Micksfish

Still have these available? Im in kirkland. Not too far from you. Interested in extreme snowflakes. How many ya got?

any chance you would ship? I would pay cash for the UV sterilizer if so. What brand is it? I live in Kirkland, washington. Thanks!

Where are you located? I'll take the Ocean Revive light as long as all the leds are good

if the white one works other than not pairing ill take it. would you ship to seattle area?

howd you get Tonga branch? I thought it was pretty much impossible to get this stuff anymore.

The label on the back of the actual pump. Just want to see if it is English or Chinese. 

these are brand new yeah? could you send a picture of the label on the gyre itself please?

still have these?

Also, is the red mandarin a male of female? And what size is it?

How long have you had the copperband for? What all does it eat? Is the mystery wrasse still available as well?

let me know if you change your mind on shipping!

Would you ship to Washington?

Been keeping low on this forum but cant not post on this thread. Definitely will make the trip from Seattle for this meet up! 

Watched some of Laura's past presentations, she is a great speaker on a great topic. 

Great information! Thanks for putting it out there

Thanks everyone for your input. I've been into fish in and around this area since I was 9 (now 28). I never really posted much on the different forums or attend some of the meetings (so I do partially blame myself for not doing a better job at supporting the local scene when I was a bit younger). Now seeing all the other regions in our country have such booming scenes, I just wanted to get a conversation going to see if we can identify and maybe reverse this pattern we have been seeing. 

I also a completely agree that there have been many positive steps taken in this area. And forums like this one are the reason why. 

So what do you think we can actively start to do to grow this awesome hobby? I know we all can't collectively own a fish store (though that would be cool, huh?). 

I might just be out of the loop, but do we have a monthly or every other month meetup? Or a tank tour where different members go to different user's house and check out their tank's and talk about the hobby? 

I know it shows that I am a novice poster on here, but I have been pretty successful for some time in fresh and saltwater. If anyone has an ideas on how I can personally help, I would be all for it! I have came to realize I want to be more active in our scene. 

Honestly, thanks again for all your feedback. Seeing the feedback this has gotten in the last 24 hours brings hope in itself!

Mick

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