There are 3 vendors here that I would like to share with you all.
1) Live Sand - www.aquaticsrule.com Matthew@aquaticsrule.com owner-
Product is better than EXCELLENT - great very fine sand, actually is Caribsea Fiji Red sand - cured in very large holding tanks stocked with live rock - owner claims 6 to 8 months curing time - color and quality is excellent, packing in 30 lb boxes, heavy duty double bagged, stapled closed, box is high quality corrugated cardboard - less expensive than buying Caribsea sand at LFS or mail order by the bag - $0.99/lb - approx $1.50/lb shipped from Florida - he has both a website and sells on ebay (sometimes less expensive on ebay) - Purchased 390 lbs for 180 gallon reef - 13 boxes - 4 to 6 days USPS shipping - one box lost (wound up coming 2 weeks late) - replaced by Matthew - I was told to keep the extra box once it showed up - GREAT customer service - the only complaint is he is a one man show and was sick for a week so orders took a couple of weeks to get mailed since he does it all himself (packing, mailing, running the shop)
2)Live sand/Rock/supplies and livestock - wholesale to the public - - www.oceanproaquatics.com - Chino CA based company - just started selling directly to the public - relatively large ebay presence and distributor network - I worked thru one of their distributors, a small shop in Texas www.oceanhomesetc.com - Monica Dockery - She was very pleasent but not very effective in dealing with the problems I had with Oceanpro - their sand quality is excellent (although not as colorful and fine grained as the other vendor in Florida) but it is supposedly real South Pacific ocean sand - they also have an extensive live rock selection - prices are very good but shipping, I think, is "padded" to include their handling costs - in other words too expensive for standard UPS ground. Their packing is terrible, cheap carboard boxes, too much weight per box (I bought 100lbs and they sent it the first time, all in one box, they used a "hefty kitchen trash bag - the white ones with the red ribbon tie - Uhggggg.... - needless to say it ripped and 20 of the 100 lbs shipped was somewhere between Chino and New Jersey - whereas my Florida guy, the boxes on average actually weighed more (slightly) then the 30 lbs specified, the Chino guy either shorted me or it leaked out - UPS actually placed a heavy duty plastic bag around the box to stop the leaking and moved the shipping label from what was left of the box, to the outside of the bag - needless to say it took over 10 days shipping to get to me. UPS was so embarrassed that they left the box in a foot of snow on my driveway and didn't even ring the bell - I get a lot of UPS deliveries (as all of us kooks in this hobby get) so I know the UPS guy really well. I sent the box back - more as a matter of principal - I guess I could have used it the way it was although it was 20 lbs short - they sent a UPS truck first thing the next morning - I thought at last resolution - but they took another 2 weeks to ship me a replacement - they were holding my money until they got a refund from UPS (they blamed the carrier for their poor packaging) - needless to say - I went nuts and wrote the owner a long and pointed email and copied Monica (trying to protect her as much as possible) - I received the sand 5 days later - shipped in two 50lb boxes, well packed in double Kitchen bags (oh well at least it came in one piece) - Again, product is great, packing terrible, price - better than LFS and most hobbyist's, customer service good once escalated directly by me - and of course I leveraged the fact that I belong to several clubs... - I was considering a distributorship for the NE USA considering we really don't have a local place to get quality rock / sand at a decent price (shipping is what kills us) - I hate to blast a vendor based on a single order - but just too many bad mistakes (packing, holding my replacement shipment, cheap plastic bags, overpriced shipping) - again the good news is price, good quality product, fast response once escalated, airport counter pickup option for shipping (not less expensive unless it is a very large - group order)
3) Customer Acrylic work - http://www.acryliccity.com/index.html , email info@acryliccity.com - Canada based firm - UNBELIEVABLE high quality work, very reasonable prices - does extensive customer work, very reasonable shipping, lightning fast turnaround - customer service via email (couldn't convince him or her to talk on the phone - at the end - didn't need to - got some quotes on a few simple items - overflow storage for a Skimmer with auto shut off option, large frag grow-out tank, double cylinder Phosphate and carbon reactor, engineering discussion for an ozone reactor and a second chamber (6 inch diameter, 20 inches high) calcium reactor to add to my Lifereef calcium reactor - the latter is what I had him build for me because I needed this most, too expensive to purchase considering what it is and a good test for quality build (not spending hundreds of dollars on an "unknown") - it cost me $55.00 plus $12 shipping, all acrylic thick walls, fantastic glue job, all fittings high quality, professional fit and finish, 8 - thumbscrew top cap with O-ring seal - looks as well made as the Lifereef calcium reactor - and a SIX INCH diameter (as opposed to the more popular 4 inch diameter add-on chamber made by Precision Marine for $169.00) - comes with plastic screen and sponge on the bottom to prevent the calcium from getting into the John Guest fittings - THIS IS AN ADD-ON chamber - so no CO2 inlet or circulating pump connections - just a pair of John Guest PVC push fittings - which is exactly what I specified - will be connecting this weekend - Their common website listed products are skimmers, calcium reactors, kalkwasser reactors, phosphate / carbon reactors, refugiums and sumps - their sumps & refugiums are less expensive fully built, than some of the ebay vendors who sell kits that you have to assemble yourself and AC uses heavy gauge acrylic as compared to thin walled stuff that the kit has (that is why the kit comes with so many braces)
- from time of order (paypal accepted) - it took less then 10 days to manufacture to my specs and deliver to my doorstep - it is turnkey - ready to use.
