Just checking to see how Hung is doing in Coralville. I was in Iowa on business a while back and fell in love with this little store and wanted to know if any one has been there lately. I will be back in town after the new year just wanted to make sure it was still doing well.
Sea of Marvels
- Thread starter jamesk
- Start date
jmadison
rebmeM deretsigeR
Well when you come bring some sunshine and warmth (currently freezing rain, about half inch of ice on everything 
) You should also bring some of those choice corals you guys seem to all have over there on the west coast! very jealous!
I live quite close to sea of marvels and it is doing well i believe. Hung has a local artist commissioned to do some airbrushing on a couple of the walls, should look pretty neat. He still has lots of nice fish, and lots of soft corals, although he is getting an acan here and a acro there from time to time. Another LFS in Iowa City recently started carrying ORA coral/livestock, so we are finally starting to get some access locally to a few nice frags.
) You should also bring some of those choice corals you guys seem to all have over there on the west coast! very jealous!I live quite close to sea of marvels and it is doing well i believe. Hung has a local artist commissioned to do some airbrushing on a couple of the walls, should look pretty neat. He still has lots of nice fish, and lots of soft corals, although he is getting an acan here and a acro there from time to time. Another LFS in Iowa City recently started carrying ORA coral/livestock, so we are finally starting to get some access locally to a few nice frags.
annamarie421
New member
Which store is carrying ORA corals?
SlukBunWalla
New member
Not to start a flame war AT ALL...
But I work in the fish department at Petland in Iowa City and I can truly say I am VERY proud of the job we do. I personally help to maintain the systems and livestock and I work very hard at it.
We currently carry a good selection of fish and corals and have been carrying ORA livestock for about three months now.
We also have a 178 gallon 4x4 tank we kept our blue spot stingrays in that we preparing to upgrade to a sweet frag tank. Look for the build thread that should hopefully begin soon!
Say what you will about box stores but each Petland is privately owned and I we have a great fish department. If you have any doubts I urge you to come check us out.
But I work in the fish department at Petland in Iowa City and I can truly say I am VERY proud of the job we do. I personally help to maintain the systems and livestock and I work very hard at it.
We currently carry a good selection of fish and corals and have been carrying ORA livestock for about three months now.
We also have a 178 gallon 4x4 tank we kept our blue spot stingrays in that we preparing to upgrade to a sweet frag tank. Look for the build thread that should hopefully begin soon!
Say what you will about box stores but each Petland is privately owned and I we have a great fish department. If you have any doubts I urge you to come check us out.
SlukBunWalla
New member
Sometimes online it can be misconstrued as the same thing. haha
SkinnY T120
New member
looks like somebody is flaming...
I just made a trip to sea of marvels and pet land.
Sea of marvels was quit disipointing, not much for sps or lps. He had some acans in a poor looking tank, tons of leathers and aptatia(sp) filled tanks. He had a large fish variety and soft corals and zoo's. He has a tank that customers can sell stuff out of which is different but everything very high priced- or the 3 sps in it.
Petland was very clean looking great job in that department. They did have some ORA still and resonably priced. Had a good assortment of nano fish, some nice rainford goby's(sp). Along w/ some sm. hippo's and few othter tangs in nice rimless display. If they had more room for saltwater tanks they could do some
amazing things. Very nice store, slukbunwalla.
This is JIMO, not looking to bash anyone but Aquatic Environments Blows everyone out of the water, that i've seen in the midwest.
Sea of marvels was quit disipointing, not much for sps or lps. He had some acans in a poor looking tank, tons of leathers and aptatia(sp) filled tanks. He had a large fish variety and soft corals and zoo's. He has a tank that customers can sell stuff out of which is different but everything very high priced- or the 3 sps in it.
Petland was very clean looking great job in that department. They did have some ORA still and resonably priced. Had a good assortment of nano fish, some nice rainford goby's(sp). Along w/ some sm. hippo's and few othter tangs in nice rimless display. If they had more room for saltwater tanks they could do some
amazing things. Very nice store, slukbunwalla.
This is JIMO, not looking to bash anyone but Aquatic Environments Blows everyone out of the water, that i've seen in the midwest.
SlukBunWalla
New member
Hey thanks man I appreciate that.
Yeah we've sold through a LOT of our ORA frags the last couple of weeks and shipping is nuts around the holidays so check back after the 1st of the year when we fill the tanks back up.
And we have a sump and lights on the way for the open top tank. That'll be our frag tank with some nice colonies so we can prop our own frags. We're pretty stoked for that. Theres quite a few of us reefnerds in the store so this is pretty exciting for all of us.
Sea of Marvels was amazing the first time I went there, but after that it's always more of the same. But the things he has is generally decent quality. The prices are inconsistant due to his no price haggling situation. Sometimes you get a great deal...others not so much. I got my coral beauty from him for $30 and she's one of my favorite fish.
Yeah we've sold through a LOT of our ORA frags the last couple of weeks and shipping is nuts around the holidays so check back after the 1st of the year when we fill the tanks back up.
And we have a sump and lights on the way for the open top tank. That'll be our frag tank with some nice colonies so we can prop our own frags. We're pretty stoked for that. Theres quite a few of us reefnerds in the store so this is pretty exciting for all of us.
Sea of Marvels was amazing the first time I went there, but after that it's always more of the same. But the things he has is generally decent quality. The prices are inconsistant due to his no price haggling situation. Sometimes you get a great deal...others not so much. I got my coral beauty from him for $30 and she's one of my favorite fish.
aaron1987
New member
I'll echo SlukBunWalla on Sea of Marvels. I loved the store the first time I was in it, but wish Hung would stock more varied corals. It also seems like it's gone downhill a bit since the first time I went in but I do make a point of stopping by every time I'm in Iowa City (going to school in Ames) and generally buying something.
