Thank you for your generosity and support

[pbetito]

The raffle at last night's meeting was full of fun and exciting items from our local stores. When I set out to collect donations from the local shops I was hoping they might contribute but had no idea just how generous they would be. I also reccomend making the rounds from time to time of our local fish stores as I saw a lot of amazing deals on dry goods, fish, corals, and inverts.

The first stop I made was to Brian at Coral Reef Shop. As a continuous supporter of M.A.R.S. I knew Brian would be a good donation candidate. I had no idea just how generous he actually was. Brian donated 2 gift certificates, 2 bags of reef crystals, 2 bags of aragonite sand, a gorgeous purple LTA, and 10 frags including hammer coral, zoo's, bright feather duster clusters (which were gorgeous and CHEAP!) and many other LPS. He also donated P.E. mysis, and cyclopedes and provided us with type of cooling insulated box to keep them frozen. I can't possibly thank Brian enough on here to equal how much he aided the club. Brian has an amazing amount of reef tanks so that you can see the items you are buying thriving in a reef atmosphere.
The things in CRS that I saw that were most appealing to me were:
A huge selection of very nice frags from 12-20 dollars. Brian had colorful yuma's, ulstra zoanthids, hammer corals, torch corals some sps, and too many others to name for as little as TWELVE DOLLARS!!!! He also has a large variety of fish, inverts, and anemones. Finally, there is no better store on the planet than CRS when it comes to customer service. Brian, Jamie, and Jerry are three of the nicest and most patient people you will ever deal with when it comes to questions and getting help. The fact that they give away FREE RODI water doesnt hurt either. :D

My next stop was O St. where I found another great store filled with all kinds of cool things. Although Peggy was not in, Dennis was nice enough to call her on the phone and when she found out it was M.A.R.S. she made a very generous and appreciated donation of some reef additives, a large candy cane coral colony, and a sea hare. That is a really nice donation condisering she was asked out of the clear blue sky via a phone call.
These are the thing I saw at O St. that were the most appealing to me:
They had blood red anemones that were absolutely the most gorgeous I have ever seen. They also had a huge selection of fish and inverts that looked healthy and were affordable. One of my favorites were the dime sized blue tangs that were only TWENTY DOLLARS!!!! I would have bought five of them but they give my triggers indigestion :lol: . The thing that impressed me most however at O st. was their prices on dry goods. They have salt buckets for the 20-25 dollar range. That is for 150 Gallons!!!!

After O st. I headed out to Elk Grove and Exotic. I can't thank Matt at exotic enough for all of his contibutions to the club. Exotic donated A koralis 1 unit brand new in the box. Matt also donated around 20 frags icluding some amazing zoo's and an Idaho Grape Montipora Cap. When I noticed that they had some very miniature clown fish and asked what it would cost for a pair, Matt donated a pair in which he took out his own wallet and paid for them as his personal donation to M.A.R.S. For any SPS guys in M.A.R.S. I believe that Matt is looking to collect some high end SPS and would like to know what you have for trade or sale. Matt, on behalf of M.A.R.S. thank you for your generosity.

Things that I saw at exotic that were of interest were:
They had some amazing blasto's, dendro's for only $40 dollars for some HUGE heads, gorgeous Duncan's, Achilie's tangs, Hawaiian Bartlett anthias, and just about every fish and coral you could ever think of. For you fresh water buffs, I don't have enough room on this post to tell you about the amazing stuff they have in that department as well. Exotic is HUGE and they have it all.

Other stores that I stopped at which will be making future contributions were YourReef and Aqualife. John at Yourreef was going to meet me at his store on Friday to donate some frags but was side tracked with taking home his new baby girl. CONGRATULATIONS JOHN, MAY SHE BRING YOU A LIFETIME OF HAPPINESS AND MANY MONTHS OF SLEEPLESSNESS!! Yourreef for any of you who don't know is an excellent source of SPS and zoo's.

