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03-19-2007

If any of you have been following my One Reef blog, you know that I have a 33G long. It's not a tank that you see all that often, yet I think it is ideal for reef aquariums, especially if you live in a small space like I do.

A little over a year ago, my wife an I purchase a small 1BR in Manhattan. At the time I had a 30 gallon cube in storage, which I was planning to set up when we moved. I was so excited, I had purchase and entire system with a sump, 175 MH light, stand and skimmer all for around $450. It was a steal and a nice setup.

Unfortunately when I brought it into our tiny living room, I realized that it was way too big for the space. It stood almost 6 feet tall and totally dominated the room. My wife was horrified and said it had to go. I was bummed, but she was right.

Lucking we had wanted to put a low lying book shelf on one wall. And it just happened to be 4 feet long. So, I took advantage of the space that i did have, and figured I'd set up a 33G long (about 13x13x48). It was perfect because it had the length of a big tank, but didn't stick out like a sore thumb. After a year and a little work (yes little) my tank is healthy and happy:



Over the next few blogs I'm going to be reviewing my philosphy on reef tank care along with the steps I took to set up my current 33G tank. Should be fun. In closing you can check out this little video of my tank.

http://www.onereef.com/index.php?pag...quarium_videos

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03-11-2007

So, starting a new site and getting the word out to the public is tough. Personally I think I have a great product to deliver to reef hobbyists out there, but putting the site in front of them is one tough challenge.

So how do I go about marketing the site? Right now I'm trying to find the right balance of telling people about it without feeling like I am intruding on them. I've joined Myspace and am trying to build a network of friends. That's going pretty well, I already have over 500 friends in my network. People seem genuinely happy to hear about the site.

Talking about the site on other forums is a good way, but I can't really post "hey guys visit my site" over and over again. That's just annoying.

I'm going to be doing a referral promotion soon with a gift certificate to one of the vendors sites. I figure a little incentive will help spread the word. As a matter of fact, if you're reading this, get a head start on referrals and start now, I'll include them in the upcoming official promotion. Just a little treat to those who come across this blog entry. All you have to do is register and then get your friends to register. When they register they just have to add your username (the name you login with) to the "Referral" section.

If anyone has any other ideas I'm all ears. It's exciting, hope you all enjoy the site! There is more to come!So, starting a new site and getting the word out to the public is tough. Personally I think I have a great product to deliver to reef hobbyists out there, but putting the site in front of them is one tough challenge.

So how do I go about marketing the site? Right now I'm trying to find the right balance of telling people about it without feeling like I am intruding on them. I've joined Myspace and am trying to build a network of friends. That's going pretty well, I already have over 500 friends in my network. People seem genuinely happy to hear about the site.

Talking about the site on other forums is a good way, but I can't really post "hey guys visit my site" over and over again. That's just annoying.

I'm going to be doing a referral promotion soon with a gift certificate to one of the vendors sites. I figure a little incentive will help spread the word. As a matter of fact, if you're reading this, get a head start on referrals and start now, I'll include them in the upcoming official promotion. Just a little treat to those who come across this blog entry. All you have to do is register and then get your friends to register. When they register they just have to add your username (the name you login with) to the "Referral" section.

If anyone has any other ideas I'm all ears. It's exciting, hope you all enjoy the site! There is more to come!

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03-03-2007

Getting a website off the ground when you know nothing of the web world can be a bit daunting. Not only do you have to build the site, you have to come up with content that will make it so people want to visit your site.

The online vendor section was all about content. I needed to review a bunch of sites and catalog all the necessary content. It was a total pain in the butt and yes I did scour each site looking for the right info. Looking back I can't beleive I did all that work. But I'm really happy with how it all turned out.

As for the actual website building, I spent a good year playing around with solutions for Onereef before I came up with the right one.

I had asked around a few web friend and had received some advice on what to do. I first tried a Content Management System called Plone, which was way to powerful for my little brain. I probably could have built an amazing website with it, but it was just beyond me. It was going to require me to get professional help, which I couldn't afford. Also, it was tough to find a solid support community out there.

