newbies to NCPARS

[byronsands]

we just sent in $$$ to be a part of NCPARS...

we are newbies to the the area and know nothing of local LFS. We are in New Milford in NE PA -- almost in NY.

Who are the LFS in our area??? We have just completed our new home and are just getting back into the hobby after several years of being out, are new to the area and now looking at bringing up a new tank.

Our supplier of choice has always been MD. Who are the local LFS guys in rank order that are the best? Or should we just stay with national I'net guys as we work our new setup?

we have zero knowlege of any LFS... we would consider anyone within 150mi radius as LFS since we are in the sticks with nothing within 10mi except a Pump N Pantry

 

[x2uranium]

you may want to check with southern tier forum. I think they have some in binghamton. not positive tho.

 

[tnyr5]

Fin sanity in Wilkes Barre ( about an hour) and Knockout aquatics near Stroudsburg ( about 90 mins) would be the closest two I know of. Both are smaller stores that mostly just carry livestock so you'd have to special order tanks & such. Both have nice things & good prices though.

 

[award212]

In the Binghamton area there's Creature Comforts and Natures Best Fish. Natures Best is located on Rt 26. Creature Comforts had terrible livestock the last time I was in. Everything looked very unhealthy. I haven't been to Natures Best in quite some time, but the last time I was there the livestock looked decent and healthy, though it was mostly common stuff.

A little more of a drive would be ABC Reefs in Syracuse. They have a great store and usually a decent selection. It's definitely worth the drive IMHO.

If you're looking for quality dry goods your best bet is online. No one local carries anything of quality.

 

[byronsands]

thanks... (and I have interacted some with ST as well as you suggested)

driving further south from WB, who are the top LFS?

Disregarding location, who are the top couple in PA?

 

[psusocr]

If you want some starter corals or some basic stuff i can hook you up to get you going. What size tank are you going to be running?

 

[rigleautomotive]

thanks... (and I have interacted some with ST as well as you suggested)

driving further south from WB, who are the top LFS?

Disregarding location, who are the top couple in PA?

Something fishy in Northampton PA and That Fish Place in Lancaster are tops in the state IMO

Well worth a drive given they have the best lines of equipment and livestock in the state.TFP calls itself the largest pet store in the world and if you have not been there it is huge.

 

[Fizz71]

I won't speak to livestock because bigger is not always better, but if you're going ground up on a system TFP is the place to go. Our swap is coming up there in a week...That'd be a great reason to make the trek down. There are NY plates at that place all the time...especially for their big sales.

 

[byronsands]

thanks for the replies... we may try to stop by the event, but we are nowhere near purchasing any livestock -- we haven't even finalized the decision between acrylic and glass for this one yet, still talking with mfgrs of both.

and yes, we are restarting from scratch. Our last tank was in taken down in 2006.

the tank will be likely be either 120x30x or 108x36x... thinking about keeping the height to 27 or so because I want to be able to reach to the bottom and because we would rather not have to run a chiller this time -- less height, less lighting power, less heat. Don't want it much over 500gl including sump/refugium because backend expense jumps a bunch then. The plumbing, RO/DI, controll systems, etc, will be in a room behind the tank.

hoping that by overplanning (been noodling on this one off and on for 12-18 months now while we were building the home), less mods will be required later -- dont like to buy things more than once.

So far the only thing purchased is the Apex -- not necessarily the right order, but I'm a techno-geek. Gives me something to "talk to" over the Internet from the studio even though its just sitting in the control room attached to nothing Keeps my mind on getting the project rolling faster.

Have been talking with Spectrapure engineering on what RO/DI system may be needed for the well.

Been moving slowly so far, but ramping up now...

 

[Fizz71]

Well if you're a techno geek have you tried out google's free cad program? http://sketchup.google.com/

I had my whole system in a document: tank, lights, stand, rockwork, pipes, electric, water change tubs, sump, pumps, you name it! It gave me something to do while I put it all together and I have to say...I stayed pretty darn close to it.