Here we go again: Island Reef and Fin.

[kweckstrom]

The tanks were stocked. There was some BEAUTIFUL stuff in there, and he seemed to have a few of everything. A coral I mentioned wanting in passing on my last visit, a Chili coral, sat in one section of a tank. They remembered. The yellow polyps I wanted, and also mentioned in passing - there as well.

These are corals i've been unable to get at my local fish stores for whatever reason. But after mentioning them briefly during my last visit, they pulled some in for me.

I started jotting down everything I liked. After writing down the Chili and Yellow Polyps, I saw a nice teal-colored Pagoda cup that looked like it had been nipped at. I said "That's a nice color..." and before I could even mention the couple of missing areas on the cup, he honestly blurted "You know, that guy sat in a sump for about a month - we forgot he was there. But he's come around very nicely."

Up-front Honesty! I like that!

I saw another nice green/blue colored Lobo that my wife fell in love with too. Wrote that down. I nice encrusting-type green Pavona. Wrote that down. A notoriously hard-to-keep-but-nice pink dendro. Wrote it down. Michele HAD to have a copperband butterfly, though I understand they have a tendency to nip lps. Wrote it down anyway.

In all I wrote down around 7 corals and a fish. I also needed some Salifert test kits (they had MOSTLY everything I needed. They were out of phos, pH and alk, but had Calc, Ammo/Trite/Trate). They also had a 200 gallon tub of IO salt for ridiculous cheap (like $50).

After spending a couple of hours there, it was time to bag (I could spend DAYS there if my wife would let me). After a glance at my list, he asked "ok, so which of these do you want?"

This leads me to:

The Bad:

I took them all. Even the notoriously hard and frequently crashing Pink Carnation, but at these prices, I was ready to face the challenge of keeping one. This is a labor of love for me, and i'm gonna make sure he lives.

My wife scolded me until we finally finished acclimating everything at 2am. We did wind up getting the copperband, and he acclimated well after 3 hours. He seemed stressed in the tank and in the bag (they shaded him), but he's fine now.

I guess "The Bad" is all my fault. But hey, I had to mention it in case any of you folks are misfortunate enough to bring your spouse to this place. Don't do it!

But if you do, they caught my wife's vibe from the last visit and asked me "Hey, so which of these do you like most?"

Well, I couldn't resist. I had to have 'em all. After all, my wife won't let a small reef addiction break up our marriage, right?

RIGHT???

The Good:

I acclimated everything, and it's all alive and doing well. The Chili coral is hung upside-down from a cave in my tank (they like that - since doing that all his polyps have been popping out hard-core to feed). The pink Dendro is standing at attention and appears happy. The Pagoda that looked a tiny bit war-torn after sitting without lighting in a sump for a month was happy happy happy 2/3rds up my tank. Everything is just doing incredibly well, and the tank looks vibrant and alive.

Even the copperband butterfly is right at home now, showing no signs of stress and hanging out at the front of the tank frequently. One of my big concerns was him eating. I see him grazing on pods all the time (I leave a couple of inches of film algae on one side of the tank that pods seem to love, he's always hanging outthere).

The kicker was feeding this food they sold me - Cyclop Eeze. This copperband goes nuts over the stuff, as does my flame angel. So much for my fear of him not eating.

The cost for all this stuff I got? Under $500.

I got a colony of yellow polyps.
A chili coral.
A pink dendro.
A Lobo.
A Pavona.
A Pagoda.
A Copperband.
A huge tub of IO (200 gal).
4 Salifert test kits.
A few things i'm sure I forgot.

If I were to purchase all of this stuff at the ONLY fish store near me that has a CHANCE of having all these specimens, my cost in Livestock and Dry Goods would have been in the neighborhood of $1700. This place makes you feel a LOT better about your addiction than Robert Downey Jr. feels about his.

The Ugly:

I really wanted a clam. At his prices, I really really really could/should have gotten one. In fact, I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY considering calling 'em up today since my buddy Joey just HAS to see this place. And while i'm there, i'll just HAVE to get a clam.

Of course, if I do that, my wife will notice. She told me last time "ok, hon, enough. No clam."

If I got that clam now, it better be the nicest looking clam ever, because my wife will make sure it'll be the ONLY clam I get to see in a long time, if you know what I mean

But hey, i'm a reef addict. I can live with that.

 

[IconicAquariums]

Karl, not that it's your fault for buying the Chili coral and Dendronepthya, but these should not be imported at all. It is completely irresponsible for any store to carry these and not warn the customer thouroghly. Killing 2 corals isn't helping anything. Maybe you should do research before hitting the store.

Some fish/corals are hard to care for, but at least have a chance. These don't.

joe

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

Joe not to disagree with you, but just a heads up anyone who is in the retail end of the business will know when purchasing livestock and more than 5 or 10 corals, you get "throw-in" corals. We dont espically order these corals but even the wholesalers are going to ship stuff that you dont order. As far as them not surviving, I have friends in the hobby that have some really nice specimens. Yes you will have to give extra special care and make sure they are target fed. But hey dont YOUR reef tank take up all your spare time??

I dont think we should be flamed for getting corals in that were not ordered in that case every LFS should close down, due to the fact almost every one gets in goniopora that they did not order.

just my 2cents.


Karl I am glad all is doing well and your happy

Rick
ISLAND REEF AND FIN INC.

