Tropic Waters Has Corals

[ReefLuvR]

I was in there tonight around 6-ish. He unloaded more corals into those tanks than I've ever seen him have. I stayed for over an hour to watch.

There's some AMAZING mushrooms that I have dibs on. Lots of new zoas, which weren't open yet, so I'll be up there when he opens tomorrow to see what colors he got. Some Colt, Star Polyps, a couple small leathers and lots of mushrooms. He admitted he really likes them. He's got a fairly decent selection of SPS now, too. There's some Acro's, Monti's, some weird yellow encrusting something-or-other, and a lot of things I couldn't begin to identify.

It was fun watching him unbag stuff. We spent the time figuring out what everything was. His supplier sent a lot of things he didn't order, which made it kind of fun. I haven't always gotten along too well with Jim, but honestly, I've wrongly judged him based on the quality of his livestock. But I got to know him a little better tonight and I think he's a nicer guy than I've given him credit for. He was like a kid in a candy store opening those bags, wondering what he would find inside.

Anyway, he also got in about a million peppermint shrimp and some cute little red Fromia stars. Some not-so-reef safe critters were in, too. Like sea slugs and a sea hare. Beautiful creatures that from what I've read, should have been left on the reef.

Anyhow, there's a lot to choose from if you have cash burning a hole in your pocket. I don't. But I'm going to go spend some there anyhow.

Jen

[D.J.]

i may have to go there tomorrow to check things out......ya i dont have a problem with jim either....ive talked to him alot and his has cut me some nice deals in the past....

WHAT R U DOING UP AT 1AM!!!! LOL

[ReefLuvR]

I've been working on my auto-top off. Thought I'd take a break and check the site.

[motownmego]

jim knows his stuff and when i go in there hes always very nice and i have gained alot of info from him in the past before i got on here. hes a good guy thats for sure. when u get a bunch of new stuff for ur tank its better than christmass! ripping open all the bags is great just checking everything out. I want to check soe of that stuff out to, but i will prolly just be looking i think that 70.00 for most is to much and i figure 70.00 buys alot of frags at the meeting in april!

[D.J.]

jim knows a good bit and i KNOW he knows what corals require to thrive...but what gets me is he isnt doing what they need....

i just htink that it would be better to get all your ducks in a row first....but thats just me....

i like just going in there from time to time and see what he has.....and here lately he has been getting some nice stuff in....

ya the slugs are aweet lookin that he has in there.....but what pupose do they serve? arent they just for looks? and arent they toxic to fish like a cuc or nudi or something?


i think once he gets his lighting figured out he'll have some nice setups for stuff.....there is also some talk of him starting to learn to frag what he gets in and then teaching his other employees.....that would be cool...as long as he dont over charge for frags.....

[condiman]

ya I think im the only competition he has really.

[schneijt]

I will agree that if you talk to Jim, you'll find that he knows quite a bit about saltwater. But, like Jen, I get frustrated by the fact that he just doesn't spend either the time and/or the money/resources to give his livestock the best possible conditions while they're in his tanks for sale. I mean, after all the months since he moved, he still doesn't have the skimmer hooked up to the fish-only system. And, going by the amount of algae in the tanks and my knowledge of the store (my best friend worked there for five or six years in high school and college), I doubt they do enough water changes to keep the water parameters as "good" as I'd like them to be.

As far as advertising ECRC at Tropic, can we do that? And to those that say it'd be bad to advertise there and then have people come on here to TRT and see me and others bash Tropic... Well, it's the best we can do in EC right now, going to Tropic Waters. It's not an evil store that I want wiped off the planet, because hey, I go there too ya know! But it would be nice to see him take those high prices and use the profit to put some money back into his setups to give his livestock the best possible home until they get to our tanks. That's all I'm saying on that matter...

But, I'm all for putting ECRC "out there" to the Chippewa Valley. I definitely would like for us to grow at the rate LARK does/is.

-Joe

p.s. You guys have me going to Tropic right now to see what all came in. Be back later!!!

[D.J.]

make sure you ID EVERYTHING in there joe and then report back to us!!! LOL

if im not mistaken i think aaron had said something about advertising in there and jim said no......might not of been aaron thou...but i remember the conversation before our last ECRC meeting a year ago....WOW...cant believe its been that long already....we have GOT TO GET ON THE BALL>>>>

[eggerstout]

I stopped in there today, looks like he still has the coralife 150w pendant over the 54 corner. Most of the corals in the tank looked a little rough, a couple of them looked okay. For 69.99 a piece it doesn't look like your getting your moneys worth. They had a monster lawnmower blenny there, one foxface was pretty much dead. The two bubble anemones looked upset.

I did see a mandarin and a spotted manadarin.

Petco had a rather big male scooter blenny

I also checked out petsmart for the first time. A nice clean store, tanks looked pretty healthy, just wish they would venture to sw.

[D.J.]

i havent even been in petsmart....no need to since they dont carry sw stuff....

54g corner?? his big one? thats 180g....when i was in there the 2 small corners with corals just had regular flouresent lights....

[schneijt]

No, there's a 150w HQI pendant over at least one of the smaller 54g corner tanks he has his corals in. Unfortunately, I got there at 6:20pm today and they had closed at 6pm... So, I'll be in tomorrow! I know I'll find the corals overpriced, but I'm interested in seeing the sps he's carrying and what other new stuff came in. I'll report in tomorrow.

-Joe

[schneijt]

Also, I think it's strange that Jim won't let us "advertise" a REEF CLUB in his store that sells SALTWATER supplies... Well, assuming that he won't let us post a flyer or something there. I don't know what he's afraid of, since it would generate business for him. I mean, I may disagree with several things he does, but I still go there to look around and occasionally buy stuff from him. So, even if he's been on here and seen me (and/or others) "bash" him or knows that he's not too favored around here by some, he should still recognize that we buy stuff from him. And if someone asks where he/she can buy SW stuff in EC, I'll still say "Tropic Waters and Petco."

Anyway, we need to find a good way to get the word out around here... That's a given!

-Joe

[D.J.]

he just added that light then since i was in there the other day....thats good that he is trying to make things better for everything.....

when i was there it was just regular tank lights on there....flouresents....thats why they looked so sad when i was there and then it was kinda "brownish" colored looking in there from the light

i dont know if he is open on sundays anymore....i went there 2 weeks ago on sunday and he was closed....im sure i was there after 11am since i dont get moving till 11am on the weekends.....

[schneijt]

Said like Noon-5pm or something like that on Sundays. At least that's what the sign said. He's always been open on Sundays, so I don't see why tomorrow would be any different. We'll see what I see/find there tomorrow!

-Joe

[ReefLuvR]

You know, I honestly don't blame Jim at all for not letting us advertise there. Really, if you think about it from his perspective, it makes sense. If I walk into a store, and they have fliers about a club or website, I assume that the store endorses (read "to approve, support, or sustain") said club or website. He's running a professional business and has to maintain quite a large liability insurance, I would imagine. With no control over what kind/type information we deliver here, he would be insanely trusting to allow us to "share" in his coverage, so to speak.

My past anger toward his lack of support was completely selfish, and I'm admitting that right now. If we instead change the tone of our messages on this forum (positive instead of negative) we'll naturally attract new members. There are only a few people in this world who truly enjoy the "gripe session" that we far too easily slip into. Lets instead learn some forgiveness and I believe we'll see the fruits of that in people being attracted to the warm, welcoming atmosphere offered.

Off my soapbox now.

Jennifer