Hello from New Jersey!

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Welcome to SB! Please be sure to post up regularly about your adventures in Utila! I'm sure some of us could use the tales in the dead of winter!

 

[tridacna]

Kdad - I'd love to go but work has me scheduled, and I'm banking all that OT for Utila.. Plus I still need gear (Santa is coming!).. Keep me in mind for next year (if I leave Utila haha)

Tridacna - You sound like me. I did MACNA 5 times, And the name escapes me, but the other conference (that was only held in Chicago) 2 times. Was a co-founder of the NJ Reefers Club, and involved with them for years.. Also met, and know, most authors on my bookshelf, from Borneman to Calfo, Delbeek and Sprung, only one I haven't met was Joyce Wilkerson (Clownfishes book). Were you ever on RC? I do remember a Tridacna there, but that shouldn't surprise me hehe Heck, one time I even participated in a rather large bust of someone importing illegal acanthastrea (They were bringing normal torch, frogspawn and hammer corals into Japan, changing what was in the boxes in Japan to the really colorful acanth's that were all the rage in 2005-2006, and shipping it stateside.). Luckily RC actually had a Border Patrol agent and a Customs agent on staff, and we all coordinated on this bust. Sure, I had my name and number plastered all over by him, and threats from this guy, but he ended up with a few years jail time for his illegal importation.. In the end, I just want the reefs to still be there 100 years from now for others to enjoy...

My buddy who encouraged me to further my scuba certs is on SB, his handle is sloeber, and the two of us were probably the most conservation minded staffers on RC. Always encouraged fragging, and pushed the limits with regards to breeding. In my early years I did keep a few tangs, gorgeous Red Sea Purple and RS Sailfin, Chevron, but after diving in Coz, I know I could never do that again. My 300g reef tank just didn't compare to the open water swimming that these fish do in the wild.

For now though, my only fish I keep are Koi, in my koi pond out back. Just can't keep me away from water. LOL (oh, and I work for Garden State Koi, we're a retail store with installation, maintenance and wholesale divisions, one of the largest in the area too!). So my day to day involves water as well

Even when I was younger, between all the visits to OBIII, I was also a Red Cross certified Lifeguard, as well as taught swimming lessons for 15 years as a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor (WSI). If you don't think I'm a fish out of water now, you probably never will LOL...

Yeah. I was briefly on RC. My 450 now has a 30" Kissing Gourami and a Silver Dollar which my wife keeps. My passion is my Koi pond. They finally bred this summer and all is good. Now I spend similar amounts on tropical lilies from Waterford Gardens!

My avian vet has a 1,200 gal reef. Quite spectacular but the maintenance kills him. Nothing compares to the splendor of a natural reef; I don't bother any more-it's pointless.

In 1990, I caught and brought an Indian Ocean Yellow Eyed Tang (Ctenochaetus) from East Africa to NJ inside a polystyrene box with bubbled oxygen on a plane. Fish survived for 9 years in my tank. Dem was the days!

You will find much greater joy diving in the Pacific and Indian Oceans because the fish and corals will remind you of those that you are most familiar. I dove the Red Sea this year and it was fantastic seeing my old friends underwater again.

 

[kwinter]

Dutch is closing for the season also next weekend so I would like to get there before it does. Might be going on Friday if you're available.

It's not open on Friday. Just Saturday and Sunday and that's it until spring. Except for the12/31 dive.


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