 

[IconicAquariums]

So since they ship it to you, you should profit from it so it'll die in someone's tank? That's BS. If anything you should make a point in NOT selling it. I'm sure that $100 feels good in your pocket though. If someone sent me a moorish idol for my 55, I'm not going to turn around and sell it since I know it won't survive. After dealing with numerous wholesalers, stuff isn't "thrown in." Animals with poor survival rates are offered at the lowest possible cost, and if the retailer sells it they make out. That's why most stores stock Goniopora. Why not stock a coral that costs you $2.00? Money is money, right?

joe

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

Joe, I'm not going to turn this thread into an endless back and forth dispute about the industry of the hobby but being that my partner has posted and you have replied, I feel my thoughts could apply. Rick is right when he tells you that we do not pick and choose specific corals. I don't know what wholesalers you deal with, but when stocking 150 corals, we oftentimes get what we didnt ask for and don't get what we did ask for. Also, the coral, nor any coral in our shop is close to $100 so I don't know where you got that figure from. And as far as survival rate, we do warn the customer of the difficulty of certain corals and never advise they get one unless they ask for it. So I don't see where as a retailer, we have done anything unjust for our customer. We are not out to unjustly profit from anyone. If I am a retailer and a customer is well aware of the difficulty of an item and is willing to give it a try even after our warning, what in your opinion is the just thing to do? Put the coral in a bag and in the trash? Send it back to the wholesaler? Then it would be dead for sure. I think it has a better chance in a responsible customer's tank such as Karl's. So again, I'm not exactly sure what we did wrong Joe, and I hope you don't take this post offensively or like I am attacking your ideas.

-Nicky

 

[Rebels23]

Lol, I was in the same boat as you the other day Karl on the clams. At those prices, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY should have bought a clam! Was very tempted to do so, but my girlfriend thinks I spend enough money on this hobby, so the clam I bring home better be gorgeous!

lol Oh, oh......going into clam withdrawal.....

 

[kweckstrom]

As for the chili, those are actually pretty hardy. Just hang 'em upside down and they'll be fine...

In the case of this dendro, what's done is done. Regardless of whose hands it's in, it's now in captivity despite anyone bitching about it. If you think it's irresponsible to purchase one of these corals knowing how they shouldn't be taken out of the wild, I'll say this: I'd rather have it die here in MY tank knowing I did everything I could to keep it happy than at some distributor who would just chuck its corpse and write it off on their quarterly taxes having not fed it a drop.

And if you don't agree with that, kindly kiss my ass

 

[marrone]

I think the thing is if you don't buy the coral or fish from the LFS then they would stock the item, specially if it dies in their tanks and they have to take the loss. I see many LFS stocking fish and corals that have little chance of surving only because some one comes in and buys them. I have also seem some LFS not stock certain fish or corals anymore because they've had the thing die on them and gotten stuck.

This is the problem people say "well since he got it I'll take the chance and if it dies in my tank it really doesn't matter as it was going to die anyway". That the problem as there shouldn't be any "taking chances it's going to die" the coral or fish should just be left in the ocean.

I'm not sure it makes it any better to have something die in your tank, LFS or a wholesaler.
Their are alot of fish and coral that do very well in your tank where there shouldn't be any need to take fish and coral out of the ocean with little chance of surving in your tank.

Michael
PS: I have gotten shippments from wholesalers and they do throw in other items when you place large orders also they subsitute things when they don't have what you order so sometimes you do get things
that you didn't order.

 

[jackson6745]

Karl, keep an eye out if the dendro eats the cyclop-eeze. Maybe that will keep it alive? If these things thrived in aquariums I would toss all my SPS and fill my tank with different color dendros.

Good Luck and keep us posted,
Rich

 

[kweckstrom]

I definitely will.

He hasn't been "drooping" since I got him. I usually cycle between Omega one flake, Mysis and Cyclop-eeze, any/all mixed with Selcon and Garlic extract. Been having good luck with that combo thus far, though the cyclopeeze wreaks havoc on your skimmer

 

[NaClH2oTANK]

If I got that clam now, it better be the nicest looking clam ever, because my wife will make sure it'll be the ONLY clam I get to see in a long time,

THAT'S FUNNY!

and,
I had a Moorish Idol live for almost three years, at which time I gave it to a friend because I had to break down the tank.
FS

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

Hey Karl, a quick heads up about the garlic extract. . .We use it from time to time and it is the most effective and safest way to combat ick in my experience. But be careful not to feed garlic in every feeding, I've heard that it is only good occasionally. Too much can harm a fish's digestion. The enzymes in garlic that kill ich also kill beneficial bacteria in their digestive tracts. Try using garlic only once or twice a week, if you see any ich, increase your doses to 3 or 4 times, but daily use of it may be more harmful than good. Just a heads up.
-Nicky
Island Reef and Fin Inc.

 

[kweckstrom]

Nicky,

Yeah, that's fine. What type of garlic do you use? I went to GNC and saw some "Aged Garlic Extract" for like $15... was gonna buy it, but I figured i'd ask if it's the right stuff first.

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

Karl, We use KYLOIC Liquid its aged garlic extract, i think the 2fl oz. is about 10 to 15 dollars at vitamin shop.

Just a heads up they have expiration dates so check it before you buy it its on the back panel.

Rick
ISLAND REEF AND FIN INC.

 

[pmui]

Hey I.R.F. please update your web site. Need to know what you have on hand

Peter

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

Peter we are trying trust us were trying..lol

 

[kweckstrom]

You guys gonna stock DT's phyto?

 

[ISLANDREEFANDFIN]

we will try but we already have the selcon in stock

 

[kweckstrom]

WOO!

Kickass. I need more selcon. Corals seem to love that shiz.

BTW, check your email.