Aqualife in Rocklin was very cordial with me but I came on the wrong day and without enough notice to get a donation that day. Aqualife currently has an email sale every month that you can become a part of just by dropping by and giving them your email address. The sale they had going on while I was there was 25 percent off of several types of corals!!! The thing that impressed me the most about Aqualife howveer were some of their amazing fish and the prices. While there were far too many to name, one example is that they had a blonde Naso streamer tang at 6 inches with streamers for only............. $49.99 :eek1: (no that is not a typo)

Last but not least, (except in his looks) is Mr. Mike B. and and the California Center for Reef Conservation. Mike donated several awesome corals, one of the grand prize Korlia units, and around $100 that he spent among several local stores while donating the items to the raffle. He also called in the cavalry and got some donations from fellow reefers such as Ed "tank of the month" Simmons. Thanks Ed :bum: Mike also came with me and aided me in collecting, organizing, and acquiring all of these treasures. Without him it wouldn't have been nearly as fun and twice the work. Mike, thanks again!!!

The raffle will only be getting better in the coming months as we are able to get more and more people to donate to our cause. Please be sure to thank the sponsors when you stop by their stores. Remember that when you use your M.A.R.S. card for a discount you are representing the entire club and act accordingly. I am asking that we all try the golden rule from this point on when it comes to our vendors. That was the most fun I have ever had at a raffle and look forward to even more fun next month. We will try and start the raffle earlier but it will still take awhile as their will be twice as much stuff at the next one!!!! I will see you there-

Paul

[funman1]

I will second that.

[miracles38]

It was great Paul, thanks for all your work! And thanks to all the LFS.

[Justin74]

Holy (r@p !

Excellent work Paul!

Brian, Peggy, MikeB, Matt&Exotic.
Although I wasnt there to see and partake in the beautifull bounty you good folks donated, I still have to say a HUGE sincere thank you! Extremely generous of you all! That is just too cool for school. Although Im not a big fan of this town, there is no denying we have a 5 star reefing community!!

Good show, and God bless!:thumbsup:

-Justin

[MrMikeB]

Paul, MARS BoD, et al. -

This month's raffle was freaking spectacular - thanks Paul for a great showing one month into your new position as Public Relations Officer! I have not seen so much good stuff being raffled off and I hope you all got some nifty pieces this time around. I am glad I was able to help the cause, and will have some more items for next meeting to donate. I took the liberty of taking some pics to showcase to all those who did not make it, or have been on the fence of joining MARS, or just are curious what the meetings are all about. I hear next months selection will be even better than this time around. :eek1:

An extended Thank YOU to all our LFS in the area! The generosity in these stores, the good deals to be had, and overall just some great knowledgable folks is what makes Sac town a great place to be a reefer. Oh, and if you all make it out to Exotic - leave one of those awesome Achilles tangs for me! :D

http://calcrc.org/pics/2007-7-20/P7200036_small.jpg

http://calcrc.org/pics/2007-7-20/P7200032_small.jpg

http://calcrc.org/pics/2007-7-20/P7200031_small.jpg

Steve - caught in the act!
http://calcrc.org/pics/2007-7-20/P7200029_small.jpg

http://calcrc.org/pics/2007-7-20/P7200026_small.jpg

[buttons buster]

just curious:
How often do you guys do raffles?
Also what is the average price per ticket? etc.

[pbetito]

We do a raffle every meeting(i.e. once a month and tickets are a dollar each, 12 for $10 and 25 for $20. Would love to see you there :)

[buttons buster]

Thanks.
I'm probably going to join unless something drastic causes me not to join.
Alright so what do I do?
Do I login in an account at mars' website, and then wait for the next meeting.
And while at the meeting do I just pay $25.
Also who do i pay the $25 dollars to etc.

[MrMikeB]

BTW - The fish food Brian at Coral Reef Shop donated (which I was lucky enough to win) is a new high end line he is carrying. All I have to say, is WOW! I had no idea the difference in quality between food items. I gave my babies a little sample of some P.E. Mysis, clams and Cyclopeeze that Brian is selling - it was seriously like Fish Gone Wild! Just the smell is enough to let you know you are feeding them high quality foods, very crisp and clean - I almost wanted to take a taste (ok, ok, maybe that is a little too far, but you get the idea). Even my newest additions who are currently my most finicky eaters love this stuff, which is so important in keeping their stressed immune system active as the acclimate to tank life.

Be sure to check it out in the freezer section of your local CRS.

[funman1]

Thanks Mike, will do...
If you're talking about the Red Bar of cyclops my fish LOVE that stuff.
Also yeah you caught me red handed handing over some cash for some raffle tickets!! Who could resist with all that goodness on the table!!!!????!?!?!?

