San Francisco Bay Area planted tank people

[Coursair]

FYI if you live anywhere near the SF Bay Area we have an amazing plant club in the area

San Francisco Bay Area Aquatic Plant Society
http://www.sfbaaps.org/home.html

The forums are very active but only viewable by members. Membership is FREE.

We have monthly meetings rotating around the Bay Area using LFSs , members' homes, parks, etc...

Beginners are welcome. We have a plant swap, people bring trimmings to share.

If you have tried to join and did not get a response PM me and I'll pass on your info.

SFBAAPS is the oldest and largest aquatic plant club in the country AFAIK. We have over 300 members including the well known Tom Barr.

High Tech/ low tech/no tech ... all methods are accepted. We have some very RARE plants growing in member tanks that are alive in the hobby thanks to our club

Always be responsible about how/where you dispose of plants or ship them.

 

[marsh]

awesome. I am in the south south bay (central coast actually) but grew up in the east bay and didn't know about this group. thanks!

 

[Coursair]

awesome. I am in the south south bay (central coast actually) but grew up in the east bay and didn't know about this group. thanks!

You're welcome. I stumbled across them via TPT and then met a member when I was working at Petsmart.

 

[marsh]

Yeah going to a plant swap would be awesome, my tank has lots of runners and plantlets to spare

I used to know some aquarists in the area but none since I joined the hobby, so I will check out the boards marsh there also, but my first name is Lila

 

[Coursair]

Yeah going to a plant swap would be awesome, my tank has lots of runners and plantlets to spare

I used to know some aquarists in the area but none since I joined the hobby, so I will check out the boards marsh there also, but my first name is Lila

We have a member that comes from Monterey. He works for the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We meet in San Jose sometimes as well. Central Coast eh ? We have some long distance members as well.

 

[marsh]

I was a Berkeley kid until 16, now I'm just over the Hill. I must have visited dolphin pet village 10 times before they shut their doors a week ago. They were full of nice employees. I'd like to visit all the reputable lfs in the city.

I liked the vivarium as a kid, right near my middle school in Berkeley by the aquatic park/disc golf course.

Also- would love to meet the Monterey guy you speak of! What an awesome job- I have visited the aquarium too many times to count, last time was with two nieces visiting from Maine about 4 months ago

 

[Coursair]

I was a Berkeley kid until 16, now I'm just over the Hill. I must have visited dolphin pet village 10 times before they shut their doors a week ago. They were full of nice employees. I'd like to visit all the reputable lfs in the city.

I liked the vivarium as a kid, right near my middle school in Berkeley by the aquatic park/disc golf course.

Also- would love to meet the Monterey guy you speak of! What an awesome job- I have visited the aquarium too many times to count, last time was with two nieces visiting from Maine about 4 months ago

His name is Leon. Very knowledgable. I used to work at the Vivarium for a short time.

Neptunes in Milpitas is one of my favorites. They host our Meets on occasion and often give us discounts.

AquaForest in SF hosts our meets also. They do raffles for us, give talks, offer nice discounts very supportive of our club.

 

[marsh]

Great refs Ill go check both of those out!

 

[Coursair]

Great refs Ill go check both of those out!

Great ! AquaForest is small, parking hard to find , but Holy Grail for ADA fans

Neptunes has club members working there at times. Owners are super nice. Don't worry, walk past all the Salt Water and go around corner to see plants and a nice selection of hard to find Nano Fish. It's in an odd locale. Weird industrial looking spaces. Don't worry it's there. Near Great Mall. Easy parking open daily.

 

[marsh]

Hey it's been a few days and my attempt to join still unanswered, thanks

 

[Coursair]

Hey it's been a few days and my attempt to join still unanswered, thanks

PM me with your name and your email. I'll send it on to whoever is in charge of membership.

 

[Coursair]

Did you get a reply to your application ??

 

[marsh]

His name is Leon. Very knowledgable. I used to work at the Vivarium for a short time.

Neptunes in Milpitas is one of my favorites. They host our Meets on occasion and often give us discounts.

AquaForest in SF hosts our meets also. They do raffles for us, give talks, offer nice discounts very supportive of our club.

