The Reef Chief (56k stay away!)

[SerranidTerror]

Well I am blessed to be able to see so many wonderful stores in my travels. I don't normally plug or advertise any stores but I have to share one that recently opened up. I'm sharing it b/c it got me excited about corals and trying to make my tank a bit more impressive.

The store is a distance from you guys, in Virginia Beach and its called Reef Chief. Jeff the owner has recently moved into a building, moving his operation from his garage. He began by giving corals to his friends and soon people started knocking on his door offering to buy his corals. So his business started out of his 90 gallon tank.

Here are some photos I took to give you a general idea of what it looks like in there.

 

[SerranidTerror]

more pix

 

[Jocephus]

Who's up for a road trip to VA Beach? ;-)

 

[firecrackerbob]

Sweet...one more reason to like my upcoming move to VA.

 

[Gordonious]

Damn, Eric, heard you were moving, didn't know it was that far away. That stinks.

I am definitely up for a road trip if I'm not going down alone. I'm always up for a new store.

 

[emonemo420]

im sooo down for a trip down there....my cheap *** might even buy a frag !!!

 

[firecrackerbob]

Apparently Richmond has some really awesome shops as well...

Yea I have some mixed feelings about moving myself, but its still not set in stone. My girlfriend has already moved down, but is considering moving back. its all really up in the air. I've been in DE for over 10yrs now since I started college and I could use a change. VA seems pretty nice though... and with stores like these I could do worse

Eric

 

[kaptken]

Well stocked sales tanks. But he couldn't possibly grow all of those corals himself? what kind of filtration does he use? on the one reef tank and the bare bottom plexi tanks? they all look good. one thing for sure, he is using strong, high kelvin halide lighting .

Nice pics ST, you must really get to see lots of store systems . you can Pick the best design and filtation ideas and then build them into your own tanks. that would be nice.

What type of set ups do you think work best? for growth and easy of operating. and maintenance?

 

[Gordonious]

I think you've got to be crazy to sell corals on the bottom of the bottom of a tank half as tall as you are. He either has a tool to pick things up off the bottom or doesn't mind getting at least his shoulders wet picking those things up.

Jon

 

[SerranidTerror]

Yes Richmond has a nice store that I haven't visited yet. It's called Atlantis Aquarium. The owner is actually friends with the owner of The Reef Chief. Fish Safari in VA Beach is also worth a peek. Animal Jungle is also stepping up their coral selection.

Ken, he doesn't grow all of them himself now. He does order and he also has friends that contribute now.

Frankly i've been too excited over his corals and working with him work wise that I haven't checked.

He also has a guy that does custom acrylic tanks that operates in the back of the unit. He does use good lighting, in fact at least one tank has a giesmann (sp?) fixture on it.

Yes I do get to look at a lot of systems...speaking of which i'm helping a store in Myrtle Beach troubleshoot their system as well as giving some advice to a shop in Morehead City.... Is there any site with some helpful advice on commercial systems at all? I spent about 3 hours going over their system and giving him (Myrtle Beach) ideas. One of my pieces of advice was to also contact a local reef club and have them come in and help...i'm sure someone would.

Ideas yes...money for said materials...not yet. Access to some cool equipment...stay tuned.

As far as tanks. I've seen a couple of well run Mars systems, and I mean healthy and packed with fish and corals. If I was going to buy a system then I would go for Mars. As far as building I would like acrylic. It seems very easy to work with. It is clear and light. I would definitely do bare bottom. You can vacuum up sand/dirt/detritus and with care you can avoid scratching your display tanks. I like the RK2 type skimmer set ups, only place i've seen those is in Lancaster and at the aquaculture place I worked at. I would also like to build a huge lagoon essentially to grow out macro/filter my water. But thats my 2 cents.

And gordo...he does have tongs, but I think he got his armpits wet a few times showing me a few things. Jeff is very chipper and energetic, you'll know him right away if he helps you.

BTW next door he installed a tank that has a "coast to coast" overflow on the tank...very sweet.

 

[RBTA]

Haha I'm in for a road tip! That store looks awesome.

 

[kaptken]

That sounds like a great business model ST. He grows some, buys/trades some local and fills in with imported stock from other growers or importers. less impact on the reefs, and more sustainable, plus nice looking corals. Hmmm i never heard of a MARS system or the RK2 skimmers. research time. but what the heck, im a low tech reefer.

yeah , definitely have more sand bed and garden area if you can. the lagoon would do that. sand, macro and sea grasses if you have it in a green house area. great filter/display scheme. and room for rays or shark to prowl.

Coast to coast? do you mean vanishing edge?

 

[SerranidTerror]

By vanishing edge aquarium you do mean the tanks that are podium-like and the water flows over the glass/acrylic over the outside of the tank and into the filtration? If so then no.

Basically the tank has an overflow box that is the entire length of the back of the tank...which is a 5 or 6 footer. If thats what you meant then yes



The Reef Chief is a neat visit, like I said not a huge operation but I was pretty impressed. He is mainly corals but is trying to strengthen his fish area. I wish I could have picked up some more stuff there but all I walked out with was two dozen hermits, a bag of chaeto, a really big colony of star polyps, goniopora, a mushroom for my g/f to cut up (yay she's trying to get into fragging!), and a nice little pagoda coral. It is very easy to blow a lot of money there.

 

[kaptken]

Oh. ok, i know what you mean by a coast to coast now. they are easy to retro into a tank with a drilled back plate for overflows. just fab a two sided angle with slots on top out of plexi, and silicone it to the back of the tank with the overflow fitting inside to make a skimmer/overflow tray .

MARS filters? Multiple Aragonite Remote Sandbeds?

sounds like a good place. keeps it simple with mostly coral stock.

 

[Tank Predator]

does look like a sweet store though

 

[tat2tillidie]

wow that coral selection is awesome!!!! im down for a road trip to va for corals. i have a pick up that seats 5 so hit me up

 

[Gordonious]

Pick up might be a good idea, lol. Number of seats doesn't seem to be the problem when we travel to a shop it's room to carry home all the stuff we buy. "Who has more trunk space?"

 

[RBTA]

Well I've got an Avalanche that can seat five comfortably, six if need be. And of course I've got that HUUGGEE bed haha. Its a pain to drive, but it ocmes in handy haha..