Buttons, Yep you create a login on the MARS website, It's broken right now though!
So wait a few days while we fix it.
It's having MAJOR login issues.
Then once you have a login you just wait till the next meeting, and give your money to Kim, who handles the membership.
Once she has the money in hand, I get an email to activate your account and then your login on the MARS site will open up to all the good stuff inside.

[kdblove_99]

This was my first meeting. I will be back.

The donations were by far more than i ever expected.

CRS, O street and Exotic all get a big thumbs up. They really out did themselves.

[Reef n' Madness]

I also wanted to thank Exotic for the pieces that I won in the Raffle. Here are some pictures of the mystery pieces I took home last night.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/Kayangelz/DSC08491.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/Kayangelz/DSC08496.jpg
I couldn't get a good picture of these yellow centered orange zoos.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/Kayangelz/DSC08499.jpg



I also brought home some star polyps and these guys...

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h219/Kayangelz/DSC08510.jpg

But I can't remember what they are called. Can someone help me out with this last mystery piece?

Did anyone else have fun trying to identify their pieces? I can see how it might be annoying to some people but I thought it was fun.:D

[dots]

EXCELLENT WORK PAUL, KUDOS!!!! YOU ARE OFF TO A GREAT START, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

I think you have already done a great deal in forging continuing relationships between the club and these great local retailers. I want to personally thank each and every one of them for their wonderful generosity and support.

Great report Paul, giving each store a blurb was a great touch and well deserved.

A+!!

[JeffReef]

Dang! I just missed the raffle of the century. :(

Excellent Work, Paul!

[Fragmented]

We are very lucky to have so many fabulous stores that are incredibly supportive of our club. Thank you for your generous support.

Paul, you did a wonderful job! Thanks for all the effort.

If you need help with pick up from Aqualife or Your Reef the day of the meeting they are both on my way down.

[xia]

Reef n madness those are snake polyps.

Wassup Paul! Why you got to do everything last minute? That meeting room looked kinda of empty, for such an awesome raffle. I'm sure if people knew it ahead of time, it would have been full. Keep up the good work!

[kdblove_99]

I'm sure if people knew it ahead of time, it would have been full. Keep up the good work

I don't get this sentence.

SO, are you saying it takes great raffles and prices for people to come out, no thanks people like that can stay home, IMO.

How bout having people that care for the hobby and want to be educated and meet others and share experiences?

[MrMikeB]

I think folks have different reasons why they go to the meetings and join a reef club - education, frag swaps, discounts, books, support, raffles, etc. Some of us make one hell of a trek to make it which I can imagine is not easy on a Friday eve. To me, the end result is the same - lots of people enjoying themselves, whatever the motivation.

[Reef n' Madness]

I would have to agree with Mike. Although some people may come out just for cheap frags, at least they are coming to the meetings. They will gain knowledge and meet some very helpful people while supporting MARS at the same time. Overall everyone wins.

[xia]

Paul and I are good friends, so I was just trying to mess with him. Please don't read too much into what I wrote. Truth be told, better publicity equals better attendance. People who've been around for awhile get bored easily, so it takes a little more motivation to get the old members to drive out there. I've made a lot of friends, and I've learned a lot, and I've had a lot of fun winning stuff at the meetings. To be honest I make more friends and talk to more people on RC, but it's nice to put names to faces at club events.

[pbetito]

Thanks for the support guys. Xia is very busy or I assure you he would come more often to the meetings. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Xia in a long time so I will put this out there now: THE NEXT RAFFLE IS GOING TO MAKE THIS ONE LOOK SILLY!!! :D
Xia doesn't know it yet but he is going to donate a few of his frags of zoo's as he has one of the sweetest collections I have ever seen. With those donations plus the ones that Doug doesn't know he is donating yet, and the great stuff Tim is adding to the mix, It will be a raffle of epic proportions. I am calling out the big guns.... Lets see if they are up to the challenge :)

[kdblove_99]

Xia,

In no way was i aiming my comments at you or trying to come off like a jerk. People can go for what ever reason they want, That is the beauty of this club/America:)

[MrMikeB]

Subtlety is not one of Paul's strengths...

Ha!

[Brian Prestwood]

Great job Paul!!!

Thanks for the meeting pics Mike.

The garage sale next month should be a blast!!! One man's junk...

BTW - If anyone got either the orange zoos or green eyed zoos I donated and you're stuggling with them please PM me and I'll tell you the condiitions I was keeping them in. You can recognize my donations by the flat sides on the rocks where I cut them with a morter saw.

