Reefin' in Dubai

puckeater1

puckeater1

New member
Hey everyone, just wanted to say hi and start my first thread. I just moved to Dubai and have set up a 200G tank. my problem over here is finding inverts to purchase. They havent really matured here on the whole invert front and its vertually impossible to find any stores to purchase. I was wondering if anyone in the area knew where to buy them as i dont want to take them from the gulf (pollution in the waters near dubai is bad) . Also if anyone can direct me to a good company that i could order them direct possibly from the far east so they would make it here ok. I tried shippin via fedex from the states and 1 out of 10 survived, pretty much throwing 600 dollars down the toilet. Any insight would be appreciated.

Also if anyone is in the area and wants to part out some coral i would be happy to set something up.

Thanks all!
NAz
 
Hi,
I'm from Abu Dhabi. I'm interested to restart the hobby after a 2 year hiatus. It would good if fellow expats in the UAE could share places to go to buy stuff and livestock.

cheers
 
Just got to Dubai a few weeks ago. Trying to figure out where to get things for a small reef tank. ANY INFO is appreciated.
 
Hi ,
spent 2-3 years in Dubai and moved back to Lebanon around 2 years ago.
what types of tanks are you considering?



some shops:

Pet Land Dubai Al quoz area tel +97143384040
Ask about Daniello (might not remember me but mention the guy who flies in from Lebanon and travels with corals...) they regularly get nice collections fo fish and soft corals...

World of fishies +97143966002 also nice collections of fish and soft corals on regular basis

Creature Oasis +97143442154 been there twice and they had no stocks. multiple shops near this one (Iranian Hospital region)

Another shop in Abu Dhabi
Reef of fish nice collections of fish (only one who has yellow tangs for example as well as other tangs) Each time I was there they had very nice clams. Try to contact the owner as he's not usually int he store and he might be able to provide you with LPS I also foudn some SPS there once. don't have the phone number or exact address on hand but it's in AbuDhabi near Helwayat el sham you will try to get you exact address and contact if you can't find it online.

Was also told that there is a shop in sharja that is the distributor for Aquamedic and other high quality stuff... this one might also have SPS LPS will check for name and address.

I wouldn't adivse using the low quality equipment soldin some stores in Dubai (or other countries as you really don't want to kill all your tank because of a stuck heater or pump... so I would suggest contacting that store in sharjah as he will have good quality equipment.
We have a distributor for Tunze Aquarium systems and Aquamedic here so if you need some equipment and can't locate it in UAE I could always take some with me when I go to Dubai as I'm there very frequently. NExt trip should be around mid Jan 2010.
Check out my build thread when you have some time or feel free to contact me by PM or email if you need further info.
 
Although not in Dubai, but close what appears to be a pretty good shop with freshwater planted tanks impressive marine tanks is.

http://www.aquaart.com.qa/

Located in Doha, Qatar

I havent ever been there but will be visiting my parents in Qatar over Christmas so will be checking it out. Dont know if they would be able to send you stock if they had it. From what I believe its only an hours flight?
 
The choices in Dubai is very limited since we don't get any famous brand names except aquamedic and koralia.But this brands are quite over priced.We can pitch in among all as a group and bring stuff as cargo from abroad except LIVE stuff because customs issues is a pain.

Maroun c..how is the price of Tunze in Lebanon.Most of the guys mentioned are still there but no quality stuff.In terms of corals mostly LPS and oncer again over priced.

We have a group of few members so if you are interested let us know.
 
before you guys get into buying livestock, which you should have guessed is a pain here, I suggest you guys get some GFO (its like gold here), NOT ONE SHOP here has GFO.
They stuff they have for phosphates, Randy/boomer/highlandreefer have told me they are crap.
Since you guys have just arrived, your family or frinds back in the states should be able to get you some, so stock up
that being said, welcome to reefcentral and welcome to dubai
if you guys need any info pm me, I already replied to Jillnarin's pm.

and a final word of advice, QUARANTINE
very very important if you are going to be getting fish here
 
I am wanting to get something similar to a biocube or nano cube, in the 24 to 28 gallon range. I have off tommorrow, so will just have to go look what is here... Lots of good info from everyone, thanks!!

Someone on dubizzle had a skimmer that was not a good quality for a very unreasonable price for buying that thing new. So, I figured it was tough to get things here locally. Dr Foster and Smith will ship to APO addys. If someone wants something, they would just have to prepay. I wouldnt mind including them on my orders.

GFO?? Phosphate removers?? Is there a specific reason, like water quality here? I usually ordered supplies from bulkreefsupply.com I know they had a phosphate remover there that was quite popular with other members of maast when we did group orders. I already wrote them to see if they would continue doing orders for me to an apo. Waiting to hear back. If not, dr fosters is always a good reliable source.
 
Haksar,

verything is outrageously overexpensive here too. But sometimes there is no other choice when yo uned something urgent... I can easily have it shipped from the states or Europ to Lebanon but then shipping customs and tax on customs (50%) makes it very close if not more expensive than prices here. On the other hnd I travel very frequently and ship my corals and most of my equipment from travels.
I don't think corals and fish prices are overexpensiev in Dubai AbuDhabi... On the oppsoite they are much cheaper than here and especially than Europe. I remember buying a rock filled with Ricordeas for 45 AED which is less than the price of a single Ricordea in USA or Europe... For skimmers the only "acceptable" skimmer I have seen in UAE was in the shop in Abu Shabi and that was a Reefoctocpus however that one came with a chinese pump and not the Askoll pump they come with. I remember hearing that most skimmer bodys are done in China so maybe get that skimmer and somehow atach it to a decent skimmer pump like the askoll or maybe the Eheim...
The shop in Sharjah sells the Turbofloater Shorty but I guess it's around 800 USD and when I think that I got my Hurricone CAt 1 for less than that it becomes really a bad choioce still it's a decent skimmer for a medium size tank and moderate load...

