Okanagan - Kelowna Reefing
 

Do we have a club in the Kelowna or Okanagan Valley area ?

There is an aquarium club in Kelowna that holds monthly meetings (I haven't been to one yet) but I get the impression that most of the members are mainly into freshwater fish keeping.

Kelowna Club
 

I'd love to know if you start one up or find one. I am a beginner and have an 80 gallon reef tank in the works.

We have a club in Kelowna.
Not all of us members are freshwater only ppl.:biggrin:

Check it out if you wish.

http://okaquariumclub.no-ip.org

Good to know that their are a few reefers involved in the local aquarium club and thanks for the link to the website.

Thanks for posting the link :) Maybe one of these months we should all attendone of the meetings....

Your welcome.
If you visit the site, check my gallery (member Frodo). I have not added a pic in a while though.

I may have to attend as well. I have a 75 gallon in the works. What store do you guys prefer? I'm fond of Reef Keepers myself, but I heard there is a nice coral store in a Mechanic shop some where.

An AMAZING guy! Unfortunatly certain cercumstances left him with no time to continue in the hobby. :sad:

Ahh thats too bad.

I also deal with Reefkeepers , Randy and Reenie are good people. I have also heard that there is a store in Vernon with really nice coral but haven't been there myself. I do find there is a huge price diff from here to the coast unfortuneatly.

I dont even buy local unless I need to, prices are just stupid here.
In Vernon theres AJ's just off the highway and some other place that is into reefs. Dont know name or location.

I like the coast also.

I will have to check out some places in Calgary, coming back from Sask. on the 3rd...

Agreed, prices are pretty steep up here, sometimes I can't believe it when I compare them with prices at the coast. I will quite often stop in at Hidden Reef in Abbottsford as its just off the highway, easy to get to.
We could possibly do some group buys from one of the stores at the coast and save on shipping. Something to think aboout anyway

I went into AJ's yesterday, and couldn't believe the prices, told my wife I'm going to be doing alot of mail ordering.

Yeah...prices are pretty high, but Andrew the owner knows his stuff quite well and is willing to negotiate on things. He even came to my house to help me install something when I just didn't have enough hands to do it alone. I buy as much as I can local because they will help you out if you do. Did you notice the tank at the end that said "not for sale"...that stuff belongs to a friend and they needed a spot to store stuff while they re-organized their tanks...AJ helped out.

I really enjoyed talking to and dealing with Jack when he was still selling fish and corals out of his shop (I think it is called A-Z Auto Tech). The way he explained it to me he was actually loosing money every time he had to come out from the back where he was working on a car and get cleaned up to remove something from the tank and sell it. Most mechanics shop rates are at least $70.00 per hour so I can see why it would not be profitable to take a half hour out of your busy schedule to sell a $40.00 fish or coral to make only 10 or 20 dollars profit.

I deal a little with ReefKeepers. Most of the time i buy in bulk from the coast, as it is cheper. And well, as you all know, is damn expensive to live in the Okanagan.

I just can't beleive Live Rock is only $4.39 from J&L. Thats like a 200% mark up. I know for a fact that some of the smaller stores in Kelowna order from J&L.

Almost all stores order from J&L. However, their live rock is uncured. That is why it is so cheap. Still a smokin deal though..

I live in Manitoba and I mail order Live Rock from J&L. Far cheaper than getting anything here locally, and talk about good rock.

Yeah...when you look at AJ's, most of his rock is $11/lb and fully cured. As with anything, you pay for convenience. I find it hard to pick the look of my pieces at J&L over the phone. Even Petcetera in Kelowna will bring in un-cured rock for you if you are willing to take the time and the risk of it being lousy.
That being said, I made a good sized order from J&L just today as sometimes the price is just too good to pass up.

*edited* please no vendor reviews.


but for convenience, i think its more so, that they have to get it here too, and still make a profit off it. AJS is making a little more profit that the rest of them.

I wait till Total PET has their 2 4 1 sale, all live rock is half price. i usually get that and give it a fresh dip *edited*

Does that mean that Total Pet in Kelowna has saltwater? TP here just got new owners and they don't do salt anymore. The owner said they came from Williams lake where they had a lot of salt but competing in Vernon against AJ's and Complete Pet probably wasn't worth it.

*edited* Order from J&L or Hidden Reef in Abbotsford as they both have great prices and great quality! Mike at Hidden Reef has given me excellent customer service for a while now!

I agree 100%

*edited*.

I am pretty fond of Hidden Reef. I just bought my new tank from mike, along with some lighting and new livestock.

If you dont want to order, then go for a daytrip. even with gas & Toll, it will stil be cheaper than buying a bunch of stuff here.

Palster, you are right about Jack.
That is his shop name. He lost money doing the selling, but not the reason he got out of it. It is more with his personal life so I have to refrain from saying more.
I had gone into say hello today, and he doesnt seem as stressed...although he misses the fishies!:smile:

Bulk Order?
 

If anyone is interested in doing a bulk order from the Coast, keep my e-mail handy jim-shel@shaw.ca

I bet if someone was going down they could bring back a bunch of stuff and even save on shipping. Now how can I con my husband into a trip to Vancouver and not tell him it's for my tank?????

If you were thinking on ordering from J&L, they have free shipping over $200 right now so a bulk order should reach that.

Question
 

maybe you can answer a question for me. I have about 15 baby sea stars in my tank. They must have come out of my live rock, will they grow? I'm pretty sure I'll have to get rid of some as I can't have 15 in my tank. One has already split! Any info any of you can offer would be so appreciated.

I will be coming back from Sask through Calgary on Sept 2nd/3rd. If anybody needs a delivery from there....Figured I should throw that in as an option for everyone.

My guess is that you have mini-brittle stars. I clean/switch my overflow 'sock' once a week and usually find six or so inside. Has anyone seen those tiny things stickin outta holes that look like a brittle star arm?...That is exactly what it is.:biggrin:

Here is a website King of the Sea has resently shown me. http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm
Enjoy!

Chances are they willl vanish as quickly as they appeared. I quite often get "hatches" and see them on the glass for a few days at a time