The Reef Network

Anual Swap Meet

2009-08-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

WHO? - All reefers and SW enthusiasts of the lower mainland

WHAT? - Bring your frags and used gear to sell and talk some reef at the same time in an informal atmosphere

WHEN? - Sunday, August 23rd from around 11AM to whenever

WHERE? - 3165 East 45th Avenue, Vancouver - between Joyce and Rupert

HOW? - Swap meet style by popular demand (bring and sell your own crap!)

If you will be selling items, please reply to this thread so we have an idea of how many tables we need. A good tip for selling frags is to bring pictures of the mother colony to show off.

If you've never been to one of these things, it is a great way to grab a lot of equipment and great frags at fantastic prices! Who wouldn't want to spend all day talking reef with a bunch of friendly reef nerds? (Plus, there's a good chance the BBQ will be in action as well )

2008-12-16T11:00:00.003-08:00

The Reef Network Announces First Silent Frag Auction

Saturday February 28th

11:00 - 15:00

16655 64th Ave.
Surrey BC
V3S 3V1

View Larger Map

Because of the cost of the building The Reef network is asking for $1 admission fee

In efforts to change it up and have some fun, it was decided to throw another Frag auction. This one will be quite different.
It will have the format of a silent auction.
Format:
- each seller is to e-mail a photo to reefnetwork@gmail.com of each mother colony they are selling frags of. Please indicate how many frags of each you will be selling
- Auction sheets along with the photos will be stationed around the room for all to enter their bids.
- Auction will end at predetermined time and winning bidders will collect their new Frags from the frag owner. Auctions will end through out the day. Each table will have a published end time

Sign up now as a seller or buyer in this thread

Suggestions Ideas Welcome.

Swap Meet

2008-06-23T11:34:00.007-07:00

It's time again to plan an event that will both bring people together and sell some gently used equipment and frags.

The REEF NETWORK Swap Meet is being planned for the 27th of September from 11:00am until 3:00pm.
This event will allow anyone to bring any reef related item to be sold.
The REEF NETWORK will not be involved in the individual sale, but instead allow you to sell your drygoods or frags on your own.

* Sellers should register so that table space can be provided

As this even is still in the planning stages any suggestions or comments are welcome.

The Meet will be held at Jason McKenzie's house. 4560 Kelly Drive, Delta (Ladner) BC

Please follow this thread on Canreef for up to date information:
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=43003&page=2
Only in this thread will the rain location be posted.
If you are traveling and not able to get the latest location update please e-mail
reefnetwork@gmail.com for my phone number and you will be able to call for up-to-date location information

Spring Frag Auction Great Success

2008-05-11T21:31:00.002-07:00

Well the Frag Auction was a Great Success.

Over 154 Frags where auctioned off and the turn out was Great.

Looking forward to the Next one, in the fall

Jason

2008-03-30T20:57:00.007-07:00

SPRING FRAG AUCTION

Reef Networks is happy to announce the 2nd coral frag auction on May 10th, 2008
Skylord (Scott and Lil) have volunteered to open their home in Maple Ridge to host this very popular event. Start clipping and gluing. May 10th will be here before you know it.

Sellers:

Registration is needed

e-mail reefnetwork@gmail.com

2 Frags maximum from a colony
No limit of frags
Owner of coral to set starting bid price

from starting values of $5, $10, $15.

Photo's of actual mother colony or very close photo web image is required for all Frags
10% of all frag sales will go toward the Reef Network

The 10% will go toward future events, refreshment and snacks, and larger events

Corals should be free of pests (red bugs, Flat worms, nudis)

Buyers:

RSVP on Canreef, 3Reef or here. Just comment on this post

direction will be e-mailed or PMed to those who RSVP

Tom's Open house

2008-03-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

Tom has graciously volunteered to open his house for a tank tour and fragging of many of his wonderful corals.
If you have never seen Tom's amazing mature system you can't miss this. As one of the most successful Reefers in BC, Tom has broken many rules with great success. Including many Angles in a reef and mixing softies with SPS. It's truly an incredible experience to see.