We have a group of few members so if you are interested let us know.
Click to expand...

Do you have a club or any meetings? I would be glad to meet with you when in Dubai.
 
maroun.c

We do not have a club but have a few friends looking to provide the best stuff for our tank so we shop together.Ricordias and Zoanthids are reasonable but SPS/Acans/scolys are rare and expensive.

JillNairn,

Wate quality for reef is not that great with TDS of tape water running to 190-220.With a decent RO/DI yes we can bring it down to zero but getting a DI is a pain.I got mine from BKK.
 
Right now, dr foster has free shipping... and that applies to apo addresses as well. I dont get taxed or fees. It just goes through the us postal system ?? Other countries do not have something similar set up. Excuse my nativity. I lived in europe when I was younger, but am not a world traveler.

I have a small fish store of equipment in my storage unit back home. Depending on what size tank I decide on (Dr foster and smith will ship me a nano cube up to 28 gallons ?? just not too sure how well a glass tank is going to make it coming through the mail), I can just have my parents go dig and find me an appropriate sized skimmer. I have had down from a 2.5, to larger nanos, to mid level 60 gallon cubes, all the way up to 180 gallons. I am partial to euro reef skimmers. I am jus wanting to keep this simple so will not want to do sps corals. All my Tunzes are big sized but the tunze distributor for usa is in Austin, Tx where I am from and can get it from there at really good prices.

I work weekends, and today is my first of my three days off. I am going to go and try to find a few of these fish stores and see what I can find... I am in the Jebel Ali area, so they all seem to be a bit far away, and in places iI do not know. I would also love to meet up with any of the local reefers.
 
JillNairn said:
Right now, dr foster has free shipping... and that applies to apo addresses as well. I dont get taxed or fees. It just goes through the us postal system ?? Other countries do not have something similar set up. Excuse my nativity. I lived in europe when I was younger, but am not a world traveler.

I have a small fish store of equipment in my storage unit back home. Depending on what size tank I decide on (Dr foster and smith will ship me a nano cube up to 28 gallons ?? just not too sure how well a glass tank is going to make it coming through the mail), I can just have my parents go dig and find me an appropriate sized skimmer. I have had down from a 2.5, to larger nanos, to mid level 60 gallon cubes, all the way up to 180 gallons. I am partial to euro reef skimmers. I am jus wanting to keep this simple so will not want to do sps corals. All my Tunzes are big sized but the tunze distributor for usa is in Austin, Tx where I am from and can get it from there at really good prices.

I work weekends, and today is my first of my three days off. I am going to go and try to find a few of these fish stores and see what I can find... I am in the Jebel Ali area, so they all seem to be a bit far away, and in places iI do not know. I would also love to meet up with any of the local reefers.
Click to expand...


Jill, a really good place near jebel ali is aquarium concepts, I don't have their number but they are located in dubai investment park, they have a huge warehouse and always have good fish in stock.
They just opened a new branch, its inside the dubai garden centre on sheikh zayed road, (they just have a few tanks there) but at least u can have a look
 
kkil4life said:
Jill, a really good place near jebel ali is aquarium concepts, I don't have their number but they are located in dubai investment park, they have a huge warehouse and always have good fish in stock.
They just opened a new branch, its inside the dubai garden centre on sheikh zayed road, (they just have a few tanks there) but at least u can have a look
Click to expand...

Last I heard about aquarium concepts was they had to close down due to low volumes.
 
JillNairn said:
Right now, dr foster has free shipping... and that applies to apo addresses as well. I dont get taxed or fees. It just goes through the us postal system ?? Other countries do not have something similar set up. Excuse my nativity. I lived in europe when I was younger, but am not a world traveler.

I have a small fish store of equipment in my storage unit back home. Depending on what size tank I decide on (Dr foster and smith will ship me a nano cube up to 28 gallons ?? just not too sure how well a glass tank is going to make it coming through the mail), I can just have my parents go dig and find me an appropriate sized skimmer. I have had down from a 2.5, to larger nanos, to mid level 60 gallon cubes, all the way up to 180 gallons. I am partial to euro reef skimmers. I am jus wanting to keep this simple so will not want to do sps corals. All my Tunzes are big sized but the tunze distributor for usa is in Austin, Tx where I am from and can get it from there at really good prices.

I work weekends, and today is my first of my three days off. I am going to go and try to find a few of these fish stores and see what I can find... I am in the Jebel Ali area, so they all seem to be a bit far away, and in places iI do not know. I would also love to meet up with any of the local reefers.
Click to expand...

Luck you,so you have all the accessories.I stay in JBR so you can call me.Tomorrow there is a new shipment of live fish coming in Ajman,I may go there in the morning,so if you are free we can go together.But quarantine is a MUST for all fish bought from most of the LFS here becaue of poor water quality maintnenace.

You can call me on 050-6547160.
 
Thank you so much. I will be some time before adding fish.. I went and drove for 3 hours.. and didnt find one of the places I 'thought' I could find. So, not even a tank or the decision if I am just having one sent over... :( I get lost here alot, very easily.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Discover our Dubai Aquarium Range
Replies
0
Views
445
hydor_italy
H
H
Discover our Dubai Aquarium Range
Replies
0
Views
386
hydor_italy
H
oceangopher
Tankpocalypse Now
Replies
2
Views
160
Reefing102
Reefing102
R
Sandbed depth question
Replies
9
Views
302
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
griss
Live Aquaria
Replies
1
Views
134
Reefing102
Reefing102
Back
Top