Stopped in at Tropi-Quatics in Lombard today and man that place is just falling apart. No coral selection, no fish selection, the rugs on the floors are saturated in water as if the tanks are leaking, no invert selection, tanks are empty, and tanks are down. I remember when this place was the place to be and the place to go.
Chicago Area Local Fish Stores
- Thread starter crooks
- Start date
2nd this, Matt does great work been going to him for years.
scubadan206
Member
I'm seriously thinking about learning to build custom acrylic tanks. Want to be a guinea-pig????:lmao:Not exactly in Chicago, but does anyone know of Aquatics Unlimited in Milwakee[Hwy100 greenfield]. They have been doing the saltwater thing for 30-40 years.
Dan:wildone:
They are/were redoing their salt section, as well as adding on a bit to the fresh. Haven't been in there in a week or two but I think it should be finished soon
I'm new to saltwater and Mike from Aqua Pros has been extremely helpful in helping me get everything going. He seems to be a genuine nice guy and doesn't mind answering all of my newb questions. The prices are a bit better than some of the larger places I have been to so far. Thanks guys!
Quiverfull
Member
I will be staying near O'Hare for the weekend any decent sps stores nearby?
TheReefNinja
Imagination superfreak
I usually dont post bad things about places but I thought I would share my recent adventure with reefwise that led to me loosing all my fish...
I stopped in there I'd say a month ago and picked up 3 cromis's I was told they were fully QT'd from one of the guys then the other said they only had the fish about 4 days so which is it..... Ended up buying 3 of them and after getting them home and in my tank one went missing in the first 15 minutes of having it. The next day in the evening a few of my fish had signs of ich, now mind you my tank and livestock was healthy the only change were these 3 new fish in over a month.
We started a ich treatment and by the end of the next night we lost all fish except my clown and one of our firefish, the next day all fish were dead. $400 in fish dead in days after adding these fish.
Everytime I went in there they quoted me high prices on the polyp frags like $55 for a 15ish polyp frag of watermelons which should sell for no more than a buck a polyp. Their Ricordia is WAY over priced. The one time I went in there looking for a return pump he said he didnt have any I asked if he could order one and he said it wasnt worth it to him to order me just 1 thing. I should of stopped there and never came back but I figured I would try again. The day we bought the 3 cromis I was told 2 different prices on a fish when I asked about a few others and said wait how much was this one again.... Lesson learned I wont be shopping with them any more and I hope anyone doing business there really thinks twice about what they are purchasing.
I stopped in there I'd say a month ago and picked up 3 cromis's I was told they were fully QT'd from one of the guys then the other said they only had the fish about 4 days so which is it..... Ended up buying 3 of them and after getting them home and in my tank one went missing in the first 15 minutes of having it. The next day in the evening a few of my fish had signs of ich, now mind you my tank and livestock was healthy the only change were these 3 new fish in over a month.
We started a ich treatment and by the end of the next night we lost all fish except my clown and one of our firefish, the next day all fish were dead. $400 in fish dead in days after adding these fish.
Everytime I went in there they quoted me high prices on the polyp frags like $55 for a 15ish polyp frag of watermelons which should sell for no more than a buck a polyp. Their Ricordia is WAY over priced. The one time I went in there looking for a return pump he said he didnt have any I asked if he could order one and he said it wasnt worth it to him to order me just 1 thing. I should of stopped there and never came back but I figured I would try again. The day we bought the 3 cromis I was told 2 different prices on a fish when I asked about a few others and said wait how much was this one again.... Lesson learned I wont be shopping with them any more and I hope anyone doing business there really thinks twice about what they are purchasing.
Scorpius
Stick Head
You didn't quarantine and you're bashing the LFS. hmmm......
TheReefNinja
Imagination superfreak
not everybody has a quarantine set up if I buy a fish from a fish store and they tell me its healthy I expect it to be healthy. I have been in this for over 12 years and have never had an issue.
Scorpius
Stick Head
Well then that's the gamble you play. You lost this time.
Rude much? I'm pretty sure the intention of the thread was for people to leave feedback on LFS. Some are shadier than others, but when you get conflicting info from the employees, it benefits to warn the community. Loss is part of the hobby, and mourning loss shouldn't be frowned upon. I've gone through the "add a fish, lose 10" thing before, so I can sympathize.
Tom, don't sweat this troll from Japan...
TheReefNinja
Imagination superfreak
lmao I dont sweat things from Japan.... only radiation lol. I was just letting peeps know my experence with that LFS and to be leary of stuff they pick up... no matter where they buy it from. Yes it is a gamble but in this hobby it seems like now a days the only safe place to buy from is a friends tank that you personally know is healthy. Kinda sad really. Gotta worry about that new fish killing off your system.
Scorpius
Stick Head
He didn't quarantine his fish and blames the fish store. Yes, he received two different stories on how long they quarantined the fish he bought and yet he still put them in his DT. I fail to see the logic in blaming the fish store for his error. It's a golden rule that everyone preaches on this forum to quarantine new arrivals. It sucks that he lost his fish. It sucks more that he put his fish through this because it was to much of a bother for him to quarantine.
Oh and by the way I am not a troll from Japan, just a person concerned for the welfare of animals that people needlessly kill.
Tank2379
Active member
You ever heard of Marine Velvet disease? Sounds more than likely your system go hit with this. Ich doesn't wipe out your fish over night unless they already had it in there system for a few days or weeks. Marine Velvet will take out your fish over night and within days if adding new fish to your system that have this disease. Everyone should QT fish regardless of what the LFS says- they are in the business to sell just like any other fish store. I know some that practice QTing not saying they don't because most, now in days are starting to. But just be careful when adding new fish to your system. I would recommend setting up a QT in the future to prevent that from happening again.
scubadan206
Member
Always quarantine every fish!!!!!!!
If not, buy through someone you trust to do it specifically for you. Yes, it will cost more, but the health of your charges is worth it.
If you don't, you only get to play the game for a little while longer than the next guy. In the end, your tank will crash. HARD.
All the experts will tell you the same. For anyone who says that they are opposed, or that it's not necessary, I would start to question their right to be in this hobby.
BTW. No one should take this too personal. It's not meant to be.:spin1:
Some fish stores maintain two completely separate systems. On for holding normal fish, and another for holding sensitive fish and inverts. The normal fish are kept in tanks permanently dosed with copper. Another option is to keep a fish only tank. Not having inverts in the tank means that you can administer the proper meds without worrying about killing off half your tank inhabitants.
Daniel.
If not, buy through someone you trust to do it specifically for you. Yes, it will cost more, but the health of your charges is worth it.
If you don't, you only get to play the game for a little while longer than the next guy. In the end, your tank will crash. HARD.
All the experts will tell you the same. For anyone who says that they are opposed, or that it's not necessary, I would start to question their right to be in this hobby.
BTW. No one should take this too personal. It's not meant to be.:spin1:
Some fish stores maintain two completely separate systems. On for holding normal fish, and another for holding sensitive fish and inverts. The normal fish are kept in tanks permanently dosed with copper. Another option is to keep a fish only tank. Not having inverts in the tank means that you can administer the proper meds without worrying about killing off half your tank inhabitants.
Daniel.
TheReefNinja
Imagination superfreak
I'm not taking anything personal I'm just telling my experience and hoping others learn from my mistake by taking a stores word for it. This store has burned a few people I know and I felt this should be known. I will be setting up a qt tank this time around I just thought this was one of the more trustworthy stores out there.
Similar threads
