An early welcome to Orlando!
I often make the rounds visiting the local LFS's. It's tough on the wallet but somebody has to do it. We have a number of good stores in the area but I don't know their specific addresses. I will, however, give you the cross streets.
Ocean Blue - University and Golden Rod. Some nice display tanks. Personable and knowledgeable staff. Sometimes a little slim on variety but usually has the standards. Some things might be a buck or two higher than the competition.
Fishy Business - Hwy 427 and Hwy 434. Largest and widest selection of fish IMHO. OK selection of corals (mostly softs with a mixture of LPS). Fish are generally little less expensive than Ocean Blue. They have just added a new display tank with some nice acro's and a couple of other SPS's. I wish I had more $'s
Seven Seas - Hwy-434 west of I-4. IMHO the largest quantity, and widest variety of corals usually at reasonable price (softs, LPS, and SPS). Standard fish often with some surprises. Usually has several varieties of snails - instead of just turbos. The only place in town (that I know of) that stocks DT's
Seven Seas has shut its doors for the time being. We hope they reopen soon. A fire at the restaurant next door shut them and their air conditioner down. As a result, they lost a lot of livestock. It is my understanding that the survivors were donated to Sea World. I wish George and the gang the best. We miss you!
The Aquarium Store - Hwy 436 west of the Hwy-441 intersection. (give them a call first. I know how to drive their but my directions might be wrong.) By far the largest and widest variety of dry goods. Usually has some unusual critters. Fish and coral selection are small. I have seen some nice fish prices here if they have what you want. You have to see the aquariums in their entry way!
Aquatic Eco-Systems - Apopka off of 441. Huge selection of dry goods. Go to their website to find what you want, call ahead and pick up at their warehouse. I have their catalog but haven't bought anything from them yet. Kind of like the old Sears Catalog Christmas edition.
Safari Pets - Michigan a couple of blocks East of Orange. Don't go out of your way to visit. They may be moving soon.
A new store has come to town.
The Fish Bowl has opened on Lake Mary Road. At the I-4 & Lake Mary intersection go East (towards Sanford), at Lake Emma Rd. turn South (right), the The Fish Bowl is located in the shopping center to your left.
They are new and are working on building up their stock. The usual selection of SW fish in an attractive display. They have as good of live rock selection as anyone and even though it was described as well picked over it still had better gulf rock than anybody else in town. Their coral selection is still a little slim but I understand that it will be expanding and that I was there shortly before their next shipment (they usually receive new goodies on Tuesday). The manager is Michelle, previously of Fishy Business, who is both friendly and knowledgeable. Check it out!
The stock of all these stores is a lot like life. Any day you might find a great bargain at any of them. I'm glad that my job occasionally gets me out and about and I can stick my head into most of them on a semi-regular basis. Go shopping and see what's out there.
Once again, Welcome to Orlando!
Paul
{I just noticed that this review was being linked to from other threads so I added some updates and fixed some stupid spelling and grammer errors. (Just pretend that the remainder were left there on purpose}