Powell River Jasper's Reef is up & running!
 

So, got a call from my buddy Dean (guy I get to help me with reno projects like my pergola) up in Powell River. His daughter's classmate is dying of cancer (third bout and it's terminal according to the specialist). She told Dean he made a bucket list of things he wants to do/try first and one of the items is to have a saltwater tank. So Dean calls me up since I'm the only guy he knows who does sw. Gonna plan a trip up to Powell River in the next few weeks (probably after Felicia's birthday - June 6th but before Isabella's birthday - June 22nd). Dean's going to talk to his parents tomorrow about actually checking off this item from their son's bucket list.

So here's the tentative plan:

Go up 2nd week of June with my Fluval Flora 8g, small heater, small power head and small filter.
8 lbs of cured live rock and an ice cream bucket of dried, clean aragonite sand.
1/2 bucket of salt and spare bucket for future water changes.
Refractometer for testing salinity. (Gotta pick up a decent hydrometer to leave with them)
Have my sw friend Marie who lives in PR save me 5-6 gallons of her display tank water.
Getting my LED friend to build me a mini LED light with timers, controllers & hanging kit for the Fluval Flora (1x 10w blue & 1x 10w 10000k white).
Gonna bring him a few very hardy soft corals (Kenyan tree, waving hand anthelia, some colourful zoas & some mushrooms).
Plant a few strands of Caulerpa prolifera (nice looking, hardy macro algae) for nutrient control.
Pick up a couple small hermits and snails from LFS.
Maybe a couple of blue with yellow tail damsels.

Presto-zesto, instant reef. Just took down Felicia's nano so I'll bring most of that up to PR to set up for this kid.

Sounds like he's a great kid but has spent most of his life in and out of hospitals. Have two little ones of my own and I can't imagine what his parents are going through knowing he's now terminal. It's the world's worst tragedy for parents to outlive their child.

So if anybody has some spare hardy frags or macro-algae or hermits/snails they would like to donate to this bucket list project, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking a standard nano-reef but maybe if someone has a sunken ship ornament they would like to donate to the project, we could make bling it out for him. I will take pics of the finished tank and post it here along with pics of the boy and his family.

If anyone has any ideas they think would be cool or interesting, please post on here. Also, if you think I've forgotten something off the list above please let me know.

Sorry for the long essay. Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have any suggestions to make this an awesome tank.

Anthony

Pm'ed you.

I have a bunch of zoas and palys to donate to the cause.

It's a really good thing your doing! I hope it puts a smile on the families face! I don't have much in the way of hardy frags, but if I come across any I'll send some your way!

I could make a couple zoa frags to give to him , let me know.

Any and all donations are deeply appreciated.

Thank you all for your generous offers to help with this bucket list project.

So here's my latest brainstorm for this bucket list project.

I'm thinking that for local reefers, how about I set up a potluck bbq lunch or dinner/reefer get together before we leave (or couple nights before) and you can bring your frags/donations for the project and meet up with local reefers at the same time. I do a killer bbq & will marinate some meats to throw on the Webers.

Tentatively looking at bbqing Saturday June 8th and leaving Monday morning June 10th.

Sincerely,

Anthony

Karma to you my friend, ethics are in deed a huge part of your life.

your mom and dad did well

What a fantastic project, kudos to you for stepping up and making this kid's dream! I think I'm too far away to help much, but if there is anything you need please send PM.

A couple thoughts (even though I know you're quite capable I can't resist lol)... Caulerpa could be a real pain in the butt in the tank, and if it gets carried away and goes sexual it could crash the kid's tank. Since maintenance might be a challenge for the family and waterchanges might not happen as often as should, make sure the lights aren't very strong. Instead of two Yellow Tail Damsels (which are personally one of my fav fish...shhh don't tell anyone) which will fight if they are same sex, maybe a Damsel and a Royal Gramma? Grammas are pretty cheap.

In fact Anthony I just thought of a way to help. I would like to donate by funding the purchase of the fish. Let me know which store you're buying from and I will work it out with that store to send payment.

Hey Anthony in response to the voice mail you left me last night, of course you can have 5 gallons of water, my tank wouldn't even notice that missing :lol:

A little fromia starfish might be nice as well (I would pay for it). As any kid who has grown up around here knows, the ocean means crabs and starfish

Unfortunately I know their pain all too well as friends of mine's daughter, same age as my son (8) is going through something similar.

