Moving to the Okanagan
 

Hey guys. I'll be moving to Vernon from Winnipeg in a couple of weeks. Been a while since I've been there. Just wondering if any new saltwater stores are around?

Also looking forward to meeting some new saltwater hobbiest.
And if anyone has an corals they have to frag drop me a line. I'm going to need some to start up when I arrive.

Later, Nigel

Good luck with the move!

welcome to B.C.
there is one store in vernon, i believe it's called aj's or something like that.
a fellow canreefer, ron peter, lives in the area, and i'm sure he knows of a few other reefers in the area and could introduce you

Hey i just moved from vernon to langley last month and ya AJ's pets and things is pretty much the only place in vernon thats got anything salt water. a bit expensive for corals but its to be expected in a small town. Live rocks like 11.99 a lb so if you can bring what you have with you. as for kelowna witch is 45 mins from vernon, there is a basement based business called ReefKeepers there website is www.reefkeepers. ca. i havn't actually been there but i heard they were pretty good. Thats pretty much it for the stored i know. if you cant find what you want there or think its to much you can always make a weekend trip down to the lower mainland.

Welcome to BC. I live in Kelowna, and ya, A.J's is the only one in Vernon with salt water, and yes,. Slightly expensive all around.

There is Reefkeepers in Kelowna, they just built a shop in their back yard, dedicated to the store. They have 2 very nice display tanks, and about 8 breeder tanks with livestock for sale as well. They have the usual, Chromis, Damsels, Yellow Tangs, Clowns, and then ever few weeks, they get a batch of nicer fish...

Best bet is as MacheteAvenue said, make a weekend trip to the lower mainland. Get great deals there.
HiddenReef in Abbotsford, J & L in Burnaby, Ocean Aquatics in Ladner/Delta, thats just a few i know of, and that i frequent..

Thanks guys.
Looking forward to meeting you guys once I get established.
Thanks for the info on places. I know AJ's well when I was living in Vernon 6yrs ago, so it's time to move back.

Sure, leave us here in the cold. :lol:

OOOH lucky!!!! I loved living in the Okanagan....I lived in Peachland for several years and boy was it nice! Good luck with your move!

And I sure won't miss the mosquitos!!!

It's been a nice 6yrs here in Winterpeg. But time to head back home!! I miss the fresh fruit, yummy.

what part of vernon are you moving to? if you dont mind me asking. My parents place was a few blocks up from the lake, it was a awsome veiw! I miss it already.

Now dont tell me there be no skitters in BC. :D

I just bought a house a few blocks away from Fulton high school if you know where that is. Just a 5 min drive from Okanagan Lake.
MacheteAvenue you'll have to drop me a line when you come back to Vernon.


Sorry to tell you Doug there are no mosquitos, due to the fact they are always spraying the fruit trees. But I do remember the Bees being bad at times.

Awesome thats a pretty nice area. i think I'm going to go up in the next few weeks to pick up the rest of my material possessions and see the family.

oh and there are tons of mosquitoes just gotta be in the right place at the right time.

Welcome to Vernon
 

As everyone else has said AJ's in Vernon and Reefkeepers in Kelowna is prety much it. Both Petland and Total Pet each have 1 saltwater tank in their stores in Vernon.

I believe both Hidden Reef and J&L have free shipping when over $100 of stuff is purchased and is usually delivered pretty quick (3-4 days or overnight if you want to pay for it).

While AJ's is more expensive than the larger stores in the Vancouver area. He is willing to negotiate. I like the fact we have a decent store in Vernon (especially for emergencies) so I always give him a chance before I get equipment from Vancouver.

Good luck with the move.

Kevin

last time i was at total pet they did have a saltwater tank anymore and pet land was trying to sell Zoa frags for $75 thats why i didnt say anything about them. It is nice having aj's there it did get me started in the hobby.. but im not sure if thats a good or bad thing considering i dont have much money anymore. I guess it was good for Aj when i was there because he got lots of my money and i really dont mind.

reply
 

Sounds like someone should organize a BC interior Frag swap. You might get people from Alberta and the Lower main to show up. Wouldn't that be something?:biggrin:

Hey Gools,

Welcome to Vernon. As everyone has said, AJ's is the main store around here. Complete Pet has also stepped into salt and they have some good deals every now and then on livestock, but don't carry anything for dry goods. Andrew at AJ's is working on selling the satellite Armstrong store they have and doubling the tanks at the main Vernon store.

