USAquatics
Member
It is the little things in life that give me the biggest joy. This week, work had me traveling to Eastern PA. Usually because of my schedule I don't get to enjoy the cites that I travel to. This week is a rare exception. It started Monday in Lancaster, PA. World famous for it's Amish heritage. And the worlds largest aquarium store. "That Fish Place". I spent about three hours walking around this store (about the size of K Mart). They have most every item from their catalog, on the shelf ready to buy. The fish room is about 10,000 sq ft with fresh and marine fish and inverts. They have two 50-60 ft long 3' wide troughs full of coral with light movers on rails. realy cool stuff.
My next stop was about 90 minutes north in East Stoudsburg, PA. Right on 80 on the NJ border. A hidden little gem is Alti's Reef Coral Farm. You can check them out at www.Altisreef.com
Look mid way down the page on the right of a link to the facility. Great pics of the build. I popped in unannounced and was welcomed by an incredibly smart and passionate hobbiest. The owner Rob. He spent about 90 minutes expalining his system and philosophies of reef keeping. Talking about smart, his systems are tiered with a 6-9 inch offset between the 5 vats. This way he only needs enough flow for the first vat. The rest of the flow is gravity fed from the 1st vat. He runs a 1000 gallon plus system on one 2400 GPH pump with tons of flow. Each vat is roughly 4'x4' and they have up to 600 frags per vat. Imagine 20 plus vats with 200-600 pieces of coral per vat. They could easily have 10,000 pieces of coral for sale. The most impressive part was the care that they take. They start with a QT system for new mother colonies. They then go to a growout system. Lastly the mother colony is partially fragged leaving the original colony for future growth. I cannot say enough about the hospitality and professionalism of Rob Alti. If you have the opportunity, it is worth the trip.
My next stop was about 90 minutes north in East Stoudsburg, PA. Right on 80 on the NJ border. A hidden little gem is Alti's Reef Coral Farm. You can check them out at www.Altisreef.com
Look mid way down the page on the right of a link to the facility. Great pics of the build. I popped in unannounced and was welcomed by an incredibly smart and passionate hobbiest. The owner Rob. He spent about 90 minutes expalining his system and philosophies of reef keeping. Talking about smart, his systems are tiered with a 6-9 inch offset between the 5 vats. This way he only needs enough flow for the first vat. The rest of the flow is gravity fed from the 1st vat. He runs a 1000 gallon plus system on one 2400 GPH pump with tons of flow. Each vat is roughly 4'x4' and they have up to 600 frags per vat. Imagine 20 plus vats with 200-600 pieces of coral per vat. They could easily have 10,000 pieces of coral for sale. The most impressive part was the care that they take. They start with a QT system for new mother colonies. They then go to a growout system. Lastly the mother colony is partially fragged leaving the original colony for future growth. I cannot say enough about the hospitality and professionalism of Rob Alti. If you have the opportunity, it is worth the trip.
