www.craseokc.com I would like to let everyone know about the CRASE frag swap in Oklahoma City this weekend. Myself, Christine, Tyler, and Ben are headed out early Sat am. Anyone wanting to tag along are more than welcome.
Great idea Norman! I am considering going to Crase. I dont mind driving but I hate to go alone on a 4 hour road trip. I plan on coming back as soon as it is over. If anyone is interested in tagging along you can post here or pm me.
We had a loooong day at CRASE but it was well worth the drive (and sleep deprivation!). The lectures were informative, the vendors were very nice and helpful. Tyler won 4 frags in the raffle so he's over the moon! I just put them in the tanks and a couple have already opened up - they're beautiful. THANK YOU NORMAN & BEN for taking us to Oklahoma and putting up with us all day. We had a fabulous time with you!
CRASE was a really excellent time. Although we had quite the long trip (I left my house at 3:30 AM on Saturday, and returned at 1:30 AM on Sunday), in my eyes it was well worth the effort. There was plenty of reef conversation, and Tyler kept us entertained when things got quiet. The venue was two ballrooms in a nice building on the campus of Central Oklahoma Universtiy. One room served as a lecture hall, and the other contained a small trade-show like vendor room. There were roughly a dozen vendors ranging from Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society (COMAS) members selling frags, to major national companies. The list that I can recall included: Reeflo Marine Extremes Aquarium Oddballs Reef Nutrition Seachem PFO Solaris DT's Phytoplankton: (Caveat: Pardon the pictures, I have a 4 MP camera from 2002, and this is my first ever post w/ a picture) Zoanuts.com, an Oklahoma City-based online frag retailer They had a roughly 5X3X1 ft tank with a very nice assortment of frags including zoanthids, ricordea, acanthastrea, and scolymia, that were very beautiful. They were lit by a Solaris LED fixture, and it was really cool to see this thing operated in real life. The ability to change the appearance from white to blue light in seconds is amanzing. They and others had really beautiful frags. It was not necessarily the best place in the world to get amazing deals, however, if you wanted to buy high end frags w/out the shipping, and with the ability to inspect them beforehand, this was the place to do it. Lectures included Dr. Paul Whitby, who is president of COMAS speaking on Aquascaping, Dr. Sanjay Joshi, the most well-known lighting expert in the hobby speaking about, what else, lighting. After lunch, Dennis Tagrin, of DT's phytoplankton spoke on his products, and finally, Dr. Ron Shimek, a premiere invertebrate expert. I really enjoyed these lectures, especially since I have a strong scientific background. I also gleaned a lot of information from these talks. Finally, the last part of the day was the raffle. The number and quality of the prizes was ridiculous. All said, there was probably 20+ frags given away, about $1000 in gift certificates, mostly to online retailers, a myriad of products, especially food and chemicals, tools including a very nice fragging kit with all kinds of blades, scissors, tweezers, etc., and the grand prize of a 75 gallon w/ everything except rock, sand, water and livestock. Tyler and I both won some acans, from aquarium oddballs (a Tulsa pet store and online vendor), and Tyler also won a $50 gift certificate from them that he used to buy some lovely zoanthid polyps and a frag of Xenia. Overall, we made out like bandits! The trip home was long, but went quickly, even w/ a few navigational mishaps (arguably my fault), three calls to OnStar to find a Braum's that is in front of us, not the one we just passed, and a lot of laughter. All said, a great day!
Well put Ben! I was still too frazzled about passing THREE Braum's to go into much detail about the conference!!! Thanks for the informative post - I have to agree with everything you said except blaming yourself for navigation errors - I think if a car can TALK... it can surely take the BLAME!!! Great job on the pictures! I found my camera in my bag when I got home... duh!
I'm glad you guys could make it. I know it's a long haul. Maybe next year, I can talk you guys into staying the night and coming out to eat with us after... it was a ball. If anyone has more pictures, let's see 'em.
On behalf of COMAS and its members, we would like to formally invite you all to CRASE 2009!!!! Conference for Reef Aquarists and Saltwater Enthusiasts (CRASE). Make your plans to attend now. October 24th is the date to mark on your calander. * Conference for hobbyists of all levels * local frag vendor sales * Manufacturers and Vendors from the industry * Well known speakers from within the hobby * Raffles and Door prizes * Meet and talk with other hobbyists to share ideas and methods * Coral of all types and sizes available at terrific prices CRASE '09 October 24, 2009 After the fabulous success of CRASE 2007 and CRASE 2008, the Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society is pleased to announce the third annual Oklahoma City Conference for Reef Aquarists and Saltwater Enthusiasts (CRASE). This will be a single day event and will comprise keynote lectures by distinguished speakers in the area of saltwater aquariums. There will also be a hobbyist frag sale, vendor and trade displays as well as numerous door prizes. CRASE Website: http://www.thecrase.com/