Date: Sunday March 30th
Time: 12:00 - 4:00
Place: Unit #41
16655 64th Ave
Surrey

Reef Network Dinner ALL WELCOME*

2008-03-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

The Reef Network monthly dinner for March 19th, 2008 will be held at the

Fresgo Restaurant
10102 King George Hwy
Surrey
604-588-0878 Start Time: 6:30 - 7:00 PM

Come out and enjoy a meal of your choice and enjoy an evening of general tank conversation with other Reef fanatics.

All Lower Mainland Reef keepers are welcome.

Taking Pictures of your Tank

2008-02-22T07:34:00.004-08:00

The first of, I hope, many workshops that the Reef network has planned How to take pictures of your Aquarium will be a fun afternoon with 2 people that work in the photographic industry.
Both Brad and myself have more years working in the photo industry than we would like to admit. The day will include one on one tips and tricks for your specific camera along with general rules of picture taking.

Please bring your camera and any accessories you would use to take pictures, Lenses, Tripod, Light boxes
Added to this wonder event is a Great Door Prize. A Kodak V803 camera. This is a 8MP 3X zoom digital camera. The Draw for the Camera will take place at 4:00pm

WOW very cool Thanks Brad

The event will take place on Saturday March 15th @ 2:00pm

Please RSVP here or on Canreef or 3Reef.

Jason

February 20 Reef Network Dinner

2008-02-13T20:23:00.003-08:00

Cancelled! We look forward to a larger turn out in March. See you Then!

The Reef Network monthly dinner for February 20, 2008 will be held at the

Fresgo Restaurant
10102 King George Hwy
Surrey
604-588-0878 Start Time: 6:30 - 7:00 PM

Come out and enjoy a meal of your choice and enjoy an evening of general tank conversation with other Reef fanatics.

All Lower Mainland Reef keepers are welcome.

Dr. John Nightingale Speaks at VPL

2008-02-05T12:54:00.001-08:00

Dr. John Nightingale

A program for adults

Thursday February 21

7:00 pm

Free

Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street

Join Dr. John Nightingale, President of the Vancouver Aquarium as he updates us on the state of our oceans and their link to climate change. This event is part of Vancouver Natural History Society's 90th Anniversary Lecture series.

Tom Ratcliffe to co-manage the Reef Network

2008-01-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact I'd love to take all the credit for the wonderful things we have planned at the Reef Network, there has been many that have and will continue to plan great events.
Ivy and John really got Tom and Myself fired up with the thoughts of a great Reef community.

I'd like to announce that Tom has agreed to continue his tremendous support and because of that he too will take a lead role in the Reef Network.

So as we thank Ivy and John for all there hard work, please help support Tom and myself in our efforts to continue to have The REEF NETWORK be a supportive community of Local Reefers.

So Welcome Tom R (as we all know him)

Jason McK to head Reef Network.

2008-01-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

Jason McKenzie will be taking over Reef Network... which includes the blog and events. I will be handing over our treasury, domain (reefnetwork.ca), and blog to him so all that we've accomplished has not been lost. I'm sure you will continue to build on the community we have and make it better.

I will be seeing you around still, and will still be attending the meetings when possible. Don't be a stranger.

- Ivy

Introducing Monthly Reef Network Dinners

2007-12-04T16:35:00.001-08:00

I know it can be hard to get to some of the reef events or perhaps you find out too late and already have plans. Well the Reef network has been Listening.
Starting in February the Reef Network will be holding casual dinners on the 3rd Wednesday of each Month.
the Calender above will have each of the dinners scheduled

We would also like to encourage everyone to look at Restaurants in their Neighbourhood for a possible meeting place. Mix it up and get people interested if it's closer to home

The Default Restaurant will be the Fresgo Inn that Tom has been able to secure for use on several occasions already

Escape to the Reef - Meet & Greet.

2007-11-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Please note: Change in date to Jan 20, 2008.

As we wallow in Vancouver's next few months of rain and darkness, the Reef Network invites you to join us at The Reef... Escape to the Caribbean inspired 'The Reef Restaurant' at 4172 Main Street for a few hours of reef geek chat, relaxation, and delicious food. The decor, straight out of an episode of Survivor, will make you feel like you are on vacation... without the jet lag, bugs and temptations to violate CITES :P...

