just left the City Zoo in Elmira.

[Bobtail1075]

I just left there and I am embarressed for them. That use to be the go to place but honestly...... I will probably never go back there. The tanks at the PETCO looked better and they actually had more fish and better fish. I couldn't believe it in there. On my way to the PETCO now.

 

[low riderr]

it is sad forshure.

 

[Lowefx]

Yeah. Tropical Fish Outlet (TFO) is the only decent place around here anymore. Seth use to have City Zoo looking amazing untill he left. Now it is bad. Rochester is good too, but a far drive. Is there any good place in Binghampton?

 

[tommyz44]

unfortunatly it really has gone down hill...if your around elmira the tropical fish outlet is decent dave is a great guy.

 

[Lowefx]

He is a great guy, but needs to put more quality time into his store and tanks. Im starting to see lots of algae, aptasia, and questionable corals. But yes, he has this town as far as fish products around.

 

[ReddyW]

I've been trying to get Tropical Fish Outlet on Google maps, but they keep adding it, then it dissapears a day or two later. Much better than City Zoo.

Around Binghamton, the only place worth going is Natures Best Fish in Vestal, but it's nothing compared to the stores in Rochester.

Creature Comforts has lots of supplies, but the fish and coral selection is unimpressive and expensive. All the coral looks washed out or brown, probably because of the Marineland LEDs they use on the coral tank.

Livingstons just isn't worth it. They have some unique fish, but they are "ornamental", meaning they will die in your tank or eat your coral. Many days the fish look bad, probably based on how many days they have been in their tanks. I don't even look at the coral tank.

I really enjoyed my trip to Rochester for the swap. It's well worth the drive if you are planning to buy a lot of livestock and supplies. If you make the trip, be sure to visit ABC in Freeport (200 gal Reef Crystals for $50!), The Reef Shop (beautiful!), and Caribbean Forest (lots of dry goods and tank hardware). If you can swing it, The Salty Dog in Canandaiguia has a nice selection of fish and small corals at good prices, but it takes awhile to get there.

If anyone finds someplace worth the trip, please let us know!

 

[truebeliever71]

Yeah. Tropical Fish Outlet (TFO) is the only decent place around here anymore. Seth use to have City Zoo looking amazing untill he left. Now it is bad. Rochester is good too, but a far drive. Is there any good place in Binghampton?

We have 3 fish stores here and none them are worth anything. Natures Best is way over priced, the owner will try to sell you anything and everything with any thought as to compatibility and you'll most likely hear a sob story about terrible life is. Then there's Livingstons Animal Kingdom. The owner doesn't care about animals whatsoever. I purchased a nudibranch from him that he claimed was an algae eater. It turned out that it only ate very poisonest sponges. I told him about what I found and he said that he doesn't have the time nor care to research what he sells. Then lastly, there's Creature Comforts... were their tanks are filthy, overcrowded and they employees are clueless.

With all that said... the only place I will get livestock locally is Petco or I will drive up to Syracuse to ABC Reefs where they know what they're talking about and actually care about their customers and livestock. For instance, I was looking for a Copperband Butterfly and they had 2. The one I wanted apparently hasn't eaten for them so they told me so and discouraged me from getting that one.

 

[Lowefx]

You should try TFO on Lake rd in Elmira. all though it needs some cleaning, Dave is very knowedable and has quite a variety of stock. He gets shipments wed. afternoons. Plus its a closer drive than Syracuse. Just quarantee everything too

 

[tommyz44]

I second that dave knows his stuff good size store and overall great guy to just shoot the breeze with. I've just resently started a salt tank but ive used him for about 2 years for all my freshwater stuff. i have his buis card on me Tropfishoutlet@aol.com (607-735-0423)
2065 Lake road Elmira Heights, Ny 14903
Mon-wed 10am-8pm
thur-fri 10am-9pm
Sat 10am-6pm
sunday 11am-5pm

also thanks for posting ABC in syracuse my Girl freind lives up there so my parents take care of my tanks on friday and saturday while im up there. Ive been looking for a place to check out!

 

[truebeliever71]

I'm familiar with TFO. I've been in there a couple times and yes, Dave is pretty knowledgeable.

 

[ReddyW]

Then there's Livingstons Animal Kingdom. The owner doesn't care about animals whatsoever. I purchased a nudibranch from him that he claimed was an algae eater. It turned out that it only ate very poisonest sponges. I told him about what I found and he said that he doesn't have the time nor care to research what he sells.

They sold me a nudibranch and said the same thing to me. I returned and told them it didn't eat algae and they didn't care either. That nudibranch was beautiful though. I was told that since they started getting unusual animals business was up.

 

[truebeliever71]

They sold me a nudibranch and said the same thing to me. I returned and told them it didn't eat algae and they didn't care either. That nudibranch was beautiful though. I was told that since they started getting unusual animals business was up.

I wonder if it was same one.... was it black and blue? Yes, Howard told me the same thing. Nothing like setting up a customer for failure.

 

[laxing22]

We have 3 fish stores here and none them are worth anything. Natures Best is way over priced, the owner will try to sell you anything and everything with any thought as to compatibility and you'll most likely hear a sob story about terrible life is. Then there's Livingstons Animal Kingdom. The owner doesn't care about animals whatsoever. I purchased a nudibranch from him that he claimed was an algae eater. It turned out that it only ate very poisonest sponges. I told him about what I found and he said that he doesn't have the time nor care to research what he sells. Then lastly, there's Creature Comforts... were their tanks are filthy, overcrowded and they employees are clueless....

OK. I agree that Livingstons and CC are about the worst a store can be, but I find Nature to have a great owner that does care. If anything, he won't even carry difficult / expert only fish as he states his mission is to help anyone be able to have a saltwater tank.

And PetCo? Seriously? Never have seen a single healthy fish in the store when they were open? Did they open back up again after killing every single animal in the store last fall? Yes, PetCo essentially slowly killed every animal in the store last fall by refusing to remove them as the flood approached. It is sad that anyone that cares about animals would ever support them in any fashion.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44499.../t/how-many-animals-died-flooded-petco-store/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/us-pets-drowning-idUSTRE78C6RO20110913

 

[truebeliever71]

Ben,

I have gotten a few fish from Petco. The lady that was in charge of the aquatic department knew her stuff and if she didn't know, she would tell you so and help you find the answers.

As for the flooding and killing, it was a terrible thing and I think (my opinion) that they learned their lesson on it. They are re-opening (in the same location for now because they couldn't get out of the lease) next week.

 

[ReddyW]

I wonder if it was same one.... was it black and blue? Yes, Howard told me the same thing. Nothing like setting up a customer for failure.

Mine had a white body with blue stripes and was so relaxing to watch cruising across the tank. It looked very similar to this:
http://www.kellywalkottenphotograph...1/02/DSCF5027-Chromodorididae-Nudibranch2.jpg

It might have eaten some type of white sponge, but I've got three different types of white sponges and it didn't spend any time near them even if I placed it directly on them.

I couldn't find much information on what they eat other than that few people have studied what they eat. One marine biology student asked their prof why they were always found resting on algae if they didn't eat it. He said maybe they just like to sit on algae.

This site has a few slugs and nudibranches for sale, and they seem to have a much larger selection than what they had just a month ago.

http://www.aquacon.com/seaslugs.html
another site:
http://www.freshmarine.com/nudibranch.html

Hopefully people will start posting their experiences so we can learn how to care for them.

I would love to have another, but not until I know how to care for it, and have set up a small low flow tank.