peaceinusa
New member
OOOps....double post.
Local Fish Stores
- Thread starter Lightsluvr
- Start date
A couple of years ago, 
while in college, I worked for a wonderful fish store called 'seven seas' with a display tank large enough they slipped in with wet suit to clean the front glass.
The skinny kid that usually got tapped to go in was my first introduction to Jeff, the original oweners son from Aquarium Concepts. I've spent hours in that store talking and looking..... If you were there, you remember it was huge and Jeff had a large salt section. But he got me interested in Discus.
Later, a buddy handed me a 5 gallon acrylic hex tank and said we were starting twin salt tanks. I was 2 ignorant at the time to know that was the wrong end of the spectrum to begin. Kathy at Reef gave us some pointers and Emily at ART answered endless questions and sold us both 3 pieces of live rock each and we split a bag of live sand to start those tanks.
Getting involved in COMAS I soon realized, "I want more room" and began to explore around. At the time, Aquariums had a couch in front of what was probably a 180 full of corals and fish with a frag tank next to the couch arm. Trying not to be rude, I would come in and speak and make my way back to sit on the couch on Friday afternoon and sit there till closing. I've spent way too many hours and more $$ than my wife knows there.
Trips to Oddballs, I mean to see my nephew in Tulsa, have always produced some beautiful chalices and new information.
I have been slack. I hear more and more about Tanks a lot and have not stopped yet. Has to be soon.
I like Wet Pets set up. Fish and corals are eay to see. I drop in every time I drive south.
Come to think about it, we are pretty lucky with all these places.
while in college, I worked for a wonderful fish store called 'seven seas' with a display tank large enough they slipped in with wet suit to clean the front glass.The skinny kid that usually got tapped to go in was my first introduction to Jeff, the original oweners son from Aquarium Concepts. I've spent hours in that store talking and looking..... If you were there, you remember it was huge and Jeff had a large salt section. But he got me interested in Discus.
Later, a buddy handed me a 5 gallon acrylic hex tank and said we were starting twin salt tanks. I was 2 ignorant at the time to know that was the wrong end of the spectrum to begin. Kathy at Reef gave us some pointers and Emily at ART answered endless questions and sold us both 3 pieces of live rock each and we split a bag of live sand to start those tanks.
Getting involved in COMAS I soon realized, "I want more room" and began to explore around. At the time, Aquariums had a couch in front of what was probably a 180 full of corals and fish with a frag tank next to the couch arm. Trying not to be rude, I would come in and speak and make my way back to sit on the couch on Friday afternoon and sit there till closing. I've spent way too many hours and more $$ than my wife knows there.
Trips to Oddballs, I mean to see my nephew in Tulsa, have always produced some beautiful chalices and new information.
I have been slack. I hear more and more about Tanks a lot and have not stopped yet. Has to be soon.
I like Wet Pets set up. Fish and corals are eay to see. I drop in every time I drive south.
Come to think about it, we are pretty lucky with all these places.
Tangsgalor2oo9
In Memoriam
wow this is a great thread to read up on really. i am somewhat new to salt water and to oklahoma(military) i only know about reef warehouse and wetpets. i live close to petvet but they dont carry fish anymore. they built a dog grooming place where the fish were.
but i think i am going to have to take a drive ad check out some new lfs's thanks all.
but i think i am going to have to take a drive ad check out some new lfs's thanks all.
Welcome to Tinker and the local area. We're lucky to have several small fish stores instead of a couple large ones trying to just make a buck. It seems that we have a lot of hobbiests-turned-retailers rather than a bunch of people with a business model and an open market hole to fill. I've been told by both Wet Pets and Aquariums to not buy a fish that I was swooning over because it would be a bad fit for my tank. A few times it wasn't even a bad fit for my tank, but bad timing for it. I had "ooh! a new toy" anxiety and they suggested I sit on the idea for a bit. Anyone willing to turn down a sale, or at least discourage it, is a good retailer in my book. That shows concern healthy tanks and happy people instead of return business based on deaths or poor fit.
BlackSumbel
New member
Is Zoanuts still open/doing business? Their site's um... bare to say the least.
That said, my local favourites are Wet Pets and Crystal Clear. Always helpful. Being a nano-reef keeper I also love that Wet Pets has the "tiny bits" boxes.
That said, my local favourites are Wet Pets and Crystal Clear. Always helpful. Being a nano-reef keeper I also love that Wet Pets has the "tiny bits" boxes.
Always helpful. Being a nano-reef keeper I also love that Wet Pets has the "tiny bits" boxes.
"tiny bits" boxes---- please explain more
BlackSumbel
New member
They have those specimen boxes (that they use when bagging fish, for example) hanging inside of the tanks. These boxes are usually filled with "tiny bits" that break off during transit. I.e. single polyps of Zoas, single mushroom corals that ditched in the bag, bits of GSP, tiny clumps of xenia.
Basically for those accidental frags that -always- happen.
Basically for those accidental frags that -always- happen.
That's a cool idea. I wonder if they still do that.. to me that says "no waste of any living thing".
I know that Dusty over at Zoanuts used to sell his "bags of crap" which often caused a feeding frenzy among buyers, because there always seemed to be some great stuff in those coral grab bags...
Have we just about discussed all the local stores? Any other favorites for attaboys?
LL
poke75
Active member
I started back when....
Can't remember when, but it was with Aquariums in Edmond. She is and was awsome.
She remembered me from the first time I was in there and we talked a LOT about what I had and where I wanted to be.
From that point on, I was told "that fish will not do good in your tank" more than once, and after research I found she was probably right everytime.
another of my favorites is Premier Aquatics in Tulsa. I have had the same experiance with Scott and the other geeks there. I really like their system and the way they do business. I have had them tell me "know, you can't have that fish" for various reasons.
They may not be the cheapest, but they have some of the best fish and critters I have ever bought.
Another favorite is Zoenuts. Haven't been there in a while, but I like the selection of corals he has had in the past. I also like the way I am treated there.
All of the above stress quarentine and acclimation.
there are other stores that have their strong points also, but these are my fav's.
Steve
Can't remember when, but it was with Aquariums in Edmond. She is and was awsome.
She remembered me from the first time I was in there and we talked a LOT about what I had and where I wanted to be.
From that point on, I was told "that fish will not do good in your tank" more than once, and after research I found she was probably right everytime.
another of my favorites is Premier Aquatics in Tulsa. I have had the same experiance with Scott and the other geeks there. I really like their system and the way they do business. I have had them tell me "know, you can't have that fish" for various reasons.
They may not be the cheapest, but they have some of the best fish and critters I have ever bought.
Another favorite is Zoenuts. Haven't been there in a while, but I like the selection of corals he has had in the past. I also like the way I am treated there.
All of the above stress quarentine and acclimation.
there are other stores that have their strong points also, but these are my fav's.
Steve
