/rant : A life of overseas REEFER! the Bad, The Good & The Ugly

should this thread be deleted?

  • Yes

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • No

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • no more rants, please

    Votes: 3 30.0%

  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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as stated in the title of this thread.. it's a RANT..

as my location states am from Kuwait "all you know it raise your hands"

going around this great forum REEF2REEF and reading around for about 2+ years and other forums I learned a lot and I've seen so many successful people and so much failure that I learned form that experience.
I don't know how this will sound me typing or saying it will be accepted or denied by people in here.
but this is my story as it is.. with every aspect of it as a reefer! "which so many share with me".

as you all notice most Vendors are either USA based or aiming for the USA market in everything this offer or do, even discounts, giveaways and upgrades.
that's just kills it for us people who can't afford to get this product ship or even comes near or side of the world.
electricity being 110v in the US while being 220v around here is another factor to not get the chance to safe of promotions or discounts.
I visited the US and been to ReefApalooza NY where I met so wonderful people and vendors and talked with them who some was great of understanding my point of view.
such as @Bulk Reef Supply @WWC @Reef Nutrition "Chad" @AlgaeBarn and people like Mike in Manhattan Aquarium, my dear friends Billy and Jason at Coral wear Clothing, @revhtree who is the reason I joined this forum in the 1st place. and so many I'm sorry if I forget any right now.
people like my friend @randyBRS who I am honored to even meet and take a picture with.

while others let say it simple, this way don't worry about it."

that been said, I have a dream tank as any reefer does, something to splash the $$$ on and sit back and enjoy everyday. but as in the first of the rant. it's can't come true anytime soon.

a 400 gallon tank built by reef Savvy with a custom made +200 gallon sump with huge refugium.
run by GHL controller "this can be true, and it's happening soon".
feed up by a 150GPD BRS RO/DI 6 stage system. all corals are frags from WWC.

so many things I can talk about all day, which already expensive or gonna sky rocket if even got to get them shipped to me, as shipping overseas is very expensive and sometimes exceed the product price itself.
this is the life of a reefer overseas like me.
I am well known to be a very talkative guy, I can't shut up!! lol
so I should end this rant here, as it is been so much to type and so much to read.


PS: sorry for typing too much, and feel free to move this to any part of the forum, even trash it! lol
 
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Diesel

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I don't see this as a rant my friend.
You praise so many but formost you praise yourself for making it work.
That setup what you talking about will be a dream tank to come through and believe me when you start a build thread everyone in the world that will or is visiting R2R will know "The Kuwait 400 build"
Welcome to R2R!
 

Greybeard

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Déjà vu.

Back when I was looking to start into reefing, all the cool stuff was in Europe... mostly Germany. We couldn't get any of the new stuff coming onto the market here in the USA. Heck, we couldn't even read about it... the books were in German, and weren't being distributed here. Scrounging for newsletter articles from people who had been there and observed the 'Berlin system' in person, or from people plagiarizing and translating parts of books and articles out of Germany. Trying to replicate a photo of a venturi driven skimmer with hardware store PVC parts...

Isn't most of this stuff available in Europe today? Heck, Japan has a strong reefing community, most of the stuff sold here seems to be made somewhere in the far east. Surely this stuff can be sourced somewhere closer than the USA.
 

Reef Monkie

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That was a very nice rant brother Mohammad. I think it is healthy to rant sometimes as clears the air and allows one to move forward, I enjoy reading a good rant as it puts ones own situation into perspective. I share some of your frustrations, and 220V, as I live in Europe and many of the products/corals I see here are not available to me, or are priced differently. On the other hand I am lucky that Europe also has a thriving aquarium industry with many great products and some very highly respected importers and breeders of fish and corals. Perhaps it would be easier for you to find what you need in Europe, and shipping might be lower, otherwise there is always the East and China since many American and European products are produced there anyway.

Perhaps you can't get a BRS ro/di or the tank from the manufacturer you want but I am sure that with the help of the internet and a tank builder in your home country you will be able to make something that comes close to your original dream.
 

Reef Nutrition

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as stated in the title of this thread.. it's a RANT..

as my location states am from Kuwait "all you know it raise your hands"

going around this great forum REEF2REEF and reading around for about 2+ years and other forums I learned a lot and I've seen so many successful people and so much failure that I learned form that experience.
I don't know how this will sound me typing or saying it will be accepted or denied by people in here.
but this is my story as it is.. with every aspect of it as a reefer! "which so many share with me".

as you all notice most Vendors are either USA based or aiming for the USA market in everything this offer or do, even discounts, giveaways and upgrades.
that's just kills it for us people who can't afford to get this product ship or even comes near or side of the world.
electricity being 110v in the US while being 220v around here is another factor to not get the chance to safe of promotions or discounts.
I visited the US and been to ReefApalooza NY where I met so wonderful people and vendors and talked with them who some was great of understanding my point of view.
such as @Bulk Reef Supply @WWC @Reef Nutrition "Chad" @AlgaeBarn and people like Mike in Manhattan Aquarium, my dear friends Billy and Jason at Coral wear Clothing, @revhtree who is the reason I joined this forum in the 1st place. and so many I'm sorry if I forget any right now.
people like my friend @randyBRS who I am honored to even meet and take a picture with.

while others let say it simple, this way don't worry about it."

that been said, I have a dream tank as any reefer does, something to splash the $$$ on and sit back and enjoy everyday. but as in the first of the rant. it's can't come true anytime soon.

a 400 gallon tank built by reef Savvy with a custom made +200 gallon sump with huge refugium.
run by GHL controller "this can be true, and it's happening soon".
feed up by a 150GPD BRS RO/DI 6 stage system. all corals are frags from WWC.

so many things I can talk about all day, which already expensive or gonna sky rocket if even got to get them shipped to me, as shipping overseas is very expensive and sometimes exceed the product price itself.
this is the life of a reefer overseas like me.
I am well known to be a very talkative guy, I can't shut up!! lol
so I should end this rant here, as it is been so much to type and so much to read.