I am too far away to donate livestock but I too, like Myka, would be all too happy to donate funds of some kind if it helps.

Great idea... I can also donate to help out.

A package of prodibio start should probably be on that list of must haves.... I would however suggest NOT adding the starfish.... They really need a more established environment and would likely not survive the insta-reef scenario...

I have an account already set up at J&L so I can ask Jeff to maybe set up a "Bucket List" account to accept donations or email transfer work as well.

I received a pm last night from a cancer-survivor member who knows what this kid is going through and has suggested (which I will do) a pair of clowns (maybe catch out my own so they are hardy, captive-breds already used to being in a tank) and only one damsel and a goby (probably a watchman of some kind).

Regarding the macroalgae, the prolifera species is both an excellent nutrient exporter and has never gone sexual on me in the past 10 years or so. It is also easy to pull out once in a while, unlike grape caulerpa which is more likely to become invasive and go sexual.

Marie, how about I pick up a starfish and we acclimate it in your tank and when you think the boy's tank is ready, you can bring it over for him?



I also decided last night that a small all-in-one, like a Biocube 14 will probably be a better system to set up for this family. I want to set something that will be reasonably maintenance-free if they have to take off for a few days to fulfill another bucket list wish. Already have a DIY LED light being built with built-in timers and a BCA member is generously donating an Autofeeder to this bucket list project.

I would like to thank everyone on Canreef and BCAquaria who are so generously contributing to this bucket list project for a kid that nobody has even met.

I will be making a list of the contributors to give to the boy and his family. Please send me your email address as I am sure they will want to thank you themselves. The boy's name is Jasper. My friend is now contacting Jasper's parents and I should know shortly if this bucket list project is a go.



BTW, any monetary contributions above and beyond what is spent on the bucket list reef tank will be given to the family to cover their future bucket list expenses.

Great! Although, as a donator I would like to purchase something specific - just let me know what.

Too many fishies for 8 gallons! I will send you a PM about a Clownfish donation.

Ah, gotcha. I was thinking Grape Caulerpa because it is usually the most common species.

Good plan! Then more fishies!

Ok, talked with Jeff at J&L and he will be setting up a "Bucket List - Jasper" account for us.

hey anthony, if you want you can come pick up my biocube if you dont have one yet

Wow, thanks spitfire. I will pm you my contact number.

Anthony

Not sure if i can make it to BBQ (shift work) but can cut a frag of Bright Green Galaxy coral it has nice color and hardy most likely will survive.
If anyone is in Coquitlam /Port Moody area going to attend the BBY BBQ she/he can pick up from my place.
Will also donate when acc is ready at J&L.
Thank you for doing this.

Agreed, great cause and would love to help out. Let us know when everything is good to go at J&L.

same here, I would like to make a donation when it is ready.

arg, i was thinking if its a standard size tank i will throw in my ac110 as a modify fuge or what not... let me know what you need...

I got the worlds hardiest clownfish hands down. It's been a steep learning curve lol. He's going to be the odd man out when I get a pair for my new tank, so let me know if you're interested. He's only 1" big so he'd be good size for a bio cube. Or I will make a donation to the Jasper fund at JL. Props to you and everyone who is getting involved.

donation
 

I can donate a coral or two if you could pick em up anthony... let me know .
1 suggestion though, pls leave the sunkin ship out and keep it natural... for what hes going through he sure dont need it. But if he wants it then he can have it...just sayin.. awesome idea anthony...

Well spit.fire has very generously offered his full Biocube 14g setup for this bucket list project which I will be picking up from him next Friday.

The account is now set up at J&L under "Bucket List Jasper" and I mentioned that some members may have specific requests for their donations (i.e. "this money is to buy a Red Fromia starfish").

A friend dropped off a sunken ship already and I will bring up all the stuff donated and let Jasper choose what he wants in his tank. Any of the more touchy specimens will hopefully be temporarily housed at Marie's place (like her starfish) until Jasper's instant reef matures and stabilizes a little. I plan to transport the cured live rock from my sump to Powell River fully submerged in my big cooler, so there should be no die off.

I should be talking to the family Saturday morning and then we can really start the ball rolling. Will try to figure out a firmer time table and post details here as I learn them.

Thanks again everyone who is getting involved and showing what an awesome community we have here.

Sincerely,

Anthony

How do we log into the 'bucket jasper list' @ J&L to donate or buy stuff ?

