Melbourne Fl (area) reefer club?

Oldsalt01 · Mar 12, 2015

Moving to Palm Bay/Melbourne Florida area in the next 3 months. Any local clubs? I'm planning (dreaming) of a small-medium Nano (no more than 30g) and would like to join a local club if there is one. Orlando's a bit of a hike but I will if needed.

JFrar · Mar 12, 2015

Yo! I'm in Melbourne, not part of any clubs and honestly don't know of any...been in the hobby for 8 years now. Maybe some other locals will chime in.

Oldsalt01 · Mar 12, 2015

Hey, thanx for the shout back. Comin down from the Great White Northeast, mid-late May. Can't wait to set up the tank. Started in 1970 with an FO, on and off since with FOWLR's. Had my own install/maintenance co in the Ft Laud area 25 yrs ago. I've missed my tanks! Any recs for LFS's? Maybe we should start our own chapter?????? What r u running now? Anybody else in the Melbourne area interested?

JFrar · Mar 13, 2015

Ya I always deal with "the little reef shop" in Melbourne. Guy named Alan is always real cool and has good stuff for good prices. I don't really bother with anyone else but nothing against the other shops, my system is 100 gallon mixed reef, mostly sps and zoa. Been the same system since I started. I'm down to try to start some type of club if there's nothing else.

Oldsalt01 · Mar 13, 2015

Is that the LFS out in Indialantic or the one in West Melbourne? I learned, when I had the maintenance business to rely on my LFS for quality stock, equipment and recommendations and as I'm an old "noob" to the technology I fully intend to find a good LFS and stick with them. So, I'll take your rec under advisement. Thanx ever so.

JFrar · Mar 13, 2015

He used to be indialantic, now west melbourne

Oldsalt01 · Mar 13, 2015

Hey J……

Found this today. Don't know if u r interested but here it is:

Brevard Area Reef Society

JFrar · Mar 18, 2015

Thanks for sharing that, I've never really tried to scope anything out but I will check this out when I can...

Preyou · Mar 19, 2015

Brevard Area Reef Society (BARS) is a good group. I am on that particular forum daily. They have monthly meetings that are a good opportunity to meet others and swap frags.

Orlando has a much more organized group. Orlando Reef Caretakers Association or ORCA. When i say 'organized', I mean that they charge dues and have lots of meetings. They have a dedicated forum and a club page on Reef Central.

As far as shops in the area go, there are several to choose from, but most are in the Melbourne area and will be very local to you. Little Reef Shop as stated above is a great one. The Mad Reefer is another. Live Tanks is yet another. All will be a short drive for you. There are several others that will be a little further away.