badxgillen

A tasty little teaser of some of the raffle items being presented at this months meeting. The PNWMAS and TPA are bringing in yet another fine batch of winnings for the club.

Need a little bit more flow in the aquarium, have some dead spots you need to get moving? I know we all do....

We will have one of the ever popular MP10 Quiet Drive circulation pumps in the mix of raffle prizes. A versatile and innovative pump that you can ramp up or down, change flow patterns, and even synch multiple units together. These guys produce a ton of movement from a small package.

We will also have certificates to some of our Amazing sponsors as prizes! Pacific Island Aquatics, which is now located in Albany Oregon, has some of the nicest fish around. Snagging one of these will get you a step closer to acquiring that dream fish of yours. 

The digital salinity and temperature pen style tester, by Hanna instruments, is another cool reef gadget that some one will walk away with this coming April meet. I love how technology juts keeps getting smaller and more leisurely. I will be throwing a few tickets in on this one myself.

And it has been confirmed that here will be more raffle prizes coming your way soon, just keep your eyes peeled for updates as they roll in.

 

Good to have you aboard as a PNWMAS sponsor Eli, looking forward to seeing some informative data you collect. The more we know about our tanks the better, and this is an area to which many of us are "blind".

Well folks, the club has been looking into some upcoming meetings and do we have some great news for You!

Coming up in the roster for the month of April is another one of our amazing sponsors,  Salem Oregon's The Premium Aquarium!!!

When - Sunday April 28th 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Where - 1875 25th St SE, Salem, OR 97302

What - A friendly gathering for us salt water reefer including food, raffles, and great deals on some nice TPA livestock.

Now we hope your ready to Party, because Garret always throws a fantastic shindig at his fine establishment. We are also finalizing a guest speaker to add to the merriments, but I am going to keep that as a bit of a mystery for now. I also hear that the PNWMAS club and Garret at The Premium Aquarium are going to be bringing you a stellar line up of raffle prizes to peak your interests.

And don't forget the ever changing smorgasbord of beautiful corals and fish the shop has to offer. I know I say this much too often but, this is going to be a good one for sure!

So, as usual, stay tuned for more updates on the upcoming event.

I can give you some Green Apple Capricornis, Or some Flower Petal Green Capricornis, Or some Purple Rim Green Capricornis, and maybe just for fun some red\orange Capricornis. I could also bring some other purple Capricornis just for fun...No, it isn't Idaho Grape Capricornis.

Oh Wow! the meeting at Mr.Bret's shop was Great, we all had a wonderful time out in Hillsboro that's for sure. Why don't you let me tell you about it.

As you know, Paradise Corals was very gracious and opened their store front doors for the PNWMAS March club meeting, setting aside a couple group buys for the club and a putting together an attractive spread of coral deals.

First thing walking in you just have to notice the clean cut reef aquariums, the open floors, and the attractive art decor. The shop has evolved since i had last been in and is looking sharp.

Some of the tanks had some rather creative aquascaping going on along with some very colorful and vibrant animals within.

I normally don't like black sand, but this tank was sporting it pretty well, making that Huge Helio Fungia just pop!

After taking in some of the stores decor and aqua life I got right into greeting some familiar faces that started to arrive.

HigherThinking and Vance talking tank. I wish I had more time to swing by your pad, I didn't know you lived relatively close to here and I don't get this way very often. Now that I know there are friends out that way I might just make a trip out of it sometime just to visit.

NateDawg rolling up on some nice "Designer" Zoanthids. You got some good taste in corals but some of those are too rich for my blood man. Did you find your Stratocaster?

TrailerMan got to get a refreshing talk on camera work and is now hopefully giving aquarium photography another go. A little know how and a lot of practice can make all the difference in the world.

Gumby with his eagle eyes has spotted another exceptional piece. I know he walked away with a nice chunk of that steaming Unicorn Poop. And that tank tour you were talking about sounded intriguing, it has been a while since we have had one of those.

