Utah Marine Aquarium Society (UTMAS) - saltwater aquarium club

RapidLED PnP System at the February Meeting

Burt_Fessler — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:48:03 +0000

You’ve heard all the buzz about LED lighting. The roamers of incredible growth and color. Low power consumption, reduced heat transfer and the High Price tag associated with commercial LED fixtures.

You’ve thought about building an LED fixture for your tank but didn’t know how to pick the right LED’s for the job, or were intimidated by the prospect of soldering all those LEDs into a circuit that would work.

RapidLED and UTMAS are taking the mystery out of building a quality DIY LED fixture. At the next meeting of UTMAS we will be highlighting the new “Plug and Play” LED system by RapidLED. This system makes building your own LED fixture a breeze and in addition well show you how to pick the correct LED’s to make your corals grow like crazy and their colors POP!

Take a look at the DIY LED fixture we built using RapidLED’s new PNP system. It’s sleek and would look great over any tank. So come join us at the Living Planet Aquarium on Thursday, February 14th, at 7:00PM to learn more about building your own LED Fixture.

As always the meeting is completely free to everyone. We’ll have some light refreshments, and don’t forget about our legendary raffle at the end of the meeting. You could take home something sweet for your tank.

UTMAS meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00PM, at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, located on the NE corner of 106,000S and 700E.

We hope to see you there.

UTMAS Membership Drive and Forum Participation Promotion

Burt_Fessler — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:28:26 +0000

To celebrate our second anniversary providing helpful information and promoting the Marine Aquarium Hobby in Utah, the Utah Marine Aquarium Society (UTMAS) is sponsoring a special promotion to encourage both experienced hobbyists and those who are new or considering getting into the hobby to experience the benefits of membership in UTMAS. Between now and our Second Anniversary Meeting in March we will be holding daily giveaways just for logging onto the site and posting on the forum pages.

So what will we be giving away? Coral Frags, and Awesome Equipment. You can see samples of the actual corals and prizes on in the UTMAS Information Forum http://www.utmas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2010 . Other prizes will include and Apex Jr. AquaController, LED Lighting fixtures and more. We believe that once you experience the benefits of being part of the UTMAS community you will want to continue using the site both to gather information and help other hobbyists.

So here are the details. To be eligible for all of the daily giveaways just follow these steps.

1. Visit http://www.utmas.com/forum/ucp.php?mode=register&sid=e52ba81a925cd3f5401420a4db1938d6 and complete the new member registration. Basic membership is free of charge to everyone. After registering you will be able to participate in most of the forums and have access to all the helpful information and links on the site.

2. Post in any of the forums. Either create a new thread or post a response to one of the threads in the forum pages.

That’s it. Of course there are a few posting requirements. Come on, you didn’t expect us to give away these great prizes for simply posting a one word reply did you?

1. Posts must be at least 10 words or longer and be related to the Marine Aquarium Hobby.

2. Each post will entitle you to 1 entry in the daily drawing for prizes. The more posts the better chance of winning.

3. Some special prizes will be awarded to those who post particularly informative or helpful information as determined by the leadership team of UTMAS.

4. A prize of the week will be awarded to the person posting most often for that week.

5. A grand prize will be awarded to the person who posts most often before the February meeting and again between the February and March Meetings.

6. Prizes will be awarded at the February 16th and March 15th meetings of UTMAS at the Living Planet Aquarium. Don’t worry if you cannot attend, we will make arrangements for you to pick up your prize at your convenience after the meeting.

7. We will post more information on this promotion as new prizes become available on the UTMAS Information forum so check back frequently to see what’s new.

January Meeting Canceled

Burt_Fessler — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:33:51 +0000

We are sorry to announce that due to scheduling conflicts the January meeting has been canceled but we are gearing up for a great meeting in February. RapidLED has generously donated one of their Plug N Play LED kits for us to build and then add to the raffle at the end of the meeting. The PNP components from RapidLED eliminate one of the most difficult parts of building your own fixture, soldering the wiring to the LED’s. So join us on February 16th for our next meeting and you could walk away with this great LED fixture. For more information see the thread in the UTMAS Information forum.

December Meeting – Super Swap Meet

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:04:06 +0000

So, as we close out the 2nd year of UTMAS we thought we would start something new for us.

The Annual UTMAS Marine Aquarium Swap Meet!

Thursday, December 15 @ 7PM (6:30 if you want to sell – table space is first come-first served and limited to the first 20)

Come to buy – Come to sell. Livestock, dry-goods, equipment, you name it you can bring it down and to sell or trade with others. Clear out that fish closet! Thin out that frag tank! Pick up some great deals!

The best part of this event is it is 100% free for everyone!

But wait, there’s more!

