i encourage you to add a new thread to our forum, click here. I would like to keep this thread focused on introductions.

thank you,
jeff

[culdublvd]

Not to Hijack your thread opihi but I just wanted to let you know the rock is doing great at my house. I just wanted to thank you again!!!

[opihi]

no problem. glad that piece of LR went to some one who can appreciate it.

[Justdrew]

Hey Gang,

My name's Drew. I've been in Vegas since Sep 01. I've pretty much had a fish tank since I was about 10 yrs old. I started my first FO about 96. I did my first reef in 98. I sold the whole tank off when I move from Baltimore, Md to here in 01. I just started up a 37 show, which you can see on my progress thread. Hopefully we get a great group here and do some trading.

Later
Drew

[TippyToeX]

Looks awesome Drew! Trading is one of the many things we will be doing. I know I am looking forward to it. Along with group buys. I will be posting a thread shortly to go over just this subject. Our goals & benefits, etc.

Everyone check out Drew's Progress Thread

[opihi]

lookin' good, Drew. that tank looks cube-ish. i also like where you put the tank, the space looks big enough to upgrade to a 120g somewhere down the line.

[Nanighan]

Welcome to the club!

[Shak]

Hi all, great idea on the new club, maybe some new ideas will stir things up around here a bit.

My name is Matt, I've been in Vegas about 6 years now but grew up about 100 miles north of here. I started in the fishkeeping hobby about 15 years ago, not counting goldfish as a child. It all started with a 20L set up on the kitchen counter, when freshwater lost its appeal I switched it to saltwater, that was it! 11 tanks later in a 1 bedroom apartment I decided to do it for a living.

I opened and operated a LFS in southern Utah, ran it for almost 7 years. Expanded it into quite a large commercial maintenance business and had several 1000+ gallon installations in clubhouses, casinos and even a 1500 gallon "L" shaped tank in the town hall of a small town in southern Utah. Needless to say, I had no life to speak of aside from work, something had to change so I sold the business and have shunned the aquatics industry ever since.

Until about 3 months ago that is............I took my son to a LFS to kill some time, saw a little 12 gallon bowfront on sale, put a retrofit PC light system in it, and the rest is history. I was a reformed reefkeeper but I fell off the wagon. Its now been less than 90 days and I have about $3k worth of equipment sitting in my living room ready for me to start plumbing, sad isnt it

When I first started this hobby I was addicted to visiting every LFS in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas (this is where I lived when I was infected with the fishkeeping bug). I learned when and what time each store in a 60 mile radius got their new shipments in and I was there usually within an hour or two of its arrival. Unfortunatly Las Vegas does not have even one LFS I would consider worth visiting, I hold LFS's to a much higher standard now and there are none here even mediocre. I have taken to driving to CA once in a while to get my "fix". I have found a little shop, only about 3 months old, that has excellent livestock, great prices, and knowledgable staff! Yes I know its hard to believe, really its true! Anyway, I bring this up just to let you all know that if you need or want anything from a decent shop i'll probably head down there at least monthly to spend a day LFS browsing, I go through withdrawals if I dont do this at least monthly.

OK OK I ADMIT it, I hit the local stores at least weekly as well, I cant fight the urge. Every once in a while I get there while they are unpacking shipments and I have purchased most of my stuff still in the bag (this from ATM, better in 24 hour old bag water than 1 min in their systems).

Whoa, strayed off subject a bit, sorry. I'll post my life story later

Amy: Im a photography n00b, but seeing your photos I can tell I'm going to have a million questions for you. I really want to document my newest system from its birthday until it becomes a sump for my next one, but I have problems with photography, scares me.

Jeff: You and Amy have your work cut out for you. Valiant effort though, and I will definatly try to be an active part of it.

Mike: Been following your thread since I found this board, well done, you got skills man, I'm jealous. Gratz on the new youngster, I'm quite fond of them myself, I have 3 and 1 in the oven. Well, my wife has one in the oven, 5 months along

Drew: Nice job, I also thing that space is perfect for a 120g, perhaps 180 if you knock out some drywall. You can borrow my tools if i can help you design the new 240g your gonna put in that spot. Did I say 300g? I meant 450. See how easy it is to upgrade

[Nanighan]

Shak I think you're the one who will save us all and start a LFS here that is more than worthy. Once a lfs owner, always a lfs owner.

[Shak]

Shak --> <---Nanighan

I dont need another x-wife, ulcer, nervous breakdown, etc....but thanks anyway

[TippyToeX]

Matt- Anytime you need photo hints just let me know. Also the photo forum here on RC is filled with information and talented people who are more than willing to help.

[BRI7969]

hey las vegas I grew up in henderson I moved to WA in 98 I was just dnow there in may it remind me why i never started a reef tank there stores there suck

[Shak]

I was just dnow there in may it remind me why i never started a reef tank there stores there suck

Thanks for reminding us

[Nanighan]

[orionsmamma]

Hello everybody!

My name is Donna, I am a 21y/o single mom of a gorgeous 1 y/o baby boy. I have done FW for years, some fish but mostly turtles,crabs, lobsters ect. I always drooled over the pretty saltwater critters while getting supplys for my FW tanks, but saltwater care confused the c**p out of me. Finally, a few weeks ago I found this fourum and started reading. And reading and reading. I'm looking at starting a 75 gal, but after some reaserch, I realized it is going to cost me a fourtune! (just the live rock and sand alone, its crazy!) I had been looking at a 28 gal setup, the person wanted $300 for it, and after some advice here I decided no to get it. Shortly there after, the lady called me and offered it for $200, I couldnt pass it up. So now I have a 28 gal bowfront, with a live sand and rock (about 20 lbs of sand, mabey 30 of rock) an coral beauty angel, a large hermit crab and a lawnmower blenny. I dont plan on putting much money into this tank, as I still have big plans for that 75 gal. I figure this way, I can still have a aquarium, and save up for the bigger one. (I was dying for a tank, I almost bought a freshwater to hold me off untill I could get the 75) After I get the 75 gal ready for critters, I will move everything from the 28 to the 75, and use the 28 for a refugium, quarantine tank, or something like that. Maybe a breeding tank, after I get much more expierence.

So anyway, thats my intro. I'm looking forward to placing group orders(great idea, by the way) and joining in on some activities(if I can bring my son).

Donna

[opihi]

Hi Donna,
Welcome to the club, and congrats on the new tank. i hope it will be a smooth experience for you, finding RC already puts you off to a great start. i'm almost willing to bet that you'll be wanting a 90g before you finish saving up for that 75.

please join us on the group order thing, i think the more participation we get, the more we'll benefit in terms of saving $. as for our group activities, we'll try to make sure that everyone of all ages will be welcome.

[Shak]

Donna, hi and welcome! I'll bring my 2 year old daughter along and they can play together.

Also, I just so happen to have a 75 gallon glass tank, never used, sitting in my garage. Bought it about 1.5 months ago and upgraded before i ever set it up. I'm about to list it in the newspaper but make me an offer and its yours! No pressure though, you said you were on a budget now, just thought i'd throw that out there to tempt you.

PS. I'd take $150 for it, has glass tops, striplight, no built in overflow. Very nice quality tank actually.


BTW, when ARE we having a meeting, anything planned in the near future? Perhaps just a get together to meet each other in person and an excuse to drink *cough* refreshing beverages?

[opihi]

Meeting, what for?

Actually, Amy and I have talked briefly about throwing an informal meeting together. she's out of town this weekend at IMAC (lucky her). i'll mention it again when she gets back, and you'll probably see a post about it next week.

j