Moving to Tampa

Kenfuzed

Kenfuzed

New member
I'm in the process of moving to Tampa (Riverview) from California and will be setting up a new tank by summer. I'm looking for recommendations on everything from good (and bad) fish stores, local aquarium suppliers, and anything else to help me acclimate to the Tampa aquarium scene.

Background: I've been in the hobby for almost 20 years and have done everything from backyard and garage frag growing to my most recent in-wall tank for the past 7 years. I spent years growing out colored sticks (SPS) but now I'm ready to spend more time enjoying a tank and less time maintaining, so the next tank will probably be FOWLR and maybe softies.

We just bought a new house in the southern Riverview area and the living room has the perfect space for a huge tank. There is a 12x3 inset along the wall between a closet and stairwell and shares the wall with the garage, perfect to punch through and have the equipment out of sight.

I'm contemplating a 300g tank, something like a 96x30x24. I've always been impartial to glass tanks since I find them easy to keep scratch free but may reconsider if the right deal comes along.

Anyway. looking forward to checking out the Tampa scene.
 
Kenfuzed said:
I'm in the process of moving to Tampa (Riverview) from California and will be setting up a new tank by summer. I'm looking for recommendations on everything from good (and bad) fish stores, local aquarium suppliers, and anything else to help me acclimate to the Tampa aquarium scene.

Background: I've been in the hobby for almost 20 years and have done everything from backyard and garage frag growing to my most recent in-wall tank for the past 7 years. I spent years growing out colored sticks (SPS) but now I'm ready to spend more time enjoying a tank and less time maintaining, so the next tank will probably be FOWLR and maybe softies.

We just bought a new house in the southern Riverview area and the living room has the perfect space for a huge tank. There is a 12x3 inset along the wall between a closet and stairwell and shares the wall with the garage, perfect to punch through and have the equipment out of sight.

I'm contemplating a 300g tank, something like a 96x30x24. I've always been impartial to glass tanks since I find them easy to keep scratch free but may reconsider if the right deal comes along.

Anyway. looking forward to checking out the Tampa scene.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Tampa! Alot of people like FAOIS (Fish and other itchy stuff) and Coral Corral. I personally haven't been to FAOIS but I have been to coral corral and really liked it. Make sure to post pictures of your build!
 
Thanks Chris I'll be sure to check both out when I'm there. I saw a place listed in Brandon close to where my business is moving called The Aquarium and Fish Store, but their website is now gone so not sure if they bellied up.

I'm also interested in hearing if those in Tampa are using natural sea water (NSW) or mixing their own. Years ago I was getting free water from Scripps Institute of Oceanography where they had a tap located at their pier and hobbyists could fill up for free. This was ideal until some reported getting parasites and strange pathogens, so it was no longer worth the risk. Wondering if natural sea water is even sold in Tampa and how it compares to synthetics. I realize this is a whole other conversation, but would like to hear what other Tampa reef keepers are using, especially when it comes time to cycle a large volume system.
 
Fish and Aquarium store in brandon is still open and is a club sponsor. Probably the nearest to you by far.

I'm my experience, all the them sponsors are too notch, I recommend visiting them all eventually.
 
Safir said:
Fish and Aquarium store in brandon is still open and is a club sponsor. Probably the nearest to you by far.

I'm my experience, all the them sponsors are too notch, I recommend visiting them all eventually.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will make it a point to visit them all once I find out who is a sponsor. I couldn't quite figure out who might be a sponsor of the club. The club sticky here mentions a Facebook page but it was vague as to how one would find that page... I suppose I could hit up Google.

I saw some place called Marine Warehouse as well but it appears to be a little further out.
 
Welcome! There are quite a few good stores around Tampa. Most are a bit of a hike from Riverview though. I use Drysdale most of the time, it's about 40 mins north of you. When I have a day to kill I make a drive to FAOIS, Coral Corral and Marine Warehouse that are all fairly close to one another. Creative Aquariums is a nice downtown shop too.

The good community here trades and sells a good bit too.
 
