LA Store visit

cerreta

Premium Member
During the trip, I visited about 8 stores. The pricing and selection was better than Tucson, but not by as much as I hoped for. There certainly is a niche in the Ca market for the rarity and sps, which is just not found here or in Phoenix. What impressed me the most about several stores is the price of drygoods and the amount of goods stocked. They were only a few dollars more than Internet stores, which I found to be shocking. For example, Salifert Test kits ranged from $15 to $20 for the basic ones, like NH3, PO4, NO2, NO3, Ca, etc. I also bought two Penductors for $22 each. Light systems and skimmers were also just a few dollars over that of the Internet sites.

The two stores I was most impressed with was Tong’s and ReeferMadness. Tong’s was like a wherehouse. Prices on drygoods were very good and the selection was incredible. The fish and coral tanks were very good with lots of sps frags for $15 and some small colonies for $40-$50. It is here that I bought a Neon-Green monti cap $15, small ¾” Monti danae SuperMan $40, a medium 5” Neon yellow/green Acro colony for $45

ReeferMadness is a special place. They specialize in Internet only sales. However, you can go there by appointment. So, Monday, I just showed up in the morning wanting to ask details on how to make an appointment for Tuesday. Chris, (not the owner, Two Chris’s and a Christine work there…hehehe) said I was welcome to shop around. The store is a warehouse with three large fiberglass coral bins. One is loaded with Live Rock, the other two are dedicated to corals. There is a ton of stuff here and it was very hard to shop. Nothing is marked with price. However, they had tons of show corals and sps galore. They also had the extremely rare corals and protopalythoas. I also noted that the prices were not cheap. Most sps colonies ranged from $60 to $200 and frags were about $30-$80. I made a plan to return the following day. To make my life easy, I decided to shop their website the night before and discovered that they frequently have sales. These corals range from $20 - $60. Many are good sizes and colors, but some are TLC corals, which they list on the website.

So, the next day, I bought a 10 pack of zoos for $100; 3.5” Montastrea curta deep purple with emerald green eyes$30; 3” A. sarmentosa rose tips with green bracnhes $30; 3.5” A. tenuis lime green $30; 3.5” Montipora crassi-tuberculata forest green and turquoise $30; and a 20 polyp protopalythoa. This was the prize! These polyps have a soft purple/pink center with lime green skirts. They are much more brilliant in coloration compared to the PPE, which they had plenty of. Forthermore, this was the one and only colony of this color morph. They called it the joker $100. They also tossed in a freebee sps frag that I got to choose from several cut unmounted frags. I selected an A. cerealis lime green/white stlk with neon yellow polyps/tips.

Here are some pictures taken at ReeferMadness

Two coral display tanks with 1000watt MH above.
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Mostly sps tank
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Here are the protopalythoas. My joker colony was already removed. I will post pics of this at a later time.
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One of the three monster skimmers. These things always impress me. Glad I don’t have to clean that skimmer cup.
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Some LPS and caps
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This is the whole vat shot of the tank with LPS, caps, and zoos.
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:D When you gonna frag ???:D

Got the superman, are you sure? he was one of the places I thought I told you was trying to pass a look alike off as a superman danae. at any rate $40 for something that color is still a good price. Sorry don't want to bring you down just want you to be sure.

good to here you got some deals, when can I come by to see your tank?

Vince
 
I have always loved viewing the corals from the top like that, but people have often told me that they couldn't actually see what the corals would look like in their own tanks. What do you shink Scott?
 
Scott Do you have time for foam this week in the evening or early saturday? I am ready to foam the beast so I can start plumbing it. My LED lights should be in in 2-3 weeks.
 
Scott Do you have time for foam this week in the evening or early saturday?

I will call you. I am off this weekend Sat,Sun, and Mon.


I have always loved viewing the corals from the top like that, but people have often told me that they couldn't actually see what the corals would look like in their own tanks. What do you shink Scott?

Zach, I agree. Top views seem to reveal more vibrant colors compared to a side view through glass. However, I learned a trick to this, by stating the same thing you just mentioned. I learned this at Tong's. Grab a small acrylic fish collection cup and push it into the water over the coral you wish to view. Now, you just look through this and you will see a more realistic view of the corals. There is another advantage to this. It breaks the tension of the water current that is ometimes hard to see through because the water ripples with speed.


Got the superman, are you sure?

Vince, I am not sure. PM me and please come over to see the tank. This weekend is good for me. The coral appears to have the rogh appearance and color of the Montipora danae, but I am uncertain. I also got this at a reduced price because the coral has some vibrant red polyps and some that are rust colored. They should color up with better light and conditions, but I am uncertain to this too. It sure does look cool, so I thought it was worth a try. Other places I found the SM, they were simply NFS.
 
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