The haggle pricing generally works out fairly well for me and the more you go in, the better it works out. I've got the advantage of buying for a couple buds of mine in Ames when I come to IC as well, so I'll generally pick up a decent amount of stuff which doesn't hurt the prices I get, either.
Petland blew me away when I discovered they carried ORA frags. It's great to go in and chat with the staff who are enthusiasts and also on RC (at least in two cases that I know of). Their prices can be a bit steep in some cases, though. It doesn't help that I go to Iowa City to visit my girlfriend who tags along to the fish stores but will still give me an evil eye when I start eyeballing some of the pricier frags.
I did just pick up a 47gal column and stand there the other weekend, though, which is sitting in my room waiting on my shipment of dry fiji rock and 250w outer orbit fixture. Big sigh of relief when it passed the leak test since it's a discontinued model and Petland is a bit of a drive for me!
Pretty stoked to see the 47 display they have up front grow out, and anxious to see how the frag tank turns out. It's an attractive setup. Iowa Pet Foods in Des Moines has a sweet rimless frag tank with disappointing selection but nice 25% off sales frequently.
The haggle pricing generally works out fairly well for me and the more you go in, the better it works out. I've got the advantage of buying for a couple buds of mine in Ames when I come to IC as well, so I'll generally pick up a decent amount of stuff which doesn't hurt the prices I get, either.
Petland blew me away when I discovered they carried ORA frags. It's great to go in and chat with the staff who are enthusiasts and also on RC (at least in two cases that I know of). Their prices can be a bit steep in some cases, though. It doesn't help that I go to Iowa City to visit my girlfriend who tags along to the fish stores but will still give me an evil eye when I start eyeballing some of the pricier frags.
I did just pick up a 47gal column and stand there the other weekend, though, which is sitting in my room waiting on my shipment of dry fiji rock and 250w outer orbit fixture. Big sigh of relief when it passed the leak test since it's a discontinued model and Petland is a bit of a drive for me!
Pretty stoked to see the 47 display they have up front grow out, and anxious to see how the frag tank turns out. It's an attractive setup. Iowa Pet Foods in Des Moines has a sweet rimless frag tank with disappointing selection but nice 25% off sales frequently.
SkinnY T120
New member
hopefully in the next couple weeks we'll be seing that (re)build thread start for the square 180g display tank at petland??
I am not trying to be confrontational, but I must give my opinion.
Hung lately has been very busy and the tanks could use a good cleaning. With that being said I think he has some of the best fish in the iowa city area in terms of health. I have never bought a fish from him that hasn't thrived in my tank. His corals are defiantly hit or miss, but he seems to be having trouble lately keeping SPS. Also the club makes it tough for him to sell rare corals for any sort of profit. We all sell them too cheap to each other. Which is a good thing.
Now on Petland...I have had many bad experiences with them. The staff is AMAZING and really nice guys. They also seem to know what they are talking about.
However, they are very limited by the machine that is petland. The setups are covered in algae. I would never buy any fish or corals from Petland again. I have had fish with parasites and corals with bugs from them. I would only take ORA if they never went in the display tank. This is only my opinion and experience with them.
With that all being said, I think the staff at petland is a wealth of knowledge and great guys. They just appear to be limited by the corporation and the whole setup needs to be revamped.
Hung lately has been very busy and the tanks could use a good cleaning. With that being said I think he has some of the best fish in the iowa city area in terms of health. I have never bought a fish from him that hasn't thrived in my tank. His corals are defiantly hit or miss, but he seems to be having trouble lately keeping SPS. Also the club makes it tough for him to sell rare corals for any sort of profit. We all sell them too cheap to each other. Which is a good thing.
Now on Petland...I have had many bad experiences with them. The staff is AMAZING and really nice guys. They also seem to know what they are talking about.
However, they are very limited by the machine that is petland. The setups are covered in algae. I would never buy any fish or corals from Petland again. I have had fish with parasites and corals with bugs from them. I would only take ORA if they never went in the display tank. This is only my opinion and experience with them.
With that all being said, I think the staff at petland is a wealth of knowledge and great guys. They just appear to be limited by the corporation and the whole setup needs to be revamped.
jbrunken
New member
I agree that Hung has great fish. I would never hesitate to buy a fish from him.
I don't know if I agree with idea that he can't stock nice corals because of the club. I believe that for every person actively in the club, there's probably 20 or more that aren't because they don't know about the club or simply don't care enough to be a part of it. I just have a hard time believing that the club could have a negative impact on his sales. I think other "online" sources are probably more to blame.
-JB
I don't know if I agree with idea that he can't stock nice corals because of the club. I believe that for every person actively in the club, there's probably 20 or more that aren't because they don't know about the club or simply don't care enough to be a part of it. I just have a hard time believing that the club could have a negative impact on his sales. I think other "online" sources are probably more to blame.
-JB
SlukBunWalla
New member
brtfreud I'm sorry you've had bad experiences in our store... you should know that things have been changing the last few months and will continue to do so. A few cool projects have been taken on. We're passionate about what we do and make every effort to do it well.
Once we stock back up after the first, come check us out. Hopefully you'll be surprised.
Once we stock back up after the first, come check us out. Hopefully you'll be surprised.
SlukBunWalla
New member
Also Petland is a franchise. We run our store independently from any other store or corporate "machine"...we make our own choices. If we're limited by anything it's simply the finances. Just like you, me and everyone else.