We will also have a nice spread of the great finger foods just like last year…how about some insane meatballs or a sweet nachos bar!

But wait, there’s still more!

Bring two dozen Christmas Cookies and participate in our 2nd annual UTMAS Cookie Exchange

And yet, still more…

There will be great raffle at the end of the night.

Come join us for a great evening of buying and selling – fun and food!

Oh, and did I mention…

The best part of this event is it is 100% free for everyone!

FRAGTACULAR moved to Wednesday 10/26

Terence_Fugazzi — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:19:03 +0000

ATTENTION:

Due to a scheduling conflict, we have moved the Fragtacular to the following day, Wednesday 10/26. Also, since this is close to Halloween, we will be giving a really good prize to the best adult and the best child costume – as well as runner up prizes. You don’t have to come in costume, but if you do, you may just get a nice little bonus!

FRAGTACULAR is here again!

Terence_Fugazzi — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:01:45 +0000

Well people, it’s just about that time again, time for FRAGTACULAR brought to you by the Utah Marine Aquarium Society.

So, what is Fragtacular? Well, twice a year we get together and descend on the sweetest lot of coral frags with nearly all corals just $5 and absolutely nothing over $10! *

Now, these are not just your average everyday xenia and kenya tree corals…oh no…we will have everything from sweet zoanthids, to LPS, to SPS, Chalices, you name it, it will be there. Even specialty named corals will be in the mix!

And, in addition to all of these corals, there will be spooky, surprise corals worth much more mixed in with the rest of them. Some of these guys will be worth $50 or more yest still only be $5!

Everyone is welcome at this event and there is no admission fee whatsoever. Just come on down and fill up your ice chest with sweet frags without breaking the bank!

So, when is it, where is it?

Recently Moved (again) to 7pm sharp on Wednesday 10/26

at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy

UTMAS member to speak at MACNA 2011

Dave_Anderson — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:02:16 +0000

UTMAS hits the big time! That’s right, UTMAS member and co-founder Terence Fugazzi will be speaking MACNA in Des Moines. This conference is billed as the largest marine aquarium conference in North America. Terence was invited to come and speak about the importance of aquarium controllers and what to look for when deciding on purchasing one. I know its quite the journey, but make it out if you can and represent UTMAS!

Click here for more information on Terence’s talk and to find out more about MACNA

UTMAS Pig-Out BBQ – Aug 27th!

Terence_Fugazzi — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:39:00 +0000

We keep saying that UTMAS Membership has it’s privileges! And here comes the biggest of the year! Come join us for a members-only, big pig out BBQ complete with Steaks, Snacks, Sodas, Sweets, and everything in-between.

Also at this event will be the biggest raffle yet in UTMAS history. Some of the items to be raffled will be a complete 65-gallon tank/stand (see it at ReefOn in Midvale), Neptune Apex Lite, a Skimmer, lights, pumps, livestock, and much more!

And, we are not leaving out the little ones. We will have fun activities for the kids as well…stay tuned…

Q. When is it?
A. August 27th @ 12PM

Q. Where is it?
A. At a park in the South Salt Lake Valley – To be determined soon!

Q. So, who is invited?
A. All UTMAS members as of 8/1/2011, their significant other, and their immediate family. Due to the costs of this event, please respect this request.

Q. What do you have to do to attend?
A. Nothing, just show up! No jello to bring, no admission fee, nothing! 100% Free for members!

Stay tuned to www.utmas.com for more details as we get closer to this awesome event. See you there!

Brad “The Wrasse-Man” Syphus to be interviewed this Thursday!

Terence_Fugazzi — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:44:24 +0000

If you ever wanted to get expert insight on marine wrasses, this week is a must attend meeting. On Thursday we will be doing a live, sit-down interview with SLC’s reefkeeping legend and wrasse expert, Brad “The Wrasse-Man” Syphus. Brad has been maintaining one of the most gorgeous reefs in SLC for years.

Brad continues to astonish all of us not only with the maturity of some of his corals, but also the variety of fish in his aquarium – especially the wrasses. Additionally, he has maintained a gorgeous tank for years with what would seem to most as an impossible bio-load.

So, come out to the meeting on this Thursday, 7/21 @ 7PM at the Living Planet Aquarium and listen to me try and pry out of Brad how he is so successful.

As always, everyone is welcome and the meetings are 100% free. There will be refreshments as well as a nice raffle for corals and other goodies.

See you there!

Tony Vargas releases cover art of upcoming book

Terence_Fugazzi — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:03:46 +0000

Tony Vargas recently showed off what will become the cover of his upcoming book on Marine Aquarium Husbandry. I have yet to read an advance copy myself, but from what I have heard this will be a must-have for the fish-shelf!

The Coral Reef Aquarium by Tony Vargas

Check out the article here on reefs.com