Date: Jan 20, 2008
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Dress: Change out of your salt stained shirt, but don't dress up. It's casual.
Reservation under : IVY

If you are interested in coming please RSVP to reefnetwork@gmail.com BEFORE November 18th, so I can make the appropriate reservations. Space is limited so reserve a spot now.

The Reef (http://www.thereefrestaurant.com/)

The Reef prides itself on customer service & distinctive Caribbean cuisine in a casual atmosphere. The restaurant is fully licensed & serves typical Caribbean drinks such as Red Stripe beer & Dragon Stout. The restaurant is decorated with rich, warm colours & textures native to the Caribbean Islands, providing an ambience that critics & guests have said "it's truly like being there!"

- See you there!

Posting Comments instructions

2007-10-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

To post a comment, follow these easy instructions...

Click on COMMENTS at the bottom of the post you wish to comment on.
In the space below LEAVE YOUR COMMENT, type out your msg.
In the space beside WORD VERIFICATION, type out the letters you see above. This is to keep spammers from posting false comments to our blog.
In CHOOSE AN IDENTITY, you are being asked to identify who you are.

If you have a google or blogger id, input your user name and password.
If you don't have a blogger id, click on Other, and input your name.

Click PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT. Your post is now published.

If you had issues in the past, it was because Ivy had set the comments to have post moderation. This means posts needed to be 'approved' by site administrators before appearing. This has now been removed. All posts will now go straight onto the blog without moderation.

Frag Auction a Success!

2007-10-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

First of all I want to thank Gordon and Megan for their amazing hospitality!! We had a turn out of approximately 30 people and the Holley's welcomed everyone into their homes. Using your LCD TV was such a great idea. It really gave people a good idea of what to expect from their corals. (Particularly the picture of the eagle for the eagle eye zoos haha!) How will other frag auctions live up to these high AV standards?

Kudos to our all of our sellers (Jkhchris, Chin Lee, Tang Daddy, Renegade, Tom R, DFung, Jason McK) for providing our auction super calibre corals to auction off. We had 85 lots to auction off which included Superman Danae, Radio Active Dragon Eye Zoanthids, about 12 varieties of stunningly Blue SPS (including Blue Torte) and ultra rare Green clove polyps. (some pics below)

Ocean Aquatics stepped up again to show their support of Reef Network with an amazing contribution of 3 wait-listed frags (sorry to those who were on the wait list :P). Eternally grateful for your endless support. Show your appreciation Reef Network! Shop OA!

We've raised $250 dollars for the Reef Network, a great start for good things to come. Thank you to our buyers for supporting the event.

And lastly, too those who pitched in to help out. I don't know how I thought I could have done it myself... Thank you to our Auctioneer, Jason McK, assistant John H., Renegade and his girlfriend, and Doug, Tang, JkhChris,

Couldn't have done it without you...

See you at the next event. Will keep you posted. Likely a small dinner gathering at the reef for November (definite), followed by a behind the scenes tour of the Vancouver Aquarium (tentative)

Cheers,
Ivy

Some eye candy... corals people took home...

2007-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the Reef Network Auction is this saturday.

SELLERS: If you have photos of your corals, Please email them toreefnetwork@gmail.com and I will arrange with Gordon to show them on the large Flat screen TV (it will help sell your corals).

BUYERS: RSVP now! (click here to RSVP: http://reefnetwork.blogspot.com/2007/09/reef-network-frag-auction.html) Seriously some of the best tanks in the lower mainland will be selling coral at this auction... Doug's Amazing Zoos, JK Chris's Notorious True Blue Zoos, Chin Lee's Fantastic SPS, Jason's Blindingly bright SPS for example. You won't want to miss out!See you there!

Vancouver Aquarium Tour in the Works

2007-09-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Lee Newman at the Vancouver Aquarium today. He's still interested, but has to check into the viability of our special tour. It's still on the table. Will keep you posted over the next few weeks as we hash it out.

- Ivy

Spread the word!

2007-09-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

The more quality people we have participating in the Reef Network, the stronger we will be. This means more brains to pick on reef topics, more help for your "tank-sitter" when you are away, guest speakers, and more buying power for our annual group buys.

Help us get the word out!

1.) Add this to your signature on forums.

