Coral in Edmonton
 

Hi All,
Well I am ready to add some simple coral to my tank I am looking for suggestions on what is good for a newbie like me that will do fine in lower light situations and where is the best place for price/value to buy in town.

PS does anyone know if Dad's (is that the name place one south side just of white ave) does salt water?

Thanks for the help

by far the best selection of corals in edmonton is to be had at aquarium illusions in the west end.

16630 109 Ave NW
483-7027

i would look into mushrooms, zoos, star polyps to start with.

Dad's dosen't do salt. You could also try Big Al's on the south side they seem to have fair prices and if you talk to Simon you might get a deal.

Clinton

Was at Big Al's this past weekend. Am never impressed with their stock compared to AI, in selection, price and quality of stock. But since it's probably on teevee's way into town, why not stop in for a browse anyway.

teevee, I've got a very nice bright green plate coral that our spotted hawkfish is kind of abusing. Have tried moving it in the tank so he doesn't kick sand on it all the time, but the dang fish keeps finding it and using it as a quasi-hiding place. I'd let you have it cheap, if you want it. Needs medium light and a good place on the sandbed to spread and grow. Also am willing to frag a piece from the green star polyps in our 42 for you if you like. They can get by on lower light. I usually place mine lower in the tank as we'll be getting our halide lighting today or tomorrow :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: That'd be a freeby, btw.

Oops, I thought teevee started this thread. :redface: :redface: I'm pretty stupid this early in the morning after the change to daylight saving time :confused:

Trevor, the same corals I just offered teevee, I want to offer to you if you're interested. PM me and we can set up a time for you to drop by.

:razz: yes, wasn't me looking, however, can i take a raincheck on that free frag?

You bet! Just let me know when you're ready :smile:

Never said they had better stock than AI, just thought i'd mention there is another place in town to buy salt water stuff. Not a bad place and fair prices, just another option. AI is not the only place in town you know. :confused:

Clinotn

certainly big al's would be my second choice. however i am displeased about the number of difficult or ill-suited species they insist on carrying, ie. nudibranchs, filter-feeding corals, aptasia anemones... just please avoid that garbage dump down the road on gateway, you know which i'm talking about - "hey check out our display tank, containing a hawkfish, a lot of base rock and even more hair algae!" :neutral:

There is also Koi on Stony Plain Rd, Saltwater Fantasies in the north end website http://www.saltwaterfantasies.com/, and PJ's on the south side a few blocks from BA's. These are all places we have seen marine livestock, and have even bought stuff from some of them.

Yes, i know about all the other places as well, just wouldn't buy anything from any of them. But that's just my $.02

Clinton

hopefully i won't be breaking the rules on this one, if so i'm sure i'll find out.

i was referring to pj's in my above post. i personally will never buy from them as their staff do not appear to be knowledgeable or responsible, their tanks are consistently dirty and overgrown with algae, they sell aptasia anemones like they're going out of style, and their animals look unhealthy. i also have issues with big box marketers. therefore i will restrict my purchasing in edmonton to AI and possibly big al's.

Beverly,
I have been looking for frags in Edmonton to start moving from FOWLR to a reef. Green star polyps are one of the top on my list of corals to start with. I don't have any frags to offer in exchange, but I do carry a bit of cash. :smile:

On the topic of this thread, I have heard rumors that AI will be starting to farm coral frags in the reasonably near future.

it's no rumour. i expect des already has it up and running. it's in the back, a few tanks lit by VHO. i can't wait to see what they've got next time i'm in town (if i'm lucky i'll be up this friday for a visit).

that's the great thing about AI. the employees are actually up to date on the latest reefing technologies, involved in the hobby, and know what they're talking about - and if they don't, they'll tell you. if they don't know whether a certain animal is reef safe, or what it eats, or what it's called, they'll tell you, rather than giving you BS.

Nope not up yet, all the tanks are there just no lights or water. :cool:

Clinton

I've PM-ed you about the frag.

so I have 2 corals in my tank now...yippi!!

Well I can't wait to see them grow. I will keep you all updated on how they are doing.

Thanks again Bev.

PS I saw her set up and all I can say is it is doing GREAT!

i'm going to big al's and AI this friday before a meeting, do any of you live along that route (from the south) and feel like letting me check out your setups?

You probably know that you have to use an elastic to get the star polyps to adhere properly to the rock. Just thought I'd mention it :smile:


You're welcome, Trevor, and thanks for the kind words :cool:

If you know your way around west downtown, you might want to stop at our place. I'll give you the grand tour of our nanos and the 42 hex. Will be at home until noon Friday.

ah i won't be in the city until around 6. oh well.

Lights out in our reefs is 7:30 and we're generally home around that time. You could come by around 7-ish for the tour, if time permits.

probably won't work. thanks anyways!

I'm on the end of the Whitemud, but i'm not sure if there is anything here you'd want to see. :mrgreen: I could meet you down at Big Al's if you want to meet someone new in the hobby, i'm supposted to visit Simon at work on Friday anyway.

Clinton

i'll be at big al's around 6:15, give or take 15 minutes, and will probably stay for about 20 minutes. i'll be wearing a yellow t-shirt, i have blond hair, i'll be with a tall bald guy and a red-head chick. if we run into each other, we can head over to AI when we're done at big al's if you want.

Well I think that I will try to make it, I really need some more snails and mabie a pair of clowns..to match the movie you know :wink: