GRMAS/MMMC Trip to Drs. Foster and Smith Facility in Rhinelander, Wisconsin

[MyNemesis]

Members of the GRMAS and MMMC took a two day trip this past weekend to Rhinelander, Wisconsin for a tour of the marine portion of Drs. Foster and Smith facility. This tour is offered to a limited number of people two times a year, so we were very fortunate to be able to be added to the list. Members of both clubs had an exciting weekend at a greatly reduced cost for the trip.
Rhinelander Wisconsin has a town mascot called a "Hodag" as in hoe.. This is a mythical creature who comes out of the deep woods that was invented by the town founders and lumberjacks to draw visitors to the town. When Guinness Book of World records came to investigate the monster, the whole business was exposed as a giant hoax. At any rate, they have the little buggers all over the town.
After a very long drive there, before the festivities in front of Hodag downtown:

Friday evening was fairly subdued:

Scott just had to ride one!
Here's a shot of the front of the beast with Brian:


The next morning we arrived for our tour, which was beautifully conducted.


Full staff who were very attentive. Everything was just immaculate and the animals outstanding. The aquarium displays were beautiful and established. My pictures really don't do them justice.








Main filtration room:

After the tour you could roam about the facility with plenty of staff to help. Bit crowded, but manageable. They would package up your fish and corals, prepare them as if for shipping on the trip home. From what I have heard, everyone's purchases made the 9 hour drive home without incident. Members received a 10% discount on their purchases as well.
A stunning acro I just had to have:

The good Doctors also had a very nice raffle. We had several members who won prizes:



We had a wonderful tour and a great weekend. Many thanks to Drs. Foster and Smith for their hospitality on behalf of the GRMAS and MMMC. We hope to see you all again soon! Special thanks are also due to Kevin Kohen of Live Aquaria for his private tour prior to the one offered to the public.

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Thanks for sharing and posting the pics. Looks like it was a lot of fun. I'm bummed I couldn't make it. Hopefully it becomes an annual event!

Tom

[jimsflies]

Thanks for posting pics John! This was a trip that was planned for members and any member that had helped the club with hosting the Michigan Coral Expo and Swap had some of their expenses covered as a thank you for helping. Originally we had 11 members registered to attend, but only 3 of us made the trip due to obligations that the other members had. Just as with our swap, this was a joint endeavor with the Grand Rapids Marine Aquarium Society (GRMAS) who also covered some expenses for their volunteers...I believe they had 7 people that made the trip. This was GRMAS's second club outing to Live Aquaria.

It was a fun time...but it would be even better if it were 8 hours closer. John and I drove together and ended up circling Lake Michigan. We went through the UP on the way there and went around Chicago on the way back. (The UP was quicker by about 1.5 hours as it turns out...how do you have three lanes of stop and go traffic at 8:00pm on a Saturday night?)

IMO the most impressive thing about the Live Aquaria facility is there receiving and shipping areas for livestock. Their acclimation room for receiving was very well laid out. Each system was plumbed into the acclimation room into a mainfold with drip lines so that depending on what system the livestock was going into they could be acclimated to that water. The work bench was built with drain holes so that any overflows or spills simply drained away. Red lighting is used when they acclimate fish so that fish don't get as stressed. The shipping and packing of livestock was very impressive. Fish are packed with black inserts so they don't get as stressed.


As John said we were able to purchase livestock while there and also make purchases from the Dr. Foster and Smith retail outlet. I purchased 5 red spot cardinalfish from Live Aquaria, which until recently were considered a difficult species. However, it turns out that they ship poorly and Live Aquaria seems to have figured out how to import them and be able to hold them prior to reshipping so that they make it. Mine are eating pellets already and seem to be doing great. (These are a super cool fish for aquariums because they maintain a shoal in an aquarium and are small so its possible to keep a large number without creating too much bioload. I may get another 5 or 10 of them when I get the new tank setup if these continue to do well.)

[MizTanks]

Thanks for sharing guys! Looks like a great time was had.