Visit the Vancouver-based Reef Network at http://reefnetwork.blogspot.com/

2.) Post the events to reef-related websites I've missed.

3.) Tell people you meet they should sign up to the blog at http://reefnetwork.blogspot.com/

Thanks! Ivy

REEF NETWORK FRAG AUCTION

2007-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

DATE: Saturday October 13th, 1pm - 4pm
LOCATION: Gordon & Megan's House, 2379 Marine Drive, West Vancouver

The Reef Network Auction is an opportunity to meet other reefkeepers, to promote aquaculture in Vancouver and to trade specimens from our saltwater aquariums. In the spirit of the Reef Network, this social event/auction is not intended to compete with retailers, nor is it an opportunity for people to sell "at retailer's rates".

20% of each auction will go towards the Reef Network. $Cash$ ONLY.

* Please feel free to bring a "tank warming" gift for our hosts, Gordon and Megan, as they are new to the hobby.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Step 1: In advance, post a comment here with your name (so we know how many bodies to expect) and a rough estimate of how many frags you plan on bringing (if you are selling).

Step 2: On the day of.. Bring decent sized frags to swap, in a clear plastic fish bag with ample water & air. At the event, provide detailed information about what is inside the bag. (color, type)

Step 3: At the end, see Auctioneer to collect your money.

SCHEDULE

1:00 - 1:45
Seller Registration. See Ivy, John or Jason and your item will be inspected for suitability, tagged, and inputted into the spreadsheet.

2:00 - 2:30
Socializing & opportunity for people to view frags.

2:30 - 4:00
Auction

RULES:

Auctioneer has the right to reject any fish or coral not fit for sale.
Don't be cheap. Give a decent sized frag.
Use fish bags with the appropriate amount of air and water, absolutely no zip locks.
Do not bring frags if you have a bad parasitic problem (ie:// flatworm, aptasia, etc).
No more than 20 frags per person (unless you have asked for special permission from reefnetwork@gmail.com)
No more than 4 of one type and color of coral. For example, you can bring 4 purple and 4 orange monticaps.
Saltwater livestock only.
All sales are buyer beware!

- See you there! Ivy

Tour @ the Vancouver Aquarium

2007-09-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely chat with Lee Newman, Curator of our own Vancouver Aquarium, and he's agreed to do a special tour just for us! Lee's area of expertise is tropical fish.

We were thinking about doing it in October or November. Will keep you posted on the date we manage to nail down. May tie it in with the lunch at The Reef.

Dinner @ the Reef

2007-09-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

There is a really cool restaurant on Main called The Reef. Very fitting for us to have a meeting in there. You will love the homestyle caribbean food.

Once I figure out our schedules for October, I will schedule a lunch meeting for us there to get together. It will likely be at the end of November.

Frag Auction in October

2007-09-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

Megan and Gordon have generously offered to host a Frag Auction at their house West Van. Date TBA but keep the second and last weekends in October open.

How to Hug a Coelacanth...

2007-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who missed it, some pretty amazing Roti was served at Big Al's in Coquitlam on Saturday September 8.

Oh yeah, and Charles Delbeek presented on rare and newly discovered livestock for the greater part of the hour... whoever he is :P

Some discussion about cuttlefish (evidently all the craze in Vancouver these days, since 60% of the audience had one, if not two. ), husbandry of nautilus' (strange strange strange!). If you were a seahorse fan, you would have loved his section on Seadragons, leafy and weedy (Love the leafy, personally!) and his tiny gorgonian dwelling Seahorses. Did you know it takes two to tango even in the Syngnathidae family? After a string of failures to naturally gestate, biologists will place the fallen eggs onto the sticky patch of the male to help the process. Evidently the seafillies are always ready to go, but the seastallions need to work on their technique ;)

If my memory serves me right, the Waikiki Aquarium was one of the first to successfully hatch a Nautilus.

Nautilus belauensis

We also learned how to hug a Coelacanth, the intricacies of fish porn (mating of rare and new species), and the effort it takes to discover a new breed of fish.

Two Oceanic Nanos were given away that night and yours truly managed to score one. Sooo delighted. Love my lucky streak!

Thanks to Grant and his team for hosting such a fun night. Word is he'll be hosting these events monthly, so I'll keep you posted.

- Ivy