Cali Kid Corals

Back in the hobby, seriously this time!

C

CaseyP

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Hi folks! Have dipped my toes in the shallow end of the reefing hobby for a long time now, but finally have a dream'ish tank order coming in next week, a 120 gallon peninsula. I've kept mostly 10-30 gallon reefs on and off for the past 15 years since I was in middle school and was a part of club meets back in the day with Seabay at the Palo Alto marshlands and Bare when they met at this long gone shop in San Leandro. I never committed to a large tank operation because of life and career (have moved 6 times after college) but now the wife and I bought a house in Dublin, plan to be here for 10+ years, and got her stamp of approval :D

Looking forward to getting it all ramped up, grow out some corals to trade, and talk shop with everyone online and in-person!
 
Oh man, went through the backup hard drive photo archives and found some old memories! 20g in 2002, 12g nanocube in 2008, and 29g nanocube in 2013. There's a couple more in between and the 50g I have currently running for a few month that I don't have pictures for. It's crazy how much has changed from lighting technology, equipment designs, and euphyllias were $5-10 a head.
 

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quote; Bare when they met at this long gone shop in San Leandro.
Was that Shop Tropical paradise?
you will find that there are still a few members here that belonged to that group.
 
Newjack said:
quote; Bare when they met at this long gone shop in San Leandro.
Was that Shop Tropical paradise?
you will find that there are still a few members here that belonged to that group.
Click to expand...
That is correct, BAR actually met there a few times as well in the early years even had it's first frag swap there which was interesting to say the least, outdoor troughs with water in them, canopies over head, people brought in corals and they were fragged on the spot and bagged up for whomever wanted... so much effort to do that too. Then sometime, forget when the wholesaler ASAP in Hayward gifted us their meeting room upstairs for pretty much everything... then they had to go out of business :(
 
sfsuphysics said:
Newjack said:
quote; Bare when they met at this long gone shop in San Leandro.
Was that Shop Tropical paradise?
you will find that there are still a few members here that belonged to that group.
Click to expand...
That is correct, BAR actually met there a few times as well in the early years even had it's first frag swap there which was interesting to say the least, outdoor troughs with water in them, canopies over head, people brought in corals and they were fragged on the spot and bagged up for whomever wanted... so much effort to do that too. Then sometime, forget when the wholesaler ASAP in Hayward gifted us their meeting room upstairs for pretty much everything... then they had to go out of business :(
Click to expand...
Yes, Tropical Paradise was the place! Them and Atlantis were my go to shops. I do remember the wholesaler office space too, but I'll say my favorite event was when someone graciously hosted a ton of us at their home property in Dixon for a frag swap and speakers/demonstrations.


Thanks all for the kind welcome! I'll be sure to start up the tank journal when the ball gets rolling.
 
Is the 120 a custom? Or Red Sea, WB, Cade, etc.

Peninsula is an awesome style for tanks, I have a wee little 25 gal peninsula. The brs coverage of Ryan’s peninsula might be a good resource for some peninsula specific ideas like the episode they did about creating a good flow while still having all powerheads on the overflow side
 
max_nano said:
Is the 120 a custom? Or Red Sea, WB, Cade, etc.

Peninsula is an awesome style for tanks, I have a wee little 25 gal peninsula. The brs coverage of Ryan’s peninsula might be a good resource for some peninsula specific ideas like the episode they did about creating a good flow while still having all powerheads on the overflow side
Click to expand...
I went with a fairly little known one called Prostar 150 which is made by Pro Clear aquatics. The rare reviews I could find on them are good enough and the cost was hundreds cheaper which gave budget room for other equipment. A big selling point was the metal framed stand for two reasons. I want to re-skin it later to match my existing cabinets in the home and two, I have this (probably irrational) fear of Red Sea type stands where it's just plywood butt jointed together. Living in earthquake country I'm not 100% trusting on butt joints to hold up against racking when there's >1000lbs sitting on top of it. Thanks for the vid recommendation, i'll check it out.
 
CaseyP said:
Yes, Tropical Paradise was the place! Them and Atlantis were my go to shops. I do remember the wholesaler office space too, but I'll say my favorite event was when someone graciously hosted a ton of us at their home property in Dixon for a frag swap and speakers/demonstrations.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah I remember that... I want to say Pam, also remember hearing the ice cream cart guy going by near the park out where she lived and a bunch of us heard that and made a bee line for it :D Either way that was a MARS event I believe
 
CaseyP said:
I have this (probably irrational) fear of Red Sea type stands where it's just plywood butt jointed together. Living in earthquake country I'm not 100% trusting on butt joints to hold up against racking when there's >1000lbs sitting on top of it.
Click to expand...
Cool find, their tanks look well thought out and the stand is a great selling point. I agree about the wood stands and have an aluminum stand for my tank. I look forward to seeing it come together so I can get inspiration for when I can eventually go big.
Their ‘fragger’ and ‘grab n go’ store display tanks look wild, they must be primarily aimed at selling to stores.
 
Hi Casey, thanks for bringing back all the memories of those places in San Leandro. I was browsing the forums as I was thinking about donating my 90-gallon tank, stand and canopy that I have sitting in my garage. I took my tank down about 7 years ago due to a move and never set it up due to career and kids. I've always thought about restarting it, but I think that is a pipe dream at this point. Kudos to you for actually getting back into it. As I am not an active member, I was looking at the Pay it Forward section to donate my setup but would like to offer the equipment to you for free if you are interested. I'm in San Ramon so fairly close to you too...
 
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