I've been in the hobby for about 1 1/2 years after prompting from AJ and know a few other reefers if you have any other questions. I don't frag yet myself but would love to talk about it over a brew sometime.

I'm sure there are more than a few reefers in Vernon, so I'd like to see some type of local group get together. Maybe this is the start of something.

that BC interior Frag swap is a good plan. I would enjoy to see and be apart of that!

Thanks for the welcomes. I just strolled into town at 5 this morning. With about 150+lbs of live rock, and a bunch of my favorite sps frags. Unfortunetly I don't have my tank yet, still in the movers truck, so I have my rubbermaids to stare at all day. Once I get into my new place in the next couple weeks, I'll give you guys a shout, and we can get together.

Welcome to Vernon :mrgreen:

:cool: Wow you picked a perfect day to roll into town. :cool:

Just remember this weather when we get to the dull sunless days of Fall and Winter.

I hope everything survived the trip. Good luck with the unpacking!

How goes the rubbermaid tubs??? Everything still alive and kicking?

corals are good, maybe lost 1 or 2 out of 15 different varieties, but fragged 2 of each. Also shipped all my live rock. All are holding up good in there make shift containers.

How goes your moving adventure now? Has everything adjusted to rubbermaids? How are you keeping flow in each container?

Hey Gools,

I suspect that you're up and running in Vernon now. How are things going? Where are some tank shots so we can see what you've set up?

mseepman I'll try and get a couple shots of my progress over the weekend. It's going, just really slow.

Later, Nigel

I know what you mean by slow. I have been working on a DIY sump/fuge for months now. Just got it up and running on the weekend. So far...no floods, no divorce...hehe.

Did you drill any holes in your sump/fuge? I need to get a hole or 2 drilled in my sump, would rather take it somewhere as I don't feel like doing it myself. Do you know of any place in town that drills holes?

I didn't drill any holes in my sump because I was too nervous to go that way. I suspect that Okanagan glass (on 29th right beside Complete Pet Mart) would do it. They cut out the glass tops and such that I had made.

If you do plan on cutting it yourself, Princess Auto in Kelowna has a good deal on diamond hole saws.

Okanagan glass is really bad.

ARe they? I used them for convenience as I would be going in and out of the pet store. They did two panels of glass for me, same day service for $6 apiece. Seemed like a decent deal at the time.

I have asked them about tanks before and they said they don't build them anymore because of the liability.

mseepman does Pete Kronbaugher (may not be spelled right) sound familiar?

They didnt build my tank but they cut the glass for it and i told them its for a fish tank so it has to be square and cut to the right size no more no less.. long store short ended up finding a bunch of messed up peices brought them back to be re cut drove all the way home and they were unsquare and not the right dimentions

Hey Gools,

I'm not sure I recognize that name. Again, I didn't work in the electrical division so although I met a lot of electricians during my work, I didn't always get to know them by name.

My name is Mark by the way. How did the work on the GCFI go?

Machete,

Sorry to hear that about Ok glass. You're a brave soul to build your own tank.

Gools, given that OK glass might not be a good choice, I would say that Morgan's glass has a good name but I don't know if they do much small custom work at all. I'd give them a call.

Hey Nigel,

How goes the battle?

I think I said I would have some pics for you last weekend didn't I. LOL

Well not much is new. I ordered to much on boxing day. I really hope this gets going as I'm super impatient at this stage. I'll try and get some pics up soon. LOL

Here's my slapped together 70g, and rubbermaid sump

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1/IMG_3982.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1/IMG_3983.jpg

And my rock I brought with me from Winnipeg sitting in coolers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1/IMG_3984.jpg

My project that's taking forever
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...IMG_3978-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1/IMG_3979.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...1/IMG_3981.jpg

looking good Nigel, miss looking at your tank. Oh ya nice light fixture by the way. i think i have my fish tank in good order now finally. About time i got my act together, until after Afghanistan and I start my new tank again, to put into the new recroom

Yah Mike I'm going to miss all the money I would squeeze out of you for frags. LOL

Gools,

That's looking good. If you need a hand lifting the tank up onto the stand, make sure you give ask me. I bought 2 "glass suction cup lifters" (who knows what they're really called) from Princess auto earlier in the year getting ready for when I get a new tank.