A few years back when I started my first reef tank there was a lfs on Broadway in Knoxville named Aquatic Specialist. What happen to them? I spent a lot of time in there , kind of sad to see it closed. I thought it was a top notch store. Keep in mind it has been a few years since I had my tank up. Anyone know the scoop?
Aquatic Specialist , what happen to them??
- Thread starter Mark75
- Start date
EvilMel
is a serious goby fanatic
Art, that's not what happened. I don't know if Randall sold all the tanks and whatnot to the CR, but the two stores aren't related much.
The store got to be too much for Randall...they closed (ended up with both freshwater tanks and reptiiles to try to get more business). Later once the Coral Reef was opened (completely separate store, btw), Randall went to work for Dennis for a little while. I could have predicted that those two would butt heads. Anyways...Randall stopped working for Dennis a while back and then Dennis ended up selling out to someone else.
I agree that AqS was friggin' awesome...best live rock I have ever seen and also it was nearly as cheap as online.
The store got to be too much for Randall...they closed (ended up with both freshwater tanks and reptiiles to try to get more business). Later once the Coral Reef was opened (completely separate store, btw), Randall went to work for Dennis for a little while. I could have predicted that those two would butt heads. Anyways...Randall stopped working for Dennis a while back and then Dennis ended up selling out to someone else.
I agree that AqS was friggin' awesome...best live rock I have ever seen and also it was nearly as cheap as online.
I guess I need to look for another store. I have visited the Aquarium and the Coral Reef. They are both nice stores, the Aquarium is so big it is hard to get answer to questions. And yea, in its hay day Aquatic Specialist was hard to beat!! I spent a fortune in that store. LOL
I bought live rock from them too when I began. Randall (the guy with a huge moustashe and talked loudly?) was a nice guy. He always talked elephants with me. I was sorry to see it close.
Tennsquire
New member
Back in the day, Aquatic Specialist was actually in Bearden and was John Tullock's store. I used to shop there when I first moved to Knoxville in '91, and it was right down the street from my place. Great store....
Tennsquire
New member
The last I heard about John, he was involved in a project to breed native brook trout and reintroduce them in streams in the Smokies. He was a great resource to go and talk with, and was very generous with his knowledge.
Randall is working at Shields Electronics. I was looking for some fans for my hood and was asking a salesperson for advice. They asked what it was for and when I said an aquarium, they said they had someone who used to own a fish store. A minute or two later, a person walks out and it is Randall. We talked about the fish business, etc... he was very helpful.
I'm like all the others - I spent a lot of $ at the store. I never met John, so I do not know about him.
I'm like all the others - I spent a lot of $ at the store. I never met John, so I do not know about him.
