good LFS in the area?

[C.Ton9187]

sea schor is remodeling, i'm expecting great things by next year from them. Also, don't forget about midwest frag farm that's opening soon. I see these two places being my next two favorite lfs.

 

[livingcorals]

I would say SeaSchor, little drive but worth it. (true they are remolding) 2nd ShoTank but thats even more of a drive from where you at.
Advanced Aquatics if your into Freshwater go for it otherwise every time I gone in the live saltwater section bites. (2 thumbs down)

Exotic Aquatics, Oh sure, thats the dump were I got flatworms and poor answers from a ditz. Little more on the pricey side as stated.

Where is the Midwest frag farm going to be located?

 

[MBasile]

aquatica and gofish on the southside!

 

[C.Ton9187]

it's actually Midwest Coral Farms and I believe it's in highland park.

 

[jepuskar]

I believe gofish's store is gone...still in business, but no store.

 

[flapjack1439]

Advanced Aquatics if your into Freshwater go for it otherwise every time I gone in the live saltwater section bites. (2 thumbs down)

Ok, I'm not just promoting Advanced Aquatics but this is also totally untrue.

Advanced is saltwater only and has no fresh water section, what so ever. Are you confusing it with some other place?

Sea Schor has great selection and reasonable pricing, too. Steve is a good guy.

 

[dviper150]

Maybe the livingcorals was confused between aquarium adventures. their saltwater section is bad and the tanks are always dirty. At least they were when i went there. They are good display tanks though which is why i went their in the first place.

 

[RobbW]

Are you sure we're talking about the same stores?

Advanced Aquatics it the one on Roselle Road just north of Wise Rd and the Jewl/Osco, right? That's the store I'm talking about. Maybe they were having a bad day when I was in there, or were restocking tanks, or had just finished cleaning tanks or performing other maintenance. I don't know, but there was water all over the floors and many of the tanks were dark. The teens hanging out in the back were blocking the path to get to the other side of the store to see the last row of tanks and were oblivious to anyone trying to get through. Had to walk to the front of the store and around to get to the last row.

The coral tanks up front were nice, I'll give it that. But I wasn't impressed with anything else. Like I said, I was only in there once to check it out after a recommendation from another forum and have never been back. Maybe they were just having an off day or were in the middle of mega maintenance. I suppose I should go back in one of these days to give it another chance. I just don't make it over that way too often. I'm sorry if I have a different impression of the store from most others, but that was my experience.

I find Beyond the Reef to be much pricier than Aquarium Adventure, especially with their dry goods. A Koralia K3 at AA ran me around $55 if I remember correctly, whereas BTR was asking ~$75. BTR has a nicer, larger selection of live rock than AA for about the same price. I've never gone to BTR to buy fish, so I don't even know what their fish prices are compared to AA. I don't buy fish from AA anymore anyway, just dry goods and CUC. The staff at AA has been nicer and more attentive to me than at BTR. And depending on who you get at AA, a couple of them are pretty knowledgeable. Especially Jeff, but I haven't seen him there for a while, so I don't know if he's there anymore. As I said before, I go to AA because I can easily get there and back during my lunch break. I know where everything is and can quickly pop in and out.

I'd like to make it out to Living Sea in Park Ridge or Scott's in Westchester. I have't been to either of them since I got into SW. I used to go there frequently when I had my planted FW tank running.

I tried out Reef Plus once when I was down in that area for something unrelated. It was small and they had almost nothing to offer. However, in their defense, I think I remember the employee telling me they were in the middle of remodeling or getting things set back up. So, I can understand that.

Sea Escapes in South Elgin is a small but decent store. Got my 6-line wrasse there. Kind of pricey though. Probably a great store if you're into ponds!

Haven't been to Exotic Aquatics on the opposite end of Randall yet. I'll have to check them out one of these days.

I'd really like to check out Sea Shor or Sho Tanks some day, but that's a hefty drive. And as for any of the LFS in the city, most likely never going to happen for me. I rarely make it into Chicago even though I love to when I get the chance.