Hey I'm going to Neptunes in Milpitas today! My partner is doing a baseball card expo at the great mall right there, so I get to wander for hours! Maybe even hit up the city and check out AquaForest later on.

hey thanks for the tip I re-entered my first and last name, hoping that was my goof.

also those capcha puzzles are hard as heck!! worse than craigslist, at least those are semi-legible. And I have 20/20 w/glasses, my poor grampa wouldn't stand a chance lol

 

[Coursair]

Hey I'm going to Neptunes in Milpitas today! My partner is doing a baseball card expo at the great mall right there, so I get to wander for hours! Maybe even hit up the city and check out AquaForest later on.

hey thanks for the tip I re-entered my first and last name, hoping that was my goof.

also those capcha puzzles are hard as heck!! worse than craigslist, at least those are semi-legible. And I have 20/20 w/glasses, my poor grampa wouldn't stand a chance lol

Great !!
Neptunes is small, but take time to look and they have some great Nano fish. If you need it, ask for a step stool. The little tanks are a bit high for me, I'm 5'3".

AF has beautiful stuff, Neptunes has ADA stuff but tries to beat their prices.

Just keep asking for different Capchas. If you are still stuck, let me know. I did report difficulties in the past. I too hate the Capchas.

 

[marsh]

Whoa Neptunes is a really special place! Very random location. My partner had a neat point that in that type of business park the high voltage needs can be covered by industrial level power lines, and in fact the "down town" lfs here just lost half their tanks due to an outtage and surge. I went in just as the ripe smell really kicked in 2 days ago.

I will go back there soon. One of my fave guys from the recently out of business "Dolphin Pet Village" was employed at Neptunes, had to be stoked for him. The place had as many staff as customers, and all the staff seemed happy and busy. When one person was unsure they would offer to ask a more experienced person my question.

A++

 

[Coursair]

Whoa Neptunes is a really special place! Very random location. My partner had a neat point that in that type of business park the high voltage needs can be covered by industrial level power lines, and in fact the "down town" lfs here just lost half their tanks due to an outtage and surge. I went in just as the ripe smell really kicked in 2 days ago.

I will go back there soon. One of my fave guys from the recently out of business "Dolphin Pet Village" was employed at Neptunes, had to be stoked for him. The place had as many staff as customers, and all the staff seemed happy and busy. When one person was unsure they would offer to ask a more experienced person my question.

A++

Glad you made it the owners and at least one Employee were members of SFBAAPS. And still are AFAIK. Did you tell them you were joining ?

 

[marsh]

Yes actually, I mentioned I had just joined the group and the man up front xplained the layout of the place, we looked at each tank and all the corals. My husband bought a blooming plant he had to have. I saw my old friend and he answered emperor tetra and invert questions. A few other people helped my guy with salt water questions.

I have this bizarre 10" long thin tentacle in the current from deep in my rock bed and an employee told me it was likely a harmful pest thing I should uncover and remove. I forget what he thought it was though

Too bad I wasn't heading home after or I may have picked up more assassin snails, lilaeopsis and cardinal tetras. Great plant selection and variety of salt and fresh fish I rarely see!

By the way, it's nice to see small biz that has good employees who are easy to work with and enjoy helping. I'm going back for sure, I have to make room or get a tank to grow out plantlets and runners.

 

[Coursair]

We just had our monthly meeting at Aquatic Central in South SF. Owner bought us Pizza and our meet was in the backyard of the shop. 25% off fish that day for members

Another member donated a HUGE Bolbitis fern and we shared that out and sent the rest home with a member that will keep it growing to share clippings in the future.

 

[marsh]

Sorry but I still did not get any reply, I have tried twice so maybe you can ask someone to try to contact me?

I would love to attend, I was in Berkeley all last week ill be working in the city in April.

Thanks coursair
Lila

 

[Coursair]

Sorry but I still did not get any reply, I have tried twice so maybe you can ask someone to try to contact me?

I would love to attend, I was in Berkeley all last week ill be working in the city in April.

Thanks coursair
Lila

Did you retry using your real name ? I am messaging a mod today to contact you. I was wondering if you had joined.