[Fragmented]

Brian, if yours were the ones in the double bagged ziplocs I have one of them. They are in QT with everything I bought at John's before the meeting. There seem to be 2 kinds. Most of them haven't opened yet. The 3 that have opened have orange skirts.

I have nudi fear from past experience and was going to dip them if they didn't open soon not knowing who they came from. Tips about where you had them would be great.

[kevin95695]

Dang! Missed a good one...

Mike: Your pictures make it look like a drug bust. :)

[MrMikeB]

Nah, drugs would probably be cheaper, but addicting just the same. ;)

[shiveley]

the raffle at last Friday's MARS meeting was amazing. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank MikeB, and all of the others that donated, for the wealth of equipment, corals, and fish that were made available to us. I think almost everyone present walked away with something. It was a lot of fun, and was definitely my favorite part of the meeting! So, thanks again!!!

[leakytank]

just wondering which store give out the highest number of stuff.
Will they do it every month for the meetings?

[pbetito]

Brian at Coral reef shop gave the most I would say but exotic was very generous as well as other stores. I also feel that there were many talks which will lead to even greater donations for the next meeting.

[MrMikeB]

Joining Paul on the collection trip, I was amazed at the good will shown to us by our LFS. As any appreciative member, be it a single frag to algae scrapers, the fact that they support the club, our members, and the local reef'n scene is just spectacular. Honestly, MARS probably makes up less than 10% of their business so for them to donate to the cause out of sheer generosity is awesome and I for one appreciate it. I hope you all do too and be sure they know you do when you go in there. A simple thank you goes a long way in keeping a strong relationship.

[leakytank]

should we pay higher price to support the LFS instead of buying on line?
How come Capital Aquarium is not on the list? Do they still support RC?
I used to go there every weekend when I was a kid, man O' man those Koi are getting less and less...anyone knows what happend to them?

[MrMikeB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10396859#post10396859 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by leakytank
should we pay higher price to support the LFS instead of buying on line?


I think this is a question each of us answers personally, but I can tell you that when things are all said and done, many of the 'deals' you can find online does not come close to seeing it firsthand at a store and in good health.

For example, I picked up a trio of Bartlett Anthias from Exotic for $30/ea over the weekend. I found it cheapest online for about $20 ea. plus shipping. For a little more $$, I hand pick my selection and get a very healthy fish versus a fish that may or may not arrive in good health. Countless times I have ordered things online at the cheapest sources to get exactly what I paid for. I think there is value in understanding you can pay too little and end up buying twice, or pay too much and just get a raw deal. There are many deals locally and not all are necessarily higher priced either.

Just my 2 cents worth.

As for th Koi at Capital - did you see how fat those things are? With all that food they are given out of the vending machine, those babies are fed every day and just obese!

[leakytank]

Yes Mike, the white one is Huge!! but I remembered they had a pond full of them, what happened to the rest of them?

[pbetito]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10396859#post10396859 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by leakytank
should we pay higher price to support the LFS instead of buying on line?
How come Capital Aquarium is not on the list? Do they still support RC?
I used to go there every weekend when I was a kid, man O' man those Koi are getting less and less...anyone knows what happend to them?

Yes, many times I feel we should. We should pay a slightly higher price to buy certain things from our LFS because of service. I have spent hours talking to the guys at local fish stores getting advice, and having things catered just for me. The service and the lack of having to pay shipping many times makes the LFS a much better option than trying to save a few dollars online. If you don't support them and they are all gone... WE WILL WISH WE HAD SUPPORTED THEM I PROMISE. When you buy online I have generally found many places have this policy: Cheap, fast and good..... pick two

[kdblove_99]

I kinda agree with buying local.
I always buy fish, corals, food at LFS.

But, on some dried good stuff, I disagree. like the calcium group buy i was just a part of. If i bought liquid calcium from LFS i would go broke especially dosing it all the time, same with alk.

Reef Crystals salt, I really like this salt. Drs.foster has it for $40 shipped if i could find it locally for a close price i would get it at LFS. but the few i haved checked that carry it are way over this price.

this is just my opinion.

Davey

[GreshamH]

So you by your lost leaders at the LFS and the money makers online? That's exactly why they'll be gone in the future if we don't support them on multiple levels.