Luckily I came across vbulletin, which many of you probably visit everyday. Vbulletin is one of the most common message board systems out there. It is extremely powerful and robust and doesn't cost all that much. Plus the software is supported very well by the developers and there is a huge community of developers who create addons and customizations for vbulletin. I would suggest it for anyone who is interested in starting a message board.

Once I got vbulletin I got to work configuring everything to how I wanted. After a couple of trial and errors I came up with the right design. I have to say that I could have done none of this without the amazing talents of the vbulletin coding community. There are so many people out there who helped get my site to where it is. And most of it was for free!

So, that's a little background on how Onereef came to be! Hope it's helpful to you too.

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03-03-2007

I have been keeping reef aquariums for about 15 years now. Like many reef aquarists out there, I had limited knowledge as to what I was doing. Good information was more difficult to come by before the Internet. Most of my knowledge was gleaned from LFS employees and my own trial and error. Looking back I can't beleive that I kept corals under inadequate lighting, placed the wrong fish together and used poor filtration methods.

It wasn't until about 6 years ago, that I came across the wealth of information on the Internet. A friend at work mentioned that reef aquariums could be kept in small tanks called nano-aquariums. I didn't beleive him and promptly went online to see if what he mentioned was true.

Well as many of you know, nano-tanks are indeed for real, as well as a ton of husbandry techniques that are not only possible, but extremely effective. I was hooked on the knowledge and spent about 2 months devouring all the information I could.

After that time I created a gameplan for a new tank (yes a 10G nano) and set to work setting it up. Since then I've upgraded to a 15G and currently have a 33G long.

About two years ago I wanted to start a website that was aquarium related. I wanted to give something back to the community. At first I considered a straight community site like Reef Central or Reefs.org, but realized that these types of community sites were all over the place. I wanted to offer something unique. I've spent alot of time managing data in the "real world" so I figured a database of all the places to purchase aquarium products and livestock would be a good idea. That's when One Reef was conceived.

In the next installment of this 2 part blog entry, I'll describe some of the trials and tribulations that I went through in getting One Reef launched.

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02-25-2007

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONEREEF.COM OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES WITH SEARCHABLE INFORMATION ON CLOSE TO 200 ONLINE SALTWATER AQUARIUM VENDORS

Online, February 20, 2007 – One Reef is happy to announce its official website launch (www.onereef.com). The initial offering includes a directory of close to 200 online vendors who specialize in saltwater aquarium livestock and products.

Vendors are tagged with keywords ( i.e. Filtration, Live Rock/Sand) allowing users to easily narrow down searches. Each listing is saturated with information including free shipping offers, payment methods, ordering methods, and contact information. Users can quickly provide detailed ratings and write reviews on vendors. Users and vendors alike can add or edit listings, keeping data current.

One Reef aims to nurture the wonderful evolution of community sites by providing reef hobbyists with tools and features that help hobbyists connect with vendors and each other in an easier, more organized fashion.

"There is so much information on the web that simple searches to find a heater can sometimes become a daunting task," says John Stires, director of One Reef. "One Reef's goal is to help make those choices quicker and easier for the user." With a sleek site design, One Reef presents information in a clear, straightforward manner.

"It's all a balance of information management and user participation," says Stires. "We want to provide an efficient, solid product for the end user."

For more information contact:
John Stires, One Reef
info@onereef.com
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About One Reef
One Reef provides reef hobbyists with tools and features that help hobbyists connect with vendors and each other in an easier, more organized fashion. Currently there is one main feature at launch, an Online Vendor Database. This database holds detailed information on close to 200 online stores, big and small, across the Internet. Information has been painstakingly cataloged and organized so that you have a one portal for all your online purchasing needs. At the core of One Reef is a desire to bring awareness and respect to the animals we keep in our homes. One reef in a home is one more reef in our world.

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