New to the forum, but not to reefing

Hello Ralph,
10 years in Hurricane?
When I lived in St. George, 2007-2010, I started having meetings of the WMAS southern Utah group. There were about 10 of us that I knew. Some of them are still in the hobby. I might have their email addresses.

There is one guy near the Green Spring Golf Course on the north side of the freeway named Barlow I think. He doesn't have email but he is deep into the hobby, growing lots of coral, and fish too. I may still have his phone number.
There is another guy that had his own account with the distributors in Los Angeles. (speaking of that, one of those distributors is owned by a guy that lives in St. George!) We got together and did group orders to save a bunch of money and get better quality animals.
Another two good hobbyists also come to mind.

FYI, unless I'm mistaken, there are two LFS in St. George. The Living Aquarium moved and didn't re-open for 6 months. Most people lost track of the store when they reopened on Riverside Dr just down the hill from Costco. They are on the left hand (east) side of the road in an industrial strip mall, near a motorcycle/atv shop if I recall correctly. A person from this MB (Phil/philender)bought the place just the first of this year. I'll do a search...here it is, Fish and Frags http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53786

Welcome to the WMAS and let me know if you would like me to delve deeper and pull up some contact info on those hobbyists.
Enjoy






Edited by Mark Peterson - June 15 2012 at 12:42pm

I have been in hurricane for % years. Before which I lived in St. George. So yes if you know of any other hobbiest down here that would be great. It seems everyone I know has torn downtheir tanks. I have actually made out well because of that. Buying fish and equipment. Thanks for the welcome.

Welcome Ralph!
Quick question, What kind of corals are/were you keeping under those lights?
How long were they out of light before they were lost?

I think people would like to know what they can do with out the high output lights that are typical for reef keeping.

Dion asked a very good question and I believe he will agree with what I say next.
We have found that it doesn't take much light to keep things alive while waiting for repaired/new lights.

A simple ~$10 shop light would do it. Inexpensive ~$6 PlantAquarium Fluorescent tubes also found at Walmart and hardware stores are better than ordinary fluorescent light tubes. Total cost of this emergency light: <$30

For smaller tanks, what works awesomely is the light we affectionately call the "Home Depot Special". It's a $7 clip on cone reflector with a $5 twist PC bulb in the "Daylight" color.  Total cost: <$15

These are what can keep $1000's of coral from perishing.

Personally, these days I place all my aquariums in windows or close to windows. East or South facing windows are best. Then the electric lights are supplemental. The immense power of sunlight on a reef aquarium is still not recognized in this hobby. Sunlight not only helps everything grow better, it helps a reef aquarium survive a power outage.

My 2 cents.