MatPat

We talked about this at the last meeting but is anyone interested in making a group purchase before the September meeting?

Here a couple of things I have been thinking about getting from Greg Watson:

dry ferts - I'm good for now but if someone else is in need I will get some also to save on the shipping.
4 or 8 oz dosing bottles for mixing up liquid ferts: http://www.gregwatson.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TwinNeck8 )
Sodium thiosulfate: http://www.gregwatson.com/proddetail...iumthiosulfate
Subscriptions to the Barr Report - might want to wait until we get the banner made so we can get that discount Tom mentioned before
bags for sending plants or fish
live food cultures - Wayne may be a good sorce for this but we need to let him know before the meeting so he can bring it along.

If there are any Flourish Excel users out there - Pet Solutions is a good local source if they have it in stock. We could get a couple 2 liter jugs and divide it into smaller 8 ounce bottles and save a bunch of money this way. One 2 liter jug is about eight 8oz bottles. The 2L goes for about $30 with shipping and buying eight 8oz bottles would be around $60-70 depending on the website and shipping!

Anything we need might make sense to order as a group so we can share the shipping expenses...just wanted to send out a reminder and see if anyone needed anything

Troy McClure

OOOOO! I need to restock on Greg Watson ferts. I'm just not sure how much I need yet. My NO3 and PO4 are running...

We should also think about making a group purchase from one of the really nice asian plant suppliers, like greenchapter. If we make a list of plants, pay for the plants you buy, then we split the shipping costs, that would be great. I need a lot of mini riccia! (maybe...)

MatPat

Ferts would be good! Anyone else running low on anything???

I can try and contact Klaus again at GCAS. He told me in the past that he would be able to get a group purchase together for some plants from Asia. Not sure if Klaus has an importer's license or what but it is worth looking into again since he volunteered! I can also ask John Sipes how he got his recent shipment from Asia. My guess is that Klaus hleped him out but that is just a guess!

I am thinkng about setting up a 10g or maybe two this fall for Toninas, Eriocaulons and HC. Hopefully Tom's special substrate will be ready to ship by then That may be another group purchase we want to look into!

Simpte 27

&^$%E^&$%%@#$

I already placed my order to GW. Could use a few things from Petsolutions though.

MatPat

I bet you had to leave before that came up at the August meeting! How long ago did you palce the order? Greg might be willing to hold it for a few days until we all get together...then again if you ordered it today, he probably already has it packaged and ready for shipment

Next time you need something, try posting about it on here. I think some of the SWOAPE folks do a lot of reading but just don't do much posting...

I don't think I need anything from Pet Solutions but the 2L jugs of Excel are very cost effective if we can split them into 8oz bottles. I think Pet Solutions only wants $24.99 + shipping for the 2L jug right now. That's like buy 24oz and get 40oz free!!!!

I probably should have mentioned CO2 tubing (Tygon or Neoprene brands) in my previous post. I think a few folks were interested in that at the meeting.

Ahhh, the benefits of being in a club

Rob Tetrazona

I was looking to stockpile some KNO3 soon. I'm good for 2lbs. I need to take a look at the dosing bottles.

MatPat

This is probably going to sound like a commercial but here goes - I have, for the most part, always dosed my fertilizers dry. With several different sized tanks, it became a little more difficult for me to dose dry. Anyways, I bought some dosing bottles from Greg Watson and made up a Phosphate and Potassium Nitrate solution and tried dosing via solution for a change.

The bottles work pretty cool, you unscrew the black cap and give the bottle a squeeze. The solution fills up the reservoir under the cap. The resevoir is marked in 1/4 and 1/2 ounces (7.5 and 15ml respectively). I also marked on mine how much each ml addds to each of my tanks. I use my syringe to pull out the required amount of fertilizer but the markings come in handy when adding micros. Plus, you don't need a long syringe to get to the solution in the bottom of the resevoir either.

Here's a pic of Greg's 8 ounce bottles just so you can judge the scale a little bit.

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Simpte 27

I could use some more dosing bottle from GW (My other order should be here tomorrow or friday at the latest). If we do order, put me down for (3) 8oz bottles.

EcleckticGirl

Not that I need anything just now, but I thought I would check prices since we were talking about this stuff on another forum last week.

I noticed that Greg Watson is out of stock right now, so just out of curiousity, I went looking around... (can you tell I am procrastinating about something else I SHOULD be doing ). His product listing there also didn't say if that was priced per pound or what. I assumed pound, as that's what Rob mentioned in one of his posts.

Anyway, I got to thinking as a fundraiser for the club, since it's something everyone needs, why not buy it in even greater bulk? Just a thought, I have no idea what shipping costs are, I haven't gone that far into investigations yet.

Did you know Sodium Thiosulfate was a chemical used in photo developing? You can buy it in 100 lb. drums from photo lab supply companies. Very pure lab quality too, I imagine. Kodak Sodium Thiosulphate, Pure Hypo --100 pound drum It works out to $1.87/lb prior to shipping. I would not be surprised if this were how GW gets his supply.

If that's too much then Aquatic Eco-Systems sells it in 50-lb buckets or 4-lb jars. They offer quantity discounts on more than 3 jars. 50 lbs. goes for $64 making it an even better deal than the photo lab stuff -- $1.28/lb.

MatPat

We could definately look into getting Sodium Thiosulfate in bulk. I think the 50lb drum may be a bit much to store unless someone has more room than I do. I do imagine Greg buys the 50lb drums of it but I'm not sure.

Before going the 50lb route, we should check and see if anyone at GCAS already orders this in bulk. If not, we could easily sell some if it to the GCAS members also! It could be a decent fund-raiser if the shipping is not prohibitive. If you are still procrastinating, feel free to check into the shipping costs on drum and the 4 pounders for us I don't have any idea how to even mix the stuff up though I'm sure there is plenty of info out there...