Momma Needs Stocking Stuffer Ideas

[KMP]

Dad retires tomorrow and will be spending his retirement years building a salt water reef. Mommas bugging me for stocking stuffer ideas. He'll be setting up a 180g.

So, help me out here fellas/gals. If you were to recieve stocking stuffer fish stuff, what would you want.

Thanks!

 

[mpoletti]

Gift certificates to YR and other online vendors. A refractometer.

 

[Mikey Donuts]

Phosban, carbon, test kits, small Korallia for frag section, Formula 1 pellets, sargassum trigger

 

[mpoletti]

Solaris LED lights, dual 400k electronic e ballast.

 

[KMP]

Solaris LED lights, dual 400k electronic e ballast.

In a stocking; your wife must be reading the boards

Which raises a good point though; just because he's starting out nothing says stuff in the stocking has to be "start up" stuff. Long time reefer wish lists are cool too.

 

[kdblove_99]

Yeah agree with gift certs, They are great and he can get what he wants. Your reef, drsfoster and in my opinion best online vendor Premium Aquatics, There customer service is the best and they will price match any item

 

[kdblove_99]

How about 3 lumenarcs with Radium 20K bulbs on PFO HQI ballast.

get a Savko gift cert for all his plumbing desires


Throw some live sand in that stocking as well

 

[mpoletti]

Marine depot is another because you can get a lot of the little things there as well. I think the best stocking stuffer you can give is the knowledge of what worked and did not worked. I wish I did not have to waste thousands of dollars in learning.

 

[KMP]

thanks guys; keep the ideas flowing.

bulbs - good idea. radium 20K - anyone else have thoughts on other bulb options?

savko - plumbing, huh. that's a great idea! gotta plumb that tank. where is savko? online or local? any links?

gift certificates - marine depot, foster and smith, premium aquatics, local fish stores; always a safe bet

 

[KMP]

is this the savko you were talking about?

http://www.savko.com/index.asp

i've never seen that site - wish i had when i was setting up my tank.

 

[mpoletti]

I am a HQI Helios guy. Great par and longer life than radiums.

What about a vortech? I think any reefer setting up a big tank would love a votech. Maybe that is because I just got one and I love it. I also have some 6055 nanos.

A premium membership on RC could be helpful so he could use the seach function.

 

[KMP]

not going to push him onto RC until i get his stocking stuffer list for momma

 

[airinhere]

What about some good books? Or a subscription to Coral magazine? Toys are great, but a source of learning is something he will never outgrow.

Test kits would be cool.

a magnifying glass to look at stuff in the tank

A small red light flashlight so he can stare at the tank in the dark

A blacklight flashlight (for verifying money, they have them at smart and final) so he can see the pretty colors in corals

IC gel for gluing frags

Lugols solution

Joes juice

Refractometer

Clippers for cutting frags

microfiber cloths for wiping down the glass when it gets water spots

Matching towels for wiping down his arm when he gets water spots on the glass

stepstool so he can reach the bottom of the tank

tongs and feeding tube so he doesnt have to use the stool all the time

small rug to put in front of the tank so he doesnt drip water on the carpet.

Or, at least this is stuff I like to have handy.

 

[kdblove_99]

Radium smokes the Helio on Par. I'm not sure where you are getting longer life than Radium either especially the 250W ones.

400 watt yes

yes that Savko is the site they have great prices

 

[KMP]

thanks guys:

lots of great ideas. wish i had someone that liked me as much as mom likes dad so far, i really like:

savko gift certificate
frag clippers
frag plugs
micro fiber towels
books


other things i thought of:

kent proscraper S (handheld)
kent proscraper L (24")
multi-fan controller
kent sea squirt feeding prong

 

[JJ4417]

This might be a little rudimentry, but how about the simple stuff?

Buckets...gloves...small PH for draining and filling the tank...ro/di filter unit...salt mix of your choice...someone already said refractometer...

Does he have all the standard tools he needs for woodworking, pvc, drilling, etc?

I think you said he is a beginner, so once he finds this place and starts reading, it could be a while before he puts in livestock. I would think mama wants to get him stuff he can use right now.

 

[mpoletti]

I would appreciate any of the above items as a stocking stuffer. Can someone please tell my wife. I just had to place an order with Tiffany.

 

[pbetito]

I say a purple tang... maybe let some hermit crabs run around the stocking...

If you have a lid for the stocking then an octopus would be cool as well

 

[kevin95695]

Dude your dad lives in a very cold place. He needs heaters.

 

[kevin95695]

On second thought, get him books. A good chunk of the fun is solving the puzzle of reefing in your own way and if you don't want to turn him on to RC until after Christmas...