Jeremevans, our club treasurer, talking with Higherthinking about tanks. Apparently HigherThinking is working on a new 360 gallon build. 8 foot by 3 foot is going to be one swell of a centerpiece my friend.

BicycleBill giving some solid advice to a fellow reefer in the store. A seasoned veteran that knows a few tips and tricks of the trade. Last time I saw his tank it was so full of coral colonies I am not sure how he could add any more to the system. 

SuncrestReef came with not only his camera gear, but his laptop which contained the programs he used for his photography work. He had several amazing shots from around the store and I was hoping that maybe he will be so kind as to post up a few of those up on the forum at some point. In fact I would love to see some of the pictures people were able to get after a few of those pointers we got from the talk.

Here we have the host Mr.Bret in his natural habitat, creeping amongst the corals. Actually, this was one of the nice raffle prizes presented by Paradise Corals and the PNWMAS club....And speaking of raffles.

When it came time for drawing the winning tickets our outstanding Board Of Directors member AlbertaReef got things underway, with the assistance of Mrs.Bret to make things kosher. On the far right ZorroReef is hoping for his shot at the Paradise Corals Zoanthid Frag Pack...Me too buddy, me too.

W-T-F snagging the 1K Gyre circulation pump. Sounds like you have a spot for it in a new frag tank? Would have loved to stop by to see your aquarium like I had wanted to but I had to make the trip back to Corvallis earlier than expected due to babysitter/children complications. I will make sure to keep in touch for the next time I head North and see if we can touch bases again.

Terik hit it big when he got his ticket pulled to win the MP10 Quite Drive pump. I am sure you are going to love the different modes and flow power control. Definitely a new and improved model over the original releases.

And Trailerman takes home the digital salinity and temperture gauge, one I had been wanting to test myself. You will have to let us know how well it holds up over time, I test salinity countless times in a week and often worry about accuracy.

One of the additional perks to attending is that W-T-F was kind enough to share his extensive knowledge on photography in a talk focusing on getting quality reef tank pictures. I found his speech to be rather informative and at the same time straight forward, which I like. He even went through a step by step demonstration right there in the shop, and afterwards answered an onslaught of questions. Thank You Very much Damien, the club and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have some video but without a tripod and proper microphone it was poorly shot, barely viable. But I definitely got a few pointers to now make my future movie captures in better quality. Here is a small recap of some things he had to say.

W-T-F started the presentation with some personal background on his previous occupations as a photographer as well as his popular YouTube channel about reef related subjects. Like many of us he enjoys the various hobbies found within the reefing hobby.

He instantly grabbed our attention with this great analogy that us reefers would understand. Where having a  successful reef aquarium is the art of maintaining water, photography is essentially the art of maintaining light.

Here he talked about the "Gear", and had a list of what he felt were subjects needing further attention. Top of the list was your lens matters the most, with some explanations of macro and zoom vs prime. Next on this list was information about megapixel count, post editing, and cell phones being good assets with the recent technology that has improved their cameras quality. Having a larger pixel count, and shooting in RAW picture format allows for a lot more wiggle room when it comes to cropping and post editing a photo.

Talk about a pretty comprehensive list of things to go through to get that clean clear shot. I am sometimes in such a hurry to get a pic that I forget that there can be some very helpful adjustments that I can make when I am in my own tanks at home for much better results. And here patience is a very good thing.

In this shot he is walking everybody through a real time photo shoot on some corals in the shop, then telling us the relation of the ISO and F stop. It was really nice watching someone else do the camera work in real life while seeing it blown up on the big screen at the same time.

The end was a short walk through of some of the post editing software he likes to use and ways to make a photo to more closely resemble what our eyes have captured. Then is was onto many a questions, which I must say thank you again for answering.  SuncrestReef on the right getting a head start on setup and execution, these two are much better camera men than I.

I see quite a few members watching the talk on this side, Mrs.Bret,Kevin, ZorroReef, Gumby, Vance, Albertareef, and Kireek hiding off to the right.

