Js.Aqua.Project
Reef Addict
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2016
- Messages
- 1,898
- Reaction score
- 3,662
- Location
- Ocala, FL
- What state or country do you live in
- Florida
I went Sunday, arrived at 10:30ish and got in line (which was a couple hundred long at the time) which ended up in snagging a bag of freebies. I enjoy talking to the vendors and made sure I made my rounds to see some of the products I've been wanting to see in person (like the Neptune Systems Trident). I spent a lot more time this year talking to some of the bigger vendors which made the day pass much faster. I left about 5:30 which was after all the raffles (which are obviously rigged as I didn't win anything 
).
This is the first year that I left without buying a coral, all I got this time was a magnetic frag rack (almost got a reef racks but ended up with a Eshopps Lotus mag at my wife's request) to get some of my frags away from my malicious nassarius snails.
A few positives:
-Good array of dealers/vendors
-New products on display (ReefBot by Reef Kinetics, Trident by Neptune Systems, Klir Roll filter by IceCap)
-Still has a very positive, friendly atmosphere
A few negatives:
-This was my 3rd year and it seemed like all of the coral vendors jacked up their prices (don't know if RAP raised booth fees and this is how they compensated), but corals that I see in store for $10/polyp were being sold here at $15/polyp, seemed consistent throughout most booths
-Aisles "felt" smaller/narrower there were times where I found myself seriously sidestepping through people looking at booths, I hope next year's location allows for just a little more room for the aisles.
-One that can't be fixed by RAP, people oblivious to the amount of room they are taking up near a booth preventing others from being able to look as well
-Raffle felt a little sparse, there was no "big tank" give-away this year, and more random products than normal - some felt like things that booths were just trying to unload
).This is the first year that I left without buying a coral, all I got this time was a magnetic frag rack (almost got a reef racks but ended up with a Eshopps Lotus mag at my wife's request) to get some of my frags away from my malicious nassarius snails.
A few positives:
-Good array of dealers/vendors
-New products on display (ReefBot by Reef Kinetics, Trident by Neptune Systems, Klir Roll filter by IceCap)
-Still has a very positive, friendly atmosphere
A few negatives:
-This was my 3rd year and it seemed like all of the coral vendors jacked up their prices (don't know if RAP raised booth fees and this is how they compensated), but corals that I see in store for $10/polyp were being sold here at $15/polyp, seemed consistent throughout most booths
-Aisles "felt" smaller/narrower there were times where I found myself seriously sidestepping through people looking at booths, I hope next year's location allows for just a little more room for the aisles.
-One that can't be fixed by RAP, people oblivious to the amount of room they are taking up near a booth preventing others from being able to look as well
-Raffle felt a little sparse, there was no "big tank" give-away this year, and more random products than normal - some felt like things that booths were just trying to unload