CHizer said:
Welcome! There are quite a few good stores around Tampa. Most are a bit of a hike from Riverview though. I use Drysdale most of the time, it's about 40 mins north of you. When I have a day to kill I make a drive to FAOIS, Coral Corral and Marine Warehouse that are all fairly close to one another. Creative Aquariums is a nice downtown shop too.

The good community here trades and sells a good bit too.
Click to expand...

Thanks and good to hear that the Tampa RC community is active with selling and trades. Having just sold off all my equipment in prep for my move I will certainly need to start from scratch, so saving as much as I can on used gear will be welcomed.
 
There is a member on here, Mike Janes, who is getting ready to sell his tank, which I believe is the size your are talking about. It is acrylic, but it's in great condition so it may be worth looking into.

Other than that there are probably 6 LFS spread out across hillsborough and pinellas. And in S. Riverview, you probably aren't too far from some of the Bradenton shops.
 
Thanks I will keep an eye out for tanks being sold in the area. Might be a bit premature but if it's anything like SoCal tanks go up for sale on a regular basis.
 
Welcome to the area. Everyone made great reccomendations about shops to visit and deal with. I personally would'nt use the water locally, due to the high amount of boating traffic in the bay area. If I were out grouper fishing it'd be different. Also, if you're into bike riding, Riverview is close to some cool trails. Wish you well with the move.
 
Ditto on mike. He has exactly those dimensions on hos tank. Also has external overflows. Welcome to tampa and hope to meet you in club meetings.
 
Welcome to our community. I live right next to you. You should come visit some time.

I would sell you my 300DD Starphire for next to nothing just to get it out of my house and down size but my wife will not let me sell it. She loves the tangs way too much.

It was a bad day when our 6 year old terrorizing maroon clown died. RIP Whisky Pete.
 
Kenfuzed said:
Thanks I will make it a point to visit them all once I find out who is a sponsor. I couldn't quite figure out who might be a sponsor of the club. The club sticky here mentions a Facebook page but it was vague as to how one would find that page... I suppose I could hit up Google.

I saw some place called Marine Warehouse as well but it appears to be a little further out.
Click to expand...

Here is a link to the 2016 sponsors.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2564002&highlight=sponsors

The updated 2017 list should be posted soon.
 
Thanks for all this info guys! I will certainly check out that sponsor list.

Our new house is in the area of 301/Big Bend (Southfork) but my shop was just set up further North near Brandon, and given that the traffic here is half what it is in Los Angeles I really don't mind driving around to check places out.

Once I get settled I will definitely come check out a meeting.

Thanks for the advice on the water, I wasn't sure if there were water resellers pumping it in from deep offshore like they do in Cali. I had seen that a place called Tampa Bay Saltwater was culturing live rock out here which made me wonder about water sources. I'll stick to mixing my own in Brutes like I always have.

The sticky mentions a Facebook page for this club but does not give a link. Anyone have that, or is it not active?
 
Postal said:
Here is a link to the 2016 sponsors.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2564002&highlight=sponsors

The updated 2017 list should be posted soon.
Click to expand...

Just checked this out and all but one link (A Tropical) are dead websites. They appear to have let their domains expire. Here is a list of their FB pages if it helps with future lists. These places seem to be using FB pages as their primary point of contact online.

Drysdale Aquariums
https://www.facebook.com/Drysdale-Aquarium-Inc-163634665639

Fish and Other Ichthy Stuff
https://www.facebook.com/ichthystuff

Sea Life Fish and Aquariums
https://www.facebook.com/SeaLifeAquariums/

The Aquarium and Fish Store
https://www.facebook.com/theaquariumandfishstore/
 
:fish2:Agree with all the above.
FAOIS , CC, and Marine Warehouse(dry goods) are worth it IMO{ All on the same road in Tampa}.
Also Creative Aquariums ..

I am not familiar with Riverview that much but a bunch of great folks on this forum who have years of knowledge and are very helpful.
Welcome-:fish2:
 
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