Clockwise in this frame we have NateDawg, Brian, and JTarmitage lending their ear to the speech. I didn't catch the name of the gentleman in the striped shirt though.

Again screen names from left to right, Trailerman, Suellen?, SuncrestReef, And HigherThinking.

This particular talk drew a number of people in and kept their attention there. Apparently there are a number of folks like me who wouldn't mind brushing up on their camera skills.

Since it was a reef shop, and a photography talk, I figured a few gratuitous photos would not be too much to add into the mix....

Who doesn't like to see a Top Down shot? The store's collection was looking very nice and healthy. Taking home a few things today that's for sure.

There were a few of the mini jellyfish aquariums on display showing off the color changing display and the delicate creatures within. Maybe I should have waited for W-T-F's talk before I took some of my photos and then I might have had a better representation of these little guys. They can be somewhat mesmerizing.

As usual, the store had some amazing realistic paintings that really stood out. I am thinking I need to make sure I have a few extra dollars next time I come out this way so I can walk home with a nice piece of art as well. They cost as much as a couple frags really, and you don't have to find sponges to feed these nudibranchs. The corals probably still need good light to look their best though. 

Well folks, you know my usual wrap up here at the end of the meeting threads. I apologize if I didn't get your picture in here, even though I take a number of photos I can be in the wrong place at the wrong time as often as I am in the right one. If you all have some pictures to add of the things I missed that would be Great.

And now a Big Thank you to MrBret, Mrs.Bret, and the Paradise Coral crew! You had a crisp and clean store, wonderful foods, great service and corals, and were excellent hosts. We loved the group buys too.

Thank You W-T-F for coming out and being so generous with your time and knowledge, we really appreciate it. I took away quite a bit to help me hone my beginner photography skills.

Thank You to the Officers and Board Of Directors that work behind the scenes making efforts to be of service to the club, bringing everything together.

And last but not least I would like to thank the people of the club itself, to whom without, there would be no PNWMAS, Thank you all.

REEF ON!!!

Sorry, just had to end the thread with a shot of Mr.Bret's custom frag tank stand's angry octopus. Haven't seen that in action since the Frag Expo a while back. Very Cool indeed.

They are also rather heavy. Looks good Andy, I am sure you will have that filled up in no time. Are you going with the same systems as you did before with your other Red Sea tanks? They always looked great to me.

It was a wonderful meet for sure, I had a great time thanks to The Paradise Coral Crew, the W-T-F photography presentation, and the friendly PNWMAS folks that attended. I imagine we will have no shortage of pictures from this months gathering. The shop looked crisp and clean and had plenty of eye candy to get into the camera's focus. Thank You everyone!

So very cool! Thank You Jeff for the donation, and Thank You Cherany, for the TFT legwork and the update. Looks Great!

Hotchie Motchie, that is a killer line of up Zoanthids!!!

Gonna have to grab a few more raffle tickets now for sure, Thanks Bret, very generous of you.

Very Cool!!! Seahorses, Gorgonions, and Macro Algae make for a picture perfect scene. Looking forward to all the photography candy in your shop.

So the rumors are true and it appears that there will be a group buy on an amazing Symphillia coral. Once the logistics are worked out we will get that information to you all here.

But in other news we have a nice batch of raffle prizes coming your way as well. Check out what you could Win at this months meet!

The foundation multi test kit from Red Sea

Maybe a Hanna Salinity and Temperature Tester

Another chance to win a Gyre 1K flow pump for your aquarium...

And a nice new Quiet Drive MP10 could be yours as well.

All good stuff to be had, Bret also mentioned that he may be adding a Zoanthid frag pack to the raffle prizes which would be fantastic!

I know I will be grabbing a few raffle tickets this time around.

OH MY! I was wondering why I didn't have any SPS success in a particular tank of mine, I will be removing that rock promptly. I remember the recall of certain products, and spoke with him briefly,  but didn't know the effects were not isolated to particular models and actually all across the board. 

