dsoz Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I am working towards getting back into salt after 10 years of the "My kids take all the money so I cannot afford a fish tank" disease. I am doing extra jobs at work, and my wife/bookkeeper (wife) told me I get to use the extra money that I make for whatever I want. I estimate that I will get about $1000 in my pocket in the next 4 months. (plotting) What to do with the money.... How about a "small" 20-30 gallon reef with light, camera, action... I have been doing my research. For the last month I have been lurking around reefcentral.com and nano-reef.com and reading A LOT. Much has changed since I had a "reef" tank in the early 90's (it was the "new" thing to ditch the crushed coral and replace it with sand...) There was a link on NR that lead me to here (imagine a reef society in my home town, and I did not know about it... you need more advertisement). I plan on attending the meeting/lecture on Sunday. I am interested in the discussion on salt tanks in the classroom (did I mention I teach High School science...) My question is what is the best reef store in the area? If you had $1000 to put into your tank, where would you spend it? I do not think it is fair for store owners/employees to vote for their own store (unless you say that you own it/work there as well). Also explain WHY you think it is the best. I am not necessarily looking for the best prices, but that is a bonus. I want to support the best stores that give the best advice, have the best customer service, have the best selection, eventually will trade frags (this is where I want to end up... slowly!) My experience in Portland fish stores is limited. I grew up in Gresham, and my parents bought fish from Caye's (on SE Division) before I was born. I bought my first tank as an adult from them (20 gal hex with freshwater). I went back there last weekend for memories and to look how the store has changed (some, there is a lot more in the way of coral). I have stopped into Upscales (Tualatin) and was impressed with what they had. This was also when I started considering getting a CurrentUSA AquaPod 24g 150HQI. The person in the store assured me that I could "put any coral they had in there, and keep it alive with those lights" I also went into Saltwater Fanta-seas (Parkrose area). I was not impressed with the price I was quoted for a new tank, but I will probably be back to get some corals. Nice owner/worker (?) whoever it was that I spoke to. I also followed the links that were in this forum to many of the stores around. I plan on doing some visits in the near future. The store in Salem looks like it may be worth the trip, and the Amazing Aquarium in Albany is a road trip for my near future. Maybe in conjunction with the rock building seminar in Albany in a couple of weeks (sounds interesting)... (peace) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nu2reef-n Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Why not buy a bigger used tank. They are all over the place. Check out the classified section, then take trip on over to Reefrontiers. Reefrontiers has alot of people from the Seattle area. You will get more bang for your buck with a used tank, and you might score a complete setup for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefgeek84 Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Your not going to get to good of a response...no one wants to mention favorites here...All out stores a pretty good...though, so you should not have to worry about that, just check out the sponsors section. I agree with Dave get a used tank...I would get something bigger then that, around a 50-75 gallon, unless spacer does not permit that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 The closest stores(owners) to you are Upscales(Travis), Waves(Joel), and Saltwater Fanta-seas(Patrick). All are good stores with different things to offer. That aqua pod would allow you to care for most anything, BUT, it's small!!! I say go the used tank route. Get a bigger tank and save some money to spend on other equipment like your lights and skimmer and pumps and rock and sand. (whew!) Nothing like getting a tank and setting it up and filling it then finding out you want one more thing and you have NO ROOM!!! Look around in the ads for used tanks like 'flyguy' has a 46 bowfront for a couple hundred, I think. And by the way WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister crabs Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I second that look at fly's 46 bowfront. all you would need to add is a skimmer and a better light (MH) for the hard corals. hes selling it with the plumbing and a power compact light and hes coming to portland this sunday to deliver if someone buys it. He takes good care of his stuff and its high quality. as for LFS all of the ones you mentioned have good things to offer. The coral reef pet center has a great selection of livestock and is a beautiful store. the albany aquarium has some good deals on miscellaneous items that are often hard to find. His saltwater livestock section is usually a little understocked because he runs pre order specials at good discounts and the fish are gone the day they come in. I havent been to the stores in portland but i have heard great things. welcome to the boards!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Welcome!! Definately scour the for sale forum here and reef frontiers, also check craigslist. You will be able to find a 30-80 gal tank for a good price. But if you want to stay small those aquapod tanks are sweet. As for stores, i really like Upscales and Waves in the portland area. If i have time those are the 2 i try to always hit. Then on the way home its Advanced in salem, and I have been to Coral Reef Pet Center once...wow great store, its gonna be a permanent stop for me anytime i'm driving thru salem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SULLY Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I would check the classifieds on here first or just throw out there that you are interested in buying a tank and see if someone has one that they might have thought about selling and just has not gotten around to listing it. I would definately do glass. And if you can't find something here, check out Craig's List. There always seems to be some smoking deals on there. Or if your heart is set on a smaller nano style tank, just check out the stores. And yes, you can keep sps in a nano with HQI lighting. Just keep in mind that the smaller you go, the less room you have for fluctuation in parameters. Just my .02. Sincerely, Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piero Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 The best sales potential in this trade is from new hobby entrants for a very good reason. Beginner hobbyists are relatively uneducated and vulnerable. Like a soccer mom at an auto mechanic, you're on your own. So the best advice I can offer is just to use the internet resources pro-actively to educate yourself as much as possible and become a careful and savvy consumer of reef life. When you get advice, get it from objective sources, and promote sustainability! Buy farmed. Farm what you buy You're certainly off to a good start here. welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 So the best advice I can offer is just to use the internet resources pro-actively to educate yourself as much as possible and become a careful and savvy consumer of reef life. When you get advice' date=' get it from objective sources, and promote sustainability! Buy farmed. Farm what you buy [/quote'] This is why I am asking... These are good ideas for tanks. The tank is not the issue. I also have a 45 gal bare tank and stand sitting arround (only used for goldfish and trout eggs for classrooms in my school). If I wanted to set that up again I would need to invest in lights, sand, rock, test kits, and eventually animals. The actual glass box seems to be the least expensive piece to the setup. My idea was that I could get a "smaller" all in one system that has all of the filters built in, and the top of the line lighting system (less expensive than to buy/build high quality lights for a larger tank). Once I can prove to myself that it is possible I can "move up" to the 45g (after saving a fortune for MH lights) and use the all in one as a quarantine, or a refugium, or as a species type tank. One of my major conditions is that I want to impact the wild as little as possible. I want to have a couple of tank raised fish and I want to start out with coral frags. Then maybe I will be able to also frag out later to keep the system going. Like I said I am starting with knowledge that is 10 years out of date. When I started thinking about budgeting for this project I even put down $20-30 for Damsels to distress in cycling the tank. Once I started reading posts here and in other forums I learned that there are so many better ways to cycle a tank (live rock only, a shrimp from the supermarket, use your own urine... it should work, but not for me...) I also wanted to keep an anemone, but have since changed my mind unless I can find a BTA that is a couple of generations away from the ocean. I do not want to contribute to the removal of any more of these creatures (I am remorseful of the anemones that I had die in my tank 10-15 years ago due to inadiquate lighting, water quality, my ignorance). I want to do this tank the right way, and I will need to save the cash now so I can start right in a couple of months. (backtotopic) I still want to know oppinions of where the "best" LFS is located. thanks (peace) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister crabs Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 the all in ones are cool but if the filtration is a consideration then the all in ones arent so hot. most people throw out the bio balls and sponges and whatnot that come in these tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjohnny Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I like the idea of buying from other reefers. There are always people getting out of the hobby or downsizing to buy rock & corals from. Fish are harder, but finding tank raised fish is getting easier. the best LFS' for me have been SW Fantaseas, Waves and Seahorse NW. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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