Hi! And where do you shop mid-island??
 

Hey everyone! I'm pretty new to all of this, I am only JUST finishing my cycle.
I started this tank for my 5 year old son who has Sensory Integration Disorder. It was suggested as a way for him to calm, and relax.
Well... I caught the bug haha it's definitely become an obsession :twised: I find myself on google, google pictures, and reading forums 24/7 :razz:

Anyway, to the point... Where on earth do I get livestock?? The couple places here in nanaimo did not seem very healthy, and really didn't have anything there anyway.... Not to mention one place gave me consistently terrible advice....

Any suggestions?? Are there good brick and mortar stores mid-island?? Or do you order from somewhere??
Like I said, I've just finished cycling, have some good diatom bloom starting and I don't even know where to find a cleanup crew! :razz:

Thanks so much! I look forward to getting to know everyone :biggrin:

Have you been up to Clearwater ponds in Errington? They've usually got some decent livestock but careful on the advice there. They also have tanks there that run copper all the time so be careful of any of their water getting in your tank.
There's also Island pet zone in Duncan. A couple places in Comox but can't remember their names.
I've often gotten livestock from J&L and they fly it to Nanaimo via Harbour Air for $20 I think it was. SO you get it within a couple hours of coming out of their tanks.

Oh, and WELCOME to Canreef!

Welcome aboard

Can't help you with LFS but can help you with a link that almost every SW enthusiast uses new or experienced www.liveaquaria.com sorta like the unofficial official bible on most things SW

Awesome! Thanks so much!

live aquaria is great! Just do lots of reading and take your time. Don't know many mid island stores, there are a few in victoria. I mostly try and get my livestock and dry goods from Vancouver now.

Honestly, I have yet to see a single store over here Between Campbell river and victoria even come close to the quantity or variety of J&L. Then again I haven't been to many since ive moved to the island. It was nice to live 15 mins from J&L....
Every now and then members will place group orders from some suppliers be they in another province or as close as J&L or Victoria. Start scouting out other members on here in your area and see if anyone may be in for a group order :)
Or even people who go mainland to island who can pick stuff up for you and bring it over, who knows!

I may actually be heading to Victoria next weekend for a swim meet :) are there a couple places you recommend seeing??

In Vic definitely go to Blue World Aquariums and Safari pets. AS far as I know those are the only 2, although Brad's place is pretty good too :D

I'm debating heading to the mainland to get some stuff for my 210 in the next month or so (shipping will be way north of $150 so I might as well go), so if anyone wants to do something in way of a group order I may be able to grab stuff from J&L while there.

I've got some really nice Palys and a few other things you may be interested if you come to Victoria shot me a PM. What exactly are you looking for?

I honestly have no idea :) haha the only thing I know for sure right now is a clean up crew, and a couple clowns (my sons dead set on clowns) other than that I was just going to go slow, somewhat easy, and work my way up with corals :p I wouldn't mind something the clowns might host, but I know my tank is way to young to think about nems, any ideas??

For ease of care I would probably start with coral that primarily use light to grow they are also the easiest to care for

Anthelia and Xenia are very easy to look after but both tend to grow like weeds

Hammer and Frogspawn are also easy to care for

Zoa's another easy to care for

Some types of brain corals are also easy to look after

I have all the above never had to supplement feed them just did weekly water changes and gave them good light but some swear by supplement feeding the choice is yours

Most soft coral is easier to care for but most branching coral tends to be a bit more difficult to look after and require some extra attention and supplemental feeding

Again it's up to you

Welcome. This hobby is relaxing. Well, most of the time..

Important questions.

What is the size of your tank.
What are the ammonia/nitrite readings?

As you have read going slow is the way to go. Add the first fish one month after the tank has cycled and one fish each month thereafter.

Do not get 'a clean up crew'. Too often it contains predators like hermit crabs and too many snails which starve to death and pollute new tanks. Add a hermit crab or two as they are cute and your son will enjoy watching them
As this is your son's tank mostly avoid corals except soft corals with some movement like leather corals. Get him fish that are easy to keep and not a brightly coloured fish that he will soon find dried up on the floor because the fish is a jumper for example.

Live aquaria is a good site for a quick reference but it is a vendor site and is in the business of selling coral and fish and therefore understates the fishes needs. Go to www.wetwebmedia.com which accurately sets them out.

Avoid the urge to go fast and most importantly avoid the impulse buy. Ask here before you buy.

Tonight, in a dark room quietly approach the tank with a small led flashlight. Your son and you will be amazed viewing the many critters in the tank.

Good luck
Wayne

Oooooh I would love a hammer, frogspawn, or Zoa's :)

Hi Wayne, thanks for the response. The tank is a 25g, It's been cycling a couple weeks. I started it with 20lb live rock, and 10lbs dry/10lbs live rock, dropped a shrimp in there for a few days until it smelled lol.
The spike actually came and went quite quickly, I'm guessing because of all the live additions? ....I'm a bit obsessive and check parameters at least once a day :p. all readings have been 0's a week now and the diatoms have set in (why I'm wondering about some cleaners)
I've also read a lot of mixed thoughts about what to do with diatoms? Let them play out? Clean them?

And yes, this is technically my sons tank...however, it's purpose is to be a relaxing spot for him to sit and relax/watch (as I said he has SPD/ASD) so I wanted to go in the direction of a reef with rhythmical movement, colours, a couple slow moving interesting to watch things.
I'm already watching C/L for a good deal on a larger set up :p

And trust me, I sit and watch that empty tank WAY more than I probably should lol I've already pulled one gorilla crab out of a rock and brought him back to the LFS :p

There is a split on CuC some people like me love crabs and snails others will go on a rampage killing as soon as they find them I have 9 blue legged hermits and 3 red legged hermits along with about a dozen snails and as far as I am concerned bring colour and idiosyncryes to the tank.

That is not to say all CuC is safe some of both species can be very destructive to your coral/fish/inverts again it is a personal choice J&L have excellent packages and can help you with choices. On the other hand you can run without snails and crabs and still have an awesome tank again its a personal choice