Too bad really, I liked that guy and his products appearance.

YES! This one is going to be fun and informative... We also have a rumor going around that Mr. Bret might be putting together a group buy of sorts.

So Stay Tuned!

Sorry about the suspense people, after some communication and some coordination with our PNWMAS team, we have some great news!

The 2019 March meeting will be held at one of our awesome sponsors, Paradise Corals in Hillsboro. Not only is he opening up the floor in his shop for us to come in to meet and greet, but our PNWMAS member WhatTheFrag will be giving a talk and demonstration on reef tank photography! This will be a great time to learn a few thing, aska c ouple questions, and maybe just fine tune some oh those photography skills of yours... I don't know about you, but I know I need all the help I can get.

Where - Paradise Coral 229 E Main St, Hillsboro, OR 97123

When - 1:00 Saturday March 30th

What - Bring your camera if you have one and get a few pointers from some of our photo experienced members...AND, Bring your coolers to keep some corals in cause Mr  Bret has some very nice pieces in his shop.

This is gonna be another fun one for sure, so save the date and don't miss out on this informative event.

And as usual, stay tuned for more details about the upcoming shindig.

Hot Dam!!! The February meeting at PDXMonkeyboys house was a good one, Brian opened up his home to the club for one helluva PNWMAS gathering and Frag Swap. Brian and his wife have a beautiful home, some stellar fish tanks, and made for a knowledgeable and hilarious hosts.

When I got to see the well thought of aquariums and life support systems I was very impressed, this guy has got his systems pretty dialed in.

Here I included a picture of his vibrant African Cichlid tank, it was also a well put together biotope that made me reconsider getting back into that part of the hobby again....If I didn't already have south Americans I would be on the Lake Tanganyika fish hunt right now.

Speaking of those South Americans! Jaggy here was the star fish in his own South American Cichlid tank. I had to squeeze a picture of this guy in because he had so  much character. That's what I love about those cichlids, so much personality there.

Speaking of personalities, here we have the host with the most, PDXMonkeyboy. So kind of you to have us all over, and thank yo so much for the frags! From what I heard you were cutting club members killer deals left and right just sharing the love. Not to mention you had quite a bit of insight on the salt water hobby.

A shout out to our own OptimusPrime, this guy is a hoot! I am hoping next time I head north I can stop by your pad to say whats up, hang out, and see your setup man. You know I am always down to talk reef.

And now look who we have here. Left we have  BicycleBil, middle is Mark, and to the right enjoying the front row aquarium view is Albertareef. All these guys are seasoned and experienced reefers who are great to have a chat with and make for good company.

In this picture we have starting clockwise from the left is, Gill&Fin talking with Willapa, PDXMonkeyboy, and SunCrestReef. Another circle of intelligent reef minded peoples, so many good conversations and so little time.

This time we will start counter clock wise and go from Brian on the far right, middle is MarvkV again, center left is Our ex Prez Stylaster, and the far left is one of our BOD members Lewisfisherman.

And we can't forget about another of our outstanding BOD Members Gumby center. A few folks made their way down from Washington for the event which I think is very cool,  I know all about making a long drive just to hang out with other fellow hobbyist..Let me tell you, these two guys are worth a drive to hang out with.

Gill&Fin and DarkAngel enjoying the meet and greet atmosphere, it is nice to see so many smiling friendly faces here. Scenes like this become almost contagious.

Sharklover made an appearance as well, sounds like I need to head your way when I am in that neck of the woods again. Always seems like you have a cool project going on and I want to hear more about it.

Meanwhile, in the basement....

Just look at this setup for his sump area! It is located bellow his display tank upstairs. Everything is in its right place and easily accessible. So Jealous of this efficient setup. I will have to take some notes for sure.

And his frag tank...It was packed full of healthy colorful corals and I could't leave without snagging a couple frags to take home. Thank You sir may I have another!?

Jeff from Cuttlefish and Corals on the left and Lewisfisherman on the right of the massive RODI and water mixing station.