NOTE: PICS of Calcium Reactor second chamber ADDED
I have Pictures if anyone is interested in the custom acrylic reactor (their website also has pictures - the unit I have actually looks better than their website pictures because the pics are small) and the live sand - both the CA and the Florida lots
Chris
1) Live Sand - www.aquaticsrule.com Matthew@aquaticsrule.com owner-
Product is better than EXCELLENT - great very fine sand, actually is Caribsea Fiji Red sand - cured in very large holding tanks stocked with live rock - owner claims 6 to 8 months curing time - color and quality is excellent, packing in 30 lb boxes, heavy duty double bagged, stapled closed, box is high quality corrugated cardboard - less expensive than buying Caribsea sand at LFS or mail order by the bag - $0.99/lb - approx $1.50/lb shipped from Florida - he has both a website and sells on ebay (sometimes less expensive on ebay) - Purchased 390 lbs for 180 gallon reef - 13 boxes - 4 to 6 days USPS shipping - one box lost (wound up coming 2 weeks late) - replaced by Matthew - I was told to keep the extra box once it showed up - GREAT customer service - the only complaint is he is a one man show and was sick for a week so orders took a couple of weeks to get mailed since he does it all himself (packing, mailing, running the shop)
2)Live sand/Rock/supplies and livestock - wholesale to the public - - www.oceanproaquatics.com - Chino CA based company - just started selling directly to the public - relatively large ebay presence and distributor network - I worked thru one of their distributors, a small shop in Texas www.oceanhomesetc.com - Monica Dockery - She was very pleasent but not very effective in dealing with the problems I had with Oceanpro - their sand quality is excellent (although not as colorful and fine grained as the other vendor in Florida) but it is supposedly real South Pacific ocean sand - they also have an extensive live rock selection - prices are very good but shipping, I think, is "padded" to include their handling costs - in other words too expensive for standard UPS ground. Their packing is terrible, cheap carboard boxes, too much weight per box (I bought 100lbs and they sent it the first time, all in one box, they used a "hefty kitchen trash bag - the white ones with the red ribbon tie - Uhggggg.... - needless to say it ripped and 20 of the 100 lbs shipped was somewhere between Chino and New Jersey - whereas my Florida guy, the boxes on average actually weighed more (slightly) then the 30 lbs specified, the Chino guy either shorted me or it leaked out - UPS actually placed a heavy duty plastic bag around the box to stop the leaking and moved the shipping label from what was left of the box, to the outside of the bag - needless to say it took over 10 days shipping to get to me. UPS was so embarrassed that they left the box in a foot of snow on my driveway and didn't even ring the bell - I get a lot of UPS deliveries (as all of us kooks in this hobby get) so I know the UPS guy really well. I sent the box back - more as a matter of principal - I guess I could have used it the way it was although it was 20 lbs short - they sent a UPS truck first thing the next morning - I thought at last resolution - but they took another 2 weeks to ship me a replacement - they were holding my money until they got a refund from UPS (they blamed the carrier for their poor packaging) - needless to say - I went nuts and wrote the owner a long and pointed email and copied Monica (trying to protect her as much as possible) - I received the sand 5 days later - shipped in two 50lb boxes, well packed in double Kitchen bags (oh well at least it came in one piece) - Again, product is great, packing terrible, price - better than LFS and most hobbyist's, customer service good once escalated directly by me - and of course I leveraged the fact that I belong to several clubs... - I was considering a distributorship for the NE USA considering we really don't have a local place to get quality rock / sand at a decent price (shipping is what kills us) - I hate to blast a vendor based on a single order - but just too many bad mistakes (packing, holding my replacement shipment, cheap plastic bags, overpriced shipping) - again the good news is price, good quality product, fast response once escalated, airport counter pickup option for shipping (not less expensive unless it is a very large - group order)
3) Customer Acrylic work - http://www.acryliccity.com/index.html , email info@acryliccity.com - Canada based firm - UNBELIEVABLE high quality work, very reasonable prices - does extensive customer work, very reasonable shipping, lightning fast turnaround - customer service via email (couldn't convince him or her to talk on the phone - at the end - didn't need to - got some quotes on a few simple items - overflow storage for a Skimmer with auto shut off option, large frag grow-out tank, double cylinder Phosphate and carbon reactor, engineering discussion for an ozone reactor and a second chamber (6 inch diameter, 20 inches high) calcium reactor to add to my Lifereef calcium reactor - the latter is what I had him build for me because I needed this most, too expensive to purchase considering what it is and a good test for quality build (not spending hundreds of dollars on an "unknown") - it cost me $55.00 plus $12 shipping, all acrylic thick walls, fantastic glue job, all fittings high quality, professional fit and finish, 8 - thumbscrew top cap with O-ring seal - looks as well made as the Lifereef calcium reactor - and a SIX INCH diameter (as opposed to the more popular 4 inch diameter add-on chamber made by Precision Marine for $169.00) - comes with plastic screen and sponge on the bottom to prevent the calcium from getting into the John Guest fittings - THIS IS AN ADD-ON chamber - so no CO2 inlet or circulating pump connections - just a pair of John Guest PVC push fittings - which is exactly what I specified - will be connecting this weekend - Their common website listed products are skimmers, calcium reactors, kalkwasser reactors, phosphate / carbon reactors, refugiums and sumps - their sumps & refugiums are less expensive fully built, than some of the ebay vendors who sell kits that you have to assemble yourself and AC uses heavy gauge acrylic as compared to thin walled stuff that the kit has (that is why the kit comes with so many braces)
- from time of order (paypal accepted) - it took less then 10 days to manufacture to my specs and deliver to my doorstep - it is turnkey - ready to use.
NOTE: PICS of Calcium Reactor second chamber ADDED
I have Pictures if anyone is interested in the custom acrylic reactor (their website also has pictures - the unit I have actually looks better than their website pictures because the pics are small) and the live sand - both the CA and the Florida lots
Chris