Reef stores in St Louis area?

[Giovanni]

I am going to be in your great city next week with a free afternoon on Wednesday and a free morning on Friday before leaving Friday afternoon. Can someone tell me of the must see reef stores on the list. I am mostly interested in high end zoes, clams, and fish. Not trying to be rude, but I am not looking for any more mediocre stuff. PM me your thoughts please as not to offend any LFS. Thanks a million.

 

[stlouisguy]

Wed and Thurs is usually shipment days. What part of town? I wont suggest anywhere for you as I cannot predict what will come in shipments, since you might be highly dissappointed and I wouldnt want to be responsible for that.

There is a list on the top of this forum. Maybe call them and see what they are getting in

Good Luck

 

[Giovanni]

It is good to know that W/T are the stock days. I will be going to the ZOO with the kids on Thursday so we will stay in that area. I am willing to drive to any part of town or 30-40 miles from town.

You would not dissappoint me. I realy meant that I do not want to go to a store that has only a few tanks for salt or always has the brown corals and not much else. Thanks again for your help.

 

[stlouisguy]

Clayton Pet Emporium is very close to the Zoo. Very very nice store.

Gateway Aquatics is about 20 minutes from the Zoo down south

Marine Solutions is all saltwater, zoos and such are hit and miss

Those are the only ones I have experience with.

 

[danfrith]

i 2nd clayton pet emporium

 

[mpcart]

Gateway Aquatics is always loaded up on corals. They have the best selection of the places I visit.

-Mike

 

[saltyunderground]

For unusual fish go with Marine Solutions then Clayton. Marine Solutions has a crosshatch trigger right now. They are suppose to be reef safe. They are almost impossible to find. Here are the address for the three store mentioned so far:

Clayton Pet Emporium
509 South Hanley
Clayton, MO 63105
(314)725-7757

Marine Solutions
2236 First Capital Dr
St Charles, MO 63301
(636)947-5999

Gateway Aquatics
4570 Telegraph rd
St. Louis Mo. 63129
314 845-8686

 

[JxMetal]

Remember, Gateway Aquatics is having their customer appreciation weekend next weekend.

 

[Giovanni]

Salty,

Thanks for the heads up on the crosshatch. I had them email me photos today and I had to have her. Payed for her and will pick her up next week. Hope these things are as reef safe as they say they are. :eek1:

 

[saltyunderground]

Your welcome. I have seen the fish. It is a nice size. They can be a little shy until they get used to things. It's an awesome find. You will definitely be the only one on your block to have one. You should consider upgrading to a bigger tank for it soon if you still have the 70g tank. Good luck with it.

 

[Giovanni]

I need a good reason to go big. Wink wink.

 

[Giovanni]

I am here in St Louis. Great recommendations. You all are lucky to have 3 great LFS so close. Any other LFS I should see?

 

[Shooter7]

Have you been to Beldt's?

 

[Giovanni]

No, just the three listed. Do they have a large stock? Thanks

 

[Shooter7]

Yes they do, typically. I haven't been in there recently. For the address, it's listed in the LFS listing sticky.

 

[STABB]

+1 for Clayton. I haven't been to Gateway, but Clayton is def awesome--nicest I've been to in STL. They have this Emperor Angel that looks like it weighs about 5 pounds.

Clayton is closer than 20 mins from the zoo though (not being a jerk just pointing it out)... unless you're trying to drive in rush hour traffic, then it's about 20 mins :smokin:

 

[Giovanni]

I am still here in St Louis. Went by Beldt's. Nice store not much out of the ordinary though.

I went back to Marine Solutions. Picked up a couple of books with my deposit for the crosshatch trigger I decided to pass on.

I also went back to Gateway again. I purchased a ton of stuff from them. Zoes Rics, fish and Sailfert test kits. Picked up a very nice Golden Pygmy angel a couple of carpenter flashers and some test kits. Chad is having a big sale this weekend and he was nice enough to let me have the sale prices as I am leaving in the AM Friday.

Of the four stores I visited in your area, all were nice stores. Clayton's was the cleanest store. Beldt's was the best beginner store with a nice all around top seller/ easy to keep type selection. Marine Solutions had the best selection of hard to find fish with a few unusual corals. Gateway Aquatics' coral selection is second to none. They had a few rare fish. Chad was very honest, not being afraid to say he did not know the answer to a question while going out of his way to get the answer. He did not seem pushy but was very helpful in making selections. I guess I am trying to say his service was the best I have encountered to date.


STABB; When I went by Clayton's, it was about 5:30PM Wednesday and the traffic, well, Holey Crapppppp.


Again thanks to those who replied to this thread. You have been a great service to an out of town reef enthusiast. I have had a great experience here and will be back from time to time.