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Hello All, I haven't posted on this forum yet, but have been in the fish hobby for quite some time. I have been noticing something that has really concerned me and it just seems to be getting worse. I live in the greater Seattle area and have noticed that we have been continually losing our quality fish stores over the last 10 to 15 years. Especially saltwater stores. We don't even have a reef club or reef swap to anymore (the Tri Cities even have one!!). With Red C Aquarium store closing down. We now have Dennys Pet World, The Fish Store, Barrier Reef Aquariums and a few others that make up the available retail stores we can visit between Everett and Tacoma. Sure I missed a few of the smaller shops or mixed pet shops but you get my point. We really have a limited selection. When we look at meet ups or frag swaps, this is even more limited with what is available. I remember there used to be a much larger selection of events that were held yearly for aquarium hobbyists. But it seems, with time, they keep dropping off. Aside from online retailers what do you think the cause of this is? You look around the US and every region has big yearly expos that bring national attention to their regions for fish and reef hobbyists. Then you look at the Pacific Northwest and it is a black hole. We need to work together to bring this back! I know we can be introverted people who don't like to always go outside of our house. But this is something that I dearly miss and believe many of you do as well. So I propose we try to work on getting ourselves back to what used to be. We need to stat supporting our local fish stores. Regardless if their prices are a bit more expensive. Soon enough, we will reach a day where you have an emergency and are unable to find a store anywhere that can assist you quickly. Instead, you have to wait two days for your order to show up, which in many cases, will be too late. I'm not trying to make this a personal rant, but something to wake us up to take notice of this issue and work on finding a solution. I, like many others absolutely love this hobby. As well as the people it attracts. I want to see our area known for having a great environment for aquarium hobbyists so we can bring in better stores and maybe, just maybe host an actual national expo here! That being said, what do you all think we can do to bring this back? Do you agree with my thoughts on our dying culture here? And if so, help me to get this back on track! It will take a group to make this work so please help! Thank you! Mick