Snappy having a good time and picking up some nice coral frags. Thanks for the TFT purchases man, everything helps.

Now here is a group of happy faces getting their frag on! Going clockwise again from far left we have our PNWMAS treasurer Jeremevans, BOD Albertareef, Brian, Willapa, BicycleBil, PDXMonkeyboy, and ZorroReef.

In addition to the frag tank that PDXMonkeyboy had in his basement, he was kind enough to let the club use his coral QT for a Tanks For Teachers sale. We took donations from myself and other fellow hobbyists and sold them for proceeds to the TFT program! We pulled in a nice chunk of change thanks to the participants, you know who you are and we love you all. And we still have a number of pieces that we can work into a future TFT sale for sure.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank all of those responsible for making the event a complete success!

PDXMonkeyboy for being such a fantastic host and being generous with his time, corals, and knowledge.

Our outstanding PNWMAS Board of Directors and Officers who work behind the scenes to bring you the forum and events that make us the reefing presence that we are.

and lastly but not leastly, our PNWMAS club members as a whole...To whom without, there would not be the same local camaraderie that we get from sharing this group. 

Thank You All!!!

Reef On!!!

And PS, I was all over the place and was unable to get photos of everyone so all apologies if I missed your shot in the thread. If anyone has some pics to add to the this one that would be great. There was a good crowd for sure.

This was an awesome meeting for sure! Brian's aquariums and home were stellar and he made an excellent host. I will finish up with the pictures I took  at the event after I get out of work later today. For now I would like to say a big thank you to PDXmonkeyboy and his wife for letting us into their home, the clubs officers and BOD who make it all happen, people who donated to the TFT program and frag tank, and to the PNWMAS crew as a whole. 

Just because you are in Cali doesn't mean you can't frequent the PNWMAS here and there. If you need a frag or two once you have a reef tank going again just give the word and I can work out some shipping logistics.On another note though, I am kinda glad you sold it before I could even see/think about nabbing it...I do not need more tanks or more corals by any means, but sometimes I make exceptions like this.

OH, and good luck with your endeavors my friend, take care of yourself and your family yeah.

I miss my branching cyphastrea, it got too close to a chalice of mine long ago and got anihalated. Maybe I can get is back at this meet. I would't mind a small frag of rastas either, not sure if I have anything that would interest you though Jeremy, Blue Eyed Bithes or Raptors Rainbows maybe, you probably already have those though. I have some "wild ones" I don't know what are too if that is of interest.

And is the Stylophora you have purple Krux?

Gotta bump this up one last time, the meeting is tomorrow, hope you all are ready! I will be bringing a few frags to trade and a bunch to sell to raise a little cash for Tanks For Teachers. I am also pretty excited to see Brian's Reef and Cichlid setup, I love both fresh and salt water aquariums, especially when they are done right. 

I really need to get my sump installed, like you mentioned it is a great time to reassess things and clean up the clutter, I have always liked internal pumps over inlines when in smaller aquariums, so I hope you get the same impressions. Looking good man, looking good.

Dang!!! I was thinking about voting Aquascaping. I am always looking for new ideas that are animal and equipment conscientious when setting up new tanks. I have got the Fruit Stand, The Wall, The Island, and even The Volcano. But lately I hear that less is more so maybe I can pick up some pointers from the members and yourself at this meet since as you mentioned this could be a difficult subject to cover without pictures.

If you are down to run through your coral QT procedures that would be a nice refresher to many of us. I honestly think all the subjects presented will make for some good conversation matter.

Oh man, I am a rock hound of sorts so this is looking very nice. Where may I ask was your trip to? I love knowing where my stones may have came from... I have many fashioned from a local lapidary expert for personal custom jewelry.

I might need a little greenery Dodge, could I pick up at the meeting this month?

That is nothing short of Genius! 

Oh Jeez, you guys crack me up! I imagine it is February 24th, which gives us plenty of time to cut things and have them all healed up for the gathering.