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EvilTwin · 03-07-2006, 08:31 PM

Today I called up the folks at www.garf.org and ordered one of their reef janitor packs. Essentially a total of 82 hermits and snails to control the algae in my tank. I have a really big red diatom bloom going on right now and the few snails and crabs can't keep up. They'd much rather eat other stuff. I think this is definitely a case where large numbers will help. The one end of my tank where the majority of substrate came from the old 60g tank is becoming carpeted with red algae.

In addition, whenever you order a janitor pack, they include a free coral frag from their clippings. I don't know what I'll be getting so it will be interesting to see. It will all be here Thursday. I'll post pictures.

They also offer frag packs at 5 frags for $100, and they throw in two more for free. I may consider this when I'm ready to really start adding corals.

FragOutpost · 03-07-2006, 09:31 PM

I have heard mixed reviews about garf.org. Please post pics when you can and let us know the results!

D12monkey · 03-07-2006, 10:33 PM

Yes please let us know.

FragOutpost · 03-07-2006, 11:27 PM

Anyone else purchased from garf before?

EvilTwin · 03-08-2006, 07:25 AM

Well, the woman I spoke with was Sally Jo, wife of founder/co-founder of the place. We had a short but very nice conversation. I told her a little about my tank and complimented her on the many beautiful pictures of her tank that I had seen. I could have got any combination of snails and hermits in the package, up to a total of 82. They were $1 each. I only ordered their 55g pack as I already have a small cleanup crew and honestly I can't picture that many little critters scurrying around my tank until I get all the new LR in place. I opted for a 50/50 split of hermits/snails. I also get the free mystery frag, but I could have also chosen to get two pounds of their GARF Grunge, a live substrate starter that I don't really need right now. I like the idea of a clean sand/coral bed. If this all works out, perhaps I will try ordering one of their frag packs in a month or so.

FragOutpost · 03-08-2006, 09:00 AM

In my opinion the grunge is over rated. You can get pretty much the same effect (if not better) by getting a few pieces of quality live rock form multiple sources (atlantic, pacific, etc.) and a few fistfuls of live sand from a few different established systems. Are there any local reef clubs in your area? If so then that is a good source for live sand seed.