Paul, don't forget about the manufacturers....they'll donate as well ;)

[jackfishy]

That sucks! if one day we only can buy our livestocks online and there is no more fish storing. Is a shame for those who buy online and just try to save a few $$, spend your money locally and support the local economy.

[Mikey Donuts]

Friday was my first meeting and I just wanted to thank everyone for being so hospitable to my wife and I. We did very well in the raffle and won a couple of Zoa frags from Exotic and a beautiful cluster of Blue clove polyps from the Coral Reef conservation group. We also won a Mg test kit. Not bad for our first time out! We will definitely be attending more meetings in the future. Thanks so much,
Mike

Zoa frag at the top of the pic from Exotic:

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/brooklynmike/MARS2.jpg

Zoa frag (orange and green skirts) and blue clove polyps (right side of pic):

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/brooklynmike/MARS1.jpg

[MrMikeB]

Very cool! I dig your speckled zoas on the bottom shot.

[Mikey Donuts]

Thanks Mike! Those are from Sam @ marine flora. He's got some great stuff.

[kdblove_99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10403799#post10403799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GreshamH
So you by your lost leaders at the LFS and the money makers online? That's exactly why they'll be gone in the future if we don't support them on multiple levels.

Paul, don't forget about the manufacturers....they'll donate as well ;)

definetly disagree, But that is your opinion

[Brian Prestwood]

Hey Rachelle

Yep, the double bagged zip locks are mine.

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10408418#post10408418 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kdblove_99
definetly disagree, But that is your opinion

How can lost leaders support a business?

Having spent the last decade working in this industry I've watched a ton of places fold simply due to the fact they only really sold the lost leaders and couldn't match dry good prices with online venues. The larger players get a much lower wholesale price then the LFS's. The margin in most cases is so tweaked that the LFS wholesale price is usually the online dealers retail price. Livestock isn't where the stores make money, dry goods and service usually are the money makers. Livestock support those sales.

[pbetito]

...and since this is a THANK YOU to the stores that supported us, we will be shunning the on line sellers for the purpose of this thread :)

[MrMikeB]

Disclaimer: Off topic response below!
Although not an expert in ornamental coral/fish industry, I have seen/helped/started companies who have embraced both sides of the fence be able to stand the test of time - I would imagine this to be true for a LFS. Get the volume of an online e-tailer, with a store presence. There are synergies and economies of scale that can help leverage costs, plus you reach a larger market and move beyond localized pricing markets. Selling stuff to the midwest where there is one store to compete with due to less demand vs. the Bay area where there are 20+ stores and high competition. It allows you to base your prices on a macro level so that you are not only selling loss leaders.

Interestingly in a previous life I worked for a company who was a Fortune 10 business and sold their products ($blns worth annually) BELOW their own costs. They were highly profitable because they would play a money shuffle where they would hold on to thier money as long as possible (investing it) and that's how they made the profit. A billion dollar payment sat on for a month does some pretty interesting things when invested properly. They lost money on thier actual industry - yet instead made a profit by how they managed the cash flow. The business they were in is simply a means to bring lots of revenue in to play investment banker with. IMO, long gone are the days of Retailer A brings Product B to market and sells at price higher than his cost and makes money and lives happily ever after. Globalization is here to stay.

I can go on for days on business models, etc - but I digress: Go LFS!! :D

[pbetito]

Speaking of donating and good people.... Gresham showed up at just the right time... Man what some of your pods could do to help out the MARS cause Gresh... :D

[kdblove_99]

I have seen more fish stores pop up in our area, than go out of business.

So you are telling me got to LFS and pay $70 for a bucket of Reef Crystal instead of online for $40 shipped?

Also don't do anymore group buys for calcium, Alk, Etc. Go to LFS and get them?

Just trying to understand if that is what you are saying?

Cheers,

Davey

[Reef n' Madness]

I talked to Matt at Exotic today and thanked him for the donations, specifically the 3 pieces I ended up with. :) He said he was happy to contribute and planned on sending more our way next month. He mentioned that he wanted to focus on SPS frags next time. Kudos to Matt (and all the other people that donated!).

[Justin74]

Did the same over at CRS today. Almost forgot and ran back in to thank them. Got some new PE mysis (nice new wrapping btw!And super fresh shipment, straight from the manufacter!) some emerald crabs and got some local brewed phyto to boost my filter feeders for my new tank from our westerly neighbors over at reefnutrition :) (highly recommend!!)

-Justin