Not sure. I think you either donate there in person and they add it into the account or you contact them by phone and they add it into the account and bill you.

bucket list
 

hey Anthony,i have some upside down jellyfish if you want.

Just want to say that it truly is incredible to see such support from people.
Well done everyone.

What about ongoing maintenance expenses? Salt etc? Could you let us know which brand you'll be using to set up? I'd like to donate a bucket of salt through j&l.

Great cause and amazing to see how generous everyone has been. Will you be helping them with the ongoing learning curve of a tank?

I will be in constant touch with them through email, Skype and telephone. I will also be giving his family a crash course in reefing while I am there. I still need to discuss in-town help with a couple of reefing friends who live in Powell River and have years of sw experience.

Marie is already going to be providing water out of her 300+g system for the initial top-up. I plan to leave her with a bucket of IO.

I am getting a friend to build a custom DIY LED system so that bulb replacement should not be a maintenance issue.

Between now and when I go up to PR, I am going to try to make this as stress-free a system as possible.

If Jasper does not have a webcam, I will bring him mine so that he can point it at the tank and enjoy seeing his fish & corals even if he is on a bucket list trip or in the hospital.

Please let me know if any of you have any other ideas that can be incorporated into this bucket list project.

If any local reefers come for the bbq/get together to drop off their donations and discuss the project/eat/chat with other reefers, I plan to take lots of pics including a group pic to give to the family so they can see that there is a whole reefing community behind Jasper's fight against cancer. I wish all of you could be there but for those of you out-of-towners, thank you again for all your support and encouragement for a boy that really none of us know and most will never meet.

Sincerely,

Anthony

Just talked to J&L and the account is setup by the sounds of it. Great cause everyone. Proud to be a Canreef member today.

So how to proceed? is there a link?

I just called and mentioned this thread and Jasper's name and they took my credit card and donation over the phone.

If no one has taken a dips onto a skimmer, I would like to donate a biocube 14 skimmer + airpump. I guess it can help with the maintenance to some extend? Or perhaps powerhead? Or maybe test ki? I am not sure which one would be more useful. Lemme know and I will talk with JL.

Another member has already donated a Biocube skimmer but I will check to see what is still needed. Thanks for the offer.

Ok, so I talked to the mom and they are all very excited. They will discuss this offer as a family and make a firm decision by Sunday. However she says that as far as she is concerned she is a big YES! to the bucket list project. I will post here once I know for sure. They are also moving at the end of the month so may postpone the potluck bbq/get-together and trip to Powell River a week or more to allow them to move and settle in before dealing with a new reef tank.

Again thanks everyone for their amazing support of this bucket list project for a total stranger.

Sincerely,

Anthony

Sure :) Please do let me know what can be useful for the tank.

Hey guys lets make this super cool and see if we can collect some $ for things other then SW fish tank (whatever else is on the list) Anthony can (i think?) get the $ via E-mail Money Transfer.

This is way better then donating to some agency and we will all know exactly how much and where the money go. we have hundreeds of memebers on here so even a small donation from many memebers will make a big difference!
jmtcw

I have actually received donations from BCA members via PayPal and e-mail transfer for the bucket list. Any moneys collected above and beyond what is spent on the project will be going to the family for fulfilling Jasper's other bucket list wishes.

When everything is collected, I plan to write a spreadsheet with the name and email address (if desired) of anybody who donated something to the project, where they are from and what they donated. Jasper's mother was completely blown away this afternoon when I told her that we were already receiving support and donations from reefers across Canada, not just Greater Vancouver. The spreadsheet will show them how much support there is from the Canadian reefing community for their son Jasper, even though he is a stranger to all of us. I know they are already very touched by the love and support from all of you. God bless.

Anthony

BTW, Marie in Powell River has very graciously agreed to bring over a bucket of new salt water once a month for a monthly water change so the family can have a fairly maintenance-free, stress-free system that Jasper can enjoy and not have to worry about. Just wanted to publicly thank Marie for agreeing to this request. I will post updates as I learn more.

Spitfire/ Tyler was over yesterday to look at some zoes and paly's and he said he will get a hold of you this week regarding us meeting up next Friday at Oceanic Corals.
I also am proud to be a member of such a generous community as Canreef.
Way to go to all that have donated to make a dream come true. :whoo:
And huge Kudo's to Anthony !! :yo:

How do you know for sure it's going to be applied at this project?