PS: sorry for typing too much, and feel free to move this to any part of the forum, even trash it! lol


Hey Muhammad! Thanks so much for the kind words and I'm very glad that we got the chance to meet. I'm sorry that things are so expensive. We are constantly looking for ways to make shipping cheaper for our international customers. I really appreciated your honesty and this certainly echoes many of the concerns our international customers have. I wish we could do better for you and others.

Warmest Regards,
Chad and Team Reef Nutrition
 

Matze

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I agree with mist everything you say :)
Sometimes I'm close to melting because of beeing jealous for all the amazing corals one can buy in the US. But then again we have the advantage to have so many great companies around here in Europe, offering us awesome equipment.
Yes the prices seem to be a tad higher over here (at least in Germany where I live), but I guess our wage average might be a bit higher, too.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is one always wants, what one does not have :)

Anyway I'm dying to follow your build man! :)
 
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Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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Déjà vu.

Back when I was looking to start into reefing, all the cool stuff was in Europe... mostly Germany. We couldn't get any of the new stuff coming onto the market here in the USA. Heck, we couldn't even read about it... the books were in German, and weren't being distributed here. Scrounging for newsletter articles from people who had been there and observed the 'Berlin system' in person, or from people plagiarizing and translating parts of books and articles out of Germany. Trying to replicate a photo of a venturi driven skimmer with hardware store PVC parts...

Isn't most of this stuff available in Europe today? Heck, Japan has a strong reefing community, most of the stuff sold here seems to be made somewhere in the far east. Surely this stuff can be sourced somewhere closer than the USA.

it seems that the power ball shifted toward the US as most companies aim at the so fast growing market.
I should admit Youtube Reefer and fish keepers in generals are maybe the reason I keep aiming at the US market instead of trying to source some of what I need in Europe market or even Asian Market which easier for me to follow.
but I do agree with everything you say, as most information in the internet right now is in English, you hardly find anything in Arabic.
 
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Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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That was a very nice rant brother Mohammad. I think it is healthy to rant sometimes as clears the air and allows one to move forward, I enjoy reading a good rant as it puts ones own situation into perspective. I share some of your frustrations, and 220V, as I live in Europe and many of the products/corals I see here are not available to me, or are priced differently. On the other hand I am lucky that Europe also has a thriving aquarium industry with many great products and some very highly respected importers and breeders of fish and corals. Perhaps it would be easier for you to find what you need in Europe, and shipping might be lower, otherwise there is always the East and China since many American and European products are produced there anyway.

Perhaps you can't get a BRS ro/di or the tank from the manufacturer you want but I am sure that with the help of the internet and a tank builder in your home country you will be able to make something that comes close to your original dream.

thanks for the kind words and your encouragement. it giving me a big support to keep ranting :D :p
I've to admit all I'm noticing so far for my search in the internet is German website that ship and offer most of what I want, that's why I'm planning to go hunting for the new build in these sites.
 
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Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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Hey Muhammad! Thanks so much for the kind words and I'm very glad that we got the chance to meet. I'm sorry that things are so expensive. We are constantly looking for ways to make shipping cheaper for our international customers. I really appreciated your honesty and this certainly echoes many of the concerns our international customers have. I wish we could do better for you and others.

Warmest Regards,
Chad and Team Reef Nutrition

must admit Chad you are one of the best guys I talked to, and keep talking to in Instagram, always with a kind word and wonderful smile.
you offered so much help, and was so keen on helping to provide everything a reefer need from the product of Reef Nutrition.

PS: we'll meet one day and get to see a Football "Soccer" match .. Visca el Barca i Visca Catalunya :D
 
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Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

Mohammad D. ALMUTAIRI

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I agree with mist everything you say :)
Sometimes I'm close to melting because of beeing jealous for all the amazing corals one can buy in the US. But then again we have the advantage to have so many great companies around here in Europe, offering us awesome equipment.
Yes the prices seem to be a tad higher over here (at least in Germany where I live), but I guess our wage average might be a bit higher, too.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is one always wants, what one does not have :)

Anyway I'm dying to follow your build man! :)
yeah, it's lucky you, I'd love to be in Germany shopping for Aquarium products. it's one of the best in quality of not the best.
I am aiming for a bigger shopping splash into this build hope to get good prices on what I need or catch some in discount or on sale maybe with this Black Friday coming up soon.
 

mdbronco

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Hey guys I realize this is an old thread but thought I'd try. Anyone know of a good portable RO/DI unit available in Europe? We live in an apartment in Stockholm and there is no way I can convince my lady to